Impressive win for Mayo in Inishowen

THE Mayo Under 18s travelled to Buncrana in Donegal to take on Inishowen in their first FAI Youth Inter-league fixture of the season.

Mayo started the better of the two teams and littered the Inishowen goal for the first 20 minutes, with Conor Gorman, Ted Rowe and Dan O’Malley all hitting the target early on. They found the Inishowen goalkeeper Daniel McDaid in inspired form, however.

Inishowen had a chance with a long strike but couldn’t get the better of Ballyheane’s Luca Meldrum in goal in the 25th minute. Ten minutes later, Mayo were awarded a corner which was initially cleared but Conn Rangers centre-half A.J. McGrath took it into his own hands to charge into the penalty area and was taken down, with the referee pointing to the spot and Dan O'Malley scoring the resulting penalty. Mayo continued to dominate the half and should have been further ahead. It ended 1-0 at the break.

Inishowen came out after half-time with a point to prove and really pushed Mayo back for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Mayo stayed proactive though and started to exploit the spaces left by Inishowen as they sought the equaliser. The marauding Liam Burke was taken down in the 60th minute and Dylan Coleman struck a thunderous 35 yard strike which was only stopped by the crossbar.

Mayo regained control and really pushed for a second, and it was Dylan Coleman who got it, finishing confidently from 25 yards out, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Mayo continued to create chances but it ended 2-0. They can now prepare for a make or break fixture with Donegal on December 4 which will decide whether Mayo qualify out of their group or not.

Inishowen: D. McDaid, C. McDaid, R. Doherty, R. Gallagher, J. Doherty, M. McDaid, P. Doherty, L. Jordan, K. Mally, C. Graham, S. McLaughlin.

Mayo: L. Meldrum, T. Rowe, A. Halpin, A. McGrath, N. Massey, F. O’Hora, D. Coleman, C. Gorman, D. O’Malley, M. Traynor, L. Burke.

Subs used: D. Owusu, N. Vahey, J. Dunne, F. McLoughlin.