Ben O'Carroll of Roscommon has a shot blocked down by Tommy Conroy of Mayo, right, during the Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship semi-final match between Roscommon and Mayo at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final
MAYO 1-15 ROSCOMMON 0-13
By Ian Cooney at Dr. Hyde Park
Ryan O’Donoghue and Aidan O’Shea were Mayo’s star men as Kevin McStay’s side had five points to spare over Roscommon in front of 13,967 supporters at Dr. Hyde Park.
O’Donoghue was superb for the visitors, kicking 0-7 over the hour in another Player of the Match performance, while O’Shea’s early goal allowed Mayo erect a platform for victory.
Mayo made the brighter start, with captain Paddy Durcan splitting the posts in the fourth minute.
A couple of early turnovers from the visitors nourished confidence levels further, and when Aidan O’Shea cut across the face of goal and found the net in the eighth minute, Mayo were firmly in the driving seat.
But Roscommon, led by Diarmuid Murtagh, settled, with the St. Faithleach’s forward opening his side’s account.
O’Donoghue responded for Mayo but a hat-trick of points from Diarmuid Murtagh and Daire Cregg left it 1-2 to 0-4 after 20 minutes.
The remainder of the half saw the sides exchange scores, although Ben O’Carroll will feel he should have done better with a presentable goal chance that was snuffed out by the Mayo defence.
The St. Brigid’s player did find the target with the help of an upright before O’Donoghue and Donie Smith swapped scores.
Murtagh brought the sides level after 32 minutes before rapid-fire scores from Fergal Boland and O’Donoghue (free) edged Mayo ahead.
There was still time for Daire Cregg to grab his second free of the half to leave just a point in it at the break, 1-6 to 0-8 in favour of Mayo.
Daire Cregg brought the hosts level two minutes into the second half, but that was as good as it got for Davy Burke’s men.
Mayo upped the ante and their searing pace allowed them to eventually cut through the Roscommon defence with ease with Tommy Conroy, the superb O’Donoghue and O’Shea all finding the target.
Roscommon quickly ran out of ideas, and it took a brace of points from wing backs Niall Daly and Eoin McCormack to just about keep them in touch.
But there was never a sense that the Rossies could cause an upset as Conor Loftus marked his introduction with two points off the bench for Mayo.
O’Donoghue (free), Boland and Conroy also added scores as the “Green and Red” ran out comfortable five-point winners and set up a Connacht final meeting against Galway in Pearse Stadium, Salthill, in two weeks’ time.
Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-7 (0-3f, 0-1m), Aidan O’Shea 1-1, Fergal Boland 0-2, Tommy Conroy 0-2, Conor Loftus 0-2, Paddy Durcan 0-1
Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-5 (0-2f), Daire Cregg 0-4 (0-2f), Ben O’Carroll 0-1, Donie Smith 0-1, Niall Daly 0-1, Eoin McCormack 0-1.
MAYO: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Sam Callinan; Paddy Durcan, David McBrien, Donnacha McHugh; Stephen Coen, Matthew Ruane; Jordan Flynn, Ryan O’Donoghue, Jack Carney; Fergal Boland, Aidan O’Shea, Tommy Conroy. Subs: Enda Hession for McHugh (h-t), Conor Loftus (0-02) for Durcan (47), Bob Tuohy for O’Shea (59), Paul Towey for Flynn (63), Pádraig O’Hora for Coyne (66).
ROSCOMMON: Conor Carroll; David Murray, Brian Stack, Niall Higgins, Niall Daly, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Eoin McCormack; Enda Smith, Ultan Harney; Dylan Ruane, Daire Cregg, Ronan Daly; Ben O’Carroll, Diarmuid Murtagh, Donie Smith. Subs: Patrick Gavin for Murray (29), Tadhg O’Rourke for Ruane (50), Shane Cunnane for Ronan Daly (59), Conor Cox for Donie Smith (63), James Fitzpatrick for Harney (66).
Referee: Séan Hurson (Tyrone).
