THE West Cork Academy defeated Mayo to qualify for the 2026 SFAI National U14 Schoolboys Inter-League Trophy semi-finals. Westport was the venue for West Cork’s Trophy quarter-final meeting against host county, Mayo, last Sunday.

It was scoreless at the break but second half strikes from Kingsley Osagie Crosby and Rory Hurley cemented a terrific 2-0 West Cork win. Donagh Griffin, Charlie Daly, Rory Hurley and Danny Carroll were the pick of West Cork’s top performers.

That result has propelled the winners into the last four of the tournament. There, West Cork will be joined in the semi-final draw by Carlow who beat WWEC 2-1, Clare who defeated Longford 4-0 and Limerick County who knocked out Wicklow Yellows 5-1.

‘We defeated a very physical Mayo team,’ West Cork U14 Schoolboys head coach Shaun Hough told The Southern Star.

‘It was 0-0 at half time. We made some changes and managed to get on the ball a lot more in the second half. We were on top after that. Kingsley (Osagie Crosby) scored a header from a well-worked corner to put us one up. Then, a move involving Ed Hough and Rocco O’Reilly Bermueller set up Rory Hurley who cut inside and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner.

‘Eli Zabala made a couple of important saves to keep us ahead but we managed to see out the game after that for a very good 2-0 win. Like I said, Mayo were a very physical side but we matched them and our football came through in the end.’

West Cork Academy U14 schoolboys: Eli Zabala, Aodhan O’Mahony, Conor Collins, Danny Carroll, Dylan O’Brien, Ed Hough, Donagh Griffin, Finbarr O’Mahony, Kingsley Osagie Crosby, Ryan Crowley Healy, Rory Hurley, Patrick Hennigan, Charlie Daly, Tristan Hayes, Daniel O’Sullivan, Ben Machie, Rocco O’Reilly Bermueller, Caden Walsh, Jamie O’Connor, Oliver Kiely, Sam Kingston, Jack Horgan.

In the same U14 schoolboys age-grade, Donegal knocked Kerry out of the National Cup following a 3-1 victory in Kerry. Cork defeated Kildare 3-0 to qualify for the semi-finals of the same tournament.

Limerick Desmond defeated MSL 3-2 and Limerick District hammered Wicklow 5-0 to qualify for the U14 Schoolboys National Bowl semi-finals.

***

Kerry edged West Cork 3-2 following a five-goal thriller in Group C of the U15 Schoolboys National Inter-League in Canon Crowley Park last Sunday.

Ahead of kick-off, the hosts and visitors were level on points alongside Cork after three rounds of fixtures. Group C leaders Limerick District began the weekend three points clear of the chasing pack. District extended that advantage courtesy of a 1-0 win at home to Cork last Sunday.

In terms of form, David Hall’s side recorded a terrific 6-4 win at home to North Tipperary in their group opener. A narrow 1-0 loss away to Cork preceded recent friendlies against League of Ireland clubs Cobh Ramblers and Kerry FC’s academies.

Last Sunday, Blake Hegarty was called into action on three separate occasions to deny Kerry during a dominant opening spell from the visitors.

The visitors were not to be denied however and broke the deadlock following a sustained period of pressure. Things got worse for West Cork when they fell 2-0 behind and looked in trouble as the teams changed ends.

Several interval changes had the desired effect however, and Castlelack’s Jack Allen halved the deficit. That goal prompted a positive spell in which West Cork squandered numerous chances before Eoghan Hickey made it 2-2 with ten minutes to go.

Maintaining their dominance, West Cork saw two chances cleared off the goal-line before a Kerry counterattack saw the latter break clear to score their third of the afternoon.

Despite a late comeback, the hosts couldn’t conjure up a second leveller and lost 3-2. Best for West Cork included Eoghan Hickey and Dara Ryan.

Next up is the final round of National Inter-League Group C fixtures on the weekend of February 14th and 15th. David Hall’s side will travel to leaders Limerick District on the same weekend North Tipperary host Kerry.

Following the conclusion of the group phase, the West Cork Academy U15s will travel to the UK for their annual midterm tour between February 16th and 20th. Former Irish international and Bandon native Conor Hourihane’s Barnsley are one of the English Championship clubs lined up to face West Cork during that tour.

West Cork Academy U15 schoolboys: Cillian Kingston, Lovro Kordic, Donnacha Collins, Michael Ryan, Fiachra Garret, Max Bramoulle, Jack Allen, Hugh McCarthy, Sam Mullany, Eoghan Holland, Dara Ryan, Max O’Reilly, Henrikas Dabrys, Aaron Harrington, Eoghan Hickey, Adam Whelton, Marcus Moynihan, Blake Hegarty.

Adam Whelton, James Goggin, Marcus Moynihan, Max O’Reilly, Dylan O’Shea and Henrikas Dabrys who have represented the West Cork Academy U15 schoolboys at National Inter-League level this season.

***

The West Cork Academy U12 schoolboys performed admirably in this season’s National Inter-League competitions. Two teams represented the region in separate groups with West Cork finishing third behind Kerry and Cork Athletic in Group A. Winning 1-0 away to Limerick County was one of the highlights of the young team’s campaign.

West Cork B, made up of U11s playing Inter-League for the first time, improved with every outing after being drawn in Group B. West Cork produced battling performances against Limerick Desmond, Limerick County Green and Cork United.

There were equally encouraging displays from the West Cork Academy in this season’s National Inter-League U13 schoolboys grade. Another tough draw saw West Cork finish fourth behind Kerry, Cork United and Limerick in Group B.