Mayo can't chop the Oak boys down to size
Action from Saturday's U17 hurling final between Mayo (green) and Derry (red) in Abbotstown.
After a delayed start to this final on Saturday due to no green flags, Mayo eventually raised one but could have done with several more, as they fell to what ended as a quite comprehensive defeat to Derry in this Celtic Challenge U17 Hurling Championship decider in Dublin.
The Green and Red had landed into the final after four consecutive victories and despite making a slow start to this clash with the Ulster boys, they seemed to be well in contention at half-time when trailing by just two points. But that was as good as it got, as scoring just twice after half-time proved fatal.
Mayo came under pressure early doors but while excellently defending an early Derry attack, the resulting ’65 was drilled over by Callum McLaughlin. The tie was level minutes later however, when Conn Delaney from Tooreen spilt the posts from near the sideline. But the following 10 minutes belonged to the Derry boys as David Hasaan gave his side the lead again before captain McLaughlin arrowed over three dead balls and an effort from play.
As the game turned into its second quarter, Mayo began to grow in stature and fought back by way of dead-ball conversions of their own, through Rian Fallon of Castlebar Mitchels and Conn Delaney, reducing the arrears to two points. And that’s the gap that remained at half-time too, 0-8 to 0-6, after the two free-takers, Derry’s Callim McLaughlin and Mayo’s Rian Fallon, traded late scores just before the short whistle.
As the weather deteriorated in Dublin, frees were the name of the game in the second-half with Callum McLaughlin adding four more to his tally for the day in between the first green flag of the day, which was provided for the Oak Leaf boys by Martin Óg Bradley, Derry began to play some scintillating hurling and another goal arrived from Hassan along with white flags off the hurls of Cody McCullagh and the excellent McLaughlin.
With 10 minutes left to play Mayo mustered a free from which Delaney fired over to raise what remarkably was their only white flag of the entire second-half. Then, after a couple of positional changes which included Rian Fallon moving to full-forward, the Castlebar Mitchels man managed to get his hands on a loose ball and fire to the net on the full-time whistle.
It was a disappointing day for Mayo but it should be pointed out that they were without the influential Zack Smith, who missed the game with a cruciate injury, while his fellow joint-captain – and full back – Niall Treacy also had to be taken off in the first-half.
Scorers – Derry: Callum McLaughlin 0-14 (11f, 1 ’65), David Hassan 1-1, Martin Óg Bradley 1-0, Cody McCullagh 0-1.
Mayo: Rian Fallon 1-4 (0-4f), Conn Delaney 0-3 (2f).
Mayo: Val Kitterick; Cian Byrne, Niall Treacy, Patrick McKenzie; Mark Healy, Dylan Greally, Adam Jennings; Callum Threadgold, Jamie Naughton; Matthew O’Raghallaigh, Rian Fallon, Conn Delaney; Jack Hose, Muiris Vahey, Killian Hughes. Subs: Séan Cogan (for Treacy), Ethan Quinn (for Threadgold), Brian Loftus (for Naughton), Séan Donnellan (for O’Raghallaigh).
Derry: Fionn Wallace; Cathal Duggan, Charlie O’Kane, Anton Farren; Odhran Clark, Ben Douglas, Peader Kelly; Cormac O’Kane, Cody McCullagh; Callum McLaughlin, Pearse Murphy, Conor Gillan; David Hassan, Ruairí Haran, Martin Óg Bradley. Subs: Eoghan Murray (for Gillan), Dylan Irwin (for Haran), Ben Haran (for Charlie O’Kane), Conor McCloskey (for Douglas), Cathair Mullan (for Bradley), Eoghan Smith (for Cormac O’Kane), Eoin McGuigan (for Hassan), Ciaran Crawford (for Wallace), Aidan Kelly (for Murphy).
REF: Kevin Brady (Louth)
