FOOTBALL LIDL LADIES NATIONAL LEAGUE
Moyles ‘disgusted’ with decisions as ladies losing streak continues
DIVISION 1
Dublin 2-11
Mayo 2-7
DAIRE WALSH
DUBLIN
MAYO manager Michael Moyles was left frustrated at DCU St Clare’s on Saturday as his team suffered their four defeat of a disappointing league campaign against Dublin.
Following the previous weekend’s morale-boosting triumph against Meath, Mayo were on the verge of another big win when they led by six points coming towards the third-quarter mark in the contest.
A brace of Sinead Walsh goals had the visitors in a strong position, but with Kate Sullivan and Caoimhe O’Connor finding the net themselves, the hosts pushed on to claim a comeback victory.
Speaking in the aftermath of the game, Mayo manager Moyles felt referee Jonathan Murphy’s interpretation of the rules had a significant bearing on the contest – though he did stress his side could still have done things differently in the closing moments.
“I’m disgusted, to be honest with you. Compared to last year, and compared to all our league games so far in the two years that I’ve been involved, the tackle went out the window there.
“I don’t like talking about any decisions or that, but I feel Rachel Kearns doesn’t get frees. I don’t know is there an agenda or something there,” Moyles remarked.
“Look, we were in a position ourselves. We were six points up and we let it go. I’m very disappointed. We went into our shells a small bit and we didn’t see out the clock. Even towards the end, we probably could have gotten a draw and deserved at least a draw, but we got turned over in the middle [for O’Connor’s goal].
“Again, a player surrounded. Tackle from behind, tackle from in front. I thought it was harsh, but that is the way football goes. You just have to take the good with the bad.”
Despite conceding early points to Dublin duo Jennifer Dunne and Carla Rowe, Mayo soon settled into the action with a score from Louisburgh’s Tara Needham. A Sullivan point for Dublin was swiftly cancelled out by Walsh, before the MacHale Rovers star raised a green flag for the first time on 13 minutes.
After Sky Blues netminder Abby Shiels couldn’t deal with a high ball towards the goal, Walsh was left with a simple finish. This bolstered the confidence levels of the Mayo players and while they passed up some scoring opportunities, Needham and Shauna Howley helped the visitors to create additional daylight.
A fisted effort by Jodi Egan reduced Mayo’s lead to three points (1-4 to 0-4) heading into the break, but the three-time league champions strengthened their position on the resumption. Following traded points between Dublin forward Hannah Tyrrell and Sinead Cafferky, Walsh gathered a long delivery inside the opposition defence and unleashed an unstoppable strike beyond the reach of Shiels.
This put Mayo in sight of a second consecutive top-tier win and they remained firmly in the ascendancy when Howley and Cafferky responded to a two point salvo from former Ireland rugby international Tyrrell at the far end of the pitch.
Tyrrell’s place-ball accuracy was keeping Dublin in contention, however, and their challenge significantly gathered pace when Sullivan fired home from close-range inside the closing 10 minutes.
Mayo’s lead was then wiped out when Dunne kicked her second point of the tie in the 56th-minute and even though they breathed a sigh of relief when Tyrrell dragged a penalty wide of the target, it was only a brief reprieve.
O’Connor fired home off a breakaway move in the 59th-minute and Mayo were consigned to a fourth loss in five games when Tyrrell posted an insurance point on the stroke of full-time.
This reversal leaves Mayo second-from-bottom in Division One and Moyles hopes his troops will have absorbed some key lessons in time for their home encounter with provincial rivals Galway on March 19.
“I do think we’re improving, if you look at the start of the year to where we’ve come to. We had a good win against Meath last week. We could have won this game with a bit of luck and with a bit more game management. We’ll have to learn from it. We’ve got Galway, who are flying high, on Sunday two weeks in Castlebar. Looking forward to that,” Moyles added.
DUBLIN
A Shiels; R Brennan, M Byrne, J Tobin; O Nolan, L Magee, L Caffrey; J Dunne (0-2), E O’Dowd; C Rowe (0-1, 1f), K Sullivan (1-1), C O’Connor (1-0); S Wylde, H Tyrrell (0-6, 6f), J Egan (0-1).
Subs used: E Gribben for Wylde (15), N Hetherton for Rowe (19), D Lawless for Tobin (h-t), A Kane for Egan (38), N Crowley for Brennan (50), A Timothy for Gribben (60).
MAYO
L Brennan; É Ronayne, R Flynn, D Caldwell; C Needham, F McHale, K Sullivan; C McManamon, S Cafferky (0-2); S Walsh (2-1), S Howley (0-2, 2f), H Reape; L Cafferky, R Kearns, T Needham (0-2).
Subs used: A Geraghty for Reape (h-t), S Mulvihill for L Cafferky (47), S Tierney for Caldwell (50), M Cannon for Kearns (56), T O’Connor for Howley (59).
Referee: J Murphy (Carlow).