Defeat for Mayo in first round of the Lidl National League
Mayo started life under new manager Liam McHale with a defeat against Meath in the opening round of the Lidl National League Division One in the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome.
With howling wind and driving rain outside, the Mayo and Meath players adapted quickly to relative calm inside the Dome and delivered an entertaining, competitive game of football.
The switch from James Stephens Park, Ballina, to the Bekan facility - a decision made due to Storm Isha - allowed the players on both teams to express themselves on the artificial Dome turf, and this made for an enjoyable opening half.
It was nip and tuck early on, with Maria Cannon proving accurate from placed balls while Meath landed impressive points from play courtesy of Ciara Smyth and Niamh Gallogly before Emma Duggan – who started the game in place of Ailbhe Leahy – opened her tally with a free on six minutes.
It remained close until Cannon, taking a pass from Tara Needham on the run, found the back of the Meath net to make it 1-5 to 0-5 for the home side in the 16th minute, but this just spurred Meath into action.
By half-time the Leinster team, inspired by Áine Sheridan in defence and Duggan up front, had established a five-point advantage (2-10 to 1-8), Meadbh Byrne with both goals after the Mayo defence was carved open, Aobhin Cleary playing her part in the build-up each time.
Two early second-half points from Cannon suggested a comeback might be on the cards until Meath rattled off five without reply – Duggan landing three of them (one free) – to end it as a contest.
Mayo went 16 minutes without a score until Cannon landed another free, but the home side could never really close the gap and in the end Meath ran out winners by six points on a 2-18 to 1-15 scoreline.
While disappointed with the result, McHale tried to see the positives from the encounter. “I'm delighted with the effort. We want to play the way we practice and we definitely did that, but we made too many mistakes against a quality team,” he said.
Mayo: L. Reid; L. Wallace, S. Lally, N. O'Malley; K. Sullivan, D. Caldwell, J. Mortimer; A. Geraghty, H. Reape; F. McLaughlin, L. Cafferky, M. Cannon (1-11, 10f); T. Needham (0-1), F. McHale (0-1), A. Fitzpatrick (0-1).
Subs used: A. Gough, E. Reape, E. Needham, S. Walsh (0-1), C. Henry.
Meath: M. McGuirk; K. Newe, A. Sheridan, N. Troy; N. Gallogly (0-3), M.K. Lynch, A. Cleary; M. O’Shaughnessy, S. Melia; M. Thynne, E. Moyles, C. Smith (0-4); M. Byrne (2-0), M. Farrelly (0-1), E. Duggan (0-10, 5f).
Subs used: A. Leahy, T. Foster, O. Mallon, C. Lawlor, L. Young.
Referee: G. Chapman (Sligo).