There have been plenty of talk and plaudits for the attacking return for the Mayo full forward line of 1-10, 1-9 of it coming from play against Kerry last Sunday. While he only registered 0-1 of that total, the influence that Burrishoole's Jason Doherty had on Mayo's ability to get scores was far more influential than a scoreboard analysis will show at first glance.
The Mayo number 13 got on the ball 19 times in the game, before he was called ashore with 73 minutes gone in the game, from those possessions — Mayo chalked up 1-6 on the scoreboard and they put another five efforts wide of the post, three more shots dropped short, and one was blocked. That is 16 efforts at scores that Mayo took from the 19 plays that Doherty was involved in during his time on the field.
The Doherty files
The first half was where Doherty was most influential, he scored his point and was on the ball 12 times. From those possessions, Mayo scored 1-3 and had another three efforts go wide, and two more shots dropped short into the goalkeeper's hands.
Timeline
2.25: Got a pass from Seamus O'Shea, he played it on to Lee Keegan who took a shot that dropped short.
4.36: Got a hand pass from Keith Higgins, turned himself and shot for a point that went wide.
5.20: Got a pass from Colm Boyle, shot and scored a point.
11.48: Won a long ball in from Keith Higgins, made 25 metres before passing to Andy Moran who shot and scored a point.
15.04: Won the ball from Mark Griffin, passed it off to a Mayo player who was fouled. Kevin McLoughlin took a quick free to Andy Moran who pulled his shot wide of the post.
16.04: Got the ball from Seamus O'Shea, played it to Diarmuid O'Connor who got turned over, Doherty won the ball back and got it back to Lee Keegan who got a shot off, but it fell short into Brian Kelly's hands.
19.25: Won a long ball in from Seamus O'Shea and played the ball off to Colm Boyle, the move ended up with Boyle scoring Mayo's second goal.
20.51: Won a long ball into the Mayo attack, looked to be turned over, but he got it back and passed it to Cillian O'Connor who shot and scored a point.
22.56: Got ball from Seamus O'Shea, played in Tom Parsons who laid it off to Donal Vaughan - who got bottled up and Mayo lost possession.
30.27: Got pass from Tom Parsons' long pass out of defence with Mayo struggling to clear their lines, passed it off to Andy Moran, who worked a one-two with Lee Keegan, Moran tried to pick out Cillian O'Connor, but Kerry intercepted the pass.
34.56: Passed the ball by Seamus O'Shea, made 25 metres before passing to Colm Boyle who shot for a point but it went wide.
38.47: Got ball from Donal Vaughan, played in Lee Keegan who found Cillian O'Connor. The Ballintubber man looked to create space for a goal chance, but was turned over close to goal.
Serving it up in the second half
While he did not get on the ball as much in the second half as he did in the first Doherty still had a very influential role in Mayo's score getting in the final 35 minutes. He was on the ball seven times, and three points came off moves that he was involved in, with two more efforts going wide, one falling short, and another shot blocked down by a Kerry defender.
37.50: Picked up a hand pass from Lee Keegan, played a one-two with the Westport man and was fouled by Paul Geaney. Cillian O'Connor dropped in the resulting free to his brother Diarmuid, who knocked it down to Andy Moran who scored a point.
40.50: Was fouled off the ball, by his marker. Took the resulting free quickly to Kevin McLoughlin who found Cillian O'Connor with a pass, the Mayo captain took on a shot and scored a point.
48.52: Got a pass from Kevin McLoughlin who played the ball on to Diarmuid O'Connor who looked to get Andy Moran in behind the cover, the ball broke off a Kerry defender out for a 45, from which Cillian O'Connor's effort dropped short.
54.39: Picked up a long ball from Tom Parsons under pressure close to the sideline, fed it on to Andy Moran who shot and scored a point.
63.45: Won the ball under pressure coming out towards the 45 and played it on to Andy Moran, Mayo recycled the ball for almost a minute - before Stephen Coen was found in space, but his shot for a point was blocked down.
70.45: Got a pass from Brendan Harrision, who set Donal Vaughan free - the Ballinrobe man found Paddy Durcan who shot wide of the target.
73.05: Replaced by Conor Loftus.
