Johnny McGrath, Galway, and Ryan O'Donoghue, Mayo, in Allianz Football League action. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Allianz Football League Division One
Galway 0-26 (0-7-12) Mayo 0-16 (0-1-14)
By Colm Gannon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park
Galway saw off Mayo in ease by 10 points in Castlebar, thanks in a large part to their expertise of taking advantage of the new rules. They kicked seven two pointers in total, with two of them coming from Mayo giving away frees for not having three men back in their own half.
Mayo had held a narrow one-point lead at half time, having twice battled back from four-point deficits.
The hosts struck first, with Seán Morahan scoring within the opening minute, it was followed by a '45' from Conor Gleeson and a close-range point from Paul Conroy, giving Galway an early advantage.
Conor Reid quickly levelled for Mayo, but Galway responded strongly, with points from Sean Kelly, Shane Walsh, and Dylan McHugh pushing them three points clear.
Kelly then squandered a clear goal-scoring opportunity, his shot saved by Colm Reape, but it didn’t take long for Conroy to extend Galway's lead to 0-6 to 0-2.
Mayo attempted to begin their comeback with a point from Frank Irwin, and Davitt Neary looked to have narrowed the gap further, but his score was disallowed due to a Mayo not having three players in their defensive half and Cillian Ó’Curraoin converted the resulting free, restoring Galway's four-point cushion.
Mayo's response was swift. Paul Towey scored a fine point, and Conor Reid added another to reduce the deficit to two.
Towey then hit for the game's first two-point score, levelling the match at seven points each. Donnacha McHugh put Mayo in the lead, but then missed a chance to extend it, scuffing a close-range shot wide. Sean Kelly equalised for Galway, but Towey scored his third point of the half just before the break, giving Mayo a 0-9 to 0-8 lead.
The second half began with Walsh immediately putting Galway into the lead with a long-range two-point effort effort. Ó’Curraoin then added a point to put Galway two infront, and his two-point free extended their lead to four.
Neary responded for Mayo, but Walsh landed another long-range shot, giving Galway a commanding 0-15 to 0-10 lead with fifteen minutes remaining and he repeated the trick on 49 minutes and Galway were seven to the good and the two league points firmly in their back pocket for the trip home.
There was still time for Galway to add nine more points before the end of the game with Cillian Ó’Curraion adding a brace of two pointers and Walsh adding another two pointer to his personal tally as they ran out comprehensive winners.
Scorers for Galway: Cillian Ó Curraoin 0-10 (3 2ptf, 2fs), Shane Walsh 0-10 (2 2pt, 2 2ptf), Paul Conroy 0-2, Seán Kelly 0-2 , Dylan McHugh 0-1 and Connor Gleeson 0-1 (45)
Scorers for Mayo: Paul Towey 0-5 (1 2pt), Ryan O’Donoghue 0-3 (3fs), Davitt Neary 0-3, Conor Reid 0-2, Sean Morahan 0-1, Donnacha McHugh 0-1, and Frank Irwin 0-1.
Galway: Connor Gleeson; Johnny McGrath, Séan Fitzgerald, Daniel O’Flaherty; Dylan McHugh, Liam Silke, Séan Kelly, Paul Conroy, Cillian McDaid; John Maher, Finnian Ó’Laoí, Céin Darcy; Cillian Ó’Curraoin; Shane Walsh, Sam O’Neill.
Subs: Jack Glynn for Sean Kelly, Robert Finnerty for Sam O’Neill, Cathal Sweeney for Cillian McDaid, Johnny Heaney for Finnian Ó’Laoi, Colm Costello for Shane Walsh
Mayo: Colm Reape; Sam Callinan, Rory Brickenden, Enda Hession; Stephen Coen, David McBrien, Seán Morahan; Donnacha McHugh, Matthew Ruane; Conor Reid, Fergal Boland, Davitt Neary; Paul Towey, Frank Irwin, Ryan O’Donoghue.
Subs: Darren MacHale for Fergal Boland, Diarmuid O’Connor for Conor Reid, Eoghan McLaughlin for Matthew Ruane, Bob Tuohy for Diarmuid O’Connor, Cian McHale for Frank Irwin.
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).
