Seán McEvoy, Cavan, and Enda Hession, Mayo, in All-Ireland SFC action. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group One
Cavan 1-17 (1-1-15) Mayo 1-14 (1-1-12)
By Colm Gannon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park
Cavan came to Castlebar as the outsiders, but left with a well deserved win following a storming second half that saw them outscore Mayo by 1-13 to 1-7 in the final 35 minutes.
Raymond Galligan’s side trailed by three points at the break, but within two minutes of the resumption they were back on level terms thanks to Gerard Smith's well taken goal.
Cian Madden and Pádraig Faulkner rattled off quick points to follow the goal and Cavan were off and running and Mayo were never able to get in front of them again.
Ryan O’Donoghue and Dylan Thornton hit quick fire scores for Mayo to level it up, but a Oisin Kiernan effort and a brace of Cian Madden efforts had their side in a three point lead by 47th minute.
Stephen Coen reeled off two points on the bounce for Mayo to bring it back to a one point game, but Cavan were not for turning.
Cormac O’Reilly pointed and then Oisín Kiernan hammered over a two pointer and Cavan were four clear and driving for home. Dara McVeety hit two on the spin, Cian Reilly charged the whole length of the field to raise the white flag and Paddy Lynch pointed to break the back of the Mayo challenge.
Mayo were held at arm's length down the home stretch with an Aidan O’Shea goal with the last play of the game putting some gloss on the final scoreboard – but Cavan were well deserving winners. .
Three points separated the sides at half time with the hosts the ones holding the advantage after a stop-start first 35 minutes plus seven of injury time.
Cavan’s efforts weren’t helped when they lost both Barry Donnelly and Sean McEvoy to injuries during the opening half.
The visitors controlled the game in the opening ten minutes and were two points to the good thanks to a Cormac O’Reilly free and Ciaran Brady effort after he drove through the heart of the Mayo defence.
Ryan O’Donoghue got Mayo’s first point of the day from a free after 17 minutes had elapsed. Oisín Kiernan pushed the Ulster men back into a two point lead from the next play.
Both sides then had efforts for goals that failed to hit the net, with Ryan O’Donoghue pulled his shot wide of the post and Cormac Reilly seeing his effort from close range smothered by Colm Reape.
Ryan O’Donoghue levelled the game up on 21 minutes with a two point free and not long after Davitt Neary had a chance got register the first major of the game, but his effort was blocked by a Cavan defender.
Darren McHale put Mayo in front for the first time 27 minutes in with a well taken effort on the loop, but the sides were all square once more not long after though a Cormac O’Reilly point after he held off a number of Mayo defenders to punt over from close range.
Mayo were temporarily reduced to 14 players when Davitt Neary was shown a black card for a blocking off the run of a Cavan defender, but it was his team-mates who stepped up on the scoreboard over the closing minutes of the game.
Stephen Coen saw a two point effort tipped over the bar by Liam Brady to reduce it to a single, he then got his second of the day not long after before the scoring was rounded off by a Matthew Ruane point to have Mayo leading by three at the short-whistle.
Scorers for Cavan: Oisín Kiernan 0-5 (1 2pt), Cian Madden 0-3 (1f), Cormac O'Reilly 0-3, Gerard Smith 1-0, Pádraig Faulkner 0-1, Ciarán Brady 0-1, Cian Reilly 0-1, Brian O’Connell 0-1, Paddy Lynch 0-1, Dara McVeety 0-1.
Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-5 (1 2ptf, 3fs), Stephen Coen 0-4, Aidan O’Shea 1-0, Matthew Ruane 0-2, Darren McHale 0-1, Dylan Thornton 0-1, Fergal Boland 0-1.
Cavan: Liam Brady; Cian Reilly, Brían O’Connell, Niall Carolan; Killian Brady, Ciarán Brady, Padraig Faulkner; Barry Donnelly, Evan Crowe; Gerard Smith, Dara McVeety, Oisin Kiernan; Cormac O’Reilly, Ryan Donohue, Sean McEvoy.
Subs: Cian Madden for Barry Donnelly, Oisín Brady for Seán McEvoy, Paddy Lynch for Ryan Donohue, Luke Fortune for Ciarán Brady, Ryan O’Neill for Cormac O’Reilly, Luke Molloy for Evan Crowe.
Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Dylan Thornton; Sam Callinan, David McBrien, Enda Hession; Stephen Coen, Matthew Ruane; Davitt Neary, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn; Aidan O’Shea, Darren McHale, Ryan O’Donoghue.
Subs: Fenton Kelly for Jack Carney, Paul Towey for Davitt Neary, Paddy Durcan for Enda Hession, Fergal Boland for Jordan Flynn, Frank Irwin for Darren McHale.
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).
