Gardiner's boys dig deep to overcome Tribesmen - GAA - Western People
Source: Western People
EirGrid Connacht U20 Football Championship - Round 2
Anthony Hennigan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar
They say to never judge a book by its cover and if last Wednesday's meeting of Mayo and Galway in the Connacht U20 Football Championship taught us anything, it's to never judge a team on the first quarter.
To have backed a Mayo victory when Galway corner-back Darragh Costello fired home his side's second goal and put five points between the teams after only 18 minutes would have seemed a foolish exercise for truth be known, Mayo were at that stage fortunate not to be even further behind. But fast forward to full-time and eleven different players had contributed the sixteen points that saw Mayo record a hugely impressive victory over their arch rivals who had been like the month of March, coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb.
"It was a great win," admitted Mayo boss Peadar Gardiner afterwards. "It's great to win at home in front of a great crowd. It was a difficult match, Galway are a very talented team and they really put it up to us, but our lads showed great character and great heart to pull out a result in the end so we're delighted."
The visitors had taken only three minutes to land their first goal, coming after Mayo goalkeeper David Dolan had opened the scoring from a '45. A free into the top left corner by Galway midfielder Daithí Kilcommins was won by Colm Costello who turned Mayo full-back Eoin McGreal and popped the ball across to Ronan Colleran who finished to the net.
A converted '45 by Eamon McGrath, the Galway 'keeper, and a point by full-forward Cian Murphy were separated by one from Mayo captain Sean Morahan, after a well-worked move that involved Conal Dawson and Cathal Keaveney, and there was already a sense that Galway were on top, with the Tribesmen unlucky not to bag a second goal in the 11th minute when Matthew Thompson punched a pass by Daithí Kilcommins just over the crossbar.
Galway now led 1-3 to 0-2 and while Daragh Beirne, a free, and Cathal Keaveney, having intercepted a Galway sideline ball, hit back-to-back points, the Green and Red were to pay dearly for some further slack defending as Galway toyed with possession in front of the Mayo posts before Darragh Costello arrived to drill the ball into the bottom left corner.
An added blow to Peadar Gardiner's side was that captain Morahan was black carded after 22-minutes although his loss was countered inside a minute when Galway corner-back Shane Canavan suffered the same fate.
It was around this point that Mayo bestirred themselves to finish the first-half exceptionally strongly, scoring five of the last six points, with Daragh Beirne, from a free, and Niall Hurley, Tom O'Flaherty, Darragh Reilly and Beirne again, each on the mark from play, while Galway offered just a Colm Costello free in response, which left the hosts just one point adrift, 0-9 to 2-4, at the turnaround.
Mayo opened the second-half with Beirne, Hurley and Keaveney kicking a trio of wides and their punishment was that Fionn MacDonnacha, on as a first-half replacement for Thompson, struck back to back points, the first from a mark, to leave three between the teams after 35-minutes. Remarkably, however, Galway were to be held scoreless for the remainder of the match, as a rapidly increased intensity to Mayo's performance saw them turn over and counterattack Galway almost at will.
By the 47th minute the teams were level for the first time as Darragh Reilly and Niall Hurley, with some very nifty footwork to break away from Galway wing-back Padraig Godwin, pointed either side of Finbar McLaughlin becoming the sixth Mayo forward to score.
A 51st minute red card for centre-back John MacMonagle, who had careered into Conor Heneghan, threatened to derail Mayo's challenge but Galway's numerical advantage lasted only two minutes as Colm Costello received a black card.
A foul on McLaughlin gave Daragh Beirne the opportunity to kick Mayo in front for the first time since Dolan's opening point of the match, 0-13 to 2-6, and the now one-way nature of the proceedings was simply to continue as Mayo substitutes Oisin Cronin and Tom Lydon together with senior panellist Diarmuid Duffy fired over insurance points to complete the most satisfying of comeback wins.
"We were chasing Galway from the start and for the first 20 minutes we just weren't ourselves," reflected Peadar Gardiner. "We came into it and kicked some good scores and we came out in the second-half really well. We worked really hard, got a lot of turnovers, over 20, so the boys worked extremely hard.
"We've a lot of good attackers from all around the pitch and we needed them tonight because Galway put us under huge pressure.
"The first 20 minutes, we conceded two goals and were opened for one or two more, it's all on the night, all a bit of luck. Galway are a good team and we'll probably meet again, hopefully," Gardiner added.
Mayo continue their Connacht U20 campaign this Wednesday when they travel to Ballinamore for a Round 3 clash with Leitrim.
Scorers - Mayo: Daragh Beirne 0-4 (3f), Niall Hurley and Darragh Reilly 0-2 each, David Dolan (f), Sean Morahan, Tom O'Flaherty, Cathal Keaveney, Finbar McLaughlin, Oisin Cronin, Tom Lydon and Diarmuid Duffy 0-1 each.
Galway: Ronan Colleran and Darragh Costello 1-0 each, Fionn MacDonnacha 0-2 (1m), Eamon McGrath ('45), Cian Murphy, Matthew Thompson and Colm Costello (f) 0-1 each.
Mayo: David Dolan; David Slattery, Eoin McGreal, Lorcan Silke; Sean Morahan, John MacMonagle, Paul Gilmore; Diarmuid Duffy, Conal Dawson; Finbar McLaughlin, Cathal Keaveney, Tom O'Flaherty; Daragh Beirne, Niall Hurley, Darragh Reilly. Subs: Brendan Collins (for Silke ht), Oisin Cronin (for Slattery 39), Liam Maloney (for Gilmore 44), Tom Lydon (for Reilly 52), Jack Melvin (for Hurley 57).
Galway: Eamon McGrath; Shane Canavan, Brian Noone, Darragh Costello; Padraic Godwin, Luc O'Connor, Jack Folan; Daithí Kilcommins, Jack Lonergan; Matthew Thompson, Conor Heneghan, Colm Costello; Ronan Colleran, Cian Murphy, Ciaran Mulhern. Subs: Fionn MacDonnacha (for Thompson 29), Sean Hansberry (for Kilcommins 39), Dara Walsh (for Godwin 49), Sean O'Connor (for Heneghan 53-57, b/s), Seam Birmingham (for Murphy 59).