Mayo 1-13
Cavan 0-11
Colm Gannon reports from Elverys MacHale Park
MAYO MADE IT three wins from three in MacHale Park on Saturday night with a five-point win over Cavan in front of almost 10,000 spectators.
The visitors started the brightest and were 0-4 to 0-1 ahead with eight minutes gone on the watch.
Dara McVeety opened the scoring inside the first 60 seconds and that was quickly followed by a pointed mark from Andy Moran for the hosts.
Cavan went back in front three minutes in when Jack Brady pointed after Paul Graham was fouled.
Their third point of the night came three minutes later when Raymond Galligan drove over a free from the 45-metre line.
Cavan pushed the lead out to three points through Brady’s second free from just as eight minutes had elapsed on the stopwatch.
Andy Moran cut the gap back to two points with a fisted effort after he was found in behind the cover by a Lee Keegan ball on 12 minutes and two minutes later Fionn McDonagh made it a one-point came with a sweetly taken effort off his left foot.
Jason Doherty levelled it up once again from a free just after the quarter of an hour mark, but Cavan edged themselves back into the led from a Niall Murray effort from play.
Mayo almost hit the back of the net on 22 minutes when Stephen Coen found himself in front of goal, but his effort was well saved by Galligan in the Cavan goal. The play was called back for a foul in the build-up and Evan Regan slotted the ball between the posts to pull Mayo level again.
Aidan O’Shea put Mayo into the lead for the first time on the evening, when he hammered over a mark from beyond the 45-metre line; the score getting a rousing reception from the home faithful.
Doherty hit Mayo’s seventh point from a free after Moran was fouled 25 meters out two minutes before the break but Cavan hit back with a point from Conor Rehill from a move right from the restart.
As the game moved into first-half injury time, Mayo hit the back of the net when Matthew Ruane’s shot dropped short and Evan Regan followed it in and bundled the ball out of the grasp of Galligan and into the net.
Cavan did have the last say in the half though when Conor Rehill kicked his second point of the half to send Mayo in leading 1-7 to 0-7 at the turnaround.
The second half was much slower to get going on the scoreboard with Evan Regan’s pointed free in the 37th minute the only score of the ten minutes after the resumption. Lee Keegan put Mayo five clear on 45 minutes with a long-range effort on the run as the pace began to slow down compared to the first half.
Raymond Galligan saw two long-range efforts go wide one from a free the other from a 45, before Cavan finally opened their account in the second half through a Jack Brady free after Ger Cafferkey – who had a fine game at full back for Mayo – touched the ball on the deck on 52 minutes.
Darragh McVeety cut the gap back to just three points with 15 minutes to go when he hammered over a point on the run from long range.
Donal Vaughan kicked Mayo’s first point in almost a quarter of an hour after some good build up by Kevin McLoughlin who had just been sprung from the bench. That was followed by a fine score from Brian Reape who had also been sent into the action by James Horan not long before.
Cavan responded through a Conor Moynagh score from downtown, but their challenge was dealt a major blow when Stephen Murray was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on McLoughlin with ten minutes left on the clock.
Mayo pushed themselves five points clear almost straight away after that through Doherty’s third pointed free of the night and that was followed up by a Diarmuid O’Connor point to put Mayo into a 1-13 to 0-10 lead.
Cavan did tag on another point through a Martin Reilly free deep into injury time, but by that stage, Mayo were coasting into the mid-league break with six points in their back pocket.
Scores for Mayo: E Regan (1-2, 2f), J Doherty (0-3, 3f), A Moran (0-2, 1m), A O’Shea (0-1, 1m), F McDonagh (0-1), L Keegan (0-1), D O’Connor (0-1), D Vaughan (0-1), B Reape (0-1)
Scorers for Cavan: J Brady (0-3, 3f), D McVeety (0-2), C Rehill (0-2), C Moynagh (0-1), N Murray (0-1), R Galligan (0-1, 1f), M Reilly (0-1, 1f)
Mayo
1. David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites)
2. Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore)
3. Ger Cafferkey (Ballina Stephenites)
4. Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis)
5. Lee Keegan (Westport)
6. Michael Plunkett (Ballintubber)
7. Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels)
8. Diarmuid O’Connor (Ballintubber)
9. Matthew Ruane (Breaffy)
10. Fionn McDonagh (Westport)
11. Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy)
12. Jason Doherty (Burrishoole)
13. Evan Regan (Ballina Stephenites)
14. Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
15. Colm Moran (Westport)
Subs: 26. Brian Reape (Bohola Moy Davitts) for Moran, 21. Donal Vaughan (Castlebar Mitchels) for Ruane, 22. Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore) for McDonagh, 19. James McCormack (Claremorris) for Coen, 24. Ciaran Tracey (Ballina Stephenites) for Moran
Cavan
1. Raymond Galligan (Lacken)
2. Jason McLoughlin (Shannon Gaels)
3. Padraig Faulkner (Kingscourt)
9. Killian Clarke (Shercock)
7. Conor Rehill (Crosserlough)
11. Dara McVeety (Crosserlough)
6. Ciaran Brady (Arvagh)
14. Thomas Galligan (Lacken)
8. Paul Graham (Cavan Gaels)
12. Martin Reilly (Killygarry)
13. Jack Brady (Ramour United)
5. Niall Murray (Cavan Gaels)
18. Stephen Murray (Cavan Gaels)
15. Conor Madden (Gowna)
25. Cian Mackey (Castlerahan)
Subs: 4. Conor Moynagh (Drumgoon) for Thomas Galligan; 19. Niall McKiernan (Lacken) for Madden, 10. Pierce Smith (Crosserlough) for Murray, 23. Niall Clerkin (Shercock) for Mackey, 24. Oisin Pierson (Gowna) for Jack Brady
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow)