Vodafone Big-Match Stats

The cliff-hanger that was Sunday’s Connacht SF Final between Galway and Mayo has been reflected in the Vodafone Big Match Stats, which have borne out just how little separated the two giants of Connacht football in this clash in Castlebar.

Apart from the most important statistic of all – the scoring and particularly Galway’s two goals – Mayo edged Galway in the majority of the key stats provided to Vodafone from the game by Galway-based visual analysis specialists Avenir. However, in any of these key stats, the margin was mostly so slight, directly confirming, as did the final score, how well matched these sides are.

In the possession stakes, Mayo edged out Galway by 52.9% (17mins 45secs) to 47.1% (15mins 51secs), with the ball in play for 33mins 36secs – less than half the game time. The only statistic that they had a strong edge on was in the high-fielding stakes, with 10 clean high-catches compared to Galway’s five. They passed 138 times (111 successful) over the course of the game compared to Galway’s 133 (109 successful), won 28 free kicks compared to Galway’s 25, hand-passed 14 more times, had five more clean (low or high) catches and worked possession into the danger zone (full forward line) 24 times compared to Galway’s 16.

Mayo also had more shots on goal – 30 compared to Galway’s 23 – but Galway were more clinical and proved again that goals do win games, with Mayo failing to find the net at any stage in the game, whereas the Tribesmen bagged two in the first 26 minutes.

Apart from their goals, which were, of course, the crucial moments in the game, Galway did have a clear edge in running with ball in hand, soloing 64 times compared to Mayo’s 43. Significantly also, they were superior in some of the key individual stats, with Galway’s Pádraig Joyce featuring prominently.

The Killererin club-man was not only Galway’s highest scorer with an impressive 1-3 from play but he also passed (21) more times during the game than any other player on the field. The closest to him was his own teammate, left-half back back Diarmuid Blake with 17 passes, while the Mayo man highest in this stat was centre-half back David Heaney with 13 passes.

For further information, please contact:

Eugene Hogan, F D , Tel 00353872497290, email eugene.hogan@fd.com

Darina Sexton, Vodafone Corporate Affairs, Tel 00353877753000, email darina.sexton@vodafone.com

Note to Editor:
The Vodafone Match Stats for Football Championship ’08 will be made available to national and provincial media. This is part of Vodafone’s service in helping to promote the GAA Senior Football Championship.

Vodafone Championship Big Match Statistics

Connacht Football Final
Mayo v Galway McHale Park, Castlebar

Game Analysis 13th July 2008