Mayo see off New York

Connacht Senior Football Championship Quarter Final

Mayo off the mark

Mayo                                    2-19

New York                            0-10

MAYO got their Connacht championship campaign off to a winning start with an inevitable win over New York in Gaelic Park, The Bronx on Sunday afternoon.

John O’Mahony’s men travelled to the Big Apple with very little to gain – nothing short of a comfortable win was expected of his charges. They did that much with a 15 point win without having to over exert themselves.

Little will have been learned for this game will be the easiest they will play all year but five players did get their championship debut and there’s probably no better place to do it than in New York where very little pressure is evident.

Ger Cafferkey, Kevin McLoughlin, Donal Vaughan and Aidan O’Shea all started while Mikey Sweeney came on in the closing minutes.

The game also featured the first return to the county colours in a competitive fixture for this year for long serving players James Nallen and David Heaney.

New York did capitalise on almost inevitable Mayo sluggishness early on and took a 0-4 to 0-0 lead early on. Cavan man Paddy Smyth kicked two points and two frees from two Mayo men – Kiltimagh’s John McNicholas and Foxford’s Robert Moran – left an unlikely four point deficit for Mayo to counter.

Peadar Gardiner kicked Mayo’s first point of the championship but another free from Moran put the hosts four in front in again.

But Mayo switched through the gears in the blink of an eye and by the time Rory Hickey blew his whistle for half-time, Mayo had kicked an unanswered 2-9.

Pat Harte and Alan Dillon were the two main movers in Mayo’s dominance and Harte got the first goal of the 2009 All-Ireland championship (incidentally he also picked up the first yellow of 2009) with a great strike after a typically surging run.

Eighteen-year-old debutant Aidan O’Shea added to two points with the game’s second goal – the last score of the half.

Added to this were two points from Alan Dillon, two from Andy Moran, a further point from Gardiner (kicked from inside his own half courtesy of a decent bounce off the Gaelic Park Astroturf) and one apiece from midfielders Ronan McGarrity and Tom Parsons as Mayo led 2-10 and 0-5 at the break.

With an eleven point gap at half-time the pace of the game in the second half was always going to be dictated by Mayo and the game slowed down to a light gallop.

Trevor Mortimer, Alan Dillon and Pat Harte all pointed before Paddy Smyth finally got New York back on the scoreboard. The Cavan man ended up with four points from play but he was fighting a losing battle.

Andy Moran (2), sub’ Aidan Kilcoyne (2, one ’45), Mortimer and O’Shea (who top scored with 1-3) all kept the Mayo scoreboard ticking over as subs were introduced. James Nallen, Billy Padden, David Heaney, Kilcoyne and Mikey Sweeney were all given game time.

Mayo too extended their run of not conceding a goal to six games and David Clarke had to be at his best to stop New York on two separate occasions – indeed the first effort saw him deny Ballyvary’s Declan Reilly.

Four Mayo players lined out for New York. Reilly was at full-forward before departing injured after clashing with Clarke for that goal chance. John McNicholas from Kiltimagh played at wing-forward and kicked a point while Moy Davitts’ Robert Moran led the team from midfield and kicked two fine frees. Knockmore’s Dermot Keane lined out at right-half back.

Next stop is Saturday, June 20 and Mayo entertaining the winners of Leitrim and Roscommon at McHale Park in the Connacht semi-final.

Mayo: D Clarke; L O’Malley, G Cafferkey, K McLoughlin; P Gardiner (0-2), T Howley, D Vaughan; T Parsons (0-1), R McGarrity (0-1); P Harte (1-1), T Mortimer (0-2), A Dillon (0-3); A Moran (0-4), A O’Shea (1-3, 1f), B Moran. Subs: J Nallen for Howley; B Padden for Parsons; A Kilcoyne (0-2, 1 ’45) for A Moran; D Heaney for McLoughlin; M Sweeney for Dillon.

New York scorers: P Smyth (0-4), R Moran (0-2, 2fs), J McNicholas (0-1, 1f), R Caffrey (0-1), T McGovern (0-1), F Cleary (0-1).