Mayo have progressed to the semifinals of the Electric Ireland Minor Football Championship after another dominant performance from Kobe McDonald gave them a 3-14 to 0-06 win over Cork at Cusack Park in Ennis.
The son of the legendary Ciarán McDonald was instrumental in Mayo's win, scoring 1-6 including a penalty in the first half as Mayo suffocated the Rebels in the early stages. Kobe McDonald's Crossmolina Deel Rovers teammate Oisín Deane scored the first goal of the match, finishing on the half volley with only a few minutes on the clock.
Cork struggled to get any momentum from there and it became a bit of a blowout in the second half as Mayo scored another goal through Deane.
Highlights from today's @ElectricIreland U17 football Quarter final against Cork 💪 pic.twitter.com/tnPvK2IFjJ
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) June 8, 2024
Awaiting them is Armagh who ended the Cinderella run for Longford with a 1-16 to 1-03 win at Breffni Park. Longford were able to stay level with the Orchard County in the beginning but as the first half went on Armagh score 1-4 without reply with a goal through Shea Loughran
That was the killer for Longford as Armagh kept chipping away at them in the second half scoring point after point while Longford had no answer for them.
The semifinal in two weeks will be a repeat of the 2009 final in which Armagh won their second ever Minor title and their last one to date. It should be an exciting battle.
Defending champions Derry will meet Kerry in the other semifinal after Derry did just enough to edge out Dublin 0-18 to 2-10 in Breffni.
Derry's attack was on top form as Eamonn Young, James Sargent and Turlough McHugh all chipped in with 0-4 each as Dublin couldn't contain last year's champs.
Derry did enough to hold out despite goals from Senan Bulger and Donach Magee as they look to become the first team to defend the titile since the reformatting of the Minor Championship.
Kerry stand in their way as the Kingdom dispatched Roscommon 3-18 to 2-3 in Ennis. Kerry's defence was immense as they held Roscommon to just one point in the first half as Kerry were ruthless, leading by 13 points at the break.
There was no respite from the Kingdom in the second half as substitute Ryan O'Driscoll scored two goals as Kerry continued the onslaught which was helped by a black card for the Rossies.
Kerry v Derry looks to be a very intriguing matchup as the two sides have very efficient attacks so hopefully it will be a high-scoring encounter in two weeks' time.
