Mixed results for Mayo girls teams in Galway ties
The Mayo U12s enjoyed a excellent win over Galway
The Mayo Schoolboys/Girls had two of its girls’ teams in action last weekend and there were contrasting emotions at the end.
First up at a Baltic Salthill Devon venue on Friday night saw the Mayo U16s face the other Galway team in their final group match. Galway delivered a real sucker punch just 38 seconds into the game with their opening goal but Mayo rallied and Aoibhin McGarry brought a good save from the home ‘keeper on six minutes. McGarry brought an even better save from the home number one four minutes later, with an excellent shot across goal that led to a Mayo corner. However, Alana Kelly delivered set-piece was well dealt with by the home defence.
High hopes that Mayo were getting a foothold received a double jolt in the 13th and 15th minutes as the slick Galway attacking unit added two further goals. Mayo goalkeeper Kate Guilfoyle prevented further damage with a number of excellent shot stops.
The Mayo girls had a bit more of the ball in the second half but found the opposition very strong through all the units. Cliodhna Dowling brought a brilliant tip-over save from the goalkeeper on 50 minutes. Aoife Meaney had taken over in goal for Mayo for the second half and made a couple of high-quality saves and, as always, her kicking was off the Richter scale.
Just when it seemed that no further damage would be done on the scoreboard, the home side struck again six minutes from time with what was probably the best goal of the night to secure a 4-0 victory and top spot in the group. On the night the Galway girls played with an exceptionally high tempo and pace that created countless problems that Mayo found difficult to counter. Nevertheless, the Mayo girls played with a terrific spirit until the final whistle.
Well done to the players and their chauffeurs who braved the sub-zero conditions, the Galway traffic and the appalling freezing fog on their return journey. Grassroots football at its finest.
Kicking off 44 hours later at Solar 21 Park was the U12’s clash between Mayo and Galway. Conditions were still bitterly cold, but it is December after all and anything is an improvement from the constant rain.
This game was to see Mayo put on a five-star performance against a very tough Galway side. A really tight first half saw Mayo get the solitary goal when Lexi Murphy fired a fantastic long range shot into the back of the net.
In the second half Mayo attacked in waves seeking out more goals and were rewarded when Murphy doubled their lead. Ten minutes later and Lexi had completed her hat-trick with another smart finish. With five minutes left, Katie Grimes finished a fantastic team goal to complete the scoring. Mayo were very solid in defence, keeping Galway at bay and earning their clean sheet as they ran out 4-0 winners.
This young side have another home game today (Sunday) versus Roscommon while the Mayo U14s are also at home today to Galway.
