Cavan full value for victory over Mayo as Paddy Lynch returns
All-Ireland SFC Group 1 round oneMayo 1-14 Cavan 1-17CAVAN and Mayo are both already looking ahead to taking on Donegal and Tyrone respectively – but both may reflect on the difference 12 months have made.Exactly a year ago the westerners strolled to an All-Ireland SFC group victory over the Breffnimen by nine points, 0-20 to 1-8.This time, though, Raymond Galligan’s men might have won by something close to that margin, fully deserving of their first Championship success over Mayo since the 1948 All-Ireland SFC Final.They were eight up after substitute Cian Madden put the icing on their cake with his third point (second from play) as this game headed into added time, and Aidan O’Shea’s last-gasp goal for Mayo can hardly count as any consolation.The victory was the result of a superb second half, with the visitors outscoring their hosts by 11 points, 1-13 to 0-5, before that flurry of 1-2 in the four added minutes made the scoreline look more respectable for Mayo.Yet Cavan probably shouldn’t even have trailed at half-time, having been the better team against the breeze, until they were unsettled by the losses to injuries in quick succession of Barry Donnelly and Sean McEvoy.Galligan attributed this surprise win to hard work, not only in MacHale Park but also on the training pitches since a fairly limp Ulster exit away to Tyrone more than a month ago:“We knew there was huge scope for improvement. I’m immensely proud of the way they worked for each other, they never gave up, fought for every ball.“I think our accuracy was really good as well. At both ends of the field we reaped the rewards of a really good five weeks.”Matthew Ruane of Mayo in action against Evan Crowe of Cavan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar.
Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile (Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE/SPORTSFILE) Certainly Cavan had their shooting sights set right, especially in the second half, when they recorded only wide, to add to five before the break.Three of those had come early on when the Breffni Blues went at Mayo from the outset, determined not to be out of the contest early on, as they effectively were in last year’s group opener in Castlebar.Their three losses in the All-Ireland series were sandwiched by Ulster defeats against Tyrone, so any win would have been welcomed, but to do so away to Mayo is a real confidence booster for Cavan.The Breffnimen were ‘favourites’ to finish bottom of this section, but Galligan was not bothered by such talk:“People are entitled to their opinion, and we are that bit lower in the League… But we knew inside the group that we’re in a much better place. We were a kick of a ball away from Division One.Cork wing-forward Seán McDonnell looks for a way past Cavan defender Padráig Faulkner.
Photo: Adrian Donohoe. “We were confident we wouldn’t be far away once we stayed in the game, because Mayo obviously are very much a momentum team.”The problem for Kevin McStay was that his side only really produced that elusive quality in the second quarter of this game, notably, if strangely, when they were down to 14 men after a black card for wing-forward Davitt Neary blocking off the run of Cavan joint-captain Padraig Faulkner.Their skipper Stephen Coen showed unexpected scoring ability, notching two points from play, and Matthew Ruane also got on the scoresheet to take Mayo into a 0-7 to 0-4 half-time time.Yet that was wiped out in less than two minute by a well-worked goal, the ball fired confidently to the net by Cavan wing-forward Gerard Smith after a chain of handpasses.Although two more scores from Coen had Mayo within a point midway through the second half, Cavan then outscored them by seven points to one ad their forced turnover after turnover and broke at pace.Paddy Lynch did the damage when Cavan beat Down in the League in 2023 The bonus for the Breffnimen was the return of star forward Paddy Lynch, back after more than a year out with a cruciate ligament injury, with the Crosserlough attacker celebrating with a lovely left-footed score.While Cavan can look forward to the visit from Ulster champions Donegal with more optimism, Mayo face a trip to take on Tyrone.McStay insisted this loss was not a hangover from the Connacht Final defeat by arch-rivals Galway, saying:“I’m more concerned about the match today and we just weren’t at the pitch of it. We really have to get ourselves together now for this challenge against Tyrone. We’ve a fortnight to do it, and it’s not a simple process.“The morale swings up and down and that’s the nature of sport. But our job is to get after them now and bring the troops together for this Tyrone game and leave this game behind us. Well, the game is behind us now, no matter what way we look at it.”Mayo manager Kevin McStay. Pic Philip Walsh The former RTE pundit expressed confidence that Mayo can go to Healy Park and kick-start their Championship campaign:“I believe we can. I really do believe we can. That’s not us out there. It was, in parts, but in very small parts.“We were hoping to bring what was really good in the Connacht final and add to that. But can we do it? Absolutely, 100 per cent we can do it.“Of course we can. We’re a very, very competitive team. Tyrone away is difficult and they will ask big questions of us, but that will tell us an awful lot about our own desire and our own character. I’m confident we will produce a fair performance up in Omagh.”Cavan already have a win and Galligan feels there is more to come from them, and not only because Lynch is available again:“Paddy’s an immense player, he’s a huge talent, it’s great to have him back. But, look, today was all about the group.“We were missing James Smith, Conor Madden, Gearoid McKiernan, James McLoughlin – huge leaders. We have a good panel.”Mayo: C Reape; J Coyne, D McHugh, D Thornton (0-1); S Callinan, D McBrien, E Hession; S Coen (capt.) (0-4), M Ruane (0-2); D Neary, J Carney, J Flynn; A O’Shea (1-0), D McHale (0-1), R O’Donoghue (0-5f, one 2pf).Substitutes: F Kelly for Carney (56); P Durcan for Hession (59); P Towey for Neary (59); F Boland (0-1) for Flynn (68); F Irwin for McHale (69).Black card: Neary (34-2nd minute of second half)Cavan: L Brady; C Reilly (0-1), B O’Connell (0-1), N Carolan; K Brady, C Brady (joint-capt.) (0-1), P Faulkner (joint-capt.) (0-1); B Donnelly, E Crowe; G Smith, D McVeety (0-1), O Kiernan (0-4, 1 2p); C O’Reilly (0-4), R Donohoe, S McEvoy.Substitutes: C Madden (0-3, 0-1 free) for Donnelly (inj., 14); P Lynch (0-1) for Donohoe (56); L Fortune for C Brady (68); R O’Neill for Reilly (68). Blood sub: O Brady for McEvoy (27-end).Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).Attendance: 7,387.
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