Church and General National Football League Division Two
GAA News 5 February 1997
Nadir of Maughan's tenure as........
Mayo walk into Clare ambush.
Clare 2-8------------------------------------- Mayo 1-5
John Melvin
reports from Ennis
An ambush in Ennis. That's what Mayo walked into on Sunday, and,
apparently, with their eyes closed. These are not happy times for Mayo
football. Heads are down and hearts are low. And for John Maughan and his
men, the nadir of a successful eighteen month relationship was reached in
Ennis, on Sunday, when they produced the worst ever display under his
tenure, to leave them with a relegation headache with two remaining games.
Mayo's forte has always been winning matches in a photo-finish. This time they didn't even leave the starting blocks.
Some of the players looked jaded, even disheartened and perhaps some tough indoor training is beginning to take it's toll. Clare were out of sight by the time Mayo decided to shake themselves.
I have no doubt they can pick up the pieces. I shudder to think what a return to division three would do for morale facing into a difficult championship.
But management will have to be more careful how they map the course for two tricky remaining games against Leitrim and Armagh. They selected the wrong team for Sunday and some of the changes they made, and in some cases didn't make, were, to say the least, questionable.
They need all four points to avoid a relegation hassle, and that will not be easy, with Leitrim still chasing promotion, and Armagh fighting for survival.
Joke
Mayo's win over Clare in the F.B.D. league should have been regarded by the team for what it was worth at the time- a joke.Clare had eight of the team on Sunday that played in that league match in Kiltimagh. Mayo had ten. But what a difference there was in terms of performance.
The biggest topic of conversation was when did a Mayo team last fail to score in the first half of a game? We all remember when they failed to raise a flag against Kerry in the second half of the All Ireland semi-final (1981), but not even the wisest amongst us could recall when they had failed to score in the opening half.
And it was that failure, largely due to the lack of oxygen coming to the forwards from midfield, which left them chasing the game against much better motivated, better organised and much hungrier opponents, who knew they had to win this game to stay up.
It seems Mayo were unaware, that they went to Ennis facing the same peril. Unfortunately, they were ill-prepared to take remedial action and, as we had suspected, the team selected was not capable of matching up to the task.
Clare were mentally and physically much quicker than Mayo who collapsed at midfield in the first half, and were left chasing shadows at the back.
Up front was nothing short of a disaster. David Heaney, who had done well in his centre forward role last time out, was concealed in the corner, Ronan Golding didn't look a look in from full back Frankie Griffin, and despite the best efforts David Nestor and Tony Morley, Mayo couldn't cut loose up front.
But the team as a whole looked ragged, some of the passing was atrocious and, with just a handful of exceptions, there was no spirit in their game. Holmes, Costello, Mortimer and Costello tried to stem the tide at the back but to little avail.
As a contest the game was effectively over at halftime when Clare had built up a lead of 2-6. We had seen Mayo come back in the past, particularly in Portlaoise, where they ran into similar difficulties, but the fighting qualities and spirt, abundantly in evidence before Christmas, never surfaced in the second half as Clare became even more dogged and determined to hold onto two valuable home points.
Killer Goals
The two Clare killer goals came from similar types of ball, with the cross coming from the wing on both occasions. For the first goal Francis McInerney, a handful for Pat Holmes, got a touch to Michael Hynes's cross in the 6th minute and five minutes later, Aidan O'Keefe, a big influencer of the game, crossed and the ball fell for Ger Keane to poke it to the net. Mayo were 2-1 down after just 11 minutes and sinking without a liferaft in sight.And there was no sign of one either, only, as the add says, 'trouble ahead'. An injury to Pat Holmes did not help matters either, and one must ask why he was not replaced, given the extent o his obvious distress and Clare could have snatched a third goal when Barry Heffernan was beaten by Colm Clancy in the air when he came off his line-fortunately the ball just went wide.
O'Keefe added two further frees, and points from Keane and Hynes pushed Clare's lead to twelve points, although Mayo did have one very good effort for a goal when David Nestor's shot was saved by the keeper.
Mayo decided to introduce John Casey and bring James Nallen to midfield while Brian Heffernan, who arguably should have been been there from the start, was also brought on and later in the second half James Horan came into the game, although he didn't not add significantly to the attack.
But Mayo's performance still had that dishevelled look about it, despite Nallen and McHale curbing the big influence of Peter Cosgrove and Donal O'Sullivan at midfield.
It was McHale, in fact, who opened Mayo's account, more out of frustration than anything else, when he had a go from fifty yards six minutes into the second half.
That point did bring a response from those around him and Maurice Sheridan followed up with a pointed free, but Clare's reply was emphatic with an excellent score from Colm Clancy.
A sweeping move started by Nallen, and finished by McHale, who drilled the ball low to the corner of the net, provided Mayo with some light, and the big Mayo following in the crowd of over 5,000 really got behind their side, as the gap was cut to six points with fourteen minutes remaining.
But Clare just were not to be deterred, and Daly scored a great point with ten minutes remaining to leave the deficit at seven points.
Colm McMenamon got Mayo's second point from play, and in the last minute the same player saw another effort come off the upright and fall into the hands of Maurice Sheridan, who was adjudged, rather luckily I thought, to have been fouled in the square.
However, the penalty effort by the same player was well saved, albeit by a keeper who had moved off his line, long before Sheridan connected with the ball. It was the last action on a frustrating day all round for Mayo, who must now regroup and face Leitrim (Ballina) and Armagh (Charlestown). It looks like there is some hard talking and hard decisions to be made, after a performance which is hard to explain, and even harder to accept.
Mayo: B. Heffernan, F. Costello, P. Holmes, K. Mortimer, P. Coyne, J. Nallen, N. Connelly, L. McHale (1-1); P. Fallon, T. Morley, C. McMenamon (0-1); M. Sheridan (0-3); D. Nestor, R. Golding, D. Heaney. Subs: J. Casey for Fallon (23 mts); B. Heffernan for Heaney (35mts); J. Horan for Morley (37mts).
Clare: J. Hanrahan, A. Malone, F. Griffin, B. Rouine, B. Keating, M. Galvin, P. Gallagher, D. O'Sullivan, P. Cosgrove, A. O' Keefe (0-4); C. Clancy (0-1); M. Hynes (0-1); G. Keane (1-1); F. McInerney (1-0); M. Daly. Subs: C. O'Loughlin (0-1) for Gallagher, D. Keane for G. Keane.
Ref: P. McCann (Westmeath).
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - February 1997
