Pinpoint Mayo cruise to first league victory under O'Meara
Mayo’s Kate Scahill is chased by Louth’s Lorraine McNicholl and Carole Ann Logue.
Mayo recovered from last week’s defeat to Tyrone to record their first league win following a dominant second half showing over Louth in Tooreen last Saturday afternoon.
The relentless wind and rain made playing conditions exceptionally difficult for both teams but Colum O’Meara’s young side – of the 28 on the panel, eight are pat of the minor team – up the ante towards the end of the first half, with two goals from Emer Delaney opening up a six point gap (2-4 to 1-1) at half-time.
The ladies from the Wee County never faltered at any stage but were unable to match the workrate and intensity of their Mayo counterparts as the hosts hit 1-9 in the second half without reply for a comfortable win in the end.
Both sides struggled to get to the grips with the inclement weather early on, with Mayo playing against a very strong wind. Emer Delaney got Mayo’s first score on five minutes and followed it up with another at the end of the first quarter from a turnover before Louth’s vice-captain Jane McKeon opened up her sides account on 16 minutes.
Delaney almost found the net only for Louth to clear but the ball would only go as far as Ellen Tener and she sent over Mayo’s third point. Against the run of play on 24 minutes, Caoimhe Cunningham’s attempted point sailed over the head of Ciara Kennedy and into the back of the net but Emer Delaney would respond with a green flag of her own three minutes later with a piledriver past Mairead McMahon.
Kate Scahill extended Mayo’s lead before Delaney signed off the half with her second goal as she glided past two Louth defenders to thump home.
As the rain began to batter down in Tooreen and with the wind at their backs, Delaney hit points either side of Ava Lambert’s first of the afternoon when substitute Ava Dooley caught McMahon from 30 metres out for Mayo’s third major.
The game lost a bit of intensity as O’Meara ran his bench but not before Delaney took her tally to 2-5 for the day and substitutes Laoise Greally and Laura Flanagan (two) kept the scoreboard ticking for Mayo. Ava Lambert completed the 18-point win for Mayo with a great score and they will now look to make it back-to-back wins when they face Wicklow this Saturday.
