Minor maze made for a fascinating 2022 championship for Mayo

John Melvin

Not many teams are beaten three times and still go on to win an All-Ireland. Not many teams meet three times in the one year, including a Connacht final and an All-Ireland final.

Yes, you guessed it, Mayo and Galway were the teams involved in what was something of maze of games in the Connaught minor (Under 17) football championship in 2022.

Mayo lost the All-Ireland against Galway, which was played in Hyde Park, Roscommon, but hidden behind that result are some fascinating statistics.

Mayo lost just one of their eight games in the minor championship – that final one against Galway.

Galway were actually beaten twice by Mayo in the Connacht championship, Sean Deane’s team proving too strong for the Tribesmen in the round robin series and then again in the Connacht final.

Not only were Galway beaten twice by Mayo, they also lost to Leitrim in the round robin series – but still they managed to qualify for the All-Ireland series.

As Connacht champions, Mayo turned in a brilliant performance to beat Leinster runners-up Kildare in the quarterfinal, Claremorris player Niall Hurley scoring 2-4 in that game, and then went on to beat Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. That was some achievement.

Ronan Clarke scored 3-43 in the minor championship, while Niall Hurley finished with 3-20. Surely they are two lads we are bound to see a lot more of as the years roll by.

Watch out too for a very talented full-back on the minor team, John McMonagle (Castlebar Mitchels), who caught the eye of a lot of people, while players such as Zac Collins (Islandeady) and Rio Mortimer (Claremorris) were others to make an impression in what was a remarkable championship.

It does seem that Mayo’s excellent record in producing good minor teams is set to continue.