MAYO AND GALWAY’S goalscoring power proved crucial in clinching victories in tonight’s Electric Ireland Connacht minor football semi-finals.
Mayo saw off Leitrim by 4-11 to 1-8 at Páirc Sean Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon with man-of-the-match Ryan O’Donoghue striking a hat-trick for Mayo.
Galway ran out 3-11 to 1-7 victors over Roscommon – the winners against Sligo at the quarter-final stage last Saturday – in Kiltoom.
The victories set up a Mayo-Galway minor decider on 10 July in Pearse Stadium in Salthill as a curtain-raiser to the Connacht senior final between Galway and Roscommon.
Galway are the reigning champions at this provincial grade after last year’s final replay win over Sligo while Mayo lifted the titles in 2013 and 2014.
Mayo got off to a stunning start in their clash tonight with O’Donoghue hitting the net twice inside the opening five minutes as they went ahead 2-1 to 0-0.
Mayo’s third goal arrived in the 16th minute from Nathan McGee and Leitrim faced a mountain to climb. To their credit they dug in to cut the deficit they faced at the interval to six points – 3-3 to 0-6.
But Mayo pounced for a fourth goal early in the second-half when O’Donoghue completed his hat-trick and despite a late consolation goal for Leitrim from the penalty spot by Darragh Rooney, Mayo ran out victors by a 12-point margin.
Galway also benefitted by a storming first-half display as they saw off Roscommon tonight.
Evan Murphy struck two first-half goals, one from the penalty spot, as they sprinted into a 2-7 to 0-2 advantage at half-time. Robert Finnerty also made a vital scoring contribution for the Tribesmen.
Despite trailing by 11 points, Roscommon fought back valiantly with Brian Derwin netting from the penalty spot and they had the gap down to five points, 2-9 to 1-7 approaching full-time.
But Galway rounded off a good night’s work with a third goal at the end arriving courtesy of Barry Goldrick.
Results
Mayo 4-11 Leitrim 1-8
Galway 3-11 Roscommon 1-7
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