Mayo camogie senior stars battle but fall to another heavy group stage championship defeat
The Mayo camogie squad picture before their championship match against Cavan in MacHale Park.
The Mayo Camogie team faced their second defeat of the 2024 campaign to a strong Cavan side in Hastings Insurance McHale Park on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams suffered heavy defeats in the opening round and were both looking to get their campaigns back on track in Round 2. It was always going to be a tough ask for the Mayo side, who were without the likes of captain Niamh Greally and Ava Lambert while playing against a Cavan side who played Division Two League hurling this year, compared to Mayo’s Division Four.
A hat trick of Cavan goals in the opening half set them up for a seismic victory. The visitors dominated the opening half and they set down a marker within the first minute. Captain Shanice Fitzsimons won the ball in the Mayo half and gave an excellent pass to corner forward Niamh Keenaghan, who made a direct run for goal, by passing the Mayo defence and calmly passed the ball into the back of the Mayo net to give Cavan the perfect start.
Mayo replied with a point from Lilian Keane, however it was only a minute later that Fitzsimons and Keenaghan combined once more for the Cavan side. This time it was Keenaghan who provided the assist as Fitzsimons found herself at an acute angel on the right hand side of the pitch but made no mistake in firing the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Cavan tagged on a point through Sophie Slowey before Mayo got their second of the day through Ciara Delaney.
The visitors won most of the puckouts and each of their attacks had a goal in mind, but Cavan were happy to keep the scoreboard ticking over as they hit another five points stretch their lead to ten by the end of the first quarter.
Lilian Keane was a bright spark for the Mayo side, scoring a free in the 16th minute, and she put on a superb display of free-taking over the 60 minutes, scoring from some difficult distances.
Cavan broke Mayo hearts once more a minute later. The lively Niamh Keenaghan was making some excellent runs inside the Mayo half and found herself on the end of an Aideen Coyle pass. Keenaghan made no mistake and rattled the back of the Mayo net to score her second goal of the day.
The Green and Red side refused to let their heads drop, and with 20 minutes played, Lilian Keane stood up to take a free from 65 metres out. Keane's free went high into the Cavan box, and subsequently ended up in the back of the net. A Shanise Fitzsimons point closed out the first half, with the scoreline at the interval 3-8 to 1-3 in favour of the visitors.
Although Mayo did score the opening point of the second half, a comeback was not to be for the home team. Cavan displayed an excellent display of shooting in the second half, led by captain Shanise Fitzsimons, who scored an impressive 2-6, across the 60 minutes. Cavan were putting some excellent team plays together in the second period, however, the Mayo defence stood strong, and forced the visitors to shoot from a distance. Cavan shot ten brilliant points in the second half, compared to Mayo's one.
Mayo did manage to raise the green flag in the second period. An excellent ball from substitute Ciara Kennedy found Ciara Delaney, who made no mistake and rattled the back of the Cavan net.
Cavan closed out the game with one final goal from Shanise Fitzsimons but the game was long over as a contest. Mayo will now face a trip to Roscommon in Round 3 in two weeks' time.
