Mountney among mayo players making a national impact

Congratulations to John Mountney, the former Kiltimagh/Knock United and Ballina Town player who was part of the Dundalk FC squad which captured the EA Sports Cup on Saturday evening.

 

It represents Dundalk’s first piece of silverware in 12 years and is a great achievement for them and also for John.

 

It was, in fact, a very busy weekend for Mayo natives in the League of Ireland. The Sligo Rovers Under 19 team that played and defeated Longford Town Under 19s 3-1 on Saturday afternoon had seven Mayo-based players in their starting 11, namely Adam Chambers, Ryan O’Donoghue, Oisin Connolly, Paul Doyle, Martin Walsh, Cathal Carney and Liam Flatley. O’Donoghue and Flatley were both on the scoresheet.

 

The Rovers senior team defeated by Drogheda United on Saturday evening had Mayo natives David Cawley and Gary Boylan on from the start while Ruari Keating came on as a substitute. Michael Schlingermann kept goal for Drogheda.

 

And with Jordan Loftus up at Finn Harps (on loan from Sligo), Conor O’Malley with Shamrock Rovers and Ryan Connolly at Galway FC, this is an exciting time for Mayo football, with 14 players from the region playing within the FAI League of Ireland this weekend and further progressions expected along the way.

 

Also making an impact at national level are Mayo women, with Castlebar Celtic competing in the Women’s National League and Ballina Town winning the SFAI Intermediate Cup on Saturday in Cork.

 

Pathways for male and female players to progress further in the game are very much being established.