Mayo did the heavy lifting in first half in their 2014 championship opener, when they ground down the New York challenge with the minimal of difficulty. James Horan will have learned nothing new about his side, but will have been pleased to have been able to give some game time to likes of Alan Dillon who returned to Mayo colours for the first time since the All Ireland final as a second half sub, while debutant Diarmuid O'Connor marked his first senior bow with a well taken goal right at the start of the second half. The game also saw a little bit of history with the three O'Shea brothers on the field at the same time, for the first time when Conor O'Shea made his championship debut as a second half sub.
A crowd in the region of 5,000 packed out the Irish enclave in the Bronx for the game which marked one of the highlights of New York GAA's centenary celebrations.
Mayo kicked off their championship campaign with a comprehensive win over New York in the Bronx on Sunday afternoon. James Horans side went in leading by 0-11 to 0-2 at half time thanks to some impressive scoring from the likes of Jason Gibbons and Donal Vaughan. The game sprung into life right from the throw in with Vaughan pointing after 28 seconds. That was quickly followed up by a Kevin McLoughlin score after he was played in by Andy Moran. Mayo extended their lead again a minute later when Andy Moran pointed from close range after Jason Doherty forced Keith Scally to turn over the ball.
The home-side registered their first score five minutes in when Brendan Quigley kicked a huge effort from out beyond the 45m line, however Mayo responded within seconds with Vaughan scoring his second of the afternoon. Jason Kelly pointed a free for New York on the seven minute mark, but any thoughts that New York had of making a comeback was quickly quashed as Mayo went on to outscore them by 0-7 to 0-0 over the next 28 minutes.
Andy Moran fisted over after the ball broke to him from rebound from an Aidan O'Shea goal attempt, the Breaffy man had a second goal chance on the ten minute mark but saw his shot crash back off the post. Jason Gibbons drove the ball over the bar after linking up well with Seamus O'Shea down the Subway station side of the field. New York were struggling to get to grips with the Mayo midfield and half-foward line who were dominating the possession. Cillian O'Connor kicked two points with Lee Keegan and Andy Moran also finding the target before the half time whistle. There was one down side for Mayo with McLoughlin having to leave the game late in the half to be replace by Enda Varley following a tough challenge from Ronan McGinley which saw the New York man pick up a booking.
Diarmuid O'Connor struck the first goal of the game les than 30 seconds into the second half after a one two with Andy Moran played him in behind the New York defence and he gave Gavin Joyce no chance with his finish. Andy Moran added on some more pain with a point from a turn over. Mayo made a number of changes early in the second half with Tom Parsons replacing Jason Gibbons five minutes in and Richie Feeney coming on for Jason Doherty. Mayo kept the scoreboard ticking over the next 30 minutes with Cillian O'Connor finding the back of the net from the penalty spot twice, the first spot kick was awarded when Enda Varley was upended b yGerard McCartan, while Brenda Harrsion was fouled for the second.
New York kept plugging away to their credit with Ross Wherity punching over and Jason Kelly adding a few points from frees. The final blow was landed by Enda Varley when he scored Mayo's fourth goal with the final kick of the game. Mayo roll on to the Connacht semi-final in early June, where a lot stronger test will await them, but for now it's job done in the Big Apple.
Scorers - Mayo: Cillian O'Connor 2-5 (2-0pens, 5f ), Enda Varley 1-1, Diarmuid O'Connor 1-0, Andy Moran 0-3, Aidan O'Shea, Kevin McLoughlin and Donal Vaughan 0-2 each, Jason Gibbons, Lee Keegan and Darren Coen 0-1 each.
New York: Jason Kelly 0-3f, Brendan Quigley, Alan Raftery, Ross Wherity, Johnny McGeeney and Gary O'Driscoll 0-1 each.
New York:
Gavin Joyce; Ronan McGinley, Gerard McCartan, Kieran O'Connor; Keith Scally, Paul O'Connor, Denis O'Sullivan; Brendan Quigley, Alan Raftery; Paddy Boyle, Jason Kelly, Ross Wherity; John McGeeny, Keith Quinn, Gary O'Driscoll. Subs: H Curran for K O'Connor, N Farrell for P Boyle, L McGuire for K Scally J Huvane for D O'Sullivan S McNamee for N Farrell,
Mayo: Robbie Hennelly; Tom Cunniffe, Kevin Keane, Keith Higgins; Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, Donal Vaughan; Jason Gibbons, Aidan O'Shea; Diarmuid O'Connor, Seamus O'Shea, Jason Doherty, Kevin McLoughlin, Andy Moran, Cillian O'Connor. Subs: E Varley for K McLoughlin, R Feeney for J Doherty,T Parsons for J Gibbons C O'Shea for A Moran, A Dillon for D O'Connor, B Harrison for K Higgins, D Coen for C O'Connor
