Cavan upset Mayo as Donegal's All-Ireland SFC group begins with a bang

Cavan produced a notable scalp to defeat Mayo in the opening fixture of the All-Ireland SFC round-robin stage’s Group 1.

With Donegal and Tyrone due to cross swords on Saturday in the same group, fourth seeds Cavan left MacHale Park in Castlebar with a 1-17 to 1-14 win.

Raymond Galligan's Cavan men were sharper, smarter and more direct. They made the home side look pedestrian at times and the contrast between Cavan's swift attacking play and Mayo's lateral approach was stark. The glaring fact that only one of Mayo's starting forwards scored from play tells its own tale.

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The difference would have been much greater at the end, but for a late Mayo salvo which yielded a goal and two points without reply. In truth, those scores made little difference as the travelling Breffni hordes danced on the pitch after the final whistle.

It took Mayo until the 18th minute to record their first score, a free from Ryan O'Donoghue, and the Belmullet man sent a goal effort wide a minute later, but Cavan were the better team for long periods.

Cavan trailed by three points at the break, 0-7 to 0-4, but within two minutes of the resumption, they were back on level terms thanks to Gerard Smith's well-taken goal. Cormac O'Reilly landed a point two minutes later, and they were in front and would never be headed for the rest of the day.

Mayo dragged themselves back to level the scores by the 41st minute, but the momentum was with Galligan's men, who raced forward every chance they got.

At the back, Cavan snapped at every Mayo man who ventured forward, but it was made easier for them by the lack of ingenuity in the home attack. Instead, it was left to midfielders Stephen Coen and Matthew Ruane to kick points and keep Kevin McStay's men in it.

However, Cavan with corner-back Niall Carolan doing a great job on Ryan O'Donoghue; Ciaran Brady excellent at centre-half-back and both Oisin Kiernan and Cormac O'Reilly kicking points for fun, they were soon stretching away.

Mayo brought on Paddy Durcan for the closing stages in the hope that the team captain could inspire things after more than a year out with injury, but Cavan were not for turning. They were eight points clear at the end of 70 minutes and Mayo put a gloss on the scoreboard with a goal from Aidan O'Shea and points from O'Donoghue and Fergal Boland before the curtain fell.