Mayo And Donegal Through To Nicky Rackard Cup Semi-Finals

By Daire Walsh

Just six days after their footballers suffered relegation heartbreak at the hands of the same county, Mayo emerged from Healy Park, Omagh with a comprehensive 1-24 to 0-9 victory over Tyrone in Round 2A of the Nicky Rackard this afternoon.

Having comfortably accounted for the challenge of Monaghan in Clontibret last weekend, Derek Walsh’s charges enjoyed another memorable trip into the northern province. As a result, the Connacht men (who were champions at this grade in 2016) have now safely booked their place in the semi-final of the competition.

Mayo were the superior side throughout the course of the contest and when the half-time whistle was sounded, they had developed an insurmountable 0-14 to 0-3 cushion. Jason Coyne shook the net in the opening period of their win over Monaghan and he repeated the trick shortly after the restart in today’s game.

Coyne was part of a well-drilled Mayo attack that also featured Tooreen quartet Sean Kenny, Shane Boland, Brian Morley and Eoin Delaney – as well as Castlebar Mitchels wing-forward Corey Scahill.

With the outcome placed beyond doubt, Walsh was afforded the opportunity to examine the resources at his disposal. Luke Hurley, Sean Regan, Cormac Phillips, Conor Henry and Liam Lavin were all introduced to the action, giving the Mayo management food for thought as they prepared their troops for the penultimate rounds.

Joining them in the last-four will be Donegal, who recorded a 3-13 to 1-9 triumph over Armagh in an all-Ulster clash at O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny.

While the final scoreline suggests the three-time Nicky Rackard champions had it all their own way on home soil, there had been little to separate the sides for much of the first half. On place-ball duties in place of the injured Declan Coulter, Davin Flynn shot five points in the opening 35 minutes.

However, he was withdrawn with a hamstring complaint of his own and Donegal found themselves on level terms at the break; 0-6 apiece. O’Grady had taken Flynn’s spot in attack and proceeded to edge his side in front with a point on the resumption.

It was during this juncture that Donegal started to build momentum and after cutting in from the left-hand side, full-forward Kevin Kealy superbly rattled the Armagh net. Ritchie Ryan and corner-back Gavin Browne (a superb long-distance drive) added further points, before the Orchard County received a lifeline in the form of a successful Nathan Curry penalty.

Ronan McDermott raised a green flag after a Ciaran Mathewson ’65’ had dropped in around the square and O’Grady was then ideally positioned to flick home an enticing Ryan pass. O’Grady registered another to bring his final tally to 1-2.

This capped an impressive performance off the bench and in addition to ensuring an accomplished Donegal victory, he staked his claim for a starting place in the next phase.