Division One B/Mayo 1-16 Monaghan 1-11: After a weekend expected to be dominated by the elements, we got the whole gamut in lovely Clontibret: earth, wind and Conor Mortimer.
A matador-like performance by the peroxide Shrule man set Mayo on the way to a very impressive victory. Little wonder that manager Mickey Moran was beaming afterwards. Not only did his team display high summer quality in the first half hour, their league hopes will be strengthened by the return of the man who has long been an absolute force of nature for Mayo football.
"Ciarán will be back very soon," Moran beamed on the field afterwards as disheartened Monaghan folk fled for the parishes wishing they had the luxury of a McDonald to bring in.
How soon is soon?
"Very soon."
Where to play the Crossmolina man is a nice problem for Moran. Mortimer was fabulous during Mayo's sensational first 25-minute period, when they chalked up 1-9 and left the Ulster men for dead. But the strength and speed of Ger Brady was also a prominent feature at centre half forward, and all through the lines Mayo attacked with abandon.
The midfield pairing of Ronan McGarrity and James Gill took their Monaghan counterparts to school and the half-back line ran the show. Pat Kelly finished with three points from play, Peadar Gardiner popped up everywhere and James Nallen was James Nallen.
The Westerners were so comfortable that even the dismissal of the usually unflappable David Heaney caused no major problems, even if it did disrupt what had been a torrential flow of attacking football.
We had to wait until the 45th minute for the first Mayo wide, which may constitute some kind of record.
"Listen, I happen to think they are not bad shooters in Mayo," grinned Moran when that fact was put to him. "You know, we started off with 160 players coming to trials and worked our way down from that. That's how serious the football is in the county. And I think it is evident there is a real keenness and sharpness about these lads here.
"We came off a bad performance in the FBD final (against Galway) and had a chance to rectify that here. And the pleasing thing was that we used what we were doing in training."
It was classic Moran/Morrison stuff, with the front three bunching tight in front of the Monaghan goal and then breaking late to receive the ball. Meanwhile, the half-forward line and often Gill or McGarrity would steam through the disintegrating Monaghan defence in support. It was great to watch. But from a Monaghan perspective, the spaces they left in critical defensive areas were alarming.
All over the field, they were in trouble during Mayo's purple phase. From Billy Joe Padden's seventh-minute goal, when he took a ball from Mortimer and boldly soloed into the Monaghan square, throwing a couple of fakes before rolling his shot under Shane Duffy, it was obvious the newcomers to division one were not operating as smartly or ruthlessly as they had in Parnell Park a fortnight ago.
"We are going to have to learn that you can't give division one teams a seven-point start and expect to win," reasoned coach Séamus McEnaney later.
Monaghan trailed 1-10 to 0-5 at the break and after the tea they conceded, as McEnaney put it "two soft scores" that killed off any lingering intrigue.
Thereafter, things got better. The burly Eoin Lennon got involved in centre field while Rory Woods and Stephen "Jinxy" Gollogly carried Monaghan's attack. Jinxy's goal was fine and deserved but, arriving on 69 minutes, was purely a consolation. Monaghan's cough had been softened by the dismissal of Dick Clerkin on 49 minutes.
More worrying for Monaghan was the tepid performance of Paul Finlay, a wonderful ball player just going through one of those dull spells.
Mayo slowed down in the second half but their afternoon was illuminated by the excellent defending of Dermot Geraghty and the general display of Alan Dillon, who kicked a couple of gorgeous passes from the right wing.
Gill was also outstanding, particularly when McGarrity retired, injured and exhausted from his basketball endeavours on Saturday evening. But they are in fine fettle just now and The Natural will find himself returning to a happy camp next week.
For Monaghan, it is Kerry in Scotstown next Sunday. At least they are spreading the glamour around Kavanagh country.
O'Neill Park in Clontibret must be one of the prettiest GAA grounds in the country. Monaghan will need somewhere tighter and meaner if they are to hold the Kingdom at bay and grab a home result before the big squeeze comes on.
MAYO: J Healy; D Geraghty, D Heaney, K Higgins; P Kelly (0-3), J Nallen, P Gardiner; R McGarrity, J Gill (0-2); R Hannick, G Brady, BJ Padden (1-0); C Mortimer (0-7, two frees, one 50), A O'Malley (0-1), A Dillon (0-3, one free). Subs: L O'Malley for McGarrity (40 mins).
MONAGHAN: S Duffy; C Flanagan, J Coyle, S Smyth; D Freeman, V Corey, D McArdle; E Lennon, B McKenna; P Finlay (0-2, frees), S Gollogly (1-2), P McGuigan; T Freeman (0-2), H McElroy (0-2 frees), R Woods (0-2). Subs: D Clerkin for B McKenna (25 mins), E Duffy (0-1) for Smyth (46 mins), L O'Malley for P Gardiner (58 mins), P Casey for A O'Malley (65 mins).
Referee: E Murtagh (Longford).
