Mayo do just enough to retain their title

Not even the most fanatical of Sligo supporters could have hoped for a better outcome to this Connacht final in Hyde Park, Roscommon, yesterday. Yet, when the tumult was over, Sligo supporters had some criticism to level at referee Michael Curley. For a start, the Galwayman only allowed a mere 15 seconds of added time at the end of the match. Sligo supporters were also annoyed about his decision to award a point at a crucial stage of the game, even though one of his umpires had signalled it wide.

Sligo had forced their way back into a game which had appeared to be beyond their reach. Six points behind at one stage of the second half, they deserve great credit for the effort they made to recover. When a goal and a point came their way in the dying moments, few would have complained if they had earned a draw.

Sligo's great effort rescued the match from mediocrity, but the fact that both dressing rooms were in competition for gloom told its own unhappy tale. Mayo seldom looked like losing, yet might easily have done so. Sligo's tenacity and speed off the mark posed constant questions for Mayo's defence. It was clear from the attitude of their supporters afterwards that this was not by any means Mayo's finest hour.

It was, in fact, a pretty pathetic performance by a team with All-Ireland aspirations.

The came into the match against a Sligo team which was clearly out of its depth. Yet they failed to turn the screw in the early exchanges and it was Sligo, playing against the wind, who looked far more confident about their own ability.

Mayo, with a wealth of experience behind them and a considerable advantage in physique, never really dominated Sligo to the extent that was expected.

Sligo kept a vigilant hold on the Mayo attack from the very start and nobody made any real impression on the Sligo defence, with the possible exception of Kieran McDonald in the right corner of the attack. Maurice Sheridan, at left-half forward, punished Sligo for disciplinary indiscretions and his five points from placed balls was a crucial element of Mayo's effort.

It was expected that Mayo's big men, Liam McHale and Pat Fallon, would destroy Sligo's efforts, but a combination of tenacity and common sense by Sligo's Paul Durcan and Dermot Kevany probably brought about a situation which levelled the scores in this area.

Mayo's defence had an uncomfortable time against the efforts of the Sligo central pair of Eamon O'Hara and Paul Taylor, who switched positions from time to time with considerable effect.

The Sligo defence was also in top class shape. No one performed more heroically than their goalkeeper Pat Kilcoyne, who made two absolutely brilliant saves when Mayo's attack seemed to have unlatched the Sligo defence.

In a closely contested first half, Sligo, against the breeze, held their own in most positions on the field. They appeared to be under some considerable pressure at the start of the second half when Maurice Sheridan sent over a free from about 50 yards to drive a five-point wedge between the sides, but Taylor replied and neither side seemed capable of taking full control of the game.

When another Sheridan free kick in the 15th minute of the second half restored Mayo's five-point lead, it seemed that they were about to coast to victory.

In spite of all the efforts of their supporters in a crowd of about 22,000, they failed to live up to this promise and a point by Eamon O'Hara, arguably the best player on the field on the day, kept Sligo in the match. Mayo might have put the game beyond Sligo's reach in the 28th minute of the second half, when McDonald and the captain, Noel Connelly, set up a a goal chance, but David Nestor drove the ball narrowly wide. This was followed by a dreadful miss from a free by Paul Taylor. Then, after Sheridan had driven another free wide and O'Hara had narrowed the gap once more for Sligo, a neat move involving Brendan Kilcoyne, Nigel Clancy and Brian Walsh ended with the latter sliding the ball just inside the upright as the Mayo goalkeeper Peter Burke attempted to narrow the angle.

There was a minute left to play in normal time. Paul Durcan drove his way through the Mayo defence to pump the ball over the bar and bring Sligo within one point of their rivals.

To everybody's amazement, the referee allowed a mere 17 seconds to elapse before he sounded the final whistle as Sligo seemed to be surging forward for the score which would have earned them a replay.