Shauna Howley's last-second point sealed Mayo's second championship victory over Galway last Saturday in Pearse Stadium in Salthill and booked Michael Moyles' side a place in the final four of the All Ireland series for the third year in a row. They will be testing their mettle against Kerry in Semple Stadium on Saturday week in a repeat of last year's semi-final, where the Kingdom emerged victorious.
Michael Moyles said after the game he hadn’t slept in two weeks trying to plot a way past their neighbours and great rivals Galway. "We got a lucky break and we just broke up the pitch. I thought it actually went short for a second. It’s just heart-stopping stuff at the end. But two teams that gave everything.
"This is my third year and I think every night the last two weeks, you can ask my wife, I’ve been awake trying to see ‘we could do it this way, we could do it that way.’ There’s very little between these players. The Connacht final proved that."
A dramatic late point from substitute Shauna Howley with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock snatched victory for Mayo over arch rivals Galway. Just as extra-time loomed, Galway’s attempt to work one last score from deep was punished when Ciara Needham intercepted and raced through before setting up Howley for the winner.
Mayo had the wind in the first half and picked up two points through Deirdre Doherty and Sinead Cafferky before Galway landed the first major blow on six minutes. Nicola Ward was involved in a move that included Leanne Coen, Ailbhe Davoren and Róisín Leonard before Lynsey Noone was perfectly placed to finish to the net making it 1-0 to 0-2.
It was the first of four goal chances the Tribeswomen had but they didn’t manage to convert others as Laura Brennan saved from Lynsey Noone, Shauna Brennan hit the crossbar, and Davoren was pulled for steps before slicing the ball wide.
Doherty’s second free levelled and the teams would be all square twice more by the 27th minute. Tracey and Roisin Leonard both registered placed balls for Galway; Ciara Needham and Doherty providing the Mayo response.
They looked set to enter the dressing rooms level but Mayo took advantage of an error just before the hooter. Aoife Geraghty turned over possession in midfield before delivering into Tara Needham and she pointed making it 0-6 to 1-2 at the break.
The hosts suffered a blow three minutes after the restart when Lynsey Noone received a yellow card for a challenge on Geraghty. But the Maghnus Breathnach/Fiona Wynne managed team outscored their opponents 0-3 to 0-1 over the next 10 minutes.
Two Róisín Leonard frees and one from play for her cousin Tracey were only matched by a Shauna Howley free. But Mayo did have the ball in the net on 39 minutes only for Geraghty’s effort to be disallowed for a square ball.
Howley’s second score restored parity for the sixth time on the three quarter mark and the teams traded again through Galway’s Aoife Molloy and Mayo’s Maria Cannon. Galway had a late chanced but Tracey Leonard’s effort went wide before Mayo countered for their dramatic winner from Howley before getting a late yellow card as the Connacht champions advance to the last four.
Scorers
Mayo: D Doherty 0-3 (3f ), S Howley 0-3 (2f ), S Cafferky 0-1, C Needham 0-1, T Needham 0-1, M Cannon 0-1 (1f ).
Galway: L Noone 1-0, R Leonard 0-3 (3f ), T Leonard 0-2 (1f ), A Molloy 0-1.
Mayo: L Brennan; S Lally, C McManamon, D Caldwell; K Sullivan, C Needham, E Ronayne; A Geraghty, S Walsh; S Mulvihill, F McHale, S Cafferky; D Doherty, R Kearns, T Needham. Subs: S Howley for Doherty (HT ), M Cannon for Mulvihill (43 ), L Wallace for Sullivan (51 ), L Cafferky for McHale (55 ), T O’Connor for Geraghty (60 ).
Galway: L Murphy; K Geraghty, A Ni Cheallaigh, S Ni Loingsigh; A Molloy, L Ward, S Brennan; N Ward, L Coen; L Noone, H Noone, O Divilly; T Leonard, A Davoren, R Leonard. Subs: C Trill for Brennan (HT ), S Divilly for L Noone (43 ), K Slevin for R Leonard (46 ), B Quinn for Ní Cheallaigh (50 ), E Noone for H Noone (53 ).
