Understrength Mayo maintain unbeaten record
The Mayo FC U14s are now unbeaten in their last four games after sharing the spoils with Athlone Town on Sunday afternoon in an evenly-matched game at Umbro Park.
Mayo took the lead in the first period of play but Athlone were never far behind in terms of finding the equalizer which came in the second-third of the game.
The home side had to make do without the services of leading scorer Kian Redmond and top-quality midfielder Robert Ruane, who both attended the U14 National Academy over the weekend.
Athlone looked dangerous in the opening minutes with wide players Ryan Kilkenny and Will Heffernan causing some bother in those areas of the pitch. Kilkenny was tenacious and strong while Heffernan was a bag of tricks, attempting to pirouette and spin his way through Mayo bodies.
Mayo were marshalled at the back by defender Alex Nolan, who put in a brilliant shift throughout the game, operating at centre-back and later on in a deep, defensive midfield role. Up front, Jamie Ruddy was creating problems for Athlone and he provided the assist for the game’s opening goal.
Matthew Daly timed his run to absolute perfection to break in behind the Athlone lines. Facing down Finn Sheridan, he took the ball around the outside of the outrushing goalkeeper and slid the ball into the empty net to make it 1-0 with 15 minutes played.
Three minutes later and Mayo were almost in again. Matthew Vahey put Daly through on the left flank and his low cross found Jamie Ruddy, whose shot flashed just wide of the post.
The hosts were made to dig deep for the remainder of the first period as Athlone sought the leveller. Sajad Hameed fired a shot from inside the box that Cillian Reilly got down well to block. It came out to Desmond Edobor-Philip, whose wayward shot went over the bar. A let-off for Mayo.
In the second period, Athlone kept the pressure on and in the 29th minute, they found the goal to make it 1-1. There was a hint of offside but there was no denying the quality of Oran Kelly’s cross-field pass to Ryan Kilkenny. Kilkenny took it down well and applied the finish.
Mayo’s best chance of this period came shortly after. Alex Nolan burst forward from the back, breezing past three Town players and found Matthew Daly with a sumptuous pass. Daly took aim with his left foot but the Athlone Town keeper got down to save.
Both teams pushed on looking for the go-ahead goal but it did not materialise for the remainder of the game. The Mayo U14s have no game scheduled for the Bank Holiday weekend and will play next at home against Galway United on April 6.
