Mayo U15 girls reach national final

The Mayo Schoolboys/Girls and Youths AFL had its under-15 girls in action last weekend where they hosted Kilkenny in the SFAI Inter-League Cup Semi-Final.

Mayo started at a high tempo and moved the ball at pace all the time and took the lead on 20 minutes through a superbly struck long-range free-kick from Grace Mulroy. Hard working winger Emma Sheridan put Caoimhe O’Donnell in, who then squared the ball to Leja Kosmakova, who finished well to see Mayo go into the half-time interval with a 2-0 lead.

The visitors Kilkenny came out strong in the second half but Mayo kept them at arms’ length and increased their lead with a carbon copy of their second goal, with Caoimhe O’Donnell having the assist for Leja Kosmakova.

Kilkenny’s hard work paid off as they grabbed what was to prove to be a consolation goal via a long range shot with ten minutes remaining. The visitors upped the intensity for the remaining ten minutes and tested Mayo but the Mayo defence and goalkeeper Aoibhinn McGreal battled to the very end to see the game out as a 3-1 victory for Mayo.

Mayo now have an Inter-League Cup final against South Belfast to come on the weekend of May 17/18.

Speaking after this game, Head of Mayo Girls Emerging Talent Programme John Flanagan said: “A lot of the Leagues couldn’t field an under-15 side this year, concentrating on just the under16s but Mayo has bucked the trend with teams competing at the top tier of both age groups.

“This is due to the fantastic work being done first and foremost at the grassroots Clubs where the girls are players, and also the work being done at Mayo Schoolboys/girls level from under-12 right up to and including under-16.” John’s final point was an interesting one. The two ladies managing this squad are Melissa Devaney and Amy Dunleavy, who have progressed from being Mayo Schoolgirls players themselves having taken part in numerous Gaynor Cup campaigns (there was no Inter-League then) to now being the mentors for today’s generation of Mayo players. “A great pathway and a great story,” he concluded.