Mayo retain enough appetite

WITH 10 of the side which lost the All Ireland final on board, Mayo just about had enough in a few key areas to deny Monaghan a valuable scalp in this opening round clash in Division Two.

It was a critical win for Mayo as they bid to leave the Championship disappointment behind them and steer their promotion ambitions through a difficult league. Over 5,000 turned out at blustery Castlebar yesterday to give their seal of approval to a side many believe is going to go places again next year.

But this was back to business stuff in the wind and rain of winter football. And the wind was particularly vicious at McHale Park. Both sides played their best football playing into that wind. Mayo, playing against it in the first half, led by 1-2 to 0-1 after 25 minutes. It looked as if Monaghan after nine wides - would be in dire trouble in the second half, such was their failure to secure any return with the aid of that breeze.

Pat Fallon, standing in for the suspended Liam McHale, dominated midfield and, along with David Brady and Colm McMenamon, secured plenty of possession for Mayo. James Nallen opened up the Monaghan defence in the 12th minute, playing a perfect pass into the path of Dermot Byrne who chipped the goalkeeper for a goal.

Monaghan introduced Declan Smith after 20 minutes and he had a significant impact on their for tunes for the rest of the game. A Padraig McDonald cross five minutes from the interval proved a handful for Mayo goalkeeper Barry Heffernan and when Paul Traynor pounced on the loose ball, he was tooled by the over zealous goalkeeper. Smith put away the penalty in clinical style. Peter Duffy and McDonald followed with points to give Monaghan a 1-3 to 1-2 interval lead.

The game took a dramatic twist three minutes into the second half when PJ Loftus's effort, which looked to be going wide, took a vicious deflection off the back of Monaghan defender, Kevin Treacy, and into the net.

Monaghan remained undeterred by that unfortunate blow, but could only chase Mayo for the rest of the game. The Connacht champions kept their noses in front thanks to John Casey who judged the wind to perfection to score two crucial points.