Two league wins from two for Mayo camogie
Corner-forward Ava Dooley, right, scores Mayo's first goal. Picture: Mayo Camogie
Mayo produced both a strong opening quarter and closing quarter, which proved decisive in recording a rather comfortable win in this round two encounter of the National Camogie League on Saturday afternoon.
The green and red, who got their campaign off to a winning start the previous weekend with victory over Louth, made it two wins from two with a brace of goals coming in the opening quarter from the lively Castlebar Mitchels corner forward Ava Dooley. And while Mayo led by seven at the break, credit must be given to Donegal, who never threw in the towel.
The green and gold produced their best period of play after the break, with several substitutes changing the pattern of this game, making it more difficult for the home side, and they had narrowed the gap to five at one stage. But once Mayo got their third goal courtesy of Laoise Greally, Mayo never looked back.
“We are very happy with the performance overall,” outlined a delighted Mayo joint-manager Des Joyce told the . “In the first half, we eased off a little bit coming into half-time. We were very determined to come out in the second half to put the game to bed. It did take us a while to get going after the break, and fair play to Donegal, they came back at us after the interval.
“They got that second goal which brought the gap down to just four or five points, but credit to our players, they really took charge, and we’re happy enough with the performance. The way we responded to their goal was most pleasing, and from there, we pushed on. That goal spurred us on.”
It was the perfect start for Mayo, and thankfully the rain stayed away at a very cold Bekan venue, but this didn’t stop Mayo roaring into a 1-4 to 0-1 after fourteen minutes. Three points in a row by Méabh Tunney, Roisin Cassidy and Laoise Greally, all from play, came before Mayo got their first goal, finished to the net by Ava Dooley.
Sarah Lambe, operating at centre forward for Donegal, got her side off the mark with a free, but their hopes received a huge boost when wing-forward Zoe Whorisky hit the back of the Mayo net for a three-pointer.
Credit to Mayo, they responded immediately to this setback and got their second goal in the 16th minute when Ava Dooley raised her second green flag of the day to stretch Mayo’s lead and leave her side 2-5 to 1-1 up at the interval.
Donegal made a total of four changes to their side, and it definitely led to a better challenge after the break, winning more primary possession around the centre-field zone.
Points from Sarah Lambe, a well struck ’45, followed by a free, came before their second goal arrived from none other than full-back Siobhan O’Donnell, who showed her forwards how to finish to the net with a splendid strike from just inside the large rectangle. However, that would be as good as it would get for the away side.
Once Mayo hit home their third goal from Tooreen’s Laoise Greally, there was no way back from here. Méabh Tunney added a free, Niamh Greally struck a point from play before Tunney got her first goal of the game to go 4-7 to 2-3 up, and victory was as good as sealed. Further late goals by substitute Hannah Tener and centre-forward Niamh Greally put the icing on the cake.
“Overall, we are happy to be where we are two games in. We are hoping to get into a final now. We have won our two opening games, and we face Monaghan in our third game next weekend. We hope we can make the final.
“It's great to be shining a light for Camogie in Mayo for the minor teams, the U16 teams, the wider squad that we want to build over the next couple of years for this senior team,” concluded Joyce.
Scorers - Mayo: Ava Dooley 2-0, Méabh Tunney 1-3 (1f), Laoise Greally 1-2, Niamh Greally 1-1, Hannah Tener 1-0, Roisin Cassidy 0-2.
Donegal: Sarah Lambe 0-3 (2f, 1’45), Zoe Whorisky 1-0, Siobhan O’Donnell 1-0.
Mayo: Grainne Robinson; Shauna Peoples, Sharon Lynskey, Grainne Delaney; EÌabha Delaney, Caoimhe Delaney, Megan O’Malley; Lisa Scahill, Niamh Kennedy; Méabh Tunney, Niamh Greally, Roisin Cassidy; Ava Dooley, Brona Joyce, Laoise Greally. Subs: Kate Tener (for Peoples 45), Kate Scahill (for Dooley 47), Hannah Tener (for Joyce 49), Ella Deely (for C Delaney 54), Ciara Delaney (for Scahill 55).
Donegal: Hannah McDermot; Tegan Duffy, Siobhan O’Donnell, Mary O’Neill; Sinead Flood, Sinead McIntyre, Aimee Lafferty; Sarah-Jane Hartnett, Jessica Martin; Alex Elaurza, Sarah Lambe, Zoe Whorisky; Aoibhinn Randles, Jane Kelly, Ciara Coulter. Subs: Aoibhinn Taylor (for O’Neill 26), Paige Rushe and Margaret McConnell (for Kelly and McDermott h/t), Alannah Curran (for Coulter 47), Rebecca Whyte (for Flood 49), Ella-Kate Gillespie and Wendy Patterson (for Elaurza and Lafferty 53-inj).
REF: Ciaran Groome (Offaly).
