Mayo left the field in MacHale Park a fortnight ago with mixed feelings, they were glad to have won a second bite at Galway, thanks to Tracey Leonard pulling her late, late free wide of the target - but also experienced regret over not taking the chances that came there way to win the game. Tomorrow afternoon in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick they will get a chance to put those regrets to right.
Peter Leahy felt so after the game, with the Mayo manager saying: "It’s mixed emotions really after that. I thought we left it behind us a bit. I’m not shocked with our performance. A little bit more composure and experience would have gotten us over the line I think."
His side showed great fighting spirit to overturn a four point deficit at half time - which included conceding a goal almost from the throw-in from Louise Ward, to come back and put themselves into the lead thanks to three second half goals - the one big disappointment from the final 30 minutes of action was that they were only able to add on a solitary point in that half.
Rachel Kearns grabbed Mayo's first goal to cap a fine performance from the full-forward, who was a thorn in the Galway side from start to finish, with her off the ball running and powerful drives with the ball causing the Galway defence all kinds of problems - if she can repeat this on Saturday it will give Mayo a serious chance of winning the CBE Cup.
Mayo's other goals game from Éilish Ronayne who was in the right place at the right time to finish to the net and Grace Kelly who showed her class with a cool and composed finish after a lung-busting run.
Mayo did have a chance to bag a fourth goal that would have in all probability killed off the game, but Sarah Rowe's penalty was saved midway through the half by Galway sub-keeper Derbhala Gower and Mayo know they will need to make sure they take all the chances that come their way on Saturday.
Mayo had a lengthy lay-off from the end of their league campaign which came to the end on April 7 with a draw against Monaghan, while Galway, who made it all the way to the final, had two more intense games before the start of the championship. The drawn game will have brought Mayo on leaps and bounds and set them up to have another serious crack at their southern neighbours - with the game being on the undercard of the clash of the two sides senior men's teams on Saturday, a good Mayo support should be in place to cheer them on when it comes to the final few minutes of the game. The game throws in at 4pm.
