Unbeaten streak continues for final-bound minors

Connacht U17 Football Championship – Round 4 

Mayo 3-8 

Leitrim 0-4 

Stuart Tynan in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar 

Mayo booked their spot in the Connacht U17 football championship final after putting Leitrim to the sword in the second-half of Friday’s round-robin game in Castlebar.

With Roscommon’s win over Sligo, both Mayo and the Rossies are locked on six points each but Mayo have one game in hand and even should they lose that to Sligo, they will advance to the decider as a result of a superior scoring difference over the Rossies.

The scoreline at full-time looked unlikely at the halfway stage on Friday though, as Mayo struggled to deal with a well-organised Leitrim team. The six changes Mayo had made to their starting lineup may have caused a lack of familiarity, and they were guilty of playing the visitors at their own game instead of imposing their own. The introduction of Owen Loughney into the middle of the field after half-time, combined with moving Kobe McDonald to centre-forward, drove Mayo on and saw them run out easy winners.

Signs of Leitrim’s gameplan were evident from the get-go as they played keep ball for the opening three minutes. Having not come up against this type of strategy so far, Mayo looked short on ideas on how to win the ball back.

The first shot from Mayo did not come until the fifth minute, a Barry Langan effort that was always sailing wide. Jack Kelly, a free, opened the scoring for Leitrim with almost 10 minutes played as Mayo’s struggles continued.

A driving run by McDonald resulted in Mayo’s first score on 13 minutes, which the Crossmolina man kicked from 35-metre. His clubmate Josh Moyles edged Mayo ahead only for a fine Jack Kelly point on the turn to level matters again.

A quick move on the right saw Tom Hession fist Mayo back in front and a McDonald free extended Mayo’s lead before a poor kickout by Seán Carolan-Morris saw Fionn Ó Cinnseala finish a quick Mayo counter to split the posts, with Evan Walsh and Oisin Deane involved after Dylan Flynn had intercepted the kickout.

Dáire McCabe kicked a beautiful free for Leitrim’s first score in 14 minutes but that was countered with another McDonald free as Mayo led 0-6 to 0-3 at the break.

Loughney’s introduction and Kobe McDonald’s positional shift added a different dimension to Mayo’s play in the second-half. Dylan Flynn split the posts before Mayo were presented with a gift for their first green flag. A poor pass back from Carolan-Morris to Luke Fitzsimons was intercepted by Oisin Deane and he kicked into an empty net from 20-metres.

Deane followed that up with a pointed mark before Mayo goalkeeper Nathan Roddy was called into action to deny Jack Moolick a near-certain goal.

McDonald thundered in Mayo’s second major on 48 minutes and it was followed by another three minutes later as a long ball hung in the air and despite the presence of three Leitrim players, Evan Walsh rose highest to flick it into the net.

Leitrim got their first and only score of the second-half through a well-taken point by Bailey McBride but the damage had long been done.

Scorers – Mayo: Kobe McDonald 1-3 (0-2f), Oisin Deane 1-1 (0-1m), Evan Walsh 1-0, Josh Moyles, Tom Hession, Dylan Flynn and Fionn Ó Cinnseala 0-1 each.

Leitrim: Jack Kelly 0-2 (1f), Dáire McCabe (f) and Bailey McBride 0-1 each.

Mayo: Nathan Roddy; Charlie Beale, Tom Hession, Daithi Butler; Barry Langan, Mark Noonan, Mark Sheeran; Josh Moyles, Kobe McDonald; Andrew Quinn, Fionn O'Kinsella, Dylan Flynn; Killian Conway, Oisin Deane, Evan Walsh. Subs: Owen Loughney (for Conway ht), Harry McHale and David Hurley (for Sheeran and Quinn 48), Mark Feeney (for Walsh 51), Seán Óg McGuinness (for Langan 55).

Leitrim: Seán Carolan-Morris; Kyle Russell, Oran Foley, Luke Fitzsimons; Senan Bohan, Luke Braam-Farrell, Niall Torsney; Bailey McBride, Cormac Moran; Karl Gethins, Jack Moolick, Gavin Gallagher; Dáire McCabe, Jack Kelly, Jack Prior. Subs: Senan McGowan (for Braam-Farrell 28–30+1, blood), Ryan Gordon (for Gethins 46), Gearoid Curley (for Prior 47), S McGowan (for Russell 54), Jamie Plunkett (for Gallagher 55), James Hughes (for Torsney 60+1).

REF: Jimmy Donoghue (Roscommon)