
GAA


The Kobe McDonald hype train picked up even more speed yesterday, following another stellar showing off the bench, during Mayo's Division 1 win over Armagh.
The game finished 2-17 to 0-22 at MacHale Park, in wet and blustery conditions.
McDonald followed up last week's 1-4 off the bench with 0-2 yesterday, while bringing much-needed zip and pace to his side.
Speaking on the Sunday Game, Lee Keegan - a former Mayo footballer and Player of the Year winner - singled out a a key moment from the game, which showed one of the reasons why he has been recruited by AFL side St Kilda.
Keegan waxed lyrical about the 18-year-old and said: "It's probably hard not to talk about him, because we've seen again today, on the back on last week's monstrous debut.
"Today he comes on in harsh conditions and plucks a ball out of the sky, you can see why the AFL want him for that alone.
"People probably underestimate how pacy this kid is, he is electric when he gets the ball.
"It's funny, they're always looking for Kobe, which is big for an 18-year-old.
"Big impact today when Mayo needed a bit of injection, a bit of pace... So it's hard not to talk about him on the back of his father and all that's carried with it, but he's carrying that mantle well at the moment, and hopefully we see more of him in the coming weeks because he, if you're being honest, he's a really exciting talent."
Mayo manager Andy Moran also spoke after the game, and reminded the press that the county have a host of young talent not named Kobe McDonald.
He said: "I'll go back to it. Kobe is an exceptional player and it's very important that we treat him like every other player. We know the talent he has.
"It's similar to Darragh Beirne. Darragh Beirne has been our top scorer from play right from the outset of the league this year and he's 19.
"There is a cluster of them. Cian [McHale], what age are you? 22. Sean Morahan there is 21, do you know what I'm saying?
"There is a cluster of them. Kobe is part of that, we see him as part of that cluster. We understand the talent he has, but we do understand we have him for a limited time as well."
Explore more on these topics:
Share
2nd March 2026
11:03am GMT