Ryan O’Donoghue and Donnacha McHugh’s second-half goals gave Mayo a boost towards triumph in the sunny grounds of Dr Hyde Park. Competing with Roscommon under the eager eyes of 8,597 spectators, Kevin McStay’s team maintained a steady advantage throughout, suffocating a potential late surge from Roscommon – marking their third victory over them in the current season.
Despite Fergal Boland’s departure due to a red card being a temporary setback for Mayo, a forthcoming injury for Enda Smith added further anxieties for Roscommon’s upcoming decisive game against Cavan. The first half of the match saw the teams neck and neck seven times, with Mayo squandering several opportunities, the most noteworthy being Darren McHale’s missed shot at an open goal.
The initial four points were evenly divided with Donie Smith and Diarmuid Murtagh (free) aiming successfully for Roscommon, whilst Darren McHale and Matthew Ruane returned the favour for Mayo. But, Conor Cox (free) and Robbie Dolan’s quick retaliations put Roscommon two points in the clear, until the narrative changed with equalisers from man of the match Eoghan McLaughlin and Ryan O’Donoghue (free), leading to a 0-4 stalemate by the end of the initial 45 minutes.
Further tweaks in the scoreboard were contributed by Enda Smith’s solo spectacular for Roscommon, and McLaughlin’s exploit of a wide defensive gap of the hosts, thus equalling the score again. During the first 35 minutes, Daire Cregg netted an outstanding point, only to be negated by Jordan Flynn’s response. With a 28th minute free, Mayo took the lead for the first time courtesy of O’Donoghue, but was soon matched by Ciarán Lennon, marking Roscommon’s seventh scorer, resulting in 0-7 draw.
The deadlock between the teams was further extended by reciprocal scores from O’Donoghue and Cox (free), leaving the score balanced at 0-8 at half time. However, the tide was turning towards Mayo’s side, likely aided by wind conditions. With contributions from Cillian O’Connor from more than 45 metres away, McHale, and O’Donoghue, the second half of the game witnessed Mayo justifying their favourable odds with the score being 0-12 – 0-10 after 50 minutes.
Roscommon were finding it hard to keep control of the ball and send it to their forwards, depending on Diarmuid Murtagh, Conor Carroll and Conor Cox’s placed balls for points on the board. Mayo, on the other hand, took their time in penetrating Roscommon’s defence, eventually leading to Flynn’s second score.
The game saw a turning point at the 60-minute mark when O’Donoghue was allegedly fouled, to the objection of Roscommon who claimed the Mayo player had overstepped. Despite this, O’Donoghue confidently converted the penalty, securing a score advantage of 1-12 to 0-11. Keith Doyle, a substitute for Roscommon, then scored their first point from play in that half.
However, when Donnacha McHugh intercepted another quick Mayo play, it looked like Mayo’s 2-13 to 0-13 lead with two minutes left was too difficult for Roscommon to overturn. But Roscommon didn’t back down. When Dylan Ruane was tripped, Conor Cox scored from a well-executed penalty leading to a morale boost.
Mayo’s substitute Tommy Conroy came off the bench to widen the gap, and despite late efforts from Donie Smith and Ultan Harney, the margin was ultimately reduced to two points. With limited time left, Roscommon were unable to thwart Mayo’s impending win, marking a successful follow-up for the latter to their initial round victory against Cavan. This victory ensured Mayo’s advancement from the group stage.
The Mayo team comprised of C Reape; D McBrien, P O’Hora, S Callinan; S Coen, J Coyne, D McHugh (1-0); J Carney, M Ruane (0-1); E McLaughlin (0-3), R O’Donoghue (1-4, including one penalty and two frees), J Flynn (0-2); D McHale (0-2), A O’Shea and C O’Connor (0-1). Substitutes included C Loftus for McBrien, T Conroy (0-1) for O’Connor, F Boland for O’Shea, E Hession for McHale and B Tuohy for McLoughlin.
In a recent match, Roscommon’s team included C Carroll, who managed to bag a 45 (0-1), alongside D Murray, B Stack, and N Higgins. Other team players included N Daly, R Dolan, who scored (0-1), and E McCormack, as well as E Smith (0-1), and T O’Rourke. Also playing were C Hand, D Smith (0-2), and C Lennon (0-1), together with C Cox who fetched (1-4), including a penalty, three frees, and one mark. D Cregg (0-1) and D Murtagh (0-2) made two frees. At half-time, K Doyle (0-1) replaced Hand, shortly followed by D Ruane substituting Lennon after 44 minutes. Substitutions at 53 minutes saw U Harney (0-1) stepping in for O’Rourke, R Fallon substituting Daly, and S Cunnane taking over from Dolan after 63 minutes. The referee of the game was B Cassidy from Derry.