Mayo hold off late rally to set up Dubs shootout
Roscommon's Brian Stack in action against Mayo's Jordan Flynn. Picture: INPHO/James Lawlor
Beating a team for the third time in a year, let alone a rival, is a difficult job under any circumstances but it is a mission Mayo successfully accomplished in dispatching of Roscommon under the sweltering sun in Hyde Park.
The win means that, at worst, they have guaranteed a home draw in the preliminary quarter-final while they remain in race for an automatic last eight spot, with a victory over All-Ireland champions Dublin now needed.
Anyone who has followed Mayo for any period of time knows they never do things easy and they had to hold off a late Roscommon rally in added time, leading by six with a minute of normal time remaining to getting out of dodge with a two-point win.
An erratic wind was blowing across the pitch and both goalkeepers struggled with kickouts early on. Roscommon’s Conor Carroll lost his first three kickouts as Mayo punished them with points from Darren McHale and Matthew Ruane following Donie Smith’s opening score for the host inside 17 seconds.
Likewise, Colm Reape was encountering his own issues and Roscommon punished Mayo through frees by Conor Cox and Diarmuid Murtagh as well as a point by Robbie Dolan.
The outstanding Eoghan McLaughlin scored his first point on 11 minutes before Ryan O’Donoghue brought the team back level from a free after great work by Aidan O’Shea saw his steamroll his way through two defenders to pass it to Darren McHale, who was then fouled.
Smith and MacLaughlin traded scores, followed by an exchange of points by Daire Cregg and Jordan Flynn to tie things up for the fourth time on 27 minutes, but the wides were racking up for Mayo at this point. They had hit six by this stage (eight by the end of the half) compared to Roscommon’s one.
O’Shea’s mere presence was causing the Roscommon backline problems, and he won another free for O’Donoghue to send over. Ciarán Lennon made it all square again before a Cillian O’Connor point dropped short into O’Shea. The Breaffy man was crowded out when looking for the goal but left it for O’Donoghue’s third point.
A second free for Cox left the sides tied at 0-8 apiece at half-time but tight at the end of the half, Jack Carney and Donnacha McHugh combined to set up Darren McHale, but he shot at the side netting.
A super score from Cillian O’Connor was almost followed by a point by Conor Loftus but the referee pulled it back after a double hop by the cancelled out by the half-time substitute. Murtagh, a free, made it level for the eighth time before Mayo opened up a two-point gap for the first time through two skyscrapers by McHale and O’Donoghue, the latter needing to be fisted over by Roscommon ‘keeper Carroll.
Mayo upped the tempo and should have found the net on 51 minutes when Ruane ran through the Roscommon defence. Although he had O’Donoghue and McLaughlin on either side, he went for glory himself and his strike was saved by Carroll, who then converted from a 45’ seconds later.
Flynn brought the gap back to two when the sliding doors moment arrived on 61 minutes. Murtagh appeared to be brought down inside the rectangle but the referee saw nothing wrong. From the resulting Mayo kickout, Ryan O’Donoghue forged a chance on goal but was taken down by Eoin McCormack. Referee Barry Cassidy awarded a penalty and O’Donoghue coolly tucked it away.
Another two Cox points, a free and a mark, made it a three-point game when McLaughlin, shortly after getting his third point, combined with O’Donoghue to tee up Donnacha McHugh and the Castlebar Mitchels defender palmed it into the net.
It looked game over from there, but Roscommon won a penalty of their own after Sam Callinan bundled Dylan Ruane in the parallelogram and Cox converted. Substitute Tommy Conroy made it safe with a fisted effort late on and while Donie Smith and Ultan Harney pointed deep in injury-time, they were nothing more than consolation scores in a frantic ending that saw Fergal Boland sent off late on for an off-the-ball incident.
