Mayo crowned

Mighty Mayo have plenty of reasons to ‘B’ cheerful

B FINAL
Mayo 2-11
Tipperary 2-3

Daniel Carey

IN 1967, Willie McGee wrote himself into Mayo football lore by scoring four goals in an All-Ireland U-21 final in Ballinasloe. Forty-one years on, ‘four-goal Willie’ finally has some company when Mayo football people discuss the east Galway town. Last Wednesday in Duggan Park, a Mayo side which has experienced a rollercoaster year ended up with an All-Ireland title for its troubles.
In truth, it was clear from the outset that the girls in white were the better team. Mayo dominated the early stages, and three wides had been registered before Niamh Kelly opened the scoring with a fine point. As the westerners struggled to find their shooting boots, Lisa Kirby landed the equaliser for Tipperary, somewhat against the run of play. Tipp centre back Treasa McGrath might have added a goal moments later, but shot wide, and Mayo got the first ‘major’ of the day after 14 minutes. Sarah Duffy was involved before Linda Walsh’s sweet diagonal ball picked out Róisín Cafferty, who found the net and prompted the hooting of klaxon horns.
With Laura Keane going close at one end, good defending by Sharon Lynskey helped steady the ship, and Mayo suddenly scored four points in five minutes, from Róisín Cafferty, Niamh Kelly (free), Marie Walsh (a great long-range free) and Sarah Duffy (after a great catch by captain Aimee Bell). Grace Kelly and Sarah Duffy both executed fine blocks, and though Aoife O’Reilly pointed a Tipperary free, Ciara Carty scored twice in a minute to give Mayo a 1-7 to 0-2 half-time lead. Chants of ‘Tipp-erary, Tipp-erary’ (to the tune of ‘Champ-iones, Champ-iones’) were original but seemed optimistic.
Roared into the dressing-room by their boisterous supporters, Mayo were cheered back on upon their return and Róisín Cafferty had landed a point within two minutes of the restart. Tipp needed a lifeline and got it in the shape of a goal from substitute Aishling McCarthy, but Mayo’s response was instant. Player of the match Róisín Cafferty pointed and might have goaled moments later. Instead she was upended, but the attempted clearance by Tipp goalkeeper Siobhan Heffernan came off her own wing back Cliona Higgins and flew into the net. It was a bizarre goal, but Mayo weren’t complaining.
Eight scoreless minutes ensued before Róisín Cafferty spun away from her marker to bring her tally to 1-4, and we had a further 13-minute drought until Sarah Rowe punished a foul on Linda Walsh with a point. The Ballina girl had earlier gone close to scoring a goal after a weaving run, but her effort went just wide. Substitute Jessica Callaghan saw her attempt go across the face of goal, Fiona Treacy’s effort dropped just short, and Tipp’s Amy Sweeney was also unsuccessful with her goal chance.
Niamh Kelly, by now in the full-back line, defended stoutly, but Tipp did reduce the margin before the end. Treasa McGrath pointed a free, and was denied a goal by an outstanding save from Sarah Cummins only to see Aoife O’Reilly net the rebound. The margin might have been even closer, but Melissa Nugent did superbly to prevent another goal.

MAYO
S Cummins; M Nugent, S Lynskey, K Evans; S Rowe (0-1, 1f), G Kelly, A McHugh; L Walsh, L Keane; C Carty (0-2), A Bell, S Duffy (0-1); N Kelly (0-2, 1f), M Walsh (0-1, 1f), R Cafferty (1-4). Subs used: F Treacy, C Calvey, J Callaghan, K McManamon.

TIPPERARY
S Heffernan; J Newman, L Keating, M Corr, C Nolan, T McGrath (0-1, 1f), C Higgins (1-0, OG); N Myles, J Stokes; K Downey, L O’Shea, L Kirby (0-1); E Lyons, A O’Reilly (1-1, 0-1f), A Sweeney. Subs used: A McCarthy (1-0), T McGrath, A Hickey.

Referee: D McEnery (Westmeath)