Louth hurlers run out of steam against highly motivated Mayo

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3A ROUND 5 

MAYO 5-20 LOUTH 0-15

Louth went into this concluding NHL Div3A match in Darver on Saturday afternoon with the hopes of promotion and the fear of relegation both a clear possibility depending on results elsewhere in this division. 

Mayo for their part have paid the price for a poor start to the campaign, only welcoming back their All-Ireland Intermediate Club final contingent from Tooreen in the latter rounds.

But over the last two weekends they have amassed a tally 10-45, form that in normal circumstances would certainly have qualified them for the playoffs.

Despite what the final scoreline might suggest, Paul McCormack's charges were not over run by the visitors, to the contrary, and they put it up to them for long periods with the manager quoted afterwards saying that the margin of defeat was cruel on his side.

Even with the concession of five goals, the Louth defence worked hard throughout with Peter Fortune, when employed as the extra defender, particularly in the first half, performing his role well, while with both Danny Morgan and Liam Molloy were also to the fore.

At the start of the year holding onto their Div 3A status was the objective and with two wins Louth have achieved this.

However, on the day it was the managers native county Armagh who determined the Wee County's fate as their narrow victory over Fermanagh condemned the Erne County to relegation back down to Div3B for next season.

Young Conor Murphy started his second league game in a row for Louth at full forward and justified his selection by grabbing the opening two points of this encounter, both from play. 

He then set up his Naomh Moninne clubmate Mark Gahan who scored his sides third point from the left wing on eight minutes.

It took ten minutes for the westerners to open their account when top scorer Adrian Phillips fired over from a tight angle. Full forward Eoin Delaney added a quick brace of points to tie up matters on the quarter hour.

Murphy restored his sides lead on 20 minutes as his good effort from close range appeared to be deflected over the bar by his tight marker. 

Mayo grabbed their first goal two minutes later when keeper Dan O'Neill found himself out of position as Adrian Phillips fired home despite the disparing effort of a defender on the goal line.

After the sides had exchanged points, Delaney added to his earlier brace by firing home goal number two on 29 minutes from left of the post. 

To their credit the home side wiped out that score with three unanswered points from the sticks of Darren Geoghegan (2) and young Aaron McGuinness Smith. However defensive frailties moments later allowed Phillips to cut in from the right before firing past O’Neill for his second goal of this half.

Geoghegan responded with a point from a long range free before Jason Coyne pointed from a tight angle at the other end to leave Mayo in front by 3-5 to 0-9 at the break.

Seaghan Conneely reduced the arrears with a good point on the resumption 30 seconds in, before the hard working Danny Morgan denied Joe McManus a certain goal with a good block at the expense of a 65 metre free. 

Cormac Phillips fired over that 65 before going on to exchange further pointed frees via Darren Geoghegan. The next four points were shared by the teams before Mark Gahan fired over from 40 metres to leave just four between the teams on 48 minutes, 3-9 to 0-14.

Sadly, the wheels came off the home machine from here as Mayo took control, out scoring their hosts by 2-11 to 0-1 for the remaining 25 plus minutes. 

Goal number four arrived on 53 minutes when Eoin Delaney's initial effort was saved by the Louth keeper, but he found the far right hand corner with aplomb when picking up the rebound.

Darren Geoghegan went for goal from a 20 metre free but his effort was blocked and cleared out with the follow up going wide.

Both sides introduced substitutes as the game played out to its inevitable conclusion, with Darren Geoghegan accounting for his sides last point from a customary long range free.

Adrian Phillips grabbed a good brace of points from play to take his tally to 2-3 before Joe McManus netted goal number five on 70 minutes. Five late points quickly followed in added time from Cormac Phillips (3) and substitute Michael (2) as Mayo sealed their win.

Manager Paul McCormack and his squad will now regroup and prepare for the commencement of the Nicky Rackard Cup campaign which starts with a trip to the Garden County to take on Wicklow on the weekend of April 15/16.

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LOUTH: Dan O'Neill; Adam Plunkett, Danny Morgan, Ben Goss Kieran; Conal Shaw, Liam Molloy, Aaron McGuinness Smith (0-1); Peter Fortune, Feidhelm Joyce; Ryan Walsh, Seaghan Conneely (0-1), Mark Gahan (0-2); Sean Kerrisk (0-1), Conor Murphy (0-3), Darren Geoghegan (0-7, 0-6 frees). Subs: Stephen Stafford for R Walsh (24), Ronan Mulholland for C Shaw (48), Gareth Hall for F Joyce (56), Sean Hodgins for A McGuinness Smith (59), Jack Murray for S Kerrisk (61).

MAYO: Bobby Douglas; James Lyons, Ger McManus, Conor Murray; David Kenny, Joe Mooney (0-1), Mark Phillips; John Cassidy, Daniel Huane (0-1); Sean Kenny, Joe McManus (1-2), Cormac Phillips (0-8, 0-7 frees); Adrian Phillips (2-3), Eoin Delaney (2-2), Jason Coyne (0-1). Subs: Michael Farrell (0-2) for S Kenny (61), Luke Connor for J Cassidy (63), Danny Hill for J Mooney (68), Kealan for E Delaney (70).

REFEREE: Conor Daly (Kildare).