Trio of Mayo girls teams in national cup action 

The Mayo Schoolboys/Girls and Youths AFL had three of its girls’ squads in action, two at home and one on the road in Ennis. And it was that game at John O’Sullivan Park in Co Clare which was the first to kick-off last Saturday week where Mayo’s U12s were up against Cork.

The young Mayo side made the worst possible start as the Leesiders opened the scoring after only two minutes. However, they soon settled and forced a number of corners up the right where Lauren Hanrahan delivered some superb set-plays, although the Cork goalkeeper and her defence defended very well.

A superb Eadoin Mulroy run up the left flank saw her beat three opponents before she was thwarted at the expense of a throw-in. Ali Clarke then delivered a sublime forward pass for captain Laoise Heneghan to speed away from the defence before bringing a stunning save from the ‘keeper.

Mayo had a real let-off in the 24th minute when Cork scored what looked like an excellent goal direct from a free-kick but the referee disallowed it and ordered a retake having deemed that the ball was moving when the player struck it. The retaken set-piece flew wide.

Mayo made it to the half-time break with no further damage with good defending from Alice Burrows and Jaimie Browne, with Emma Fahey assured in goal. Indeed Mayo came within a whisker of equalising in the first minute of the second-half when Eadoin Mulroy released Anna Holmes up the left. Anna did everything right by going across the goalkeeper but her shot just beat the far post.

Katelyn Moore was proving a good focal point at centre-forward and most of the play at this stage was towards the Cork goal. Laoise Heneghan was denied by the ‘keeper following a corner and Anna Holmes saw another well-hit effort drift just wide. Not taking those chances came back to haunt Mayo in the 42nd minute when Cork doubled their lead from a corner.

Back came Mayo again, undaunted, and the Cork goalkeeper somehow got a foot to a Sadhbh McDonagh effort to keep the ball out. Sadhbh McGauley, Deirdre Gilmore, Caoimhe Corcoran and Ruth Donnelly were all on at this stage as the Mayo girls refused to drop their heads.

Cork again demonstrated their much better clinical edge on the day when they scored their third goal on the counterattack just short of the midway point of the second-half and yet Mayo continued to eke out chances, with a splendid Laoise Heneghan effort, from a short corner, headed off the goal line.

With five minutes of normal time remaining, Lucy Murphy received a smart through-ball from Eadoin Mulroy with her back to goal. She shielded the ball expertly while working her way across the edge of the box before firing back across her body into the bottom left-hand corner for probably the best goal of the game. Murphy almost grabbed another goal two minutes later when she was denied by the impressive Cork netminder.

Ruth Donnelly fired over and Sadhbh McDonagh again went close as Mayo searched for another goal but time ran out.

The 3-1 victory for Cork was much closer than the scoreline suggests but, ultimately, the Rebels took their chances in a cold clinical fashion that Mayo “Cork were probably the best side that we played all year and we wish them all the best for the remainder of the competition,” said Mayo manager John Hennelly afterwards.

“We deliberately ran with a big squad this year to expose more players to this standard of coaching and competition,” said Hennelly who thanked his coaches, Susanne Cunnane and Michael Collins, and Head of the Mayo Schoolgirls John Flanagan for their involvement.

“I hope to be back with the same management team plus an extra coach next year with the under 13s,” he added.

Meanwhile, at Umbro Park later that afternoon, Mayo hosted North Eastern Regional League (NERL) in the U13 Cup quarter-final, where Mayo bowed out here with their heads held up high.

Mayo enjoyed the majority of possession throughout both halves and always looked the more likely to score but it was NERL who scored first with a quick ball over the top and the pacy NERL forward capitalised.

The equaliser came from good build-up play and a tidy finish from Westport United’s Violet O'Malley. Unfortunately, within minutes of the equaliser, NERL took advantage of a rare error by the Mayo girls and a hopeful shot looped over the Mayo goalkeeper to restore the visitors’ lead.

The second-half continued much like the first with Mayo dominant in possession and creating chances but unable to secure the final touch needed to score. Well into the half – and very much against the run of play – NERL got the third goal which effectively put the game to bed at 3-1.

U13 manager Mike McGeough said afterwards that he was pleased with the overall performance of the Mayo players and thought it deserved more than the result. But he also recognised how well NERL countered when they got the ball and wished them well for the remainder of the competition.

The Mayo girls will now take a rest and regroup later in the year in preparation for next year’s Gaynor Cup.

The last team out was the Mayo U15s who hosted Galway in their final group match in Umbro Park, Castlebar. Mayo went ahead when a long throw-in from Anna Meaney was flicked on by Katie Flynn to Caoimhe O’Donnell who finished well.

O’Donnell doubled her’s and Mayo’s lead from the penalty spot and completed her hat-trick in the first-half with Katie Flynn again having the assist.

In the second-half, Caoimhe O’Donnell turned provider when setting up Sophia Cardillo to score and Cardillo got her second with a rocket of a shot after being set up by Anna Burton. 5-0 to Mayo and a great all-round performance led by joint captains Aoibhinn McGreal and Katie Flynn and the management team of Melissa Devaney and Amy Dunleavy.

Mayo now have a cup quarter-final to look forward to next month.

Speaking at the conclusion of this game, Head of Mayo Girls Emerging Talent Programme John Flanagan noted that it was great to see the U15s become the fourth age group to qualify for the top tier cup competition.

“Having our county teams at this level of competition is what we strive for,” he said, congratulating all the players and their respective management teams. In particular, he singled out the youthful management of the U15s where Melissa Devaney and Amy Dunleavy played numerous years for Mayo sides and now are putting time and energy back into developing players.