National Football League Division One A/ Tyrone 2-11; Mayo 1-5: A difficult match for both teams ended in an easy win for the Allianz National Football League holders Tyrone.
Playing their first match since the death of captain Cormac McAnallen two weeks ago, Mickey Harte's team gave a characteristically hard-working display and were well worth their nine-point winning margin.
"The players showed big heart and the result went with it," said manager Harte afterwards. "Even if it hadn't you'd have to say 'well done' to the lads. We had Mass with the McAnallen family in Ballintubber Abbey and got a nice card from them thanking us for our support over the days and a 'good luck' card before the game today.
"We'll always appreciate what Cormac was and what he gave to us."
A bright spring afternoon at McHale Park, Castlebar, was spoiled only by a gusting wind that blew at a slight angle in the direction of the Mitchels clubhouse.
In a way, conditions were made for Tyrone's possession game because Mayo were likely to struggle to make the wind advantage pay in the face of constant pressure and opponents who would thread eight hand-passes together without ever chancing a kicked pass into the breeze.
To compound this problem, Mayo ended up going in at the interval with a deficit that would only have been surmountable if they were playing particularly well.
"The elements can carry the ball forward," said Harte, "but they won't direct it and if you play controlled football the elements won't become a factor."
Matters didn't start too badly for Mayo, as Tyrone struggled to get used to the wind and put it to their advantage. In fact it was the 13th minute before any score got registered and even after Mark Harte's pointed free the scoring remained sluggish. Gradually Tyrone's game came together and it was only poor finishing that kept the match close.
Stephen O'Neill might have had a goal from Enda McGinley's fourth-minute pass, whereas the former's 45 in the 24th minute slipped through everyone in the Mayo goalmouth and hit the post.
Nonetheless, by the 27th minute there were still only two points in it, 0-4 to 0-2, and the home supporters - almost in a minority among the crowd of around 6,000 - were starting to anticipate the second-half wind with some optimism.
Then again it's only so happy a team with two points from half-an-hour's play can legitimately feel.
And the good vibes were blown away in the minutes before the interval, as Tyrone hit 1-4 with only a point in reply. The goal was palmed in by McGinley in injury time after good work by the tireless Seán Cavanagh and Brian McGuigan.
Mayo had posed intermittent threat during the first half and in a low-scoring match it might have been enough, but for all the sharp moves of Austin O'Malley and the penetrative running of Trevor Mortimer, the home side looked as likely to fly as pull back an eight-point deficit.
It wasn't as if they didn't create chances but their finishing was worse than Tyrone's had been when they were playing with the wind. O'Malley in particular had a nightmare with his free-taking, missing three when his team needed the momentum. But it wasn't just the forwards.
A lot of the distribution throughout the field was erratic and defenders were caught out of position after adventures up the field ended in possession being turned over.
Centrefield was another disaster area. Ronan McGarrity won some ball but otherwise there was no answer to the energy of Cavanagh, especially, and Kevin Hughes.
Team captain Brian Dooher was also full on for the second half and covered his usual acreage, popping up all around the field from the occasionally pressed full-back line to slickly moving attacks near the opposition goal.
In the 49th minute Mayo briefly took their comeback prospects out of the realms of fantasy by grabbing a goal. O'Malley's shot looked like an attempt at a point but Marty McNicholas pulled it back and struggled along the end line before finishing well to the net.
But Mayo couldn't build on the break and didn't score again for 20 minutes. In the 61st minute the match was put beyond dispute. Cavanagh was brought down by Pat Kelly - according to the referee, within the line - and Harte confidently planted the penalty past David Clarke.
"We're very disappointed," said Mayo selector Liam McHale. "We understood that we were playing the All-Ireland champions but after 15 minutes they turned the screw on us. Their first goal came at the worst possible time for us. Then we made so many basic errors - our kicking was pathetic. It was a big ask to win this game but we expected to perform better.
"They're a fantastic team but I felt we completely fell apart. Our kick-passing and hand-passing was very poor but we've done well. We're on six points and are going to stay in Division One but we'll have to work on our ball retention."
TYRONE: J Devine; R McMenamin, C Gourley, M McGee; B Donnelly (0-1), G Devlin, P Jordan; K Hughes (0-2), S Cavanagh (0-2); B Dooher, B McGuigan (0-1), S O'Neill; M Harte (1-2, goal a penalty, points frees), E McGinley (1-1), G Cavlan (0-2). Subs: O Mulligan for Hughes (52 mins); C Lawn for McMenamin (66 mins); J McMahon for Donnelly (67 mins).
MAYO: D Clarke; D Geraghty, P Kelly, G Ruane; F Costello, G Mullins, C Moran; F Kelly, R McGarrity (0-1); M Moyles (0-1), BJ Padden, T Mortimer; M McNicholas, A O'Malley (0-3, two frees), D Munnelly (1-0). Subs: D Heaney for F Kelly (35 mins); A Costello for McNicholas (54 mins); B Ruane for Moran (61 mins); D Sweeney for Mullins (65 mins).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
