More than momentum needed for Mayo now

On the cusp of the hour mark at Dr Hyde Park on Saturday evening, Ryan O'Donoghue neatly slotted a penalty and Mayo went five points up against a tiring Roscommon side. That should've been game, set and match. That should've allowed Mayo minds to start drifting forward towards a battle with Dublin in a fortnight’s time.

Only an utter capitulation would've denied Mayo another win and Roscommon weren't exactly conveying Lazarus vibes. To add to the home side's woes, as Conor Carroll picked the ball out of his own net Fergal Boland was being introduced to the field of play. Roscommon were going to have to open up their game a little as they chased down the deficit and the additional space would only play to the Aghamore man's strengths. Mayo would surely see out the game. Surely?

But as is their wont, Mayo are gluttons for punishment. And gradually Roscommon waltzed their way back into the game, with the contest still in the melting pot as Barry Cassidy raised his whistle to his lips to signal full-time.

That coda was error-strewn, stress-inducing and riveting all at once. More happened in the last 10 minutes of play than in the previous 60 minutes combined. Immediately after O'Donoghue's maximum, Roscommon bounced back with a brace of points to make it a one-score game once again. With gaps finally emerging in the Roscommon defence as the home side attempted to salvage something from the sun-drenched evening, Mayo worked another well-worked effort that ended with Donnacha McHugh palming the ball to the back of the net.

Even for a Mayo side with a penchant for chaos, it felt like the game was beyond Davy Burke's side at that stage. But the hosts eventually gambolled up the field and earned a penalty, which Conor Cox dispatched. Amid the bedlam, Fergal Boland received a red card, in a case McStay maintained afterwards was "a case of mistaken identity". No time to breathe. No time to blink. No time to contemplate why Mayo never take the easy option.

But as fraught as the game had become, Roscommon were unable to bring the bite to the contest that they usually reserve for Mayo and Galway sides. While they rarely cause damage outside the province, Roscommon can always motivate themselves for a tussle with their provincial neighbours - even if they usually put so much energy into it that they can struggle to back up the scalp. For that reason, an ambush could be sensed in the air throughout last week.

A total of 41 days had passed since Mayo dumped Roscommon from the Connacht championship at the same venue. That's 41 days of seething through gritted teeth, 41 days of listening to fans moan about having to listen to their Mayo counterparts. That's also 41 days of scheming and forecasting, even if they had to come face-to-face with Dublin in the meantime.

So this was likely the game Roscommon would've been targeting during that time, even if it was only in their subconscious. The manager's comments after his side's loss to Dublin also pointed towards that Roscommon mindset.

"If any Roscommon man can’t get up to play Mayo in the Hyde, sure there’s no point to me travelling down the road," Burke told the media after the All-Ireland champions' nine-point win over his side in Croke Park. "I’m not going to have to tell them boys how to play Mayo, we won’t have any issues there."

Unfortunately for the home side, they only had an attendance of 8,597 to bring heat to the furnace, down from a crowd of 13,967 that turned up when the sides met in the Connacht championship semi-final in April. That perhaps speaks volumes of where both teams are at right now. Although it perhaps also says much about the public's appetite for group stage games.

Mayo's ability to inject a sense of urgency into proceedings, led by the irrepressible Eoghan McLaughlin, was ultimately the difference between the sides on a balmy day just outside Roscommon Town. It was arguably the Westport man's best day in a Mayo jersey. He filled Paddy Durcan's long shadow with scything runs when the Roscommon wall seemed impenetrable, his tackling and ability to dispossess was peerless and he tagged on three points at crucial intervals. He even played a crucial pass in McHugh's goal which ultimately got Mayo over the line.

He was the man who brought energy to a game that took a while getting off the ground. It was a cagey affair from the outset, with the two teams taking their time to suss one another out like a couple of journey pugilists. Mayo had the better opportunities, but had been hugely wasteful in front of the posts. By half-time, they had registered eight wides and spurned a goal chance from point blank range.

As a result, their confidence had taken a beating, and they perhaps indulged in recycling possession too much when shots should've been taken. Roscommon, on the other hand, were capable of pointing from range to stay within striking distance of Mayo, efforts from Enda Smith and Daire Cregg being the pick of the scores from the first half.

Mayo battled away and eventually secured a win without blowing the world away. Most crucially, they maintained momentum, that precious commodity which has been a priority for McStay this season.

But there are other positives that can be taken from the game, too. On a relatively quiet day by O'Donoghue's lofty standards, Mayo were finally able to source scores from elsewhere on the pitch. The manner in which the side dispossessed Roscommon in the tackle was at times reminiscent of how the 2016 and 2017 sides executed the skill. And McLaughlin gave a tour de force performance that softened the blow of losing Durcan to a season-ending injury.

With a goal-hungry Dublin side up next though, McStay will need all the sealant in the county to deal with a defence that remains worryingly leaky. Momentum alone won't be sufficient to reverse last year's quarter-final defeat to Dessie Farrell's side. Another win in the bag for Mayo, but plenty of work still to be done.