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Bane blows Mayo away
 By
David Thorpe
The weather was unseasonably warm by the seaside at Salthill on Sunday
but Mayo were still blown away by a Galway hurricane which left their
fans wondering if the glory days in Mayo football are over.
Galway’s find of the season has been Cormac Bane who has moved into
the forward line after beginning the new season at full- back.
The Caherlistrane club man lashed in two first-half goals to set Galway
on their way to a comprehensive seven-point victory.
The Corribsiders were superior in every area of the field and defensively
have improved massively since last year.
Corner-back Damien Burke marked Conor Mortimer into oblivion and did the
same when Ciaran McDonald was introduced in the second-half.
Mayo manager John O’Mahony offered no excuses for the mauling suffered
by his team.
He said: “Galway performed well and we didn’t. People will
compare this with the darkest days of Mayo football. All we can do now
is try to rebuild for the qualifiers.”
Mayo managed just two points from play over the course of 70 minutes and
shockingly hit a dozen wides.
There wasn’t much between the sides in the opening quarter with
the sides level at 0-3 apiece after 12 minutes.
But as soon as Bane hit his two goals separated by just five minutes
the Mayo players dropped their heads and from then on in were never in
the game.
As the spectators streamed out of Pearse Stadium the talk was of how hard
Galway had worked.
Padraic Joyce and Ja Fallon had too much class for a flat-footed Mayo
defence while Joe Bergin commanded midfield.
But of most concern to Mayo will be that their old failings in the forward
line resurfaced.
Galway manager Peter Forde wore the look of a man vindicated as he was
embraced by a scrum of spectators following the final whistle.
Forde was seen by many in Galway as being lucky to have retained the manager’s
job after a poor season last year but this result will surely produce
a first Connacht title in three years for the Tribesmen.
He said: “We need to achieve a bit of consistency but we’ll
enjoy today and then get back to work because we know there is a lot more
to be done, we have won nothing yet.”
Galway will face either Leitrim or London in the next round and if they
can reproduce the form they showed against Mayo, it could be a long and
glorious summer for the men in maroon.
If Mayo are to return to Croke Park they will have to do it via the long
and uncertain route of the qualifiers. |
