Derry's losing run continues
Derry 1-12 Mayo 2-12
Derry fell to their third straight defeat in Allianz NFL Division 1 as Mayo triumphed at Celtic Park this evening.
Goals in either half from Andy Moran and Aidan O'Shea helped Mayo get back to winning ways and secure their first win on Derry soil since 1984.
Eoin Bradley scored a goal for Derry with the last kick of the game, but by that stage Mayo were already confirmed winners - Seamus O'Shea, Moran and team captain Trevor Mortimer landing the insurance points in the final quarter-hour.
Alan Dillon turned in a man-of-the-match display on his return to the Mayo side. It was from his 31st-minute free that Moran notched the visitors' opening goal.
Dillon followed up with a pointed free to nudge John O'Mahony's men into a 1-7 to 0-5 half-time lead, and they had little trouble in seeing out their third win in four league games.
Both Derry and Mayo struggled for shooting accuracy in their most recent league outings, with the Oak Leafers hitting 16 wides against Kerry and Mayo having a wides total of 18 against Dublin.
But O'Mahony's charges were much more clinical under the floodlights tonight, with Dillon and Enda Varley (0-2) moving them into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead, seven minutes in.
Derry carved out a goal-scoring opportunity but Mayo netminder David Clarke reacted well to smother a shot from Eoin Bradley.
Damian Cassidy's side stirred into life on the back of three successive scores. Lee Moore pointed a free and Eoin Bradley and Gerard O'Kane also found the target.
Skipper O'Kane was a driving force for Derry as they levelled the tie. After James Kielt crashed a shot off Clarke's crossbar, a quick turnover of possession saw Mortimer kick his side back in front.
Moore replied and Paddy Bradley also got his name on the scoresheet, but only after Aidan O'Shea and Dillon had tagged on further Mayo scores.
The visitors' first goal was a particularly soft one for Derry to concede. Coming up to half-time, O'Kane was rather harshly penalised, two Derry defenders failed to gather Dillon's lobbed ball in and it broke for Moran to smash home from close range.
Dillon kicked Mayo's seventh point in injury-time to give Mayo a double scores lead to take into the second half, and referee Cormac Reilly, who was overly fussy at times, was certainly not endearing himself to the home crowd.
Derry boss Cassidy tweaked his side at half-time and moved Paddy Bradley into the full-forward, and the Glenullin clubman scored the first point of the second half.
However, Varley was quick to reply and a teasing 45th minute ball in from Dillon did more damage for Mayo as O'Shea, challenging in the square, managed to palm it to the Derry net.
O'Kane tried to revive his team-mates with a well-taken point and Derry did respond well, firing over two more points from Charlie Kielt and Eoin Bradley.
Substitute Chris Barrett kept Mayo on track with a point at the other end, but this match looked set for a grandstand finish when Paddy Bradley tagged on two quick-fire points and Mark Lynch split the posts on 56 minutes to reduce the arrears to 2-9 to 0-12.
Nonetheless, the Mayo forwards produced the goods when they were most needed. Moran teed up Seamus O'Shea for a neat score and after a wild goal attempt from Charlie Kielt, Mortimer's terrific diagonal ball picked out Moran for another Mayo point.
The Mayo skipper himself rode a tackle and cracked over a third point Mayo point in 10 minutes to have what looked to be the final say, until Eoin Bradley salvaged some pride with an elusive goal.
