Perennial entertainers show steel

Mayo...0-18 Galway...1-09: Hype used to be a dangerous thing in Mayo; not this year. The mood of confidence on the streets of Castlebar was evangelical and although Mayo football has created a cottage industry out of false dawns, yesterday they delivered. Beautifully. They dominated their old foes from Galway so convincingly and emphatically that the once-great maroon team seems on the verge of dissolution.

Although Mayo were in vogue leading up to this game, it was hard to foresee the pure, cold composure that characterised John Maughan's young team. In Conor Mortimer's succinct phrase, Mayo "weren't iffy and butty about it". They were just merciless.

It is hard to recall a better tactical afternoon for Maughan. Here is a team that may well put the ghosts of 1996/1997 to rest - not necessarily by winning the All-Ireland but by delivering on potential. Everything worked.

From Conor Moran on, the defence was heroic. The young midfield partnership of James Gill and Ronan McGarrity ransacked the venerable Galway mansion, even after Kevin Walsh, Seán Ó Domhnaill and Joe Bergin stood across the centre. Conor Mortimer did not make one poor decision and gave Barry Dooney an agonising 50 minutes.

The diplomatic stroke of persuading Kieran McDonald to return to the fold paid rich dividends. The Crossmolina classicist marked his comeback in a county where he provokes such polemic reaction with a brave 70 minutes of football. Although the flamboyant image has survived intact, there were signs the enfant terrible is all grown up. McDonald quietly led here with a shrewd, workmanlike afternoon embellished by the signature touches of brilliance only when the west was already won.

David Brady, another survivor of earlier Maughan eras, came in after half-time and was central in Mayo's ownership of that period. His introduction along with the excellent Crossmolina wing back Peadar Gardiner worked a dream. As the manager pointed out, the guys they replaced weren't even performing badly; it was just that Mayo, in utter contrast to Galway, had a depth of options.

Galway scored 1-3 to Mayo's nothing in the first six minutes and were outgunned by 0-18 to 0-6 thereafter. It should have been more but for two great first-half saves by Brian O'Donoghue from both the Mortimer boys.

Reactions to Galway performances have been rash in recent years but many of their followers must have traipsed back across the border last night convinced they had witnessed the dying of the light.

Galway illuminated the game in flashes - a gem of a Michael Donnellan point just before half-time, the crisp opening surge that finished with Micheál Meehan's goal, a few individual sallies by Padraic Joyce. But playing with a big breeze in the second half, with the scores nicely poised at 1-6 to 0-8, they disappeared.

It happened slowly: you could all but see the now familiar shadow of ennui or age or indifference overtake them. Once that cloud descends upon Galway, they seem helpless against it. As Mayo ran at them with increasing vivacity, storied names faded.

Galway were so comprehensively routed it is hard to pick out a point of encouragement. Kieran Fitzgerald had a fine game, under duress, at full back and Paul Clancy was conspicuous for his work rate. But when the game began to slip from them - and the way Mayo took hold was gradual and controlled - the more celebrated players did not respond.

In contrast, it was apparent the Mayo players simply had no doubt about the destiny of this game. Their short, slick running game worked a treat playing into the breeze and with David Heaney and James Nallen at the heart of matters, they surged upfield through Galway's increasingly ragged lines. After 39 minutes Nallen and Gardiner worked the ball to Conor Mortimer, who fired Mayo into a lead they would not relinquish.

McDonald lurked around the action, cleaning up and craftily winning frees that the other blond, Conor Mortimer, banged over with conviction. James Gill lobbed two excellent points. Mayo worked points off short frees and clever balls: David Heaney, venturing up to the toy store of the forward lines, was rewarded with a gorgeous, low ball by McDonald. He collected and fisted a point that left it at 0-17 to 1-7 after 63 minutes.

By then, Galway had, in spiritual terms, already left the stadium. They managed one point in 32 minutes of the second half. That statistic is hard to tally with a team that as recently as the National League final showcased a forward unit with skills to burn. The arrival of the veteran central force of Walsh and Gary Fahey did nothing to alter the flow. Late on, they went seeking goals, Bergin and Joyce kicking spectacularly wide under the relentless heat of the Mayo defence.

Mayo's last score was prophetic, a great, high score from distance by McDonald that left the home fans in raptures. They never stop believing in Mayo but yesterday marked a return to the old faith, hot and total. After the events of the weekend, they will be favoured to take the Connacht title and in these 70 minutes made a persuasive case that they will cause any of the contenders major trouble.

A high-summer rematch between these neighbours would be a fascination but right now, that possibility looks remote. Since 2001, Galway have retreated for a number of soul sessions and this week sees them in their grimmest predicament.

The worst-case scenario - elimination in six days' time - will almost certainly not come to pass because Galway cannot be this flat again. However, their days of bossing Connacht look over for the time being. Maughan and Mayo are on the rise, a combination that is never boring.

MAYO: F Ruddy; C Moran, D Heaney (0-1), G Ruane; G Mullins, J Nallen, F Costello; J Gill (0-2), R McGarritty (0-1); M McNicholas, K McDonald (0-3, 1 45), A Dillon; C Mortimer (0-8, 5 frees), T Mortimer (0-1), B Maloney (0-2). Subs: D Brady for M McNicholas (half-time), P Gardiner for F Costello (half-time), A Moran for T Mortimer (64 mins), P Kelly for G Mullins (66 mins).

GALWAY: B O'Donoghue; M Comer, K Fitzgerald, B Dooney; D Meehan, P Clancy, T Meehan; J Bergin, S Ó Domhnaill; M Meehan (1-1), M Donnellan (0-3, 1 free), M Clancy; D Savage, P Joyce (0-5, 2 frees), T Joyce. Subs: D Burke for M Comer (25 mins), K Walsh for T Joyce (50 mins), J Devane for S Ó Domhnaill (59 mins).

Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).