CORA STAUNTON BAGGED an incredible individual haul of 2-14 as Mayo claimed their first TG4 Connacht ladies senior football championship crown since 2011.
Staunton’s super-show denied Galway five-in-a-row as Mayo ran out 3-20 to 0-14 winners at Elverys MacHale Park in Castlebar.
In Ulster, Monaghan were crowned champions following a 0-14 to 1-8 victory over Cavan in Clones.
This was a remarkable victory for a Monaghan side that struggled badly throughout the Lidl League campaign but the Farney girls reserved their best form for the championship and under the guidance of Paula Cunningham, are Ulster winners for the first time since 2013.
In the West, Staunton fittingly opened the scoring with a free but Galway rallied to lead by 0-4 to 0-3 in the early exchanges, with Roisin Leonard and Edel Concannon hitting a brace of points each.
After drawing level at 0-4 apiece, Mayo lost Leona Ryder to the sin-bin but the damage was minimal in those ten minutes and Galway were down to 14 players themselves before half-time when Fabienne Cooney picked up a yellow card.
At half-time, Mayo were 0-12 to 0-8 clear but Galway rallied early in the second half, moving to within a point before the hosts pulled away again.
Staunton grabbed the opening goal of the game when she reacted quickest after her penalty was saved and Mayo romped to a 15-point victory from there.
Galway had Sarah Gormally sin-binned before Staunton struck again, taking a pass from Niamh Kelly before converting Mayo’s second goal.
And Kelly’s industry was rewarded with Mayo’s third goal in the closing minutes – before Staunton finished as she’d started by fisting the final score of the game.
In the Ulster decider, Monaghan signalled their intent early by racing into a four-point lead, with Ciara McAnespie, Laura McEnaney, Danica Tavey and Ellen McCarron on target.
Cavan finally opened their account midway through the first half when Aisling Traynor pointed but Monaghan were in control at half-time, leading by 0-8 to 0-3.
They were 0-11 to 0-5 clear in the second half before Traynor hauled Cavan back into contention with the game’s only goal.
Monaghan, crucially, responded with a Cora Courtney point but Cavan kept in touch with an Aisling Doonan free.
A Roisin O’Keeffe point narrowed the gap to two but Monaghan pulled away with late scores, before Sinead O’Sullivan reduced Cavan’s final deficit to three points.
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