Disappointing loss in Castlebar

Allianz Football League Division One

Mayo 0-15 Roscommon 0-9

By Colm Gannon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park

Mayo secured a convincing six-point victory over Roscommon in a game that turned decisively in the second half.

While the first half remained close, with just a single point separating the sides at the break (0-7 to 0-6), Mayo dominated the second half, outscoring Roscommon by eight points to three.

Kevin McStay’s side who were coming into the game off the back of successive losses on the road against Kerry and Tyrone, started the game brightly with Fergal Boland getting the first score of the half early doors, a trick he repeated at the start of the second period also.

Colm Reape doubled their lead with a booming effort from play after the Mayo goalkeeper came up to join the action and launch the ball over the bar from outside the 45m line.

Diarmuid Murtagh got Roscommon’s first point of the contest with a fine effort six minutes in, but Mayo were to land the next two scores through excellent Ryan O’Donoghue efforts to go into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead by the quarter of an hour mark.

Roscommon cut the lead back to two thanks to a Daire Cregg effort not long after but another O’Donoghue effort and a right footed point from Aidan O’Shea pushed Mayo four to the good. Donie Smith and Stephen Coen traded pointed to keep the four between the sides with 21 minutes gone and for the rest of the half it was all Roscommon.

Murtagh drove over a great effort from distance and then landed another to bring it back to a two point contest. Roscommon also had two goal chances in this run, with the later one falling to Enda Smith who attempted to chip Reape who he spotted off his line, but the Mayo goalkeeper pushed the ball around the post and out for a 45, which was converted by Conor Carroll to leave the score 0-7 to 0-6 at the break.

The second half looked to be teed up for a real ding dong battle, but seven unanswered points from Mayo in the opening 22 minutes of the half had the game over as a contest long before the final whistle was blown.

Boland fisted over just after the resumption, that was followed by two on the spin from O’Donoghue. Enda Hession slotted over a mark before Donnacha McHugh chipped in with a brace inside four minutes. The final score in the seven point run came from the booth of O’Donoghue with his sixth of the day and Mayo were home and hosed.

Conor Cox registered two points for Roscomon with Murtagh getting his fourth of the evening before the end, while Cillian O’Connor fisted over Mayo’s final score of the day to wrap things up on a cold, wet evening in MacHale Park.

Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-6 (3fs), Fergal Boland 0-2, Donnacha McHugh 0-2, Aidan O’Shea 0-1, Stephen Coen 0-1, Colm Reape 0-1, Cillian O’Connor 0-1, Enda Hession 0-1 (m).

Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-4 (1f), Conor Cox 0-2 (1f), Donie Smith 0-1, Daire Cregg 0-1, Conor Carroll 0-1 (45).

Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Sam Callinan; Donnacha McHugh, Stephen Coen, Enda Hession; Jack Carney, Eoghan McLaughlin; Bob Tuohy, Fergal Boland, Jordan Flynn; Aidan O’Shea, Paul Towey, Ryan O’Donoghue.

Subs: Tommy Conroy for Towey, Darren McHale for Tuohy, Cillian O’Connor for O’Shea, Matthew Ruane for Flynn, Conor Loftus for McLaughlin

Roscommon: Conor Carroll; David Murray, Brian Stack, Niall Higgins; Tadhg O’Rourke, Eoin McCormack, Dylan Ruane; Enda Smith, Shane Cunnane; Robbie Dolan, Diarmuid Murtagh Ruaidhrí Fallon; Donie Smith, Daire Cregg, James Fitzpatrick.

Subs: Niall Daly for Shane Cunnane, Conor Cox for James Fitzpatrick, Andrew Glennon for Donie Smith, Ronan Daly for Fallon, Ultan Harney for O’Rourke.

Referee: Joe McQuillian (Cavan).