The Kevin McStay era began in a similar fashion to James Horan’s last outing against Galway in Castlebar – Mayo pressing desperately in search of an equaliser.
nly this time they managed to find one, via Ryan O’Donoghue with the final kick of a Division 1 contest that ebbed back and forth, and yet a game that Galway looked like winning for the most part.
That will frustrate Pádraic Joyce, especially the manner in which they kicked possession straight back to O’Donoghue, racing onto a loose clearance after his initial touchline free, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, had fallen short.
Twice in the closing stages, Galway appeared to have won it – first from a booming Peter Cooke free, then from Damien Comer’s far easier free after 74 minutes. But each time, first from Cillian O’Connor, then from O’Donoghue at the death, Mayo found an answer.
The lust for football in this part of the world shows little sign of abating, evidenced by an official attendance of 13,654 at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park. They were treated to exactly what you’d expect from a derby duel in late January: plenty of raw endeavour, sporadic bouts of the sublime mixed with a plethora of mistakes.
The first half was a strange affair, comprising extended spells where little appeared to happen followed by bursts of individual brilliance.
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Mayo manager Kevin McStay, left, and Galway manager Pádraic Joyce after the drawn Allianz Football League Division 1 match at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The latter included Comer’s eye-catching opening point, cutting in from the left flank past Rory Brickenden to fire over; then a soaring Comer ‘mark’ to instigate Cillian McDaid’s score from the opposite flank, reminiscent of several McDaid points during his dazzling summer of 2022.
That left the visitors 0-2 to 0-1 ahead. But then, out of nothing, they trailed by two, thanks to a spectacular James Carr in the tenth minute. This wasn’t the first moment of Carr’s audacity to flummox the Tribesmen – remember his famous solo run goal in 2019 that became a YouTube sensation – but it differed in execution, a stunning 20m howitzer to the top left corner of Conor Gleeson’s goal.
Within three minutes, however, Galway responded with a more streaky goal of their own. Johnny Tierney was clearly going for a point, but his shot fell and the rising Matthew Tierney capitalized on indecision between ‘keeper Colm Reape and the last defender, corner-forward Aiden Orme, to flick home.
Galway led by two points when corner-back Eoghan Kelly was black-carded for reasons that weren’t entirely clear. By the time he returned ten minutes later, Galway still led by one had lost Rob Finnerty, injured by a late tackle in the act of scoring.
After a sloppy second quarter, the visitors retired with a two-point cushion, 1-5 to 1-3.
The oscillations continued after the break: Matthew Ruane’s point within 11 seconds of the restart sparked a run of three Mayo points to edge them in front. Then McDaid’s penetrating run and handpass over the top released skipper Seán Kelly for a calmly finished goal on 45 minutes.
Paul Conroy made it a three-point gamer, but Mayo had closed the deficit to one before Ruane was sin-binned. A subsequent black for McDaid, cited for dragging down sub Aidan O’Shea, canceled any numerical Galway advantage as tensions and excitement rose down the home straight.
Scorers – Mayo: R O’Donoghue 0-6 (4f), J Carr 1-0, J Flynn, M Ruane, D O’Connor, B Tuohy, C O’Connor 0-1 each. Galway: M Tierney, S Kelly 1-0 each, D Comer 0-3 (1m, 1f), C McDaid, P Kelly, R Finnerty, P Conroy, P Cooke (f) 0-1 each.
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James Carr of Mayo shoots to score his side’s first goal, under pressure from Eoghan Kelly, 2 and Neil Mulcahy of Galway during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Mayo: C Reape; J Coyne, D McBrien, R Brickenden, S Coen, C Loftus, E Hession; M Ruane, D O’Connor; J Carney, B Tuohy, J Flynn; R O’Donoghue, J Carr, A Orme. Subs: A O’Shea for Orme (52), E McLaughlin for O’Connor (52), C O’Connor for Carr (64), K McLoughlin for Carney (68), P Towey for Tuohy (75).
Galway: C Gleeson; S Kelly, N Mulcahy, E Kelly; D McHugh, J Daly, D O’Flaherty; P Conroy, C McDaid; P Kelly, M Tierney, J Heaney; R Finnerty, D Comer, D Conneely. Subs: P Cooke for Finnerty (inj 26), C Sweeney for P Kelly (inj 43), E Finnerty for Conneely (49), J Glynn for O’Flaherty (60), G Davoren for Tierney (64).
Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).