All Ireland U16 Semi Final
Wexford 0
Mayo 1
Eoin Horkan at Bunclody AFC
It was Mayo’s day down in the
sunny southeast as an early first half goal was enough to see them into an
All-Ireland final against either Kerry or near neighbours Leitrim/ Sligo in
May.
It was the home side who
carved out the opening chance inside the opening five minutes when Izzy Walsh
collected the ball on the edge of the Mayo box before dragging her effort wide
of the upright. Wexford couldn’t make much of there early control of the game
as the Mayo defence stood strong any time they made inroads into the final
third of the pitch. Mayo’s first half chance of the game came from a long high
ball which caused consternation in the Wexford defence as the ball was heading
towards the goal Bea Clancy managed to get back into her goal before clearing
the danger.
Both sides were finding it
difficult to trouble either goal up until halfway through the half when Wexford
manufactured a corner which resulted in the ball landing at the feet of Farrin
Wolohan who fired over with the goal at her mercy. The home side kept pilling
on the pressure as the half went on. It was against the run of play that the
deadlock was broken as Isobel Phillips broke down the wing after a quick free kick before firing in a dangerous cross in the box
which was diverted into her own net by Caoimhe Carley. The half finished off
with neither side creating any chances of note as midfielders Layla Stafford
and Kayla Doherty battled to gain control of the tie.
After the interval it was Mayo
who started to control the tie more as Doherty along with Muireann Nolan
managed to gain a foothold in the middle of the park. It was this control that
resulted in an effort from Doherty that was saved by Clancy early in the half.
Wexford nearly managed to level the tie fifteen minutes into the half as
Lucia Donohue broke through the Mayo rear-guard even
rounding the goalie but as she was about to put the ball into the empty net Isobel Phillips managed to track back on her blind side before disposing
her with a perfectly timed challenge In the next attack Wolohan controlled a
ball expertly from a corner but her angled effort flew wide of the far post.
The home sides onslaught of the Mayo goal continued as Walsh broke through again,
this time her controlled effort as the substitute Heffernan advanced of the
line narrowly flew over the bar.
This was the last time in this
tie that the home side managed to trouble the westerner’s goal. The final ten
minutes of the game were expertly managed by the away side. With minutes left
in the tie a corner was floated to the edge of the box, the ball ended up
landing at Emily Jennings feet but her
well controlled volley flew back of the crossbar.
After the final whistle we got
the thoughts of Mayo mangers Ryan
Merchant and Sinead Mulhern.
Merchant believes “ It was an
excellent game in sunny conditions.” He
goes on to note that Mayo “ didn’t play
too well in the first half and that the girls were very nervous. He explained how “ they settled into it in the second half
and outplayed Wexford and fully deserved their win.”
Looking ahead to the final
Mulhern added “ they need to keep progressing at training .. and prevent
injuries especially with so many girls playing Gaelic Football for the county.”
Wexford: Bea Clancy, Caoimhe
Carley, Abbie Gaffney, Farrin Wolohan, Jorja Hennell, Layla Stafford, Lucia
Donohue, Eva O’ Gorman, Ebony Harris Burke, Izzy Walsh, Keelin Barron Subs:
Laura McCarthy (for Keelin Barron 68), Ava Wallace (for O’ Gorman 74)
Mayo: Sarah Heaney, Isobel
Phillips, Emma Walsh, Emily Jennings, Rebecca Moran, Muireann Nolan, Maura
Hughes, Kayla Doherty, Ashleagh Salmon, Kate Brennan, Christina McEvilly. Subs:
Naoise Heffernan (for Heaney 59), Alyssa Murphy (for Moran 59), Roisín Horkan (for Salmon 72), Helen Murphy (for
McEvilly 78)
Ref: Ger Morris.
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