DOC & CO THROW IT ALL AWAY; O'Mahony relief as Mayo snatch dramatic draw.

Byline: By GERRY McLAUGHLIN

THIS was a Saint Valentine's Day massacre that turned into a memorable comeback for Mayo.

And Lazarus, Dick Turpin and Houdini would all seem to be alive and well in the western county after super sub Kieran Conroy gave John O'Mahony's men an incredible injury time draw at O'Donnell Park.

But this was a major setback for the home side who threw away a nine points half time lead and only managed two points in the second half.

And this dropped point could yet haunt Donegal in the latters stages of the campaign.

Both teams showed all their brittle qualities in a game that each side desperately wanted to win.

Generous defences ensured loads of goal chances and Mayo spurned three and trailed by 2-8 0-5 at the interval.

"No matter what way you look at it this was one that we should have put away," said Donegal centre-back Barry Monaghan.

And if Donegal boss John Joe Doherty was feeling the pressure in this effective relegation battle battle, he was not giving too much away.

He said: "There is no point in honing in on individual incidents. We had a big lead that was whittled away.

"And if it had gone a few more minutes we would have been looking for the scraps."

His take on the nine points lead was interesting.

He added: "Yoo always try and guard against that but they kept coming back and if you took the two goals out of it at half-time what was in it really?"

Sometimes there is no real explanation for delightfully freakish encounters that combined some stunning scores with elementary errors and turgid drama.

But Donegal will need some major improvement for the visit of Dublin In the opening half Donegal cut swathes through a Mayo full-backline that was as wide open as Buncrana on a 12th weekend.

Embattled Mayo boss John O'Mahony tossed on a number of second half subs who helped haul back that colossal lead.

Donegal deserved their interval lead but were rocked early in the second-half when big full-forward Barry Moran lashed home in the 45th minute to leave Donegal ahead by 2-9-1-7.

And the introduction of Mark Ronaldson, Pat Harte and David Kelly injected new life to a previously jaded Mayo.

From there to the finish it was all Mayo as Donegal could only manage two points in the entire second-half.

It was all so different in the op ening half when teenage talent Michael Murphy made a magnificent return for Tir Chonail when he hit two killer goals early in the match Murphy pounced after just 50 seconds when he tore in from the wing and planted a pass from Conal Dunne past Mayo keeper David Clarke.

The Glenswilly giant struck again with deadlier effect six minutes later when he smashed to the roof of the net following a slick six man move involving David Walsh and Stephen Griffin.

He could have had a third but was deemed to be in the square when he volleyed home a pass from Neil Gallagher who didn't need to be so generous.

Mayo relied for inspiration on marksman Conor Mortimer who hit three points.

It looked black for Mayo at the interval but that second half comeback certainly took some of the pressure off John O'Mahony who looked very relieved after this remarkable turrnaround.

DONEGAL: M Boyle, D Walsh, N McGee, PMcDaid, F McGlynn, B Monaghan, E McGee,(0-1) N Gallagher, C Bonner (0-1) R Kavanagh, C Dunne (0-1) D Walsh (0-1) M Doherty (0-1) S Griffin (0-5f), M Murphy (2-0). Subs: B Boyle for C Dunne (53), C McFadden for M Murphy (inj) (60), E Waide for F McGlynn (62), K McMenamin for D Walsh (70),

MAYO: D Clarke, L O'Malley, G Cafferky, D Vaughan, P Gardiner, T Cunniffe, P Kelly, T Parsons, R McGarrity, B J Padden (0-1) T Mortimer (0-1) A Dillon (0-1f) C Mortimer (0-7 6f), B Moran (1-0), A Moran. Subs: B Kelly for A Moran (28), M Sweeney (0-1) for P Kelly(h-time) P Harte (0-1) for B J Padden (40), M Ronaldson for T Parsons, C Conroy (0-1) for R McGarrity (56).

CAPTION(S):

DRAW O'Mahony; BLOW Donegal's Barry Monaghan admits his side blew great chance for victory; RELIABLE Mayo's Conor Mortimer helped his side with seven points