| Mayo impress as golden boy is set
for comeback BY GRAHAM CLIFFORD
MAYO 1-16 MONAGHAN 1-11
 There may have been
only five points between these two sides at the end of their Division
1A en-counter but make no mistake Mayo were always firmly in control.
Spirits were high before the game with the confirmed news that sharpshooter
Ciaran McDonald is ready to return to the Inter-county scene.
New Mayo manager Mickey Moran had the perfect motivational tool then
for the clash in a windswept Clontibret.
Mayo started with a flurry of inventive activity, over lapping, precise
passing and a refreshing display of accurate shooting. By 16 minutes they
led by 1-7 to 0-2.
Had their full-back David Heaney not been sent to the line for an off-the-ball
incident after 19 minutes then Monaghan would really have felt the wrath
of a Mayo in transition.
An early Billy Joe Padden goal showed exactly why his stock is valued
so highly west of the Shannon with James Gill and the excellent Conor
Mortimer destroying the Monaghan rearguard also.
By half-time Mayo led by 1-10 to 0-5. Monaghan clawed their way back
into the fixture with some fine attacking work by Eoin Lennon and Hugh
McElroy but even with a 67th-minute Stephen Gollogly goal they couldn’t
halt a rampant Mayo.
Monaghan went down to 14 men with 20 minutes to go when Dick Clerkin saw
red and with heavyweight opponents to come they must wonder where their
next points in the group will come from.
Elsewhere in Division 1A Kerry showed why they’re going to be challenging
for end of summer silverware again this year with a seven point win over
Fermanagh on the score line of 1-17 to 0-13.
The margin of victory flattered the Kingdom though with new goalkeeper
Kieran Cremin saving a Fermanagh penalty in the second-half.
However the Kerry forwards were imperious with a superb display from man-of-the-match
Colm Cooper putting Kerry into second in the table.
Dublin led by 1-7 to no score at half-time in their clash with Offaly
but nearly threw the massive lead away as the men from the Faithful county
mounted a late charge.
The game ended 1-10 to 3-2 but Dublin must be asking themselves why they
fell asleep for so long in the second-half in Parnell Park.
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