Just under two months after they took apart the challenge of Galway in the division two league final, the Mayo ladies will once again face off against the Tribeswomen with some silverware at stake. On Sunday afternoon in McHale Park at 4pm both sides will go toe to toe in the Connacht final. In that final Mayo ran out 4-17 to 2-7 winners with Cora Staunton once again leading the line for Mayo scoring 2-11 of that total. That win propelled Mayo back into division one after a year in a second tier and has set them up well for a crack at Sunday’s Connacht final.
However it will be a much different looking Galway side that Mayo will face on Sunday afternoon from the one they saw off by 16 points in that league final in Parnell Park. In the interim Gabrial Naughton has taken over in charge of the side from Con Moynihan and a slew of big name Galway players have come back into the reckoning such as Annette Clarke, Lorna Joyce, Aine Seoighe, Marian Hernon, Joanna Connolly, Edel Concannon, Maria Connell, Roisin Leonard, and Niamh Duggan.
Mayo have made serious progress this year under the guidance of Fr Mike Murphy and Jimmy Corbett, going through the league undefeated, winning all but one of their games in the league stages before going through the knock out rounds. This Mayo side boosts a fine mix of youth and experience with the older heads in the panel guiding the younger members through. As she showed in the league final, Cora Staunton is still one of the top attackers in the country and will be Mayo’s go-to player. But apart from Staunton, Mayo have lots of experience elsewhere in the likes of Claire Egan, Fiona McHale, Yvonne Byrne, Noelle Tierney and Martha Carter to call on.
Going on their meeting in the league final Mayo should be hot favourites, but with the number of returning big name players for Galway since that game, Mayo won’t be taking their challenge lightly on Sunday.
Next generation come up short in final
The newest stars of Mayo ladies’ football came up short in their quest for All Ireland glory last weekend. The Mayo ladies’ u14 side went down by 2-9 to 0-2 against Cork in their All Ireland final appearance. The Rebelettes were just too strong for Mayo and despite a brave battle they weren’t able to pull back in a early lead that Cork had built up.
