A first glimpse of the new rules in Castlebar: kickout struggles, 50m swings, goalkeeper influence
Team Selector Game Stephen New Rochford Pic: James Reality: Crombie Mayo The To Before His Speaks
Here we go. The crowd might be sparse, the new pitch markings indiscernible in the snow, but this is still the future. Monaghan beat Mayo in a whole new game. It is a game that will take some time to bed in.
This challenge fixture in aid of Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association was grand fare. It lacked any of the necessary combustible raw materials to truly catch fire. They played four 20-minute periods with grand changes at half-time. Snow saw the ball changed from white to yellow, it was a contest filled with rookies and new prospects, it comes in the middle of a heavy block of challenge games. The new rules are still very new.
For Gabriel Brannigan, it was an encouraging debut. A two-point win that saw all six starting forwards score. New selector Andy Moran was a vocal presence on the sideline, particularly when it came to the work-rate of his inside line. Their superior conversion made a big difference, hitting 28 shots to Mayo’s 35. Monaghan plundered Colm Reape’s kickout early on and ended up with seven points from this source.
It started with a long ball towards Andrew Woods who fed the lively Sean Jones for his first of three points. That partnership proved productive. Michael Hamill followed it up with a point after a serious squeeze on Mayo’s kickout. The home side lead by the end of the first quarter 0-4 to 1-4 as Ryan O’Donoghue buried a goal after superb support play by Davitt Neary while Conal Dawson, Ewan Duffy and Cian McHale all found the target early on.
As for the new rules? Both teams found it tough to retain their kickouts. Mayo finished with 59% retention; Monaghan’s was 50%. Despite the new arc, Rory Beggan and Reape both tried to go short on several occasions (inside the 45-metre line) and had at least one picked off.
There were several 50 metre frees for failing to hand the ball back after a foul. There were no successful two pointers from frees or from play but numerous chances. Mayo dropped a remarkable 10 shots short on their way to 43% conversion.
The influence of the goalkeepers was considerable. Both Reape and Beggan had a shot at the posts, both missed. Beggan finished up with 22 possessions, the majority of which were in the opposition’s half. At times it was a team-mate who collected the Mayo short attempts, yet Beggan did contest the opposition kickout, winning two. He also took frees from inside his own half to make the press less effective.
In an attempt to counter Beggan, Mayo tried to track his run forward and conceded a 20m free for failing to keep three forwards up as a result. While it did happen again on occasion, this was the only time this was penalised.
An immense second quarter saw Monaghan streak clear. Jones instigated the run with a fine effort and created the goal, sending Hamill away from Ewan Duffy and watching him cut into the square to fire a bottom-corner corker.
Ryan McAnespie followed that up with a terrific point from close to the endline. It was 1-11 to 1-6 at the turnaround.
Conditions worsened and so did the match. Mayo did draw level with six consecutive points in the final quarter, as Finbar McLaughlin, Jack Melvin and Conor Reid showed promise. Stephen Mooney took advantage of a 50-metre free to stop the bleed and curled over a beauty at the end to make the margin two. That second last score was interesting.
Monaghan were under pressure and Beggan boomed a kickout long. Conor McCarthy won the break and took off until he was fouled by Ciaran Boland. The ball broke and a team-mate caught it, leaving it down on the spot of the foul. His failure to hand it to the nearest opponent meant it was brought forward. Captain Stephen Coen, the only one who can seek clarification, did go to the referee though it mattered little. Monaghan were back in front.
There are no grand assessments to make based on this tie. It is still early days, there is no trend yet. 2025 remains a step into the unknown.
Scorers for Mayo: R. O’Donoghue 1-1; C. McHale 0-2 (1 free); E. McLaughlin, C. Dawson, E. Duffy, J. Melvin, C. Reid, T. O’Flaherty, D. Duffy, F. McLaughlin, D. Prendergast, D. Joyce, P. Towey (free) 0-1 each.
Scorers for Monaghan: M. Hamill 1-2; S. Jones, D. Garland (3 frees) 0-3 each; A. Woods, R. McAnespie, S. Mooney (1 free) 0-2 each. B. McBennett, S. O’Hanlon 0-1 each.
(Starters): C. Reape; E. Hession, D. McHugh, S. Morahan; F. Kelly, D. McBrien, E. McLaughlin; M. Ruane, D. Thornton; C. Dawson, F. Boland, D. Neary; C. McHale, E. Duffy, R. O’Donoghue.
Subs used: J. Vasey, R. Brickenden, E. Ivers, S. Coen, J. Melvin, C. Reid, F. Irwin, F. McLaughlin, T. O’Flaherty, D. Duffy, S. Akram, D. Prendergast, P. Towey, D. Joyce, C. Mulchrone, C. Boland.
(starters): R. Beggan; R. Wylie, K. Lavelle, D. Byrne; A. Carey, K. Duffy, K. Loughran; G. McPhillips, M. McCarville; R. McAnespie, B. McBennett, M. Hamill; D. Garland, A. Woods, S. Jones.
Subs used: R. O’Toole, A. Carey, S. O’Hanlon, D. Treanor, S. Mooney, C. McCarthy, F. Hanratty, P. Dougan Burke.
: J. Glavey (Mayo).