Mayo cruise past Cork to set up semi-final date

ALL-IRELAND MINOR QUARTER-FINAL

Mayo 3-14

Cork 0-6

MICHAEL GALLAGHER

Ennis

Mayo cruised into the All-Ireland semi-final with an easy win over a very disappointing Cork side in sun-splashed Cusack Park. The Connacht champion's far superior workrate set them apart early on and they had at least one foot in the last-four when half time arrived with them enjoying a big 2-8 to 0-3 lead.

If Cork expected a revival in the second half it didn't occur as they were out-worked, out-thought, out-played and out-scored by the Mayo boys who never took their foot off the gas.

The match began perfectly for Mayo when Oisin Deane crashed home a goal after 76 seconds following smart play by Dylan Flynn when he knocked a ball from Joe Forry into Deane's path.

That set the tone and Mayo powered on. Tom Hession was the spare man at the back for Mayo and the team captain regularly ended up on the overlap in attack. Owen Loughney, David Hurley, Barry Langan and Josh Moyles were eye-catching around the middle as Kobe McDonald came into his own at centre-half-forward.

Cork had a sniff of a goal after 20 minutes when Humphrey Canty ran through but Hession took his shot off the line and Mayo added a goal of their own before half time.

A turnover saw Andrew Quinn find Flynn inside the Cork cover and he was talen down by the goalkeeper James O'Flaherty for a penalty. The culprit was sin-binned and McDonald planted the penalty in the bottom corner for a big lead at the break.

Mayo continued on their merry way after the resumption and Hession set the tone with a point just a minute into the second half.

Wing-back Mark Sheerin then raised two white flags in the following eight minutes and at that stage, the Mayo defenders had scored more than the entire Cork team, as half-back David Hurley had also pointed in the first half.

That situation remained until the 48^th minute when full-forward Dylan O'Neill kicked Cork's first point of the second half but it was a fruitless cause for Cork at that stage. The team who had been beaten by 18 points by Kerry in the Munster final were in for another serious defeat and it got worse before the end when Flynn intercepted a poor Cork pass, sent McDonald straight through the middle and he found Deane on his shoulder for the full-forward to finish to the net.

That was the icing on a very sweet cake for Mayo who showed why they're so highly rated by so many.

Mayo will play Armagh in the All-Ireland semi-final in two weeks' time.

A full match report and after-match reaction will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.