Cafferky sisters combine to darken Lilywhites' day
Mayo midfielder Erin Murray staves off the challenge of Kildare’s Lauren Murtagh during the LGFA All-Ireland SFC Riound 2 clash at James Stephens Park, Ballina, last Saturday. Pictures: David Farrell Photography
Bouncebackability. It’s a word that most probably wasn’t in the lexicon the last time Mayo enjoyed a senior championship victory as convincing as this one. But it’s a quality the Mayo ladies have revealed on more than one occasion this season.
Soundly beaten at home by Meath in the opening round of the league, they returned a week later to sneak a one point win away to Galway. Soundly beaten at home in the league by All-Ireland champions Dublin, their next game was a hard-fought draw away to Kerry, last year’s All-Ireland finalists. And beaten, rather agonisingly, by one point at home to Armagh, they concluded their Division 1 campaign a week later with a victory over Waterford.
This year’s championship had been something of an uncomfortable ride until Saturday for Liam McHale’s team. Surrendering their Connacht title with an underwhelming performance in the final against Galway, Mayo commenced the All-Ireland campaign with an eight points defeat away to the holders – unable to score a goal in either game.
But on Saturday, they recovered from that Dublin setback to serve Kildare a taste of just how brutal the senior ranks can be, hammering last year’s All-Ireland intermediate champions by 16 points. The gap would not have been so great were it for the brilliance of Mayo goalkeeper Laura Brennan, who produced a string of top class saves, but Mayo dominated the Lilywhites from practically the first whistle until last and truth be told, they themselves could easily have had more than the two goals scored by the Cafferky sisters, Lisa and Sinead, one in either half.
The latter had been named to start, so too Aoife Staunton, but their places were assumed by Sinead Walsh and Fiona McHale as Mayo sought to secure a quarter-final berth by virtue of a second place finish in the group. It would now take Kildare to cause arguably the greatest shock in championship history and hockey Dublin next weekend to even possibly deny the Green and Red their last eight berth.
Kildare, managed by former Mayo captain and Ballina native, Diane O’Hora, negated Annie Gough’s early opening point for Mayo, but that score by full-forward Aoife Rattigan, in the fifth minute, was the Leinster side’s sole mark on the scoreboard in the entire first-half. They may have been playing into a slight breeze but that alone was no reason for Kildare to trail by a dozen points at half-time.
By the end of the opening quarter Mayo held a 0-6 to 0-1 lead courtesy of a second point by Gough, two from Maria Cannon, including a free, and one apiece by Lisa Cafferky and Fionnuala McLaughlin. Cannon and McLaughlin could easily have had goals too, but the former shot straight at Kildare goalkeeper Anna Dunlea and hit the post from the rebound while McLaughlin ran onto Fiona McHale’s pass and blasted inches over the crossbar, in the 19th minute, to extend Mayo’s lead to six points.
Annie Gough was also fractionally off target in an attempt to lift the net off hits hooks but after Maria Cannon converted a free, the green flag that Mayo had been threatening finally arrived in the 29th minute, as Sinead Walsh’s ball over the top enabled Cannon to supply Lisa Cafferky who stepped inside and with her left boot, drilled low past Dunlea for a 1-8 to 0-1 lead. With Cannon sweetly nailing another pair of long-range frees before the short whistle, Mayo were practically out of sight.
O’Hora signalled her opinion of her side’s first-half display – and her intent for the second-half – by making no fewer than three half-time substitutions, and one of those, Niamh Farrelly, could easily have had a pair of goals inside seven minutes of the restart. It took a double save by Laura Brennan in the 34th minute to first thwart Kildare midfielder and captain Grace Clifford and the follow-up by Farrelly, while three minutes later Farrelly showed great strength to shake off Eilis Ronayne and unleash a low shot that Brennan’s legs diverted to safety. But by the time Kildare eventually scored their second point of the match, Annie Gough, Sinead Walsh and centre-back Ciara Durkan had each split the posts to stretch the Mayo lead out to 15.
Inexplicably, having gone well in excess of 40 minutes without raising a flag, Kildare suddenly hit three points in two minutes, including a brace by Roisin Byrne and one by Neasa Dooley. Those would have been wiped out in an instant had ‘keeper Dunlea not expertly tipped a goal effort by Sinead Walsh over the bar, but that point was added to by Maria Cannon, from a free, leaving Mayo 1-15 to 0-4 in front with 53 minutes on the clock.
Dooley struck over a wonderful free from all of 47 metres but goals continued to evade Kildare, with Roisin Byrne and Ellen Dowling, who had overturned Saoirse Lally to set-up Byrne for the first attempt, both drawing another top class double-save by Laura Brennan. To rub salt into Kildare’s wounds, Mayo immediately pounced for their second goal – the game’s final score – on the hour mark, as sub Sinead Cafferky combined with fellow sub Aoife Staunton and drilled the ball into the bottom right corner.
Mayo’s task now is to ditch bouncebackability for back-to-back. The last eight awaits.
Scorers – Mayo: Maria Cannon 0-6 (5f), Lisa Cafferky 1-1, Sinead Cafferky 1-0, Annie Gough 0-3, Fionnuala McLaughlin and Sinead Walsh 0-2 each, Ciara Durkan 0-1.
Kildare: Roisin Byrne and Neasa Dooley 0-2 (1f) each, Aoife Rattigan 0-1.
Mayo: Laura Brennan; Saoirse Lally, Nicola O’Malley, Kathryn Sullivan; Eilis Ronayne, Ciara Durkan, Danielle Caldwell; Aoife Geraghty, Erin Murray; Fionnuala McLaughlin, Fiona McHale, Sinead Walsh; Annie Gough, Maria Cannon, Lisa Cafferky. Subs: Aoife Staunton (for McHale 38), Emily Reape (for Murray 46), Sinead Cafferky (for L Cafferky 53), Milly Sheridan and Caitlin Henry (for Gough and Sullivan 55).
Kildare: Anna Dunlea; Fiona Troute, Aoife Clifford, Alex Reynolds; Lara Gilbert, Ruth Sargent, Lauren Murtagh; Grace Clifford, Claire Sullivan; Trina Duggan, Neasa Dooley, Leah Doran; Ellen Dowling, Aoife Rattigan, Roisin Byrne. Subs: Ellie O’Toole, Niamh Farrelly and Lisa Shaw (for A Clifford, Sullivan and Doran ht), Holly Tyrrell (for Rattigan 38), Zoe Brierty (for Duggan 40).
REF: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan)
