Frustration continues

A hugely frustrating evening at Celtic Park. At the start of the NFL campaign this would have been one of the games earmarked for a win and a vital two points, but defeat now leaves Derry entrenched in a relegation dogfight, and the manner of defeat does little to inpsire hope of safely coming out of it.

There was a lot wrong with the peformance, but the most disappointing aspect is that we've seen the same problems arise in the previous games against Dublin and they have not been addressed.

First things first - team selection. I was of the opinion heading into this match that if you're going to try out switches like Fergal Doherty at wing-forward and Paddy Bradley at centre-forward then a league game in March is the time to do it. It backfired. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, and I would imagine that Damian Cassidy will be rueing those selections today. This was a must-win game for Derry and playing two of your key men out of position totally ruined us in the first half. And it was an awful first half from Derry. Right up there with the second halves against Dublin and Kerry. Mayo really should have been out of sight.

The good news is that Fergal Doherty won't be tried here again, nor should Paddy Bradley, but you live and learn. Pity it's at the expense of two league points.

It was fairly obvious in Tralee last week that derry had a problem winning possession. Straight kick-outs down the middle of the field against a breeze played straight into Kerry's hands. Last night, Derry employed the same kickout strategy. Not once did a player come short for a kickout, and not once was any attempt made to get the ball moving quickly from restarts. Not once. When it's obvious Derry aren't winning enough ball at midfield. This is sorely frustrating, especially when the tactics of the opposition couldn't be any more different.

Time after time in the first half, Mayo had the ball kicked out before Derry realised it had even happened, and they were attacking the right wing solidly. Hitting Derry on counter attacks, letting the bal do the work. And they got a lot of joy with this tactic. It left the Derry full-back line exposed, and despite the fortuitous nature of Andy Moran's goal, Mayo's five-point lead at half-time almost flattered Derry.

Derry's forward line malfunctioned. The half-forward line was largely anonymous so there were no outlets in the wing positions. This meant the ball had to be worked out of defence and when/if it eventually reached the full-forward line, Eoin Bradley and Lee Moore were bottled up by the Mayo defence, and Derry were reduced to kicking scores from long-range. Similar to what happened in Ballybofey last July.

While Derry laboured and pondered, Mayo appeared to be flying. Alan Dillon was literally everywhere. Picking up loose possession around midfield and constantly setting up attacks, he is in sharp form. Derry couldn't contain him. Aidan O'Shea also showed some of his potential by scoring 1-1, and of the six Mayo forwards that started the game - all six scored. In fact they were their only scorers (except for a point by susbtitute Chris Barrett) and they distributed the scores fairly evenly.

Things improved for Derry in the second half. Whilst the removal of Lee Moore at half-time was a semi-surprise (he showed reasonably well in the first half, and hit a couple of decent frees), the introduction of Sean Leo McGoldrick helped add a bit of shape to the forward line. With Doherty back at midfield, Kielt at centre-forward and Paddy Bradley at full-forward, the Oakleafers looked a lot more comfortable. Gerard O'Kane moved into cenre-half back while Mark Lynch, who had struggled during the first half moved into the forwards.

Aidan O'Shea's fisted goal (45 mins) was another lucky break for Mayo, but they probably deserved to be seven points ahead at that stage. It seemed to kick Derry into life however, and they went on to play easily their best football of the game. There was too much left to claw back however and Mayo's ability to tag on a few points near the end (when Derry had reduced the deficit to three points) finished the contest.

Eoin Bradley's goal was struck with the very last kick of the game and put a three-point margin between the sides that will probably leave John O'Mahony wondering how his team won by so little.

But he'll be delighted with the win - as Mayo haven't won in Derry in 26 years - and he'll probably be surprised at how easily the win was accomplished. Mayo just overran and outlplayed Derry from the start, and we never looked like turning the tide; falling into the usual trap of kicking the ball backwards or kicking it away.

Relegation is a very real possibility now, and a huge improvement is required if it is to be avoided. A win against Monaghan next week is absolutely essential.

A few other observations from the game:

• As much as the defence has remained reasonably constant in the opening four NFL games, it has generally struggled. The defensive line-up for the championship still contains more questions than answers. Full-back? Centre-half back?
• Eoghan Brown replaced Raymond Wilkinson with about fifteen minutes remaining. Derry were clawing their way back into the game at that stage, and the more obvious change would have been to bring on Joe Diver at full-forward. It was pointless bringing him on for the last couple of minutes.
• Mayo are playing at a serious pace and it's not surprising that they're up pushing for a league final place. I'd be doubtful if they can keep that up for the remainder of the season though.
• Gerard O'Kane has played in about four separate defensive positions this season, Damian Cassidy needs to quickly figure out where is best to deploy him.
• It's a total quagmire down at the bottom of Division 1. It'd be worse if Derry had to travel to Scotstown next weekend. It won't be one for the purists!