A devastating opening 15 minutes was the key to Cavan retaining the All-Ireland U16 A title at Mayo’s expense at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe.
Cavan shot 3-6 in the opening quarter, leaving far too big of a gap for Mayo to recover from.
A superb display from Cavan captain Emilia Mussi and an effective defence were among the hallmarks of a solid winning display.
The game could not have started any better for Cavan. They found the net 60 seconds in through Katie McGahern after Mussi saw her shot rebound off the post.
Mayo conceded 2-4 in the next five minutes from four different scorers. Cavan's Abby Reilly put her side ten points up with a goal following a clever hand-pass from McGahern.
Emma Stagg eventually opened Mayo's account on 12 minutes but Cavan responded impressively. McGahern once again teed up Reilly who fired to the net as the Ulster champions moved 14 points clear.
Cavan were relentless and kept attacking down the middle of the Mayo defence. Mayo goalkeeper Kayla Hughes was forced to make two saves.
Mayo's second-half rally
The Connacht girls slowly gained momentum, adding points from Katie Hughes and Lily Hession (a free).
Hughes subsequently directed a long ball into full-forward Stagg, who shook the Cavan net with a fine finish. Mayo ended the half on a high with a point from Aoibhinn McNamara. However the Connacht champions still trailed 3-7 to 1-4.
Cavan missed the chance to go further ahead when Kayla Hughes made a superb double-save from a Reilly penalty in the 36th minute.
Cavan added three more from Sarah McAvinney (two) and Reilly before Mayo struck a nearly identical goal to their first when Stagg received a long ball from Katie Hughes and drove into the net off the crossbar.
This still left the chasers nine points adrift, and ultimately it was Cavan that won out despite only scoring four points in the second half. Cavan winning out 3-11 to 2-5.
Cavan: F Higgins; K McSeain, A Crowe, H Forde Peat; K Comaskey, C Crowe, G McCabe; E Mussi (capt.), E Gannon; B Quaile, A Reilly, S McAvinney; N McCaffrey, M Smith, K McGahern. Subs: J Hetherton for Smith (27), C Brennan for Comaskey (39), S Farrelly for Quaile (58), K O’Reilly for McCaffrey (58), L Matthews for Gannon (62).
Scorers: A Reilly 2-3, K McGahern 1-0, N McCaffrey 0-3 (1 free), S McAvinney 0-2, E Mussi, J Hetherton, C Crowe 0-1 each.
Mayo: Kayla Hughes; C Dowling, I Basquille, C Cullen; A Doherty, E Higgins (capt.), S Tieran; S Dempsey, L Hession; A McNamara, L McHale, S McGuinness; K Byrne, E Stagg, Katie Hughes. Subs: E Duffy for McHale (39), G Bailey for McNamara (39), D Guilfoyle for Tiernan (49), A Ferguson for Dempsey (51), A Lynn for K Hughes (51)
Scorers: E Stagg 2-1 (0-1f), A McNamara, Katie Hughes, L Hession (free), E Duffy 0-1 each.
Referee: Anthony Marren (Monaghan).
