It's hard to single anyone out for Mayo who actually played bad. When you hit 4-18 there normally isn’t. All subs were introduced due to the scoreline save for Varley who came on for the injury.
Kevin Keane had a good battle with Gary O’Driscoll. He won it due to the type of ball that came in, primarily. Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Donal Vaughan were tremendous.
Jason Gibbons is a quality find for the side whereas Aiden O’Shea took his scores well but moved a lot from a positional point. He should have done more with his goal chance. His brother Seamus had a good outing in attack.
Cillian O’Connor was top scorer and took his scores well from the dead ball; Kevin McLoughlin and his replacement Enda Varley were excellent.
This was not vintage Mayo by any means. They have a lot of work to do, and the defeats by Dublin and Derry in the League were not washed away by a facile victory in the Big Apple.
It was also alarming to hear their sideline screaming at the referee when they were up by 15. Discipline starts there.
What of New York? Gavin Joyce did nothing wrong and in fact kept his side in the game with a couple of early stops.
Ronan McGinley led with his heart and body, and his never say die attitude was absent in other parts of the field. Granted he was lucky to stay on the field.
Denis O’Sullivan had some bright moments and is a quality player, while Paul O’Connor did a lot of good ball carrying out of the defense and was unlucky to be taken off.
Midfield was second, but when the ball hit the deck in particular from the Mayo kickouts it was gobbled up by a green shirt.
Gary O’Driscoll was by far the best of the forwards. Would have been nice to see how he would have thrived if given proper supply. Keith Quinn when on the ball or battling for it showed well, but it was in limited spells.
Of the subs, Niall Farrell and Lonan Maguire probably had the most affect what little it was.
What’s next? One would hope that a club team from Ireland or a county side has already been approached for two games in December before the weather turns here.
Get the panel together again to start their preparations for 2015. Follow that with a challenge in March and a game or two against the Division 4 winners in April, and all of a sudden Ian Galvin and his panel have somewhat of a chance to properly prepare. The board here needs to give them a fighting chance.
New York: 1 Gavin Joyce (Cavan), 2 Ronan McGinley (Cavan), 3 Gerard McCartan (Kerry), 4 Kieran O’Connor (Kerry), 5 Keith Scally (Westmeath), 6 Paul O’Connor (Cork), 7 Denis O’Sullivan (Cork), 8 Brendan Quigley (0-1, Donegal), 9 Alan Raftery (0-1, Cork), 10 Paddy Boyle (Donegal), 11 Jason Kelly (0-3f, Offaly), 12 Ross Wherity (0-1, Kerry), 13 Johnny McGeeney (0-1, Armagh), 14 Keith Quinn (Leitrim), 15 Gary O’Driscoll (0-1, Kerry). Subs: Conor McCormack for K. O’Connor HT, Niall Farrell for Boyle 38 mins, Hugh Curran for P. O’Connor 45 mins, Sean McNamee for Scally 61 mins, Lonan Maguire for Farrell 62 mins, James Huvane for O’Sullivan 66.
Mayo: 1 Rob Hennelly, 2 Tom Cunniffe, 3 Kevin Keane, 4 Keith Higgins, 5 Lee Keegan (0-1), 6 Colm Boyle, 7 Donal Vaughan (0-2), 8 Jason Gibbons (0-1), 9 Aidan O’Shea (0-2), 10 Diarmuid O’Connor (1-0), 11 Seamus O’Shea, 12 Jason Doherty, 13 Kevin McLoughlin (0-1), 14 Andy Moran (0-3), 15 Cillian O’Connor (2-6). Subs: Enda Varley (1-1) for McLoughlin inj 32 mins, Richie Feeney for Doherty HT, Tom Parsons for Gibbons 41 mins, Conor O’Shea for Moran 54 mins, Brendan Harrison for Higgins 58 mins, Darren Coen (0-1) for C. O’Connor 68 mins.
Man of the Match: Donal Vaughan (Mayo). He’s always a threat when coming out of the defense; he gave his side two points early to settle them down. New York roamed and moved position but it didn’t faze him.
Referee: Patrick O’Sullivan (Kerry). He called the game strict and the players got used to it although the Mayo sideline may not have liked it! He gave New York a break on the first penalty as he could have given a black card which in that case would have been a red. Seven out of 10 would be fair.
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