Galway 2-18

Mayo 3-18

By Pádraic Ó Ciardha at Pearse Stadium

DEFEAT to Mayo is never easy to stomach for those with a taste for Galway football but Sunday’s loss to the near neighbours won’t have had too many reaching for the Gaviscon at least.

Considering Galway have just two more home games to come between now and the end of March, the three-point defeat means Pádraic Joyce’s men are already on the back foot in Division 1 but there’s plenty of time to get back on track once the ups and downs from this season opener have been digested.

In terms of a day out, the crowd of 11,515 in Pearse Stadium couldn’t have asked for much more – splendid January sunshine, a captivating contest, a hatful of scores and a bit of a barney to boot. What’s not to like?

Well, the concession of 3-18 wasn’t ideal from a Galway point of view, nor was the spurning of 9 (nine!) goals chances at the other end to add to the two green flags that the home side did manage to raise. Galway also struggled on kickouts at various stages but with Matthew Tierney and Céin D’Arcy joining an lengthy absentee list that also includes John Maher, Cillian McDaid and Paul Conroy, there were at least mitigating circumstances.

There were also plenty of positives for Pádraic Joyce and his management team. All those absentees meant chances for some fresh faces and it’s fair to say they left an impression. Joyce named three league debutants in the starting 15 and the trio of Ciarán Mulhern, Fionn McDonagh and Oisín McDonagh finished with a combined total of 1-10 with Shane McGrath also coming off the bench to add another goal on his national league bow.

Credit also has to go to both those new and old for how they fought their way back into Sunday’s contest because there was a period in the second half when things looked as if they might get ugly for the Tribesmen.

Galway had probably edged the opening 20 minutes or so but Aidan O’Shea’s 19th minute goal put Mayo ahead again and a sloppy finish to the half from Galway meant they trailed by six at the break, 1-12 to 0-9. Darragh Beirne then found the net again after some generous marking and when Ryan O’Donoghue kicked a two-point free with a little over 20 minutes remaining, Mayo were 11 points clear and cruising towards a dream start to the Andy Moran reign.

Even without the likes of Damien Comer and Matthew Thompson, however, Galway remained an attacking threat and came roaring back into the contest. Rob Finnerty looks to have picked up where he left off last year and Salthill-Knocknacarra man knocked over a brace of points to reduce the deficit before Shane McGrath struck in the 55th minute to really eat into the lead.

Pictured: Galway’s Ciaran Mulhern and Oisín McDonagh battling for possession with Mayo’s Eoin McGreal and Bob Tuohy during Sunday’s National League clash at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.