Galway moved back to the top of the Allianz NFL
Division 1 table with a last-gasp win over Mayo at
Castlebar this afternoon. Substitute Paul Conroy and
Padraic Joyce both clipped over late points as
Galway took the spoils in a tightly-contested
Connacht derby. With a wind advantage, Mayo led by
1-04 to 1-03 at half-time with Andy Moran and
Fiachra Breathnach exchanging goals. Although
Matthew Clancy netted early in the second period for
Galway, Mayo led going into the closing stages
thanks to a 68th-minute Ciaran Conroy point. But,
not for the first time this season, Liam Sammon's
Galway side came with a late spurt which included
those crucial points from Paul Conroy and the
experienced Joyce. The victory has the Tribesmen two
points clear at the summit ahead of their final game
at home to Kerry next Sunday. With recent wins over
Kerry and Kildare, Mayo were hoping to make it three
on the trot and cling onto the possibility of
finishing in the top two in the table. In bitterly
cold conditions, Mayo took the early initiative with
Conor Mortimer pointing a free after 40 seconds.
Mayo lined out as selected with Pat Harte coming in
for Trevor Mortimer (hamstring), while Galway had
one change with Niall Coleman ruled out and Damien
Dunleavy taking his place. Galway remained scoreless
for the first 13 minutes with Cormac Bane among the
players to miss early chances. In a fiery opening,
with both sides eager to dominate at centre-field,
Alan Dillon had an 11th-minute free moved forward
for dissent which he pointed for 0-02 to 0-00. Mayo
pushed on and after a well-taken point from Tom
Parsons, Andy Moran slipped through for a
22nd-minute goal. Austin O'Malley sandwiched an
Austin O'Malley point, in between two Michael Meehan
scores before the latter set up Breathnach's
34th-minute major. Galway, who lost Joe Bergin to an
early injury, added another point late on to make it
a one-point game and set up an exciting second half.
The weather conditions worsened on the restart but
Galway certainly upped the ante and added some zip
to their forward play. Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke
was left thumping the ground when Clancy shot home
Galway's second goal. Clarke saved Meehan's initial
shot but Clancy, also a goal scorer last week
against Derry, was perfectly placed to stab home the
rebound. Conor Mortimer stemmed the tide with a
point for Mayo but efforts from Meehan and Gary Sice
had Galway leading 2-05 to 1-05, ten minutes into
the half. Mayo then had a spell of dominance with
defenders David Heaney and Colm Boyle pushing
forward to notch points, and James Gill and O'Malley
(free) also raised white flags in a purple patch for
the hosts. By the hour mark, Galway had retaken the
lead with Meehan and Padraic Joyce both finding the
target for a 2-07 to 1-09 score-line. The game swung
back in Mayo's favour when O'Malley (free) and
Conroy both added to their side's tally. However,
two late points from play from Paul Conroy and
Joyce, who angled over the winner from the left
wing, saw Galway edge home.
