Mayo’s footballers beat Sligo in bright start for Kevin McStay

Kevin McStay’s first outing as Mayo senior football manager ended with a comfortable 1-20 to 1-9 victory over Sligo in Ballina on Monday.

The challenge match was held in conjunction with Mayo GAA charity partners, Mindspace Mayo.

McStay’s first competitive match in charge will not take place until January 14th, when Mayo face either Galway or Leitrim at the semi-final stages of the FBD League. But he was able to give his squad an early-year run-out in Ballina, where Jordan Flynn and Matthew Ruane were among the noted performers.

Ryan O’Donoghue, hoping to put an injury-curtailed 2022 firmly behind him, started in the Mayo attack and scored 0-3 from placed balls.

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Mayo led 1-9 to 0-3 at half-time, with the goal coming from the manager’s nephew, Conor McStay. Donal Conlon nabbed a goal for Sligo after the break, but there was little flow to the second half as the influx of subs disrupted any rhythm to a game Mayo controlled throughout.

Speaking to the media afterwards, McStay said: “We are happy with the workout.

“The attitude was very good, there were certain things we wanted to get done, certain targets we had in terms of conditioning, our skill and our shape was important to us, we are trying to work on our defensive shape.”

Meanwhile, the Mayo hurlers lost to Leitrim in the first competitive senior intercounty game of 2023. Leitrim ran out 4-23 to 1-18 winners in a Connacht Hurling League quarter-final at the Air Dome in Bekan on Monday afternoon.

It was the first of a triple-header of games at the venue, with New York proving to be the story of the day as they beat Longford 3-28 to 0-16 in their first full senior intercounty hurling match since 2006.

New York, who led 2-14 to 0-9 at half-time, will face a Galway development squad in the semi-finals at the same venue on Wednesday. Leitrim will play Roscommon in the other semi-final, after they ran out 0-31 to 2-18 winners over Sligo in the last of Monday’s games in the Air Dome.

[ New York getting ready to make a brand new start of it ]

Elsewhere, Meath senior football manager Colm O’Rourke has named seven debutants for his first competitive game at the helm, as the Royals go on the road to Carlow in the O’Byrne Cup on Wednesday night, 8pm.

Goalkeeper Seán Brennan, defenders James O’Hare, Harry O’Higgins and Seán Rafferty, and forwards Diarmuid Moriarty, Conor Moriarty and Aaron Lynch will make their senior bows against Carlow.

Darragh Campion is back involved with Meath and named at centre forward, while Donal Lenihan also returns to the squad and is included among the subs. Cillian O’Sullivan, Shane McEntee, Harry Hogan and Jack O’Connor have also been listed on the bench.

MEATH (O’Byrne Cup v Carlow): Seán Brennan; James O’Hare, Harry O’Higgins, Seán Rafferty; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Cathal Hickey; Daithi McGowan, Brian Conlon; Conor Moriarty, Darragh Campion, Jason Scully; Mathew Costello, Diarmuid Moriarty, Aaron Lynch.