Was it a penalty? Probably not looking at the replays, but Aidan O’Shea has been fouled and dragged down enough times in his inter-county career and not gotten a free he deserved, some day a break was going to have to go his way.
Mayo needed the break too, as a dogged Fermanagh put it up to Mayo right from the off and despite only registering two scores in the second half and not raising the white flag between the 40th and 60th minute they still led Mayo by a point down the home stretch.
Mayo go into the hat on Monday morning, knowing that they will have to up their level of performance substantially once more next weekend, because there’s only so many times you can ride your luck and come out on the right side of the result and better teams won’t let you back into the game.
Was this a penalty for Mayo? Cillian O'Connor has converted it, regardless of the controversy. @rteone now. https://t.co/2mhbDJIPfY
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame ) July 9, 2016
The talk in the build up to the game was, would Stephen Rochford stick with Kevin McLoughlin as a sweeper and Keith Higgins in attack? Despite naming a side that saw Higgins wear four on his back and McLoughlin wearing ten, it was just as it was with McLoughlin sitting in front of his full back line and Higgins roaming around the half-forward line.
The other changes saw Diarmuid O’Connor come into the starting side and in a very lacklustre first half, he was one of the few shining lights for Mayo. David Clarke came in between the posts and despite Mayo losing a few early kick-outs on their own ball, Clarke had very fine game and pulled off a brilliant save from Paul McCusker just before full-time when a goal would have left just a single point between the sides. Alan Freeman also got the nod as a late change from the programmed team, coming in for Jason Doherty and while he bagged a goal, he was the man to make way with 25 minutes to go when Alan Dillion came into the fray.
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While Mayo have struggled to adapt to their new system of play, Fermanagh have a solid system that they know inside out, with Sean Quigley and Thomas Corrigan playing inside the on their own with the other 12 players sitting deep and hounding the opposition from front to back.
The visitors hit the ground running early on and were 0-4 to 0-1 up with ten minutes gone on the clock, wing-back Aidan Breen kicked the opening score of the game from out near the 45 to get things going. Diarmuid O’Connor levelled it up not long after with a well taken effort, but over the next eight minutes Fermanagh reeled off three points without reply.
Barry Mulrone finished after Fermanagh had worked hard to create the space for the wing-forward and that was followed by pointed frees from Quigley and Corrigan. Mayo finally cut through the Fermanagh defence when Seamus O’Shea picked out Evan Regan who slipped in Higgins breaking a space, the Ballyhaunis man’s effort was well saved by Christopher Snow, but Freeman was the one who reacted quickest and the Aghamore man was calm and composed finishing the ball to the back of the net. A minute later Cillian O’Connor slung an effort over the bar and it looked like Mayo were going to drive on, but it was far from that what happened. As it was the visitors who hit back and took the game by the scruff of the neck.
Corrigan slipped the ball over the bar at the end of the next play and a minute later Pete McGrath’s men had the ball in the back of the Mayo net. Mayo’s defence got caught out of position and Colm Boyle was picking up Quigley, the big Roslea man, used his body to fend off Boyle and he was clear through on goal, he danced around Clarke and rolled the ball to the empty net to silence the home faithful. Fermanagh followed that up with another Corrigan score and they were four clear on scoreline of 1-6 to 1-2 with less than 20 minutes on the clock. Cillian O’Connor cut the gap back to three with a point from a free after O’Shea was fouled as he tried to barrel in on goal. The same man cut the gap back to two, with ten minutes to go to the break, but once again Fermanagh were the ones who responded better. Breen kicked a lovely point for his second of the day and he followed that up two minutes later with another fine point. Fermanagh’s Eoin Donnelly looped one over and the final say on the scoreboard in the half went to Ryan Lyons who was found in acres of space on the run by Richard O’Callaghan. Mayo had the breeze in the second half and it was a strong one, but it looked like it was going to be a very tough ask for them to turn it around.
