Ros" pay penalty for missed chances as Mayo regain title

Mayo brought an end to what was, for them, something of a famine going back to 2001 in the Connacht Minor Football Championship, as they overcome Roscommon in this year"s decider at Castlebar last Sunday. The victory saw Mayo regain the Tom Kilcoyne Cup and claim their 35th title in all, in what was overall a disappointing Connacht minor final, played in dry but overcast conditions on an excellent McHale Park surface. Just as the clock struck midday when Will Kane (alias Gary Cooper) faced the Miller gang at Hadleyville in the immortal 'High Noon' showdown back in 1952, so it did at Castlebar last Sunday when referee Eamonn O"Grady signalled the start of the 40th Championship meeting (excluding replays) between these keenest of rivals. Roscommon, buoyed by that fabulous comeback against Galway in their penultimate round clash two weeks ago, and having ousted Mayo at final and semi-final level in 2006 and 2007 respectively, came to McHale Park justifiably confident of maintaining this good run against their hosts, despite this year"s quarter-final loss on May 17th at the same venue. In contrast, six years without a provincial title was a significant blemish on the Mayo CV, but that big semi-final win over Sligo, together with that earlier victory over the young Rossies, signalled their intent. What would the white heat of final day bring? Roscommon supporters travelled in very large numbers to their county"s third successive Connacht minor final appearance, and they saw their favourites, with the advantage of a strong breeze blowing toward the Pavilion end of the venue, make a very lively and encouraging start. Both teams lined out as listed on the match programme, with Gary Wynne"s charges, "though missing an early '45' opportunity, edged in front on three minutes. An Eamonn Bannon through ball to Brian Murtagh saw the centre-forward draw the foul, the free was brought forward for dissent, and the foul was punished by Dara Lennon to give his side an early lead. However, almost immediately from the kick out, a pattern would emerge which would cause intense worry to both the Roscommon team management and the big travelling support of the Primrose and Blue. Despite enjoying almost a monopoly of play over a visibly struggling and sluggish Mayo, the Roscommon attack were guilty of some dreadful marksmanship in that opening quarter. By the 15th minute, a total of eight wides were recorded by the 2006 champions, with only three points on the scoreboard against a Green and Red brigade who had failed to raise a flag. Dara Lennon (8th minute) pointed his second free following a foul on lively corner-forward Darren McDermott, but it was left to attacking centre-back Niall Daly, almost immediately, to show his shot-shy forwards the way when, following good approach work by Bernard Carthy and McDermott again, the Padraig Pearses No. 6 forged upfield to bisect the uprights. Dominant Defence An inspirational Roscommon rearguard, where Cathal Dolphin (Padraig Pearses) was in splendid form and his club colleague Niall Daly was in control in the pivotal berth, was imposing a vice-like grip on the highly-rated Mayo attack. Dolphin, along with Paddy Brogan and Neil Collins, formed a rocklike last line of defence, while close-marking wing-backs Eamonn Bannon and Michael Higgins were also being seen to great effect. In addition, Roscommon captain Eugene Stritch and, in particular, Cathal Shine (Clann na nGael) were winning the key midfield battle, but, while the attack was enjoying hard-won possession, scoring changes were being frittered away to an alarming extent. Ray Dempsey"s Mayo, who must have been thanking their lucky stars at the Roscommon scoring profligacy didn"t raise a flag until the 17th minute when corner-forward Daniel O"Hara pointed, but a further brace of Ros" points (20th and 22nd minutes) left the visitors 0-5 to 0-1 to the good. Cathal Shine (free) drove over a brilliant point from almost the midfield position, while Dara Lennon (free, foul on Niall Kilroy) further reflected the Ros" ascendancy in general play. A low-flying helicopter, which subsequently landed behind the McHale Park stand, appeared to give something of a 'lift-off' to a hitherto sluggish Mayo in the final six minutes of the half. Ballina"s Alex Corduff had a long-distance point, but Roscommon then squandered a great opportunity when, following a superb piece of fielding by Eugene Stritch, a ninth wide ensued from a