LAST UPDATE | 26 Apr

Mayo 1-18

Roscommon 2-25

Kevin Egan reports from Hastings Insurance McHale Park

FOR 25 MINUTES, Roscommon caught lightning in a bottle and the crowd in Castlebar could only marvel at the spectacle. This visiting fans did so in wonder while the home contingent among the audience of 15,321 did so in horror, as Roscommon used the breeze to score an incredible 0-17 while conceding just 0-04.

Kobe McDonald, a rare bright spot for Mayo on an afternoon when all the glitter of their league campaign suddenly started to look like pound-shop jewellery, stroked over a two-pointer to give them faint hope.

Conor Hand and Enda Smith combined to win the next kickout and Darragh Heneghan, the fastest man in a team built around speed and killer instinct, drove through to fire over the killer score.

It won’t always be like this. That 1-17 was scored without a wide being hit, while at midfield, established fielders and groundhogs alike from the away side seemed to rise up into the cloudless sky to pull down kickouts at will. Those that weren’t plucked from the air hit the deck and were invariably gobbled up by ravenous foragers in yellow.

And while pace was the killer, there was one starter in the Roscommon forward line who wasn’t all about acceleration and killer speed. That was Diarmuid Murtagh, who struck 1-10 in all, including some daggers to the heart of a demoralised Mayo side.

By the end, it was easy to forget just how satisfied Mayo would have been when Ryan O’Donoghue coolly finished their goal to make it 1-8 to 1-3. Kobe McDonald was dragged down to enable the Belmullet man to tap over a free immediately afterwards, and everything was following a Mayo script at that point.

Defensively they were securing turnovers, particularly across the half-back line, and while Conor Carroll was doing his best to pick out Rossies with his restarts, it wasn’t unusual for the receiving player to be penned back into his own half.

After an error-ridden opening five minutes in which four wides were shared and neither side raised a flag, Loftus and Paddy Durcan drove forward to get Mayo moving.

Within a blink of an eye it was 0-4 to no score, and although Diarmuid Murtagh had a great goal chance, his low shot crashed off the foot of the post.

Just when Roscommon were in trouble, with self-doubt tapping them on the shoulder, Mayo let them off the hook. A poor kickout was seized by Rob Heneghan, he played in his cousin Darragh and a quick flick of the ball past Robert Hennelly left Murtagh with a sidefoot into an empty net.

Roscommon’s pace and direct running ability was a constant threat into the wind, but Mayo were getting more ball, creating more chances, and after they steadied the ship to lead by six, they looked to be in control, even allowing for the strength of the breeze blowing down towards the bacon factory end.

Then, after scoring 1-3 in the opening half hour, Roscommon racked up an incredible 0-22 in the next 30 minutes of play, scoring 20 times in all.

Dylan Ruane, Murtagh and Rob Heneghan fired over in quick succession before the break and while they were arguably the slightly better poised team at half-time, no-one expected the barrage that was to follow.

It came on all fronts. The kickout, previously a scrappy contest, became Roscommon’s fiefdom. Space opened up for the Heneghans, Enda Smith, Colm Neary and Ruane to show their pace, and Murtagh was flawless with his kicking. Six points were fired over in the first five minutes of the second half, and in a Mayo forward line laden with experience, it felt like it was Kobe McDonald who was taking responsibility and leading the fightback every time. The Crossmolina prodigy registered some wonderful scores and always looked to make things happen, but there were fires all over the pitch, and he couldn’t put them all out.

His sublime two-point free into the wind gave Mayo the faintest flicker of hope, and on the next attack, Roscommon extinguished it. Enda Smith and Conor Hand combined to win the kickout and set up Darragh Heneghan, and on a day when Roscommon’s pace and killer instinct was their trump card, their fastest player drove straight at goal, shot low and sent the crowd into raptures.

The Connacht final comes to the Hyde in two weeks – expect a lot less talk about ticket prices, and a lot more about how people can get their hands on one.

SCORERS FOR MAYO: Ryan O’Donoghue 1-4 (1tpf, 0-2f), Kobe McDonald 0-6 (1ptf), Conor Loftus 0-2, Paddy Durcan 0-2, Jordan Flynn 0-1, Paddy Durcan 0-1, Jack Carney 0-1, Matthew Ruane 0-1.

SCORERS FOR ROSCOMMON: Diarmuid Murtagh 1-10 (0-2f, 1tp, 1tpf), Darragh Heneghan 1-3, Enda Smith 0-3, Dylan Ruane 0-3, Keith Doyle 0-2, Robert Heneghan 0-1, Colm Neary 0-1, Conor Hand 0-1, Paul Carey 0-1f.

MAYO

1 Robert Hennelly (Raheny)

4 Enda Hession (Garrymore)

3 Rory Brickenden (Westport)

2 Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis)

5 Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites)

9 David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen)

7 Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels)

8 Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels)

6 Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)

10 Jack Carney (Kilmeena)

11 Ryan O’Donoghue (Belmullet)

12 Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)

13 Cian McHale (Moy Davitts)

14 Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy)

15 Kobe McDonald (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)

Subs: Tommy Conroy (The Neale) for McHale (half-time), Donnacha McHugh (Castlebar Mitchels) for Brickenden (41), Matthew Ruane (Breaffy) for Tuohy (44), Fergal Boland (Aghamore) for O’Shea (44), Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber) for Loftus (55)

ROSCOMMON:

1 Conor Carroll (St. Brigid’s)

3 Caelim Koegh (Pádraig Pearses)

4 Eoin McCormack (St. Dominic’s)

2 Patrick Gavin (Clann na nGael)

6 Ronan Daly (Pádraig Pearses)

5 Eoin Ward (Fuerty)

7 Senan Lambe (Roscommon Gaels) 

8 Keith Doyle (St. Dominic’s)

9 Conor Ryan (Pádraig Pearses)

10 Dylan Ruane (Michael Glaveys)

11 Enda Smith (Boyle)

14 Colm Neary (Strokestown)

13 Diarmuid Murtagh (St. Faithleach’s)

15 Robert Heneghan (Michael Glaveys)

12 Darragh Heneghan (Michael Glaveys)

Subs: Paul Carey (Padraig Pearses) for Keogh (49), Conor Hand (St. Brigid’s) for R Heneghan (52), Robbie Dolan (St. Brigid’s) for Lambe (58), Shane Cunnane (St. Brigid’s) for Ryan (60), Niall Higgins (Navan O’Mahony’s) for D Heneghan (68)

REFEREE: David Coldrick (Meath).