Hat-trick hero Conway spoils The Kobe Show

County U17 Division 1 Football League – Final 

Westport 4-16 

Crossmolina Deel Rovers 2-14 

Nathan Guilfoyle at CoE Bekan 

An incredible display of shooting by two young players at the top of their games made for sensational viewing in what was a highly-entertaining Mayo U17 Division 1 at the home of Connacht GAA on Saturday afternoon.

Kobe McDonald will surely not have woken that morning and thought should he score 2-12 that he would not be on the winning side, but that is exactly what happened as McDonald’s Crossmolina side succumbed to an excellent Westport who had a forward of their own in red-hot form.

The swirling breeze was the only factor the players had to contend with, as in glorious sunshine the teams scored a whopping 6-30 between them. But it was Martin Conway’s Westport who avenged their group-stage loss to Peadar Flynn’s Crossmolina, with the key to their victory the outstanding performance of McDonald’s fellow Mayo U17 starlet Killian Conway, who racked up an audacious 3-6, with 2-5 of that coming in a first-half where Westport completely dominated the proceedings.

With the breeze at their backs, Westport’s physical advantage and their relentless pressure left Crossmolina chasing shadows for much of the opening 30 minutes. Conway was well supported by Michael McDonnell (three points) and Ben Holmes (1-1), while Fionn O’Cinnseala, Elcmar O’Toole, Jack O’Malley and Darragh Corrigan also stood out for their impressive performances.

Westport’s size played a significant role, as they bullied their Crossmolina counterparts throughout the first-half. By half-time, the boys in blue held a commanding 13-point lead. Crossmolina, despite their best efforts, were left frustrated by errors at the back and found it difficult to create scoring chances. Even the brilliance of Kobe McDonald couldn’t turn the tide in their favour, although the young star was truly remarkable in the second-half and spearheaded a brave fightback. But ultimately, the deficit was simply too great to wipe out.

The opening quarter saw Westport race into a 1-7 to 1-1 lead, with McDonald’s superb solo goal giving Crossmolina brief hope after he took on the entire Westport defence. Oisin Deane added a point after great work from Josh Moyles, but that was as good as it got for Crossmolina in the first-half. Conway and Dawson added frees for Westport before Ben Holmes struck the back of the net with a brilliant finish following a surging run from O’Cinnseala, and Westport never looked back from there.

Conway, O’Malley, O’Toole and McDonnell all chipped in with impressive scores as Westport completely squeezed Crossmolina up the pitch, leaving the Deel Rovers pinned in their own half. McDonald added a free before Conway’s quickfire brace of goals effectively sealed the contest. Westport led 3-6 to 1-2 with 10 minutes remaining in the half and added further points from McDonnell and Dawson to leave the scoreboard reading 3-11 to 1-4 at the interval.

Crossmolina were hoping for a huge second-half fightback but Westport started strong, with goalkeeper William Duggan knocking over a fabulous long-range free to extend the lead to 14 points. McDonald responded with two quick points but Westport’s depth showed again as they had eight different scorers on the day. McDonnell's mark after a superb high catch and Conway’s lethal finishing kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Westport were temporarily reduced to 14 players after O’Toole was adjudged to have cynically fouled McDonald, and the Crossmolina star immediately knocked over the resulting free. But the hammer blow came just moments later when Conway finished off a teasing ball into the full-forward line, squeezing it under George Gordestkyy to all but end Crossmolina’s hopes.

To their credit, Crossmolina didn’t give up. McDonald kicked four in-a-row before Westport responded with scores from Corrigan and Conway. McDonald capped his brilliant individual display with a stunning goal, breezing past defenders and rifling an outside-of-the-boot effort into the top corner – a goal for the ages – but it was too little, too late as Westport saw out the remaining minutes, adding two more scores to finish eight point winners and secure the title.

Westport will now face the Galway champions in the Connacht U17 semi-final.

Scorers – Westport: Killian Conway 3-6, Ben Holmes 1-0, Michael McDonnell 0-3 (1m), Darragh Corrigan and Dara Dawson 0-2 each, William Duggan (f), Elcmar O’Toole and Jack O’Malley 0-1 each.

Crossmolina Deel Rovers: Kobe McDonald 2-12 (0-7f, 1 ’45), Oisin Deane and Aaron Keane 0-1 each.

Westport: William Duggan; Peter McGowan, Mattie McLoughlin, Aodhan Gavin; Thomas McGeogh, Elcmar O’Toole, Ethan McGing; Jack O’Malley, Kyle O’Malley; Fionn O’Cinnseala, Darragh Corrigan, Dara Dawson; Ben Holmes, Michael McDonnell, Killian Conway. Subs: Darragh Reynolds (for Gavin 39), Rian Durkin (for McGowan), Adam Scahill (for Holmes).

Crossmolina Deel Rovers: George Gordetskyy; Dylan McHale, Sean Heffernan, Darragh Duffy; Joseph Loftus, Sean Og McGuinness, Luke Maloney; Josh Moyles, Liam Clancy; Luke Williams, Kobe McDonald, Ethan Reilly; Dylan Flynn, Oisin Deane, Aaron Keane. Subs: Gary Naughton (for Williams 43), Dylan Lavelle (for Keane 54).

REF: Sean Tolan (Bonniconlon)