There was confusion on the field at the final whistle after Justin Healy slotted over Mayo’s ninth point of the day - but according to the scoreboard it was their tenth, with the scoreboard operator putting up an extra point for Mayo after a free from Brendan Carr dropped in and was deflected over the bar by one of the rash of hands that went up to contest it.
However referee Brendan Healy had spotted a foul inside the penalty area and gave Galway a free out. Mayo kept plugging away and Healy slotted over a point with the last kick of the game to cut the gap to one.
While there was some protests from the Mayo players at the full time whistle, it was sorted out quickly and Galway were the rightful winners on the day.
The Tribesmen were the best side for 45 minutes of the game and were leading 1-6 to 0-2 and looking to be just a matter of seeing down the clock.
But Mayo found a second wind and worked their way back into the game to give themselves a fighting chance. Carr fired over Mayo’s third of the day and first of the second half from a free on 46 minutes, that was quickly followed by a Ronan Conlon point from play.
Padraig Prendergast then kicked two points on the bounce from frees and there was just three points in it, with ten minutes to go.
Enda Tierney hit Galway’s seventh and final score of the day with five minutes left on the clock to put four between them. Mayo kept going Adrian Leonard hit a great score on the run down the far side of the field on 56 minutes.
Justin Healy slotted over Mayo’s eighth point of the day as the game moved into injury time and the Cill Chomain man got the final score of the day right at the death but it was too little to late for Mayo, as Galway hung on for the win despite the confusion on the scoreboard.
The game really got away from Mayo in the first half with Galway going in leading 1-3 to 0-2 at the short whistle. Mayo didn’t register their first score of the day until the 24th minute when Darragh Keaveny kicked a nice score on the run, at that stage Mayo were trailing by 1-2 to 0-0 with the Galway goal coming from Thomas Gleeson, who hit 1-2 in the first half.
Mayo’s second point came three minutes before the half time break from Liam Moran after some good build up work by Keith Hopkins. It left Mayo still in the game, but three early points from Galway at the start of the second half was the decisive period in the winning of the game.
Scores
Mayo: P Prendergast (0-2, 2f ), J Healy (0-2 ), A Leonard (0-1 ), L Moran (0-1 ), R Conlon (0-1 ), B Carr (0-1, 1f ), D Keavney (0-1 )
Galway: T Gleeson (1-2 ), D Morrin (0-1 ), P O’Donnell (0-1 ), M Day (0-1 ), C Brennan (0-1 ), E Tierney (0-1 )
Mayo: M Schlingermann; R Conlon, D Lydon, B Leonard; B Duffy, C Burke, C Igoe; S Walsh, T Fahey; L Moran, A Leonard, B Carr; M McGarry, K Hopkins, D Keavney. Subs: M Forkan, C Boylan, P Prendergast, P Kelly, S Lally, J Healy
Galway: C Haslam; E O’Sullivan, D O’Ruairc, T Rabbitte; D Morrin, A Ward, P O’Donnell; M Day, C Brennan; C Brady, S Denvir, T Glesson; P E O’Currin, J Ryan, E Tierney. Subs: A Molloy, C Rabbitte, M O’Goill, S O’Currin,
