So close and yet so far for Mayo girls

Brian Gillespie

From 14 points behind to two points ahead in the space of 28 second-half minutes, Mayo appeared to have completed a remarkable comeback in the Connacht LGFA Minor A final at the Centre of Excellence in Bekan.

Though slender, the two-point lead (2-12 to 2-10) felt sufficient as Galway had been held just one score in that second period, a goal by Katie Slattery that arrived in the very first minute of the half.

However, while no doubt affected by Mayo's run of 2-10 without reply, Galway showed admirable energy in the closing stages to turn the game around again, Siún McGovern closing the gap to a point with a free before Rebecca Noone scored a goal worthy of winning any game, her piledriver giving Mayo 'keeper Charlie Reilly Benson no chance as the ball arrowed into the top left corner.

It was a stunning finale and Mayo were rocked, with Galway seeing out the few minutes of injury time with composure, surviving a couple of scares before ending the game on the front foot in the opponents' half, running down the clock with clever play as they secured a 3-11 to 2-12 victory.

This was indeed the proverbial game of two halves. With wind assistance, Galway dominated the first half and Katie Slattery gave an indication of what was to come with a point inside 20 seconds of the throw-in.

Slattery and her midfield partner Isabelle Murray gave Galway a great platform on which to dominate in that first half, the former leading the charge with four points in total, all from play, and the latter dictating with incisive passing and excellent support play.

Mayo's midfield pairing of Sarah Carney and Suzanne Tuohy also impressed, with Tuohy scoring Mayo's first point on 14 minutes following an intricate move.

However, Galway had already scored 1-4 by that stage, Aisling O'Malley with the goal on nine minutes after Noone had cut through the Mayo defence to set her up.

Larissa Kelly scored a second point for Mayo on 20 minutes but that was just a brief respite, and by half-time Galway had opened up an 11-point advantage (1-10 to 0-2), McGovern (two frees), O'Malley (two), Noone and Eabha Smith all landing scores to supplement Slattery's contribution in the first half.

Despite the large deficit, Mayo could have been hopeful of more forward momentum in the second half given the strength of the breeze assisting them.

To aid them further, the management introduced Ava Palasz and Muireann Nolan, and they certainly made an impression.

But the undoubted star performer, Galway's Katie Slattery, stunned Mayo with a super goal in the very first minute of the second half, stretching her team's advantage to 14 points.

To their eternal credit, Mayo did not wilt. A couple of early chances for Palasz and Bree Hession went a-begging but it was apparant that Mayo could find some joy by pushing up on the kick-outs of Galway goalie Aleneh Keohane.

The tonic they needed arrived five minutes into the half when Palasz delivered a long ball into the forward division and Christina MacEvilly gathered possession before delivering a fine finish to the back of the net.

Nolan followed up immediately from the kick-out with a point from play, and Palasz did likewise following the next kick-out.

Another point by Palasz followed by a goal from Nolan after good work by Kayla Doherty and Hession had the gap down to just five points after 11 minutes of the second half, and it was certainly game on at this stage.

Though rocked by the incessant pressure, Galway managed to stem the tide for a period and created a goal chance of their own. However, O'Malley was denied by Charlie Reilly Benson, who made a super save.

This period of dominance for Galway at the end of the third quarter didn't yield any scores, in fact, with Mayo defenders battling tigerishly to deny them clear chances apart from the one time O'Malley got through.

Mayo were soon on the front foot again, and points from Hession, Palasz, Carney and Tuohy had the gap down to the minimum.

The increasingly influential Kayla Doherty landed the levelling score with seven minutes left to play, and at this stage Mayo looked the more likely team to win the contest.

That was even more the case when Doherty (free) and Hession put them two points to the good with just five minutes plus injury time left to play.

Now in the last chance saloon, Galway managed to win some possession and a free by McGovern left the minimum between the sides again (2-12 to 2-11).

Again Slattery and Isabelle Murray came to the fore during the closing stages. On 59 minutes, Murray broke upfield and despite going down under a challenge, she offloaded to sub Emelia Joyce who in turn found Noone in space to the right-hand side of the Mayo goal. There was just one thing on Noone's mind and the shot goalwards was spectacular.

Mayo weren't able to muster another comeback and Galway saw out the remaining time effectively to claim the spoils.

Galway: Aleneh Keohane; Daria Brennan, Zoe Duggan, Leanne Seoighe; Aisling Murray, Klara Banek, Eabha Ledesma; Katie Slattery (1-4), Isabelle Murray; Eabha Smith (0-1), Alisha O'Malley (1-2), Aoife Nash; Siún McGovern (0-3f), Aisling Madden, Rebecca Noone (1-1).

Subs used: Emelia Joyce for O'Malley (55), Zainab Rathar for A. Murray (58), Lauren O'Brien for Smith (60+3).

Mayo: Charlie Reilly Benson; Isobel Phillips, Riona Jordan, Alannah McDonnell; Shauna Heneghan, Síomha McNulty, Katie Brennan; Sarah Carney (0-1), Suzanne Tuohy (0-2); Larissa Kelly (0-1), Meabh Callinan, Amy Cummins; Kayla Doherty (0-2, 1f), Bree Hession (0-2), Christina MacEvilly (1-0).

Subs used: Ava Palasz (0-3) for Kelly (HT), Muireann Nolan (1-1) for Cummins (HT), Ashleagh Salmon for MacEvilly (58).