Donegal forced to Ben-d the knee as Mayo come alive in Oscar Traynor Cup
Mayo League coach Eamonn Daly and manager Joe Kelly.
After an indifferent group-stage campaign, Mayo finally announced their arrival to the 2024/25 Oscar Traynor Cup, with a superb 4-2 win over a strong Donegal side in the windy and wet conditions of Swilly Park on Sunday.
Two goals from Ben Edeh and one apiece from Kevin Kitterick and Oran Groarke put the hosts to the sword after an outstanding first-half, defensive display.
Mayo lined out without four probable starters, with Jason Hunt, Jordan Loftus, Darren Browne and Ioseph O’Reilly all injured or unavailable, making the result all the more impressive. The players that came in were superb and leave manager, Joe Kelly with a selection headache for the semi-final visit of Limerick District League to Umbro Park, Milebush, on March 23.
“I was delighted with it,” Kelly told the . “We came up here with a lot of things going against us. We were away from home, playing the Ulster champions and minus a lot of important players. I thought structurally we were excellent. We had worked a lot on that. We had a gale to contend with as well, which you can’t train for. We knew coming up if we could play against the wind in the first half and soak up a bit of pressure, that we’d have a chance after that.”
As Kelly expected, Donegal laid into Mayo from the kick-off and rattled their guests for the opening ten minutes. In that period, they won four corners and every aerial battle. They worked neat set-pieces and had a physicality to them, and it took Mayo a while to settle in. Once Mayo got the measure of them, they absorbed Donegal’s relentless first-half pressure and rarely looked like conceding.
Donegal’s impressive striker John Robb had a header saved by the outstanding Stefan Hester in the Mayo goal, who also took an Eddie O’Reilly shot off the line. The winger sent in a low cross a few minutes later but Cathal Coyne interrupted its passage across the goal. Coyne and Mark Cunningham were busy in the opening half, at the centre of Mayo’s defence, with full-backs Cillian McGlade and Andrew Shally, tested as well. Kelly chose to start the doubtful Shally, rightly believing that his hard tackling and experience would be needed in the opening period.
With most of the opening half played near the Mayo goal, the visitors were limited to occasional breaks and when called upon, Kevin Kitterick and Ben Edeh were excellent on the wings. Nathan Reilly-Doyle, playing as a centre forward, had two ex-League of Ireland men policing him but he put in a tremendous shift, chasing everything and using his super close-control to great effect. On another day he would have had a penalty after Keith Cowan’s challenge mid-way through the half.
Despite the Donegal pressure, it was Mayo captain Ben Edeh who opened the scoring two minutes into first half stoppage time, when he finished well after excellent work by Kitterick on the wing. The goal came after a good ten minutes for Mayo.
Mayo were harshly denied what seemed like a certain penalty immediately after the break, when Stephen Black appeared to take out Edeh in the box. Neither the referee, nor his assistant thought so, however, and when Mayo hesitated to complain, Robb levelled the match from a cross by O’Reilly seconds later.
Paddy Carr saw his shot saved by Hester and O’Reilly had two efforts wide. Hester then made an outstanding save from Ryan Cunningham, before man-of-the-match Groarke made it 2-1 with a superb individual goal. Despite being tightly marked, the Castlebar Celtic man took possession, turned, beat two defenders and set up his shot.
With Donegal in tatters, and desperate to get an equaliser, an excellent Mayo move extended the lead. Cillian White, introduced at half time for Shally, set-up another substitute Jack O’Connor. The ball went to Groarke and Edeh before Kitterick’s super strike past goalkeeper Mark McGinley. A minute later at the other end, O’Reilly got one back to keep it interesting.
O’Connor should have added a fourth when Edeh set him up, but he was a little rusty due to lack of matches so far this season. Deep into stoppage time, substitute Cormac Caulfield made a statement challenge on Black to set up Edeh for his second.
Mayo deserved their win. They soaked up what Donegal threw at them. The kept their shape and discipline. They were lethal on the break, and all their players performed well including substitutes. They refused to be bullied by the strong Donegal side. This performance was reminiscent of their demolition of Galway last season and ignites their challenge.
Alongside Groarke and Hester, Kitterick was outstanding for Mayo. This was the best I’ve seen him. He has gotten bigger and stronger this past year or so, and when Mayo were under pressure in the first half, he was back putting in big tackles; winning the ball, and then was lethal on the counter. Reilly-Doyle, Edeh, Cocozza and Brennan were tremendous, too. Donegal, to their credit, never gave up despite their frustration and the game gradually slipping away from them. O’Reilly was a constant threat, Robb showed all his experience, while Gareth Harkin, Carr and Cunningham gave it everything.
“It was hard to predict the flight of the ball in the wind,” Kelly said. “We were a bit uncertain in the opening ten minutes but once we got to grips with Donegal and pushed a little higher, they started over-hitting the ball and we were seeing them out over the end-line in the first half. Stefan (Hester) played really well behind our back-four. I would prefer to have ten percent of the ball and win the match than have ninety percent and lose it. We are blessed with payers with pace, and with players like that you can play on the counter and a game like this really suits Ben Edeh and Kevin Kitterick.”
Kelly thought Donegal did well for their opening goal, but it should never have happened. “We were denied a clear penalty. The defender is nowhere near the ball; it’s in the box and Ben (Edeh) was taken clearly out of the game. His feet were taken completely from under him as he was about to hit the ball. I have absolutely no doubt it was a penalty.”
Cillian McGlade said the wind and the rain made for tough conditions. “We had an early start and a long trek to Donegal,” McGlade said. “We were very together today and really battled for this one. We had our backs against the wall for the first ten minutes and they were hard to put away. Anytime we went ahead they seemed to pull one back. But we got the better of them as the match wore on and deserved the win.”
Centre-back Cathal Coyne said that the Donegal forwards were bigger than the players in the Mayo League. “I think once we settled in, myself and Mark (Cunningham,) were a match for them. That was one of our best performances as a team. We switched off for a moment when we were denied the penalty and they came up and punished us. We’ll have to work on our reaction, for the semi-final.”
