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Galway denied as O'Donoghue snatches draw for Mayo

Updated / Tuesday, 14 Feb 2023 17:25
Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson is challenged by Mayo's Diarmuid O'Connor
Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson is challenged by Mayo's Diarmuid O'Connor

The latest renewal of this famous western rivalry ended in a welter of excitement as Ryan O'Donoghue landed a brilliant equaliser with the last kick of the game to earn Mayo a draw on the opening night of the Allianz League.

Galway looked set to repeat their championship success of last summer at the same venue as the clock ticked down, and a crowd of 13,654 were captivated as Kevin McStay’s new-look team hunted down an equaliser.

The outstanding O’Donoghue, who finished with seven points, duly delivered in the sixth minute of added time to earn the homeside a share of the spoils.

As a result, the Tribesmen were denied a fifth successive victory - in league and championship - over their neighbours in Castlebar.

Last year’s All-Ireland finalists looked to have snatched victory four minutes into additional time when Damien Comer converted a free to nudge them ahead with the finish line in sight, but O’Donoghue’s dramatic late effort meant the sides finished deadlocked in a league match for the first time since November 1997.

A Matthew Tierney goal in the 12th minute helped Galway to lead at half-time by 1-05 to 1-03.

The reigning Connacht champions opened the scoring through Damien Comer in the fifth minute before Ryan O’Donoghue (free) and All-Star midfielder Cillian McDaid traded scores in quick succession.

There were 10 minutes on the clock when Mayo hit the front for the first time in spectacular fashion as James Carr rifled the ball to the top corner of the Galway net after a mazy run through the defence.

The roars of the Mayo crowd had barely died down though when the Tribesmen hit back at the other end; Matthew Tierney beating debutant goalkeeper, Colm Reape, in the air and flicking the ball to the net after Johnny Heaney’s effort for a point had dropped short.

Moments later Paul Kelly clipped a lovely point on the run to nudge Galway ahead by 1-03 to 1-01. The end-to-end nature of the game continued when Mayo's most dangerous attacker, O’Donoghue, managed to lose his man-marker Seán Kelly and hit the target.

The second quarter of the game was more of a slow-burner, both teams continuing to try and play on the counter-attack but finding scores much harder to come by.

Mayo, in particular, missed a string of scoring chances and added just one further point to their tally in the final 23 minutes of the half — a well-taken effort from Jordan Flynn.

Galway also found it hard to make many inroads against Mayo’s inexperienced backline with Robert Finnerty (who was injured in the process of kicking an excellent point) and Damien Comer - from a mark - notching their only additional scores in the 24th and 28th minutes respectively.

The second half was as fascinating as it was intriguing.

Mayo hit the ground running with three unanswered points, courtesy of Mattie Ruane and a brace from O’Donoghue to retake the lead.

But Galway then seized the initiative when a powerful run by Cillian McDaid opened up the homeside’s defence and Seán Kelly’s low shot flew past Colm Reape.

A neat score from Paul Conroy then left the Tribesmen 2-06 to 1-06 up in the 50th minute.

Mayo refused to push the panic button and they were level inside eight minutes with O’Donoghue kicking two frees that he won himself, and debutant Bob Tuohy also raising a white flag.

During these frantic exchanges both sides were reduced to fourteen men for a spell when Ruane and McDaid were both black-carded for separate incidents.

By this stage Mayo had introduced experienced duo Aidan O’Shea and Cillian O’Connor into their attack as they chased a first home win over the Tribesmen in either league or championship for almost nine years.

However, a huge 50m free from Peter Cooke edged Galway ahead once more in the 67th minute before the aforementioned O’Connor popped up four minutes later to level the match for the fourth time.

Both sides went all out in search of a winning score in stoppage time, but nobody was prepared to blink with Comer and O’Donoghue trading scores to ensure both sides left with something.

Mayo will travel to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh for round two next Sunday while Galway welcome Roscommon to Pearse Stadium for another local derby.

Mayo: C Reape; J Coyne, R Brickenden, E Hession; S Coen, C Loftus, D McBrien; M Ruane (0-1), D O’Connor; B Tuohy (0-1), J Carney, J Flynn (0-1); A Orme, J Carr (1-0), R O’Donoghue (0-7, 4fs).

Subs used: A O’Shea for Orme (51); E McLaughlin for O’Connor (51); C O’Connor (0-1) for Carr (63); K McLoughlin for Carney (67); P Towey for Tuohy (35+4).

Galway: C Gleeson; E Kelly, S Kelly (1-00) , N Mulcahy; D McHugh, J Daly, D O’Flaherty; P Conroy (0-1), C McDaid (0-1); P Kelly (0-1), M Tierney (1-0), J Heaney; R Finnerty (0-1), D Comer (0-3, 1f), D Conneely.

Subs used: P Cooke (0-1,1f) for Finnerty (25, inj); C Sweeney for P Kelly (42); E Finnerty for Conneely (48); J Glynn for O’Flaherty (60); G Davoren for Tierney (63).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)

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