Galway 0-12 Mayo 1-7:Mayo laid a perfect ambush at Castlebar but somehow at the end, it was the indomitable lions in maroon that were left standing.
Galway have sapped the faith of Mayo men before but never as cruelly as yesterday, when they were pushed to the edge by the home team only to squirm away with a last-minute dash for glory. Forget that Mayo failed to score for the last half-hour of the match or Conor Mortimer's late and poignant wide from a simple free; all in all, this was a brave attempt to stop the All-Ireland champions' slow march through Connacht.
The rave reviews and expectations that surround this Galway team are beginning to irritate John O'Mahony and yesterday, he pointed to the vapour trails above McHale Park as proof his team had been in deep trouble. But the more you look at it, trouble seems to be their preferred environment.
Galway communicate in the language of blowouts and cliff-hangers. Rarely do they operate in the comfort zone. Yesterday, they were involved in a local classic that was mostly about Mayo trying to break with their paralysing history of big-time losses. They failed but defeat was less depressing than so many that has gone before.
With Michael Moyle's stunning opening goal, a distant bullet after 16 seconds, Mayo served notice that this derby would be dictated on their terms. And they were true to their word. Moyle's goal seemed to lay an inverse template; scores were scarce after that and attackers found themselves blunted by heroic defensive efforts by each county.
For Galway, Kieran Fitzgerald Tomás Mannion and Richie Fahey were superb while Mayo's Tom Nallen, faced with the nightmare task of shadowing Padhraic Joyce, kept the Killerin genius off the ball for a good 25 minutes. Alan Roche hounded Michael Donnellan, who grew discouraged as the game entered a second-half stalemate, with Mayo desperately holding a 1-7 to 0-8 lead.
For a 15-minute period, the teams frantically sought the score of magnified importance. Eventually, it swung to Galway, with Paul Clancy deftly curling over a pass from Derek Savage. With four minutes left, Padhraic Joyce converted a free and Mayo's diminished home support, in full voice earlier on, dried a little as the age-old fears confronted them.
Cursed luck never tires of playing havoc in Mayo. With one minute remaining, young Conor Mortimer, among the best of the home attackers, was presented with a straightforward free little more than 20 metres out after his brother was fouled. Mayo have been on the threshold of liberation before only to witness some poltergeist do them down. Yesterday, Mortimer got his angle wrong and the ball drifted across the face of the posts and wide.
The rest happened in slow motion for Mayo supporters. Kevin Walsh ran to the sideline and demanded the kick-out from Alan Keane. It was promptly delivered. The bullish figure of Richie Fahey steamed forward to collect the lay-off from Walsh. All day, Galway had sought out Joyce but Mayo had frustrated him. Fahey kept the faith and pumped another ball for Joyce. This one he fetched and everyone bowed to the inevitable; the graceful turn, the composed feint, the angled point.
All of a sudden, Mayo were gone, firing a panic-stricken wide before Galway ripped open the gallant defence with Tommy Joyce floating over another quick point from the corner. After such a cagey hour, it was a sudden and breathtaking end.
With the win, the enigma of this Galway team takes on a deeper hue. It was far from their most polished hour, with several key figures looking subdued in comparison to Mayo's hungry sharpness.
But the key to them is that for all their superstars, they are basically about hard graft. Mayo built well from the back but, after knocking over two quick points from Conor Mortimer and Brian Maloney early in the second half, were never given room to finish. James Gill was given permission to display his kicking range once and early in the game at that while Marty McNicholas was tied up.
Although both sides remained true to the western principle of allowing one another to play, this was a tense encounter. David Brady entered the arena on 43 minutes and immediately fetched a ball over Walsh that drew thunderous applause. Walsh was rattled and after a skirmish found himself being summoned by referee Niall Barrett. Brady, to his credit, advised the referee not be too hard on his opponent. A yellow was flashed and that Walsh had a huge influence thereafter will not be lost on the sufferers of Mayo football.
Perhaps the quality of Mayo's defence was aided by Galway's nondescript delivery down field. The full-forward line got little quality to work with, with only Joyce making any real impact on the score sheet.
After scoring gorgeous points for fun in the muck of winter, Mayo will be perplexed at their lack of thrust in the second half. James Nallen and David Tiernan turned plenty of possession Mayo's way but all paths were blocked.
The old failing of horrible misses was not the problem here; often, Mayo couldn't even get set to shoot. Galway's low-scoring first half was partly due to the their insistence on going for goal. Matthew Clancy rapped a shot off the post and Padhraic Joyce went on a lordly canter through Mayo's centre only to have the ball poached by goalkeeper Peter Burke.
These were the signs that the All-Ireland champions would, sooner or later, make a stand. They left it late and Mayo were stout enough to at least deserve a draw. But peace settlements are not in Galway's nature. They cast a fearsome shadow for all John O'Mahony's demand for temperance.
HOW THEY LINED OUT
GALWAY: 1. A Keane; 2. K Fitzgerald, 3. G Fahey, 4. R Fahey; 5. D Meehan, 6. T Mannion,7. S De Paor; 8. K Walsh. 9. M Donnellan; 10 P Clancy, 11. J Fallon, 12. J Bergin; 22. A Kerins, 14. P Joyce, 15. M Clancy.
Subs: D Savage for Kerins (43 mins), T Joyce for Bergin (59 mins).
Booked: K Walsh (43 mins), J Fallon (51 mins), P Clancy (54 mins).
MAYO: 1.P Burke; 2. R Connelly, 18. T Nallen, 4. G Ruane; 6. J Nallen, 5. A Roche, 7. A Higgins; 8. D Tiernan, 3. D Heaney; 10. J Gill, 12. T Mortimer, 25. M Moyles; 13. M McNicholas, 14. B Maloney, 15. C Mortimer.
Subs: D Brady for Heaney (43 mins), P Coyne for R Connelly (53 mins), N Connelly for Higgins (53 mins), S Carolan for McNicholas (60 mins).
Booked: R Connelly (46 mins), N Connelly (53 mins).
