There was no repeat of last year's fairytale for New York as Mayo took care of business in Sunday’s sun-drenched Connacht SFC quarter-final at Gaelic Park with a 15-point win.
A new-look New York side were unable to match their heroics against Leitrim a year earlier and, despite their best efforts, they couldn't upset the odds against Kevin McStay’s seasoned squad.
Mayo’s attack was led by the outstanding Ryan O’Donoghue who produced a man of the match performance, shooting 1-13 (including 1-4 from open play) while Aidan O’Shea marked his 85th championship appearance (a new Mayo record) with an impressive display.
New York manager Alan O’Mara was only able to call on three of the players who started last year’s memorable penalty shoot-out victory due to a combination of retirements, work commitments, re-locations and injuries.
In fact, the Exiles were down a total of 17 players from last year’s squad.
The gulf in class was obvious, in particular, during the second quarter and Mayo had established a comfortable cushion by the break — leading by 1-11 to 0-02, with O’Donoghue accounting for 1-9 of that tally.
But, to New York’s credit, their heads never dropped and two superb second half goals from playmaker Frank O’Reilly and full-back Jamie Boyle were no more than they deserved.
Goalkeeper Joey Grace (20), who was lining out in the position for the first time, also enhanced his reputation with a fine display, making a string of good stops to deny goals for the likes of Paul Towey and Aidan O’Shea.
With Mayo supporters travelling to the United States in their thousands for the weekend, a capacity crowd turned out at the home of New York GAA.
But once Ryan O’Donoghue hit the homeside’s net in the 21st minute, Kevin McStay’s team never looked back as they powered to a win which keeps them on course for a shot at a first provincial title since 2021.
New York’s lack of match practice was apparent from the early stages and, even with the likes of Clare duo Cian O’Dea and Pierce Lillis in their ranks, along with Dublin’s four-time All-Ireland medallist, Emmett Ó Conghaile, they struggled to get their hands on the ball around the middle.
Mayo tried to take full advantage of the host’s inexperience from the throw-in, playing with as much pace, tempo and intensity as they could muster.
The likes of Jack Coyne, Paddy Durcan, Matthew Ruane, Fergal Boland and Jack Carney all played key roles in the game-plan, and they combined to ensure that Ryan O’Donoghue gave New York’s defence a torrid time.
O’Donoghue (free) and Killian Butler traded scores in the opening minutes before Mayo upped the ante to lead by 0-5 to 0-1 by the end of the first quarter.
Then came a huge let-off for Mayo as Killian Butler’s attempt to lob Mayo goalkeeper, Colm Reape, sailed just inches over the crossbar.
Within seconds Ryan O’Donoghue ran on to a pass from David McBrien to fire the ball past Joey Grace at the other end for the third championship goal of his career on 21 minutes.
The visitors proceeded to shoot six points without reply before the break as they seized the initiative, five from the prolific O’Donoghue and a neat score on the run from Jack Carney.
But despite their predicament, New York were much more competitive in the second half than many people might have expected.
A brilliant goal from Meath native Frank O’Reilly in the 47th minute — after he cracked an unstoppable shot into the roof of the Mayo net — got one of the biggest cheers of the day.
And even though Mayo responded impressively with points from Ryan O’Donoghue (free), Darren McHale and Fergal Boland, New York continued to drive forward.
They were rewarded with a second goal from captain Jamie Boyle in the 50th minute, but the ebb and flow nature of the game continued when Cillian O’Connor came off the bench and converted a penalty a minute later at the other end.
The teams continued to trade scores until the final whistle with the pick of them coming from Paul Towey, Jack Carney, Frank O’Reilly and Mikey Brosnan.
Joey Grace also prevented Mayo from adding to their goal tally with a string of fine saves for a New York outfit who were lining out in their first competitive game since last June’s Tailteann Cup defeat against Carlow.
This latest defeat for New York means that last year’s win over Leitrim remains their solitary championship success in 23 attempts.
Mayo’s focus will now turn to their Connacht semi-final away to Roscommon in two weeks’ time while New York will try to regroup ahead of the Tailteann Cup.
New York: J Grace; S Bolger, J Boyle (1-0), T O’Riordan; S Brosnan, C O’Dea, R Wharton (0-1); J Walsh, E O Conghaile; T Mathers, F O’Reilly (1-2, 1 mark), P Lillis; S Reilly, M Argue, K Butler (0-2).
Subs: L Kearney for Reilly; J Ajani for S Brosnan; I Ilunga for Bolger (inj); A Loughlin Stones for Mathers; M Brosnan (0-1) for Argue.
Mayo: C Reape; J Coyne, R Brickenden, S Callinan; P Durcan (0-1), S Coen, E McLaughlin; D McBrien, M Ruane; B Tuohy, F Boland (0-1), J Carney (0-2); A O’Shea (0-1, 1f), T Conroy, R O’Donoghue (1-13, 9fs).
Subs used: C O’Connor (1-1, 1-0pen) for Tuohy; D McHale (0-1) for McBrien; P Towey (0-1) for Conroy; E Hession for Coen; M Plunkett for McLaughlin; C Hunt for Durcan.
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan)
