Mayo U-16 girls ready to retain Connacht title as Galway come to town

THE Mayo U-16 girls have every right to think they will be crowned Connacht champions on Sunday afternoon.

With a clean bill of health, a jewellery box of All-Ireland winners and four gaping wins from four games - including a 14-point win over their final opponents - it’s easy to see why Mayo are overwhelming favourites to take the crowd home from Bekan.

With eight survivors from last year’s Connacht final win over Galway, and 14 past members of Sinéad Stagg’s All-Ireland ‘Platinum’ winning team of yesteryear, the odds are heavily stacked in Mayo’s favour.

“We’re in a fairly good place to be fair,” Mayo U-16 manager, Francis Regan, told The Mayo News ahead of the final.

“This is the first year we had no real injuries going into the championship and managed to keep everyone 100 percent fit coming through.

“It’s a good mix. We have 16 girls underage again next year out of the 35 so it’s a very young team. I think 11 of the team that started against Sligo last week are all underage again next year so it’s a good mix.”

In addition to the 14 All-Ireland-winning U-14s, a fair share of this Mayo team have already made national headlines.

Emma Stagg starred for the Ballinrobe Community School team that romped home to an All-Ireland Junior ‘C’ title last month alongside Hollymount and Mayo teammates Sari Vahey and Kayleigh Hughes.

Similarly, Westport’s Katie Hughes, Aoibhinn McNamara, Lauren Cusack, and Aoife Meaney danced with All-Ireland glory with the Sacred Heart junior team that reached an All-Ireland semi-final a few weeks ago.

“Having All-Ireland winners in the dressing room is huge,” said Regan, who took over the Mayo U-16s last year after spending a year as a selector.

“They’ve brought savage, savage enthusiasm, they’ve really pushed on from then. It took them a while, I’d say a lot of them struggled with the physicality…but they’ve grown into that with the S&C and everything, they are flying now thank God.”

The 26-year-old Mayo Gaels footballer is not getting carried away by their prior victory over Galway though.

“Galway are not to be sniffed at either. They’ve only won two of their four games, but they’ve put up I think plus 47 in the score difference,” he said.

“From what I’m hearing their forwards are clicking now and they’re not going to be easy. Galway in the Connacht final is never going to be an easy day out.”

Flanked by All-Ireland junior club finalist Marina Cawley (Claremorris), Colin Doherty (MacHale Rovers), Orla McHale (Moy Davitts), Donal Hughes (The Neale), Helen O’Hara (Castlebar Mitchels) and Deirdre Donnelly (Carnacon), Regan is hoping for a big turnout when Mayo and Galway lock horns in Bekan on Sunday.

“The support so far has been excellent. The Galway game especially in Garrymore. It’s been a while since Garrymore has seen a crowd like that,” he said.

“The girls have put in just as much effort as any other team and I think they deserve the support and recognition that every other county team gets. They have been training three nights a week since November so they deserve the recognition and support they can get.”

FIXTURE

Connacht LGFA U-16 A Final

Mayo v Galway

Sunday, April 14

Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, Bekan, at 1PM