Local Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty

Mayo League 1

Galway League 1

That old phrase “if this was a boxing match, the towel would be thrown in” certainly comes to mind following this Oscar Traynor Cup tie in Milebush on Sunday afternoon. While Galway were overall the better team, they trailed at the break as Mayo made the most of the limited chances that came their way.

The same could certainly not be said of the visitors, who were dominant in the opening half, but not overly so and still had by far the better of the chances. The second-half, however, was a different matter as apart from one breakaway, Mayo were on the back foot as their goal led a charmed life for the majority of the time.

It would not be an exaggeration to say the visitors had eight to 10 good chances, but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping by Stefan Hester allowed the game to stay in Mayo’s hands until deep in additional time.

The clock was in the 97th minute when Adam Duffy swung in Galway’s sixth corner of the half and somehow in a packed area, it was central defender Crowe who got a toe to a breaking ball and flashed it to the net and tied up matters at 1-1.

Due to injury and unavailability, there were three changes to the side that was 2-0 winners over Roscommon 2-0 in the opening outing: TJ Forde replaced Arek Mamala in goal, while Aidan Coyle and Colm Whelan started in place of Mikey Fox and Joe Collins.

Mayo had kicked off their campaign with a 4-1 away win over Sligo-Leitrim and indeed had seen off Galway very comfortably in their meeting in Eamonn Deacy Park last season, but a completely new Galway side offered a different proposition on this occasion.

The opening half hour was reasonably balanced. but the longer the game went on, the more the visitors grew into it. It was certainly Brendan O’Connor’s charges who offered the best early scoring opportunities as Whelan headed wide, before Timmy Molloy lashed an effort off target.

An Aidan Coyle free-kick was pushed around the post by Hester; while Padraic Cunningham should have hit the target with a header after getting on the end of an Aaron Neary cross.

However, it was Mayo who broke the deadlock on 26 minutes when Ben Edeh forced the ball home at the second attempt after a combination of Coyle and Nathan Ward had blocked his initial effort. Pretty quickly normal service was resumed at the other end, with a Whelan shot turned away by Hester the closest to a reward.

On the resumption a firm challenge by Ioseph O’Reilly ended a Cunningham run on the edge of the box, before the chances for Galway began to come thick and fast. With Molloy the midfield driving force alongside Neary and Coyle, the trio kept the visitors on the front foot.

Pictured: The Knocknacarra FC squad that was beaten 3-1 by Colga in the SFAI U-12 Cup clash in Cappagh Park last weekend, with Aidan Morley scoring for the home side. Back row, from left: Owen Cambell, Ronan Fahy, Sean Casey, Frank Reaney, Aidan Morley, Sean Parr, and Luke Flaherty. Front: Jack Browne, Ruby Meaney, James McCallig, Cuan MacGearailt, and Mathis Vaux. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.