A 'brilliant' occasion awaits in Milebush for national cup final

Joe Kelly was delighted how his side navigated a ‘tough’ semi-final as the Mayo League ended a wait of over four decades to reach the Oscar Traynor Cup final.

“We knew coming up today, from the result they got in Wexford, the additional players they have added since the first round, the likes of Leo Doherty and Bryan Lynch, we knew we’d have a really tough game.

“We knew we had to be at our best. We probably didn’t start that well, we were a bit nervy on the ball initially but we got to grips with them after 30 minutes or so when we got into our stride.” The gale force wind blowing across Lissywollen meant Mayo had to be a bit more compact and organised to stop Sligo/Leitrim from finding space behind the backline and credited the team with how they kept their shape, forcing S/L to gamble and go more direct in the unpredictable conditions.

“We said at half-time we couldn’t leave those pockets of space behind because if you do against the wind, they can overhit the ball and it works in your favour. I think they did that a bit and rushed the ball and it was going out long. If they found quality passes, they can hurt you. Gary (Cunningham), the defence and the midfield’s positioning, there wasn’t too many gaps. We had to narrow up.” Kelly admitted goalscorer Dylan McKee was carrying an injury coming into the semi-final and was forced off earlier than anticipated. His replacement, Cillian Whyte, was a major presence from the minute he came on.

“We have a couple of calls in the squad, maybe three in particular, it’s a toss of a coin. You’re basing it on the previous game or the performance in training. Cillian played in the last Interprovincial game for us and he was outstanding. We knew today he had that in him to come in.

“We probably thought we’d get 55, 60 minutes out of Dylan because he’s suffering with shin splints but they started annoying him a bit earlier so we had to bring him off earlier.

“One or two of Cillian’s first touches were high end tackles where he wont he ball and put us on the front foot. I thought at the time he came in, he was in contention for man of the match myself. That’s my own opinion. You don’t often see a substitute do that.” Mayo’s free-scoring attack did not hit the heights of previous outings, with Ben Edeh and Jack O’Connor seeing good chances go astray. But after a frank chat a half-time, they responded instantly in the second half as O’Connor netted the eventual winner just seconds into the second half.

“Jack and Ben, to be quite honest with you, I’d have pulled them aside at half-time. We were disappointed with a couple of opportunities they got. They fluffed their lines. Ben didn’t get a good shot off and took an extra touch and Jack as well, had an opportunity and didn’t get a good strike. We were critical. At this level, they need to be put away.

“But the move, Ben was involved, Json was involved and Jack finished it. It was lovely to see that conversation come off so we were happy with it.

Standing the way of history is Waterford & District League on Sunday week in Umbro. Kelly knows occasions like this come around rarely and knows it will be one to savour.

“John (Durkan) contacted me when the draw was made that whoever won today was going to be at home, it added a little bit more pressure. I was nearly hoping he didn’t tell me!

“That was in the back of out minds definitely. All we told the players today was we needed to get over the line today and win the semi-final. To play the final in Castlebar is brilliant.”

The Oscar Traynor final is confirmed for Sunday, April 21 at 1pm in Umbro Park.