Ben bags hat-trick to send Mayo into next round of cup

Oscar Traynor Cup – Round 2 

Galway League 1 

Mayo League 4 

An impressive performance from hat-trick hero Ben Edeh helped Mayo on their way to victory over Galway in an exciting encounter at Eamonn Deacy Park on Sunday.

The Tribesmen just couldn’t deal with the Ballyheane forward’s pace and power as he bagged two goals and an assist in the opening 23 minutes. Mayo’s attacking unit of Edeh, Jordan Loftus, Jamie Cawley and Darren Browne were all of form, while they were defensively solid as Ioseph O’Reilly, Cillian Redmond and Oran Groarke kept their opponents at bay. O’Reilly, in particular, was outstanding.

Mayo came into this Oscar Traynor Cup second round match having defeated Sligo/Leitrim 1-0, courtesy of a Darren Browne penalty, while Galway were 2-0 winners over Roscommon & District, meaning the winners of Sunday’s match would be through to the next round.

It was a cagey opening few minutes, with Galway’s Pádraic Cunningham’s glancing header that flashed wide the game’s best chance before broke the stalemate.

Groarke’s corner on 15 minutes was headed down by Edeh and Browne was on-hand to bury a rocket into the top right corner.

Five minutes later, Edeh crossed from the right wing and perhaps Loftus’ run distracted Galway goalkeeper TJ Forde as the ball went all the way into the back of the net to double Mayo’s lead.

Then from a Galway corner Mayo broke and Loftus found an onrushing Edeh in oceans of space and the Mayo no.11’s shot was too powerful for Forde, who made contact with it, but the ball rolled over the line, as Joe Kelly’s side led 3-0 after 23 minutes.

Galway were handed a mini-lifeline as Mayo skipper Cillian McGlade handled the ball in the box and referee Marc Lynch spotted to the spot. Former Galway United striker Pádraic Cunningham made no mistake by putting it into the bottom left corner.

Galway almost had a second but Gary Cunningham was equal to Kody McCann’s effort, and at the other end Forde stopped Jamie Cawley’s shot, but Mayo led 3-1 at the half-time break.

Upon the resumption, Mayo’s defence was stout as Gary Cunningham tipped Pádraic Cunningham’s shot over the bar. Ad there was a sigh of relief from the visitors when O’Reilly’s last ditch tackle went just over the crossbar, rather than in his own net.

Then on 81 minutes, Cunningham made a fantastic close-ranged save from Galway’s Tommy Walsh. From the resulting corner-kick, Edeh cleared to find substitute Adam Nugent, who was one-on-one with Forde, but his effort dragged to the left and wide. Edeh had a chance saved well by Forde until Cunningham pulled off a world class stop. Galway’s Gavin Gilmore cut inside on his left foot and curled a lovely effort towards the top left corner but the Mayo and Ireland amateur goalkeeper rose to make a magnificent acrobatic save.

Galway huffed and puffed but couldn’t create another opportunity as Mayo’s defence stood firm.

Two minutes into injury-time, the ball fell to Edeh on the halfway line and he got a well-deserved hat-trick as he finished coolly past Forde to seal a memorable win.

Galway: TJ Forde; Callum Browne, Adam Duffy (captain), Paul Scally, Nathan Ward, Ben Molloy, Kody McCann, Timmy Molloy, Pádraic Cunningham, Gavin Gilmore, Matthew Barrett. Subs: Tommy Walsh (for Browne ht), Jason McDonagh (for Scally ht), Cole Connolly (for Barrett ht), Aidan Coyle (for Molloy 54), Colm Whelan (for Cunningham 73).

Mayo: Gary Cunningham; Cillian McGlade (captain), Harrison Quinn, Ioseph O’Reilly, Cillian Redmond, Oran Groarke, Jamie Cawley, Cillian Whyte, Jordan Loftus, Darren Browne, Ben Edeh. Subs: Dylan McKee (for Browne 57), Lorcan Conroy (for Cawley 67), Adam Nugent (for Loftus 78), Dan Duffy (for Quinn 78), Cormac Caulfield (for McKee 83, inj).

REF: Marc Lynch