Mayo looked like the meant business right from the restart and Cillian O’Connor kicked a point from 40m to get things moving, it was quickly followed by a score from his younger brother to cut the gap to four. But a Barry Mulrone point not long after showed that Fermanagh weren’t going to let Mayo have it all their own way. Evan Regan responded for Mayo with a free from the right hand side and home faithful could feel something was brewing.
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Stephen Rochford opted to go for experience when he looked to the bench and threw Alan Dillion into the action. The Ballintubber man had an impact within three minutes drifting the ball over the bar from a tight spot on the right hand side. That score came just a minute after Mayo looked to have been denied a stone wall penalty when Cillian O’Connor was hauled and then held to the ground inside the Fermanagh penalty area, but Joe McQuillian thought otherwise. With 18 minutes to go on the clock, Barry Moran was thrown into the fray and the Castlebar man was another who a big impact from the bench. He fielded a number of high balls and put himself about quite well while he was on the field and surely has put his hand up to get the nod next weekend. Mayo were dominating the ball, but were finding it hard to hit the target and kicked a number of wides under pressure. Lee Keegan took it upon himself and rove the ball over the bar from well out the park to cut the gap to two.
When it came to the crunch, the likes of Keegan, Aidan O’Shea, Colm Boyle, Keith Higgins and Alan Dillon all stepped up to the plate for Mayo and showed their leadership and experience. Boyle drove over another long range score to put just one between the sides with 15 minutes to go and three minutes later, O’Connor nailed a 45 from a central position.
Fermanagh weren’t going to bend the knee that easy though and they worked the ball up the field and Seamus O’Shea committed a silly foul to giver Corrigan the simple task of tapping it over the bar to put his side back into the lead. The next score was the most vital and controversial one of the day, Kevin McLoughlin sent a great ball in to the path of Aidan O’Shea who was moving away from goal, Che Cullen was with him for company and the big Breaffy man went down under contact and McQuillian outstretched his hands and awarded the spot kick. After a three minute delay, Cillian O’Connor stepped up and drove the ball high to the roof of the net and put Mayo in front for the first time since the 14th minute and for only the second time in the game and Mayo were heading for the draw on Monday morning. Keegan slammed over a point, then Aidan O’Shea took the safe option of fisting the ball over the bar with time almost up. The final say on the game was left to the old general Alan Dillion who slipped over his second point to round off the scoring.
Mayo go on for another week at least, but they’ll know that they’ll need to be much better next time around.
Scores
Mayo: C O’Connor 1-5 (1-0 pen, 0-3f, 0-1 ’45 ), A Freeman 1-0, D O’Connor 0-2, L Keegan 0-2, A Dillon 0-2, E Regan 0-1 (0-1f ), C Boyle 0-1, A O’Shea 0-1.
Fermanagh: S Quigley 1-1 (0-1f ), T Corrigan 0-4 (0-2f ), A Breen 0-3, B Mulrone 0-2, E Donnelly 0-1, R Lyons 0-1.
Mayo: D Clarke; B Harrison, K Keane, K Higgins; L Keegan, C Boyle, P Durcan; S O’Shea, A O’Shea; K McLoughlin, S Coen, D O’Connor; E Regan, A Freeman, C O’Connor. Subs: D Vaughan for Durcan (34 ), A Dillon for Freeman (47 ), B Moran for Coen (53 ), A Moran for Regan (61 ), J Doherty for A O’Shea (71 ).
Fermanagh: C Snow; M Jones, C Cullen, M O’Brien; D McCusker, D Kelly, A Breen; E Donnelly, R O’Callaghan; B Mulrone, R Jones, R Lyons; R Corrigan, S Quigley, T Corrigan. Subs: P McCusker for Lyons (47 ), J McMahon for O’Brien (57 ), K Connor for D McCusker (65 ), C Flaherty for O’Callaghan (66 ), P McGovern for Breen (73 ).
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan ).
