Allianz Football League Division One

MAYO 4-10 TYRONE 0-12

By Kevin Egan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park

In a lot of cases, the cliché about “playing the game on our terms” tends to mean little more than trying to attack with pace and purpose when the team in question has the ball, and trying to stop the opposition from doing the exact same thing when they don’t.

When it comes to Mayo football, it means a lot more, and that was plainly evident tonight in Castlebar.

For 20 minutes at the start of the game, it felt like Tyrone’s script was being followed to the letter. The visiting Ulstermen produced the footballing equivalent to a counterpuncher’s masterclass in the ring; they used their footwork and speed to stay out of trouble, picked their shots, and reduced Mayo to wild swings in an attempt to land something.

That was all fine, until the freestyle, full-tempo, whirlwind that is Mayo football came to play. With a typically raucous atmosphere generated by the 12,218-strong crowd, and the crowd’s energy drawing from the chaos and disruption that was generated by Enda Hession’s lung-bursting runs and Aidan O’Shea’s powerful physical presence, this contest turned on its head completely, leading to Mayo effectively wrapping the game up by the 40th minute, when Hession finished off a goal as only a Mayo corner back can do – with a dummy solo to beat the goalkeeper and set up a tap in.

This was the football that Mayo crave, and the environment where they thrive. It was frantic, full-blooded, and try as they might, Tyrone simply couldn’t take the air out of the balloon until the evening’s business was done.

The last half an hour following that score felt somewhat false, and there was an air of resignation about the Tyrone defence when they backed off Diarmuid O’Connor’s late run, allowing the Ballintubber man to crash home the fourth goal of the night. This race was run, and they knew it.

When they look back on this game, Tyrone will try to build on their early promise, where they moved the ball with precision and pace, and some excellent early points from Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan helped them into an 0-4 to 0-1 lead.

Mayo shot some dreadful wides in this time and in general looked disjointed, but there was always a sense that once they got going, the arena was ready to defy the wintry temperatures and combust. Sure enough, Enda Hession strode forward, broke tackles, and set up Aidan O’Shea for the game’s first goal.

For Tyrone, that was the wrong score to concede, and the wrong scorer to concede it to.

Their talisman had lit the match, Mayo were rolling, and they weren’t about to stop. O’Shea’s long ball after 30 minutes was fielded by James Carr and rolled into the net, and the half-time lead was six.

Five minutes after the restart, Hession exchanged passes with Ryan O’Donoghue, and slotted in goal number three. Tyrone went from the seventh minute to the 52nd scoring the sum total of three points, and just one from play.

There was nothing to take from the remainder, except that now, Tyrone could get back to playing on their own terms, but it wouldn’t matter. Mayo had things their own way for long enough to wreak the havoc they needed.

Scorers for Mayo: Aidan O’Shea, James Carr, Enda Hession, Diarmuid O’Connor 1-0 each, Ryan O’Donoghue 0-3f, Jack Carney, Fionn McDonagh, Matthew Ruane, Conor Loftus, Colm Reape (f), Cillian O’Connor, Jason Doherty 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tyrone: Darren McCurry 0-4 (0-3f), Niall Morgan 0-3f, Darragh Canavan and Frank Burns 0-2 each, Rúairí Canavan 0-1f.

Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Enda Hession; Stephen Coen, Conor Loftus, Donnacha McHugh; Matthew Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor; Fionn McDonagh, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn; Aidan O’Shea, James Carr, Ryan O’Donoghue.

Subs: Sam Callinan for Coyne (45), Paddy Durcan for Hession (45), Jason Doherty for Loftus (57), Cillian O’Connor for O’Shea (60), Tommy Conroy for Carr (67).

Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Michael McKernan, Cormac Quinn, Pádraig Hampsey; Conor Meyler, Cormac Munroe, Peter Harte; Brian Kennedy, Joe Oguz; Cathal McShane, Frank Burns, David Mulgrew; Darren McCurry, Conn Kilpatrick, Darragh Canavan.

Subs: Niall Devlin for Quinn (13-15 mins, temp), Devlin for Munroe (42), Mattie Donnelly for McShane (50), Rúairí for Mulgrew (50), Kieran McGeary for Harte (62), Liam Rafferty for McKernan (70+1).

Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan)