Mayo...0-16 Longford...0-8: Not even the bright sunshine could keep the crowd in place till the end at James Stephens' Park, Ballina, yesterday as Mayo ran out deserving, if not entirely convincing, winners.
With 15 minutes remaining, the quality of play had deteriorated to such an extent that even the players seemed indifferent. So much so that many spectators made an early exit.
Mayo were dominant in the early stages, with full forward Austin O'Malley starring as they opened up a 0-6 to 0-0 lead by the 16th minute. The Louisburgh clubman, who picked up a Sigerson Cup medal last Saturday week with Sligo IT, hit three points in four minutes.
Preceded by a Damian Munnelly opener, and added to by points from Michael Moyles and Billy Joe Padden, Mayo were rampant and the Longford resistance was non-existent.
It was only then that Longford began to play. Their opening score came from a Pauric Davis free from 13 metres.
Three more unanswered points in as many minutes followed for Denis Connerton's men, two from the lively Trevor Smullen and another from Davis, to cut the gap to two points with 24 minutes gone.
Suddenly, there was a game on and the destination of the much-needed league points didn't seem so certain anymore.
An O'Malley free and two points from play by Padden drew just a single response from Longford, in the shape of a Paul Barden point, but it still left the visitors trailing by 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval.
Memories of the second half will be willingly committed to the deepest recesses as soon as possible - by both sides. Though there were some notable scores, they came about mostly as a result of slack marking and poor application.
A catalogue of handling and passing errors made up the bulk of the passages of play and but for a superb save by John Healy in the 62nd minute, some good defending by James Nallen and the odd midfield fetch of note, there was little to impress about either side.
Mayo were undoubtedly the superior of the two teams and had the game wrapped up long before the final whistle.
Whenever Longford threatened a charge, either O'Malley, Munnelly or Marty McNicholas was on hand to hit back with points, while Ronan McGarrity raised the standard in the midfield section.
MAYO: J Healy; D Geraghty, P Kelly, G Ruane; F Costello, G Mullins, J Nallen; B Ruane, R McGarrity (0-1); M Moyles (0-1), BJ Padden (0-3), E Gallagher; M McNicholas (0-1, free), A O'Malley (0-7, five frees), D Munnelly (0-2). Subs: P Harte for McNicholas (51 mins), A Moran (0-1) for Gallagher (59 mins), F Kelly for Padden (61 mins).
LONGFORD: D Sheridan; S Carroll, C Conefry, D. Brady; E Ledwith, D Hannify, S Lynch; L Keenan, F Coyle; T Smullen (0-3), D Blessington, P Barden (0-1); J Martin, P Davis (0-3, two frees), D Barden (0-1). Subs: M Kelly for Hannify (16 mins), J Kenny for Connefry (18 mins), M Hussey for Martin (half-time), D Hannify for Blessington (45 mins).
Referee: M McGrath (Donegal).