gilt-edged chance. Mayo, "though against the run of play, would reduce their deficit to a single point at the half-time whistle, thanks to a brace of points from hitherto quiet full-forward dangerman, Aidan Walsh, both on the 28th minute of play. Wing back Cathal Freemen, in a typical upfield sortie, made the road for the first of these points, while sub, Dean Gavin, and earlier replacement for Ultan Crowe, did good approach work in creating the opening for the Castlebar Mitchel"s No. 14 to reduce the leeway to the minimum, 0-5 to 0-4. A sobering statistic of that Roscommon total was that not one of the starting forward sextet scored from play in that opening half - four of the points were from placed balls, while centre-back Niall Daly got their only score from play, a situation which would not improve in the second moiety. Mayo Egde Ahead Cumbersome build-up, the lack of quick ball to the potentially lethal inside forwards, and a tendency to give away hard-earned possession, together with that terrible wides total, all concerned the Ros" following at the break. On the resumption, Mayo drew level with a Raymond Geraghty point inside the opening minutes. Dara Lennon pointed his 4th free of the match - foul on Niall Daly after another of his attacking half-back exploits - which briefly restored the Ros" lead in the 34th minute, but it would be short-lived. Mayo, now wind-assisted, took the lead for the first time in this final when Aidan Walsh (free) and score-getting half-back Cathal Freeman both pointed to put the homesters narrowly in front (38th minute). Both sides exchanged poor wides before a heavy tackle on Dara Lennon by Mayo full-back Kevin Keane, was punished by the Clann marksman who pointed the free on (43 minutes). The sides were again level, but a frustrating giving away of possession led to Mayo taking a lead which they would not lose again when midfielder James Cafferty pointed just entering the final quarter. Missed Penalty Wing-back Freeman had two Mayo wides - his team were also guilty of second-half wastefulness when off-target eight times - shortly before a Roscommon move involving Michael Higgins, Eoin Sheehy and Brian Murtagh culminated in the St. Faithleach"s player being dragged down - penalty! Up stepped Dara Lennon, but his right-footed spot-kick was expertly saved by Mayo goalie and subsequent man of the match Robert Hennelly; in the follow-up, wing-forward Eoin Sheehy was penalised rather harshly by referee Eamonn O"Grady and a free-out awarded. Both teams missed further scoring chances - Roscommon finished the hour with 14 wides while Mayo were off target on 12 occasions - but Mayo would go on to imprimatur victory with two late points (58th and 62nd mins), from Raymond Geraghty and Aidan O"Shea (free) respectively to regain the Tom Kilcoyne Cup. The new Connacht champions now go on to meet the Ulster runners-up in the All-Ireland quarter-final, while Ros" meet the Northern kingpins, either Tyrone or Monaghan. Looking Forward Roscommon can still look forward to the Qualifiers with a large degree of confidence, but they must improve their accuracy up front and speed up the quality of ball delivered to their attack. Their defence, in which goalie Darren O"Malley kept another clean sheet, was well served by the aforementioned sextet who didn"t afford the much-vaunted Mayo attack too many opportunities, while midfield more than held their own against their opponents. But the fact that, in an hour"s football, no forward scored from play tells its own story - a scenario which must, and can, be reversed in their next outing. The squandering of chances was the dominant theme of manager Gary Wynne"s reaction when he spoke to reporters afterwards. He said that the side could not expect to emerge victorious having amassed so many wides, and missed so many chances. Wynne acknowledged that the team had enough possession to have won the final or at least salvaged a draw, and that a very good first-half performance was simply not reflected on the scoreboard. 'You just can"t afford to miss chances and win games,' he concluded. However, Gary, who formerly managed the county under-16 team, is very pleased with the contribution of the Minor Board, and the resources it has made available, and is confident that the progress made at minor and underage level can be maintained and improved in the future. 'You have to keep working hard with young players,' he stressed. Incidentally, 12 of the present Roscommon squad are again underage in 2009.