Mayo are hit for six by the Boys in Blue
Michael Hayes U15 Cup – Round 1
Mayo FC 1
Waterford 6
Patrick Hennelly at Umbro Park, Milebush
Visiting Waterford dished out a heavy defeat to Mayo FC on Saturday, as the Green and Red exited the Michael Hayes Cup at the first hurdle.
Waterford dominated the opening exchanges and could well have edged in front during that period, but Julian Power’s free-kick forced a fine save from Harry Naylor.
The Blues were also left ruing their luck on four minutes, when a chance was conjured up for Ben Fahey whose radar was slightly askew, much to the relief of the home bench.
Similar to their previous encounter in the league against Drogheda United, Mayo FC were under the cosh for large chunks of this tie, however, against the run of play the Connacht side broke the deadlock on 11 minutes. An inswinging corner-kick was delivered into a crowded box, with Zack Mulkerrin on hand to head home a terrific effort past Jayden Maher. However, that was as good as things would get for Mayo during the opening 30 minutes, as Waterford regrouped and piled on the pressure in the Mayo half of the pitch.
On 17 minutes, Waterford’s Ivan Voloshyn saw his snapshot fall invitingly into the path of Bobby Keohan, but the latter was aghast to see his subsequent volley flash wide.
Keohan was proving a handful for the home rearguard and the Waterford striker was left ruing his luck on 22 minutes when his effort zipped inches over Naylor’s crossbar.
Mayo FC struggled to breach the visitors defence for a second time, whereas the Blues continued to pepper the hosts goal area.
On 26 minutes, the busy Keohan raced onto a lucky break and darted towards Naylor’s goal, however, the latter got the faintest of touches to the leather. But from the subsequent corner-kick, possession was recycled into the path of the aforementioned Keohan and his sumptuous finish nestled in the bottom corner of the net.
Buoyed up after netting the equaliser, the Munster outfit busily probed for the lead goal and it duly arrived on 37 minutes. Possession was collected by Darragh Cummins and his long-range strike fortuitously crept past Naylor and trickled its way to the back of the net.
Raff Cretaro’s Mayo FC outfit could have levelled matters on 50 minutes, however, Paddy Hope’s tidy strike was thwarted by the Waterford custodian, following some great approach play by James O’Reilly.
Waterford were eager to put further daylight between the sides and the visitors, who displayed no ill effects after the long journey West, added a crucial third goal on 54 minutes. A perfectly floated Julian Power corner found Conor Dempsey loitering, and his bullet header rustled the back of the net, much to the delight of the loyal band of away supporters.
On 70 minutes, the Blues ended the game as a contest when they notched a fourth. A timely run by Calum Slattery saw the striker ghost past the home defence and his exquisite strike had too much purchase for Naylor.
The guests didn’t rest on their laurels and during the final 11 minutes of action goals from Orion Cala and Ivan Voloshyn added further gloss to the full-time score-line for Waterford, who no doubt enjoyed the journey back home to the sunny south east.
Incidentally, Waterford had six different goal scorers on the day and just shows what a dangerous attacking outfit they are when they hit top gear.
Mayo FC: Harry Naylor, Zack Mulkerrin, Ross Gallagher, Ronan McElevey, Eoin Murphy, Oisin McCartan, Aaron Heaney, Dylan Dunne, James O’Reilly, Paddy Hope, Cian Vaux Cullinane. Subs: Matthew Vahey, Kian Redmond, Eoghan Powell, Robert Ruane, AJ Tighe.
Waterford: Jaydan Maher, Jayden Kenny, Benny Martin, Ryan Butler, Bobby Keohan, Ben Fahey, Conor Dempsey, Julian Power, Ivan Voloshyn, Calum Slattery, Joey Dempsey. Subs: Darragh Cummins, Aston Hennessy King, Harry Farrell, Orion Cala, Tiernan O’Brien, Kyle Ryan.
REF: Ronan Walsh
