Mayo’s hurlers got their Rackard Cup campaign off to the best possible start this afternoon. Trailing Donegal at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny for much of the game, they struck late via a goal from Keith Higgins and won by three points, on a scoreline of 2-14 to 0-17.
My focus was elsewhere while this game was being played, though I did manage to keep an eye on how the scoring was going up in Letterkenny. For much of the game it was Donegal who had their noses in front but, in truth, there was little between the teams throughout.
Donegal had the aid of a stiff enough breeze in the first half and with half an hour played it looked like they had made decent use of the wind, as they led by four. This was despite having shot a number of wides.
It was then, though, that the visitors broke through for their first goal. Adrian Phillips got it and a quick flurry of points at either end left two between the sides at the break.
Donegal – victors over Mayo in last year’s Rackard Cup final as well as in this year’s NHL – maintained their narrow advantage as the second half progressed. By the second water break, though, the sides were level and this now had the look of a game that could go either way.
The home side steadied themselves early in the final quarter, however, and when they pushed three ahead with five minutes of normal time left they now seemed set to close out the win.
A goal effort by Gary Nolan was batted away but Keith Higgins nailed the resultant ’65. Donegal responded, though, with a point by McDermott and when Coulter pointed they were three in front again.
A mix-up in the Donegal backline provided a goal chance for Keith Higgins. He didn’t need a second invite and the three-pointer hauled us level as the game entered what proved to be a protracted amount of injury time.
Three further scores were recorded in injury time, all of them for the visitors. The first two came from Shane Boland, with a free from Keith providing the final touch to a three-point win.
So it’s a perfect start for the hurlers in this year’s Rackard Cup campaign. Next up for them is a home match against Leitrim at MacHale Park next Saturday.
Well done to our hurlers
Congrats, hurlers. An important win against opponents who have had the upper hand on us recently and hopefully it set them up for a good summer. Is Keith getting back into the swing of things with the hurl?
Some turnaround by the hurlers, from getting hammered by 17 points up in Donegal 5 weeks ago to winning by 3 today. Things in Mayo hurling didn’t look good after that defeat but the mood is much brighter today. Brilliant performance lads and best of luck for the rest of the competition.
Great away win – congrats to all concerned.
Absolutely brilliant win for the hurlers, this was the game of the weekend for Mayo by a long shot.
Delighted for Keith that he is getting the chance to shine (again) with the team and it’s great to see us get that win over Donegal too.