Mayo are the National Football League division one league champions after an intriguing yet somewhat controversial win over the old enemy Galway on a scoreline of 0-14 to 0-11.
The league show piece was a strange game. Mayo were coasting- playing all the football for the first 16 minutes racing into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead.
They completely dominated Galway and looked like they were going to win in a canter but then the incident that has divided opinion occurred and Mayo looked like a different team in the immediate aftermath.
A ball was played over the top for Johnny Heaney to latch on to, Heaney tried to loop the ball into the net over the onrushing Colm Reape. The attempt went narrowly wide but Reape's momentum ensured he clattered into Heaney who did get injured in what was a pretty ferocious hit.
At first instance the referee, Brendan Cawley didn't even deem it a foul; however somebody got in the ref’s ear and he ended up booking Reape and giving a free in to Galway as a result.
In real time it looked like Reape was perfectly entitled to go for the ball and man as it happened in this case.
From an early age it's one of the first things keepers are taught to do in such instances, but it was the collision that a few have deemed dangerous andunnecessary and some feel the sanctions should have been a lot stiffer than a yellow card and a free in.
It has created great debate across all social media platforms this week. No matter what level you are playing at, every manager would want their keeper to clear out the danger in such circumstances.
The fact that Reape went on to have his best ever game in a keeper's jersey compounded the misery for Galway.
That is the slight worry after the win, the fact that our keeper collected the man of the match accolade. He made four crucial saves and scored three sublime points in the process.
Two of the saves were top drawer. Reape's outstretched leg in the first half denying the rampaging Johnny Maher a clear green flag was critical while in the second half I'm sure Damien Comer felt the ball was hitting the back of the net when he cut inside Paddy Durcan until Reape somehow got down smartly to his left to keep it out at his near post. Had Comer's attempt went in that would have put Galway in front for the first time in the game in the 62nd minute, that's how important it was.
Mayo would have been in real trouble had Comer scored. Mayo didn't play brilliantly in this game, they played in fits and starts after dominating those early stages.
Two crucial scores at the end of the first half from Ryan O’Donoghue stemmed the Galway tide somewhat to leave it 0-8 to 0-5 at half time. O’Donoghue ended the game with 0-7 to his name, five frees and two marks. Mayo's spread of scorers won't exactly strike fear into the Roscommon camp.
Only two forwards scored a point each from play while the very impressive Paddy Durcan and Jack Coyne were the only other two scorers from open play. Worryingly Mayo didn’t score from play from the 16th minute until the first minute of injury time when Coyne raced forward for his point after previously intercepting a Galway attack with a brilliant defensive mark.
Despite not scoring from play, Aiden O’Shea and O’Donoghue had very effective contributions to help Mayo secure their 13th NFL title.
Five Mayo players were chosen on the GAA.ie team of the week which is always a healthy sign when you are playing a final in Croke Park, but Kevin McStay and his management team will know many others will need a marked improvement in their performance levels when Roscommon come to Castlebar on Sunday.
The warning signs were there when Mayo played the Rossies in the league, a last gasp block by Diarmuid O’Connor denying Ben O’ Carroll a certain goal to win the game for Davy Burke’s team.
The warning signs were also there last Sunday too as Mayo got opened for too many goal chances far too easily. These little chinks and a better return from our forward division are crucial for this Sunday.
When Mayo won the league in 2019, the Rossies gatecrashed the party in Castlebar a few weeks later after an inspired performance from Conor Cox helped them to a 2-12 to 0-17 win.
It was an awful set back after winning the league that year. The games are going to come thick and fast and any complacency will be exploited.
Lets not forget we have the three teams that finished in the top three places in Division One of this years league all on the same side in the Connacht championship which makes for a very exciting championship for all us out West.
It's a pity Mayo didn't get to celebrate their NFL title with the proximity of the Roscommon clash. That no doubt will be done on Sunday evening as long as the Rossies don't spoil another party.
