Mayo's Cillian O'Connor celebrates at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group Two
Mayo 0-20 Cavan 1-8
By Kevin Egan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park
A last second injury that saw team captain Paddy Durcan carried off was the only black mark on an otherwise comfortable evening for Mayo in Castlebar, as they eased to victory over a lacklustre Cavan side.
Despite playing with a strong breeze in the first half, Cavan took a long time to get into this contest and with 20 minutes played, Mayo were full value for their 0-7 to 0-1 lead.
Cavan operated with effectively two men in each of the half and full forward lines, but still struggled to close down the space in front of their own goal. Slick movement and excellent accuracy from the home side – they hit the target with nine of 10 point attempts in the opening half – ensured they slowly but methodically put distance between the sides, with all five of their points in the opening quarter hour coming from open play.
James Smith tried to give Cavan an attacking focal point at full forward, but the absence of Paddy Lynch was sorely felt, and even though Oisín Kiernan (Denn) gave the Ulster county’s supporters something to cheer about with a fine score from the wing in the 23rd minute, Mayo still controlled the majority of possession and seemed to be able to play the game with little or no pressure.
When Jack Carney pointed to make it 0-9 to 0-3 coming up to half-time, the question was how Cavan were still so close, and that felt doubly pertinent when a point from Ciarán Brady and an Oisín Brady free before half-time reduced the gap even further.
That sense of leaving a misfiring underdog in the game persisted when Ryan O’Donoghue’s free to start the second half was cancelled out by a score from Tiarnan Madden, but the Mayo-dominated crowd of 9,117 needn’t have worried, as they easily tacked on the next four points of the game, without ever hitting any real high notes.
Stephen Coen’s effort summed up the comfort that they enjoyed, as he stroked the ball over the bar at the end of a move where Diarmuid O’Connor collected Colm Reape’s kickout, Jack Carney was the link man between the two, and all three Mayo outfielders were able to strike the ball without pressure, and without having to move at a particularly high tempo.
A goal from James Smith – an opportunist score from close range after Cian Madden’s initial effort was blocked – briefly cut the lead to six, but once again Mayo were able to quickly quell any potential uprising with scores from Cillian O’Connor and Ryan O’Donoghue.
The introduction of Durcan and Aidan O’Shea drew arguably the loudest cheer of the day, but that backfired as with the very last play, Durcan drove forward and suddenly pulled up, and looked in real discomfort as he was helped off the pitch.
For Cavan, a tilt at the Dubs in a fortnight looks daunting.
Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-7 (4fs), Cillian O’Connor 0-4, Matthew Ruane 0-3, Darren McHale 0-2, Jack Carney 0-1, Eoghan McLaughlin 0-1, Conor Loftus 0-1, Stephen Coen 0-1.
Scorers for Cavan: Oisín Brady 0-5f, James Smith 1-0, Oisín Kiernan (Denn) 0-1, Ciarán Brady 0-1, Tiarnan Madden 0-1.
Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Sam Callinan; Eoghan McLaughlin, Donnacha McHugh, Stephen Coen; Matthew Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor; Jack Carney, Darren McHale, Jordan Flynn; Ryan O’Donoghue, Cillian O’Connor, Tommy Conroy.
Subs: Conor Loftus for McHugh (49), Bob Tuohy for Carney (49), Paddy Durcan for McLaughlin (56), Aidan O’Shea for Conroy (56), Paul Towey for Ruane (62).
Cavan: Gary O’Rourke; Cian Reilly, Killian Brady, Brian O’Connell; Conor Rehill, Niall Carolan, Conor Brady; Oisín Kiernan (Denn), Ciarán Brady; Jason McLoughlin, Gerard Smith, Oisín Kiernan (Castlerahan); Pádraig Faulkner, James Smith, Oisín Brady.
Subs: Tiarnan Madden for K Brady (20), Luke Fortune for Rehill (30), Cian Madden for Carolan (HT), Cormac O’Reilly for Kiernan (Castlerahan; 47), Darragh Lovett for Conor Brady (66).
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath).
