In a convincingly untroubled Connacht SFC semi-final match at Dr Hyde Park, Mayo secured their victory over Roscommon with a final score of Mayo 1-15, Roscommon 0-13. The match entirely pivoted around Aidan O’Shea’s early goal, which set the tone and the lead for Mayo, and Roscommon never did manage to get ahead. Notwithstanding their home advantage, and despite the creation of scoring opportunities, Roscommon failed to adequately capitalise on them with several wide shots, short efforts and a strike that simply hit the upright.
An equaliser score was made by Daire Cregg for Roscommon at the 42nd minute. This was, however, shortly answered back by a point from Ryan O’Donoghue, and from that moment on, Mayo successfully dominated the match. The audience, consisting of almost 14,000 spectators, applauded O’Shea generously for his performance during his time on the pitch. Aidan O’Shea played a key role in Mayo’s victory by scoring an early goal as well as being involved in other scores, proving his worth against past criticism.
Attempting to break Mayo’s lead, Roscommon managed to score a few points including two from Diarmuid Murtagh and one from Daire Cregg after a 12-minute gap in Mayo’s scoring period. A potential goal opportunity was also lost when Mayo’s goalkeeper Colm Reape was overtaken near the opposition’s line. Despite these efforts, Mayo’s reign over the game remained unchallenged, consequently taking them to victory.
Eventually, Enda Smith made a long pass towards Ben O’Carroll, however, Mayo had successfully marshalled enough players to delay the shot from the St Brigid’s competitor, which was ultimately smothered. Following a strong second quarter from Roscommon that left a minimal difference between the teams at half time, they were unable to take the lead after the break as Mayo controlled the match’s pace, paving the way for a provincial final encounter with Galway.
The Mayo team line-up included: Colm Reape, Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Sam Callinan, Paddy Durcan, David McBrien, Donnacha McHugh, Stephen Coen, Matthew Ruane, Jack Carney, Ryan O’Donoghue, Jordan Flynn, Fergal Boland, Aidan O’Shea and Tommy Conroy. Substitutes for Mayo included Enda Hession who replaced McHugh at half-time, Conor Loftus who came in for Durcan, Bob Tuohy for O’Shea, Paul Towey for Flynn, and Pádraig O’Hora for Coyne.
The line-up for Roscommon included Conor Carroll, David Murray, Brian Stack, Niall Higgins, Niall Daly, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Eoin McCormack, Enda Smith, Ultan Harney, Dylan Ruane, Daire Cregg, Ronan Daly, Ben O’Carroll, Diarmuid Murtagh, Donie Smith. Their substitutes included Patrick Gavin, who replaced Murray due to injury, Tadhg O’Rourke for Ruane, Shane Cunnane for Daly, Conor Cox for Smith, and James Fitzpatrick for Harney.
The match was officiated by referee Seán Hurson from Tyrone.