Four Mayo girls’ teams in SFAI national finals this weekend
The Mayo Schoolboys/Girls & Youths League will proudly have four of their underage girls’ sides in action in Evergreen, Co. Kilkenny, tomorrow (Saturday, May 20) in SFAI inter-league finals. The age groups are Under 12, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 16.
Fourteen of these SFAI inter-league finals are taking place for girls over two days in Kilkenny involving 18 leagues from all over the country. Only seven leagues have more than one age group in finals and Mayo, amazingly, have the highest number of any league at four (Galway being the next highest with three teams).
This truly reflects the fantastic work first and foremost at all the girls’ clubs and at Mayo level, where head coach John Flanagan has been in-situ for well over a decade.
John has put together good management teams at all levels and there is a pathway for girls to play football all through the age groups from Under 12 right up to Under 16.
The Under 12s started off in a group including Cavan-Monaghan, Inishowen, Donegal and Sligo-Leitrim. They then had an emphatic 5-1 win over Tipperary South in the Shield quarterfinal before a similarly convincing semi-final 4-1 victory over Longford.
This squad is managed by Edel Mullin with coaches John Hennelly, Rebecca Holmes and John Mullin.
The Under 13s had Donegal, Cavan-Monaghan and Sligo-Leitrim in their group and advanced straight to a Bowl semi-final, where they were 3-0 winners over Tipperary South. John Hennelly is the manager here with coaches Martin McGreal, Melissa Devaney and Amy Mulkeen.
The Under 15s were in a group containing Galway, Donegal and Longford before dispatching Tipperary South 5-1 in a Shield quarterfinal. Donegal provided the opposition in the semi-final, where Mayo were 3-0 winners.
The quality in this side was reflected by three girls in the group moving on to play Under 17 League of Ireland football halfway through the group stage. A couple of long-term injuries further tested the resilience of the squad but so far they have coped with everything.
An example of the quality of the opposition that was in their group is demonstrated by Galway being in the Cup final and Longford being in the Bowl final. Michael Collins and Emma Gibbons look after this squad.
The Sinead Mulhern/Ryan Merchant-managed Under 16s have been the most impressive performers of all the teams. Winning each of their three group matches against Limerick-Desmond, Limerick County and Clare set up an away Cup semi-final in Wexford, where a brilliant all-round team performance saw the Mayo girls triumph 1-0.
This team lost out on penalties at the semi-final of the Cup last year but have returned and gone one step further. One of the many attributes of this side is the large number of proven goal-scorers at their disposal.
Tomorrow's schedule is as follows: the Under 12s face Waterford in their Shield final at 3.30 p.m.; the Under 13s face MGL (Dublin) North in their Bowl final at 6.15 p.m.; the Under 15s face Carlow in their Shield final at 6 p.m.; and the Under 16s face Kerry in their Cup final at 1.30 p.m.