By Cian O'Connell

Disappointing evening at GAA headquarters for Mayo

James Horan's appraisal was accurate and honest. Moments after Saturday's disappointing Allianz Football League loss against Dublin the Mayo manager acknowledged it had been a particularly painful defeat.

Dublin set the tone and could have prevailed by a far greater margin only for a string of splendid Robert Hennelly saves.

"They were physical, bullied us a little bit and that was it, as simple as that," Horan stated.

"We got what we deserved. We were probably lucky we didn't get beaten by more."

Mayo did create scoring chances themselves, but a conversion of 0-7 from 24 efforts was another area of concern.

"Some of the shots we took weren't the right shots and then I don't know did we fully commit to some of the shots," Horan stated.

"We were hoping they'd go over as opposed to getting a really strong, good connection on it. "We'll have a chat about it and we'll move on very quickly with the learnings from it."

The condensed nature of the League means there is little time to dwell on the game because important matches are arriving thick and fast.

Six points have already been tucked into the account, but next on the list for Mayo is a Saturday evening tussle against Galway at Elverys MacHale Park.

Diarmuid O'Connor is expected to be available for that game as Mayo seek to earn a first League or Championship win against the maroon and white team since 2015.

Horan is eager to integrate new talent into the Mayo set-up and how they fare against Galway will be monitored with interest.

Boost for Cavan

Cavan weren't exactly in full panic mode, but the stakes were piled high at Kingspan Breffni on Sunday.

Galway, Kerry, and Mayo had all found a way to outfox Cavan, but there were areas of encouragement for Mickey Graham's charges in those fixtures.

That is why the game with Roscommon carried such relevance for Cavan, who relished the challenge.

Martin Reilly's dash was evident, while Conor Madden's sharp finishing yielded two smartly taken goals.

Ultimately it meant Graham was content that Cavan had carved out a much needed win. "Conor showed great hands to get on the ball and then great feet to put away his chances really well," Graham acknowledged.

"Goals are crucial in tight matches and to have someone who can put away the limited goal chances that come around in these types of matches is terrific.”

Recently Roscommon have enjoyed a good record against Cavan, but that didn't overly concern Graham.

"We didn't talk about the last number of years and what happened," Graham added. "We were focused on trying to improve and we did it a bit longer."

While Cavan did squander decent scoring chances during the contest there was still craft about the way Madden, Reilly, and Niall Murray skipped about causing problems.

Roscommon had a satisfactory start accumulating three points from their opening fixtures, but Dublin hit Dr Hyde Park on Sunday. Demanding tests are always imminent in Division One.

Kerry generating momentum

The importance of momentum is never underestimated in the GAA so the fact that Kerry have stitched a four match winning sequence together augurs well.

That the run has been achieved without a couple of marquee names adds to the feel good factor as Peter Keane seeks to develop a panel for the summer.

That is when Kerry must demonstrate how far they have travelled, but they left the west still feeling good about themselves.

Accompanied by a burgeoning support, who are clearly excited about some emerging footballers Kerry appear to be motoring in the right direction.

The mix of experience and youth was perfect to just about deal with a Galway outfit also shorn of instrumental figures.

Tommy Walsh's return to the Kerry panel supplies a proven ball winner and in the second period he made a couple of crucial fetches.

Walsh's guile and the pace of substitute Tomas O'Se helped this game go Kerry's way late on. O'Se was an accomplished minor, but his impact in Tuam Stadium was telling.

O'Se's breathless run from deep culminated in the lead point and a subsequent pass to the busy Tom O'Sullivan for the insurance score were vital plays.

Two Kerry bursts at the end of each half mattered deeply when Galway's Barry McHugh and Tom Flynn were black carded, and the Kingdom used the numerical superiority well.

“I suppose we made a bit of hay in the period just before half time in that we got Stephen O’Brien back on when they got their black card," Keane acknowledged.

"So they were very unfortunate at those two times to lose men. But we lost Stephen O’Brien then at a vital stage in the game and that didn’t help us.”

Kerry survived and sit proudly on top of the Division One pile.

Tyrone chalk up important victory

Recent spring results ensured that Tyrone and Monaghan knew that a victory had to be attained at Healy Park.

So unsurprisingly Tyrone were charmed to claim the full complement of spoils on home turf.

Just when Monaghan started to threaten before the break Tyrone were able to absorb the pressure before pulling clear in the second half.

"Tyrone got away from us," Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke admitted.

"We are missing a number of key players and it was just a struggle in the second half and I'm disappointed with the second-half performance. We just have to draw a line under it and move on."

Conor McManus' class had brought Monaghan thundering back into the reckoning following the early concession of a goal to Peter Harte.

Tyrone, though, remained cool and O'Rourke was disappointed that Monaghan are now in a tricky situation.

"It just didn't happen for us in the second half," O'Rourke added. "Against a team like Tyrone, if you give the ball away they will punish you. This result puts us in a difficult position."

Since the opening weekend win over Dublin Monaghan have lost to Roscommon, Galway, and Tyrone so avoiding relegation is the current brief.

With three games remaining only two points separate Monaghan in eight position from Dublin in third. March promises to be similarly interesting.

Goalscoring exploits throughout the country

Throughout the country on another hectic weekend of Allianz League action important contributions were being delivered.

Donal O'Hare notched a hat-trick for Down, who beat Longford in Division Three.

Louth, who are enjoying a productive run, netted five against Sligo and currently sit above Down on scoring difference. Five counties have four or more points in Division Three underlining how competitive it is with Sligo the only team yet to register. Carlow and Offaly in seventh and sixth place both have three points so it is a demanding environment.

Since surprising Laois at Croke Park there has been an admirable response from Louth, who have demonstrated character and fine forward play to claim a hat-trick of wins.

Down are in a similar vein of form under Paddy Tally and are gaining in belief.

In Division Four Waterford's Fearghal O'Cuirrin bagged a brace as they overcame Wexford's challenge too.

Derry and Leitrim continue to set the pace with 100% records, but every county in that group has sampled a win in the spring confirming just how hard fought it is.