PÁDRAIC JOYCE refused to get carried away after his Galway side thumped arch rivals Mayo.
The Tribesmen outclassed their Connacht foes at MacHale Park to cement their place at the top of Division 1.
It was Galway’s biggest win over Mayo since 1983 as forwards Shane Walsh and Cillian Ó Curraoin shot 17 points between them.
Eight of those were two-pointers from outside the new 40-metre arc.
Mayo had no answer to Galway’s wind-assisted shooting masterclass in the second half, with Kevin McStay’s team surrendering their half-time lead and crashing to a demoralising defeat.
Joyce said: “I’m happy with the performance and that led to the victory so, overall, I’m very happy.
“We did OK in the first half and we felt that we controlled a lot of the play.
“But we gave Mayo six or seven turnovers that led to scores. We’re not going to get carried away.
“It was February 2 today and there’s a long way to go.
“But it’s nice to have four points out of four. Over the years we probably would have been seen as a team that’s nice to play against.
“But we’re trying to bring some physicality on to the pitch.
“We have a lot of men over 6ft and they got stuck in today, which is pleasing.”
A crowd of 12,291 turned up at MacHale Park and while there was very little between the teams in the first half, it was a different story in the second period.
Galway played the game on their terms while McStay’s side struggled to get to grips with their opponents.
Jack Coyne, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn, Aidan O’Shea and Tommy Conroy were again conspicuous by their absence.
McStay conceded: “There’s no getting away from the fact that we were well off Galway. It was their day.”
Mayo won the corresponding fixture last year by a commanding 2-12 to 0-10 margin at Pearse Stadium.
But yesterday’s defeat was a sobering one.
McStay added: “We had a good feeling this time last year but we have to suck it up and take it on the chin. They were the better team.
“I’m going to take some comfort from the fact that the season is still well ahead of us.”
Mayo’s second-half collapse seemed unlikely when they led by a point at the interval, having twice recovered from four-point deficits.
Seán Morahan marked his first league start with an early score. But a 45 from Conor Gleeson and a Paul Conroy effort edged Galway ahead for the first time.
And that set the tone for a first half which ebbed and flowed, with the pick of the scores coming from Galway’s Walsh and Conroy, while Conor Reid and Paul Towey were on target for Mayo.
The Green and Red were 0-9 to 0-8 ahead when the half-time hooter sounded.
But they were left chasing shadows for most of the second half once Galway found their shooting boots.
A string of fine two-point efforts from Walsh saw the visitors lead by seven points in the 49th minute to put the game beyond Mayo.
The Tribe added nine more points, including two two-pointers from Ó Curraoin and another from Walsh to seal their biggest victory over Mayo in 42 years and condemn their rivals to back-to-back losses.
Mayo’s day was summed up when captain Stephen Coen was dismissed after being booked for the second time.
MAYO: C Reape; S Callinan, R Brickenden, E Hession; S Coen, D McBrien, S Morahan 0-1; D McHugh 0-1, M Ruane; C Reid 0-2, F Boland, D Neary 0-3; P Towey 0-5, 1tp, F Irwin 0-1, R O’Donoghue 0-3f. Subs: D MacHale for Boland 44 mins; D O’Connor for Reid 47; E McLaughlin for Ruane 53; B Tuohy for O’Connor 56; C McHale for Irwin 61.
GALWAY: C Gleeson 0-1, 45; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, D O’Flaherty; D McHugh 0-1, L Silke, S Kelly 0-2, P Conroy 0-3, C McDaid; J Maher, F Ó Laoi, C Darcy; C Ó Curraoin 0-8, 1f, 2tp, 2tpf; S Walsh 0-9, 2tp, 2tpf, S O’Neill. Subs: J Glynn for Kelly 47 mins; R Finnerty 0-2f for O’Neill 48; C Sweeney for McDaid 51; J Heaney for Ó Laoi 61; C Costello for Walsh 66.
REFEREE: N Mooney (Cavan).
