Padraic Joyce praises his Galway side after Connacht final win oer Mayo

EirGrid connacht U20 FC final: Galway 0-16 Mayo 0-10

Galway U20 manager Padraic Joyce

July 10 2019 10:40 PM

Galway manager Pádraic Joyce praised his men after they dethroned Mayo to capture the Connacht U-20 title with a deserved victory at Tuam Stadium.

It ended a dismal week, which saw their minors and seniors defeated by arch rivals Mayo, on a high note as they saw off the champions with an impressive display.

“We will enjoy this one and regroup and go again. We are really pleased with the effort, commitment and heart shown but we will need to step it up again,” said Joyce.

His men pushed to lead by 0-10 to 0-4 at half-time, with substitute Conor Newell, Darragh Silke and Padraig Costello landing good scores.

They then hit Mayo hard after the restart with Rory Cunningham, Padraig Costello and Liam Costello kicking excellent points.

That left Mayo 0-13 to 0-4 adrift and they never looked like getting the goal they needed.

Evan O’Brien, Tommy Conroy and Paul Towey pulled back points but Galway were always able to respond with their full-forward line finishing with 0-10 between them.

“I said to the lads at half-time that we either go seven, eight and nine up or we go five, four, three and make it into a dogfight,” added Joyce, whose side will meet Dublin or Laois in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Scorers – Galway: D Silke 0-5 (4f); L Costello 0-4; P Costello 0-3 (1f); R Cunningham 0-2; C Newell, M Tierney (1f) 0-1 each.

Mayo: E O’Brien 0-4 (4f); T Conroy, P Towey 0-3 each.

GALWAY – O Burke; E McFadden, S Mulkerrin, R Mahon; L Boyle, C Potter, J Kirrane; M Barrett, M Tierney; B O’Connell, G Burke, L Costello; R Cunningham, P Costello, D Silke. Subs: J Glynn for Kirrane (18), C Newell for G Burke (24), M Culhane for O’Connell (h-t), E Mannion for Mahon (54-56 blood), E Mannion for Costello (56), B Harlowe for Culhane (60), M O’Brien for L Costello (64).

MAYO – J McNicholas; J Coyne, R Brickenden, O Mullin; O McDonnell, C Beirne, E McLaughlin; E O’Brien, G Durcan; J Gallagher, P Towey, P Goldrick; A Orme, S McGreal, T Conroy. Subs: N Moran for Gallagher (36), D McBrien for McDonnell (40), K Callaghan for McGreal (41), C Gavin for Orme (49).