Five players who caught our eye during the Mayo U-21 A county semi-finals

THE weekend saw some of the best young footballers in Mayo strut their stuff in two enthralling county ‘A’ semi-finals.

While it may not top Claremorris and Castlebar Mitchels’ extra-time epic, the prospect of yet another county ‘A’ final between Mitchels and Westport is sure to get blood pumping long in advance of the 7pm throw-in at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this Friday evening (December 20). 

Ahead of this latest clash of the west Mayo titans, here are five players who caught our eye in the Mayo U-21 A championship semi-finals. 

Darragh Beirne 

A quality forward from his heel to his flaming locks, the kind we’re always looking for in Mayo. 

With Mitchels’ marquee defender assigned to Niall Hurley at full-forward, Beirne was on a warpath for the entire 87 minutes in the county semi-final. 

To finish second-highest scorer with 1-6 (2 frees) in a game where diamonds gleamed all over the field is an achievement in itself. But it’s all the more impressive when you consider the number of times Beirne dropped behind the ‘45 to provide an extra body when Claremorris were being uphended around the middle eight. 

He had the odd wide, but won marks and turnovers and nearly tore the roof off the net with a goal teed up by his fellow marksman, Dara Hurley. See below for more on him. 

Dara Hurley 

It took something colossal to outdo Darragh Beirne, but young Hurley did it. 

If his brother, Niall, was impressive against arguably the best young defender in Mayo, Dara was absolutely brilliant. 

If you were to compile a highlight reel of this game (and good luck to you), no player would feature more than Dara Hurley. 

Let’s start with his three points, two of which were of exceptional quality. It’s hard to know what drew more oohs and ahhs, his right-hand side right-footed worldie or his rampaging solo-run-and-point. 

That’s before we even mention his assist for Darragh Beirne’s goal. His insatiable thirst for goal went unquenched thanks to a top save from Peter Basquille and two more shots which diced the daisies and missed the post by a whisker. 

One to watch, without a shadow of a doubt. 

Mark Cunningham 

An absolute dynamo of footballer on his day and arguably Castlebar Mitchels’ most important player on Sunday. 

While Shane Cunningham and Brendan Gaughan ruled the skies, Mark Cunningham ruled the ground in a Mitchels middle eight that rarely lost control of the middle third. 

His 1-1 from play were but two highlights of a blistering display hallmarked by scorching runs, defensive splitting kick-passes and acute game intelligence. 

Between denting crossbars, setting up scores, and leaving men in blue for dead with his electrifying pace, Cunningham showed his abundant potential yet again and will be a marked man in the final. 

Conor Meaney

The man denied Davitts their comeback. Let’s start with his penalty save to deny Dylan Gallagher halfway through the first half, which saw him go full-stretch to get both hands on the ball way over on the right-hand corner. 

In the second half, the former Mayo Minor goalkeeper showed his class twice more. Firstly, when he dived to block a ball which was destined for the far corner. Secondly, when he intuitively blocked a short-distance shot with his leg. 

He was as cool as a breeze on the kick-outs too. 

Conal Dawson

Undeniably the best player on the pitch against Davitts. He made his presence strongly felt in defence and attack and showed an outstanding work rate. 

The Mayo senior panellist is a physically imposing figure and here he intercepted passes, kick-outs, dispossessed opponents and showed all his kick-passing skills. His peach of a pass leading directly to the first goal was a joy to behold. 

Dawson’s vision and kick passing are skills that will help any team. 

When he can do all that, and chip in with four points as he did in Sunday, he’ll be a handful for most defenders.