Much-needed win earns Mayo first league points of the campaign

Mayo secured their first Division 1 points of the season with a hard-fought 0-12 to 0-10 victory over Tyrone in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar.

Late points from substitutes Ryan O'Donoghue (free) and Fergal Boland sealed the win on a dull day that made scores hard come by.

For their battling qualities alone Mayo deserved the victory but the two teams will feel they have much to work on over the remainder of the league campaign and into the championship.

Both teams made multiple changes to the line-up and they certainly weren't fluent by any means in the first half.

It was a half marked by periods of possession punctuated by pot-shots at goal, many of them successful. Tyrone were more the guilty party in this regard but still they took a one-point lead (0-5 to 0-4) into the break having gone ahead with the last of nine scores in the first half, sent over by Eoin McElholm.

Mayo scored two fine points off the periods of possession they enjoyed, the first by Frank Irwin (the opening score of the game on three minutes) and the fourth by Mattie Ruane on 29 minutes.

In between, a good score by Davitt Neary and a free by Cian McHale following a 3/3 infringement by Tyrone had Mayo 0-3 to 0-1 ahead by the 22nd minute. The visitors' solitary score up to that stage was a point by the roving Niall Morgan, but as they grew into the game they began to show greater accuracy.

The Red Hand men scored four points in the closing 10 minutes of the half though Brian Kennedy, Michael McKernan, Mark Bradley and McElholm, giving them that one-point lead during the half-time break.

The solitary two-pointer of the game came just two minutes into the new half courtesy of Jordan Flynn, making a welcome return to the Mayo team.

That gave the hosts the lead again (0-6 to 0-5) but Tyrone responded with two frees from Darren McCurry and Niall Morgan.

Frank Irwin, who impressed with his link play and willingness to have a pop at goal when the chance arose, made it 0-7 apiece on 43 minutes before Tyrone again responded with two in a row through McCurry (free) and Morgan.

It appeared as though Mayo were heading for a third defeat in as many games but they rallied. Ryan O'Donoghue, a half-time substitute, scored a free to reduce the deficit to one on 54 minutes, while Fergal Boland – another substitute – had the game all tied on 59 minutes, Mayo forcing a turnover around the middle and embarking on a quick break.

Irwin put Mayo into the lead with nine minutes to go and while Cathal McShane equalised with a free five minutes later, those two late scores from O'Donoghue and Boland sealed the deal for the hosts.

It might have been different had Niall Morgan been successful with a rocket of a shot towards the Mayo goal in the 66th minute. Thankfully, from a Mayo perspective, Eoin O'Donoghue managed to block the shot, and it was one of those catalyst moments as the Ryan O'Donoghue free that pushed the Green and Red into the lead again came off the break that followed his club-mate's intervention.

The sending-off of Tyrone's Michael McKernan on a second yellow in the 69th minute had little material effect on the game, though Mayo held possession impressively against the 14 men before creating the chance for Boland who dissected the posts confidently to ensure Mayo would be the team leaving with the league points on offer.

Mayo: Colm Reape; Eoin O'Donoghue, Jordan Flynn (2p), Enda Hession; Stephen Coen, David McBrien, Eoghan McLaughlin; Donnacha McHugh, Matthew Ruane (0-1); Conor Reid (0-1f), Darren McHale, Davitt Neary (0-1); Paul Towey, Frank Irwin (0-3), Cian McHale.

Subs used: Ryan O'Donoghue (0-2f), Fergal Boland (0-2), Aidan O'Shea, Jack Coyne, Sam Callinan.

Tyrone: Niall Morgan (0-3, 1f); Aidan Clarke, Peter Teague, Niall Devlin; Mark Bradley (0-1), Michael McKernan (0-1), Rory Brennan; Brian Kennedy (0-1), Liam Gray; Seanie O'Donnell, Kieran McGeary, Ciarán Daly; Darren McCurry (0-2f), Conn Kilpatrick, Eoin McElholm (0-1).

Subs used: Shea O'Hare, Ronan Cassidy, Mattie Donnelly, Aodhan Donaghy, Cathal McShane (0-1f).

Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry).