Page 25 - INTO THE WEST - March-April 2018

Brennan stars as Mayo hammered
Mayo .................0-8 Tyrone ..............2-14
By RONAN O’NEILL Media West Ireland
LEE Brennan kicked 1-3 for Tyrone but it was a new low for Mayo football as they succumbed to a sorry 12-point defeat at the hands of the Ulstermen at MacHale Park in Castlebar.
Mayo had a poor campaign prior to this game but with just four scorers on the day Stephen Rochford’s side were desperate in front of their home fans.
Mayo had already fallen to defeats against Kerry, Galway and Dublin in the league this year, but this one is likely to have hurt the most.
Conor Loftus was the one bright spark, with his five points, but they conceded far too much, and Conal McCann also hit the net for the rampant visitors.
There were 10,013 in attendance and they saw Mayo trail by 0-8 to 0-3 at half-time, in a game filled with drama from start to finish.
Cillian O’Connor and Lee Keegan both left the field injured for Mayo in the first half, with Colm Boyle getting red and Andy Moran, black.
Padraig McNulty got a red card for Tyrone, while Colm Cavanagh was given black and Hugh Pat McGeary exited injured.
Mattie Donnelly kicked Tyrone in front inside the opening minute, before Tom Parsons equalised, before Tyrone took over with Donnelly, Niall Sludden, Frank Burns and Lee Brennan
(twice) all finding their range.
They continued to pile on the pressure into the
second half and Brennan scored the crucial first goal after half-time.
Tyrone were 1-13 to 0-4 in front with ten minutes left and there was still time for McCann to hit the net for a second Tyrone goal.
SCORERS – Mayo: Conor Loftus 0-5 (4f),
Tom Parsons 0-1, Neil Douglas 0-1, Fergal Boland 0-1
Tyrone: Lee Brennan 1-3, (2f), Matthew Donnelly 0-4, Conor McAliskey 0-3, (3f), Conal McCann 1-0, Frank Burns 0-1, Niall Sludden 0-1, Declan McClure 0-1, Conor Meyler 0-1.
MAYO: D Clarke; C Crowe, G Cafferkey, E O’Donoghue; C Boyle, L Keegan, S Coen; A O’Shea, T Parsons; D O’Connor, J Doherty, A Gallagher; K McLoughlin, A Moran, C O’Connor.
Subs: C Loftus for C O’Connor (11, inj), P
Durcan for L Keegan (34, inj), S O’Shea
for A Moran (40 b/c), F Boland for J
Doherty (55), N Douglas for D O’Connor
(55), C O’Shea for A O’Shea (60 mins).
TYRONE: M O’Neill; H P McGeary,
P Hampsey, C McCarron; C
Meyler, F Burns, P Harte; C
Cavanagh, P McNulty; M
Donnelly, N Sludden, C McShane;
L Brennan, C McAliskey, M
Bradley. Subs: M McKernan for H
Pat McGeary (20, inj), D McClure
for C Cavanagh (27, b/c), K McGeary
for N Sludden (39), D Mulgrew for M
Bradley (51), C McCann for C McAliskey (55), R Bren- nan for C McCarron (67).
REFEREE: Maurice Deegan (Laois).
sinks Donegal
Mayo began to think about life in the second tier for the first time in 20 years.
There were 11,250 in attendance as Mayo kicked the first four points before Donegal wrestled complete control of proceedings. Michael Murphy and Eoghan Ban Gallagher were to the fore for them.
They kicked seven in a row with Ciaran Thomp- son, Gallagher and Murphy finding their range and the hosts led by three at half-time.
Loftus starred in the early stages of the second half and he kicked four points as Mayo got back in touch, now only trailing by the minimum.
But Murphy and McBrearty helped Donegal into what looked like an unassailable lead, only for McLoughlin to show that Mayo are still worthy contenders at the top table.
SCORERS – Donegal: Patrick McBrearty 0-4 (2fs), Jamie Brennan, Michael Murphy (1f), Eoghan Ban Gallagher 0-2 each, Odhran Mac Niallais, Ciaran Thompson 0-1 each.
Mayo: Conor Loftus 0-6 (4fs), Andy Moran 0-3, Kevin McLoughlin 0-2, Eoin O’Donoghue, Jason Doherty 0-1 each.
DONEGAL: S Patton; P McGrath, N McGee, E Doherty; P Brennan, L McLoone, E Gallagher; C Thompson, H McFadden; F McGlynn, M Murphy, O Mac Niallais; N O’Donnell, P McBrearty, J Brennan. Subs: McHugh for O’Don- nell (45), S McBrearty for Thompson (58), C Morrison for McGrath (58), C Ward for McGee (61), C Mulligan for Brennan (68).
MAYO: D Clarke; C Crowe, D
Drake, E O’Donoghue; C Boyle, S
Coen, P Durcan; S O’Shea, T
Parsons; K McLoughlin, A O’Shea, D O’Connor; J Doherty, A Moran, C Loftus. Subs: M Hall for Drake (63), F Boland for S.O’Shea (65), B Moran for Parsons (68), A Freeman for Doherty (70).
REFEREE: A Nolan (Wicklow).
ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DIVISION 1 ROUND 5
FIST: Mayo defender Ger Cafferkey clears a ball ahead of Tyrone’s Conor McAliskey in their NFL Division 1 tie at Castlebar. Photo: Seb Daly / SPORTSFILE.
DIVISION 1 ROUND 6
EQUALISER: Mayo’s Kevin McLoughlin kicks a last-minute point to keep Mayo in Division 1.
Photo: Oliver McVeigh/SPORTSFILE.
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