Mayo 0-12
Roscommon 0-8
In McHale Park Castlebar.
When these sides met this time last year, Ray Dempsey and his charges were given an early summer holiday away from the training field as Mayo failed to click into gear against a hungry Roscommon side intent on doing their best to defend their All Ireland title, this year however with the back/back door Saturday nights quarter/semi-final was a rather tame affair in reality. The win while greatly accepted by Mayo was no more than they deserved in a game they only really played in patches in and a much more concerted effort will be needed if they are to provide a season of Sunday’s to remember in 2008.
There were a few positional switches from the announced team with Aidan O’Shea moving up from mid-field to centre half forward with Ballina’s Alex Corduff moving to the middle third and the Mayo wing forwards swapped sides as Ray Dempsey attempted to get his side to take the game to Rosscommon.
Barely fifty seconds into the game and Mayo were up by one, O’Shea (who latter picked up the man of the match award) picked up the ball from full forward Ray Geraghty after the full forward was quick to break out from his position to set up the score.
The lead lasted less than two minutes when the impressive Darren McDermott who along with Dara Lennon provided the main attacking threat for the visitors scored a nice point when for the first but not the last time he beat Shane McHale all ends up to score with a round the house effort. Three minutes later Roscommon had the first goal chance of the game when Eoin Sheehy took on and beat David Dolan, but dragged his effort wide of the left hand post.
Dean Gavin got the next score on eight, miuntes when he was played in by O’Shea who had seconds earlier missed a very kickable free kick from close range. Geraghty showed well a couple of minutes later when he broke away from his man to pick up a low ball and screw it over the bar. Mayo were on top at this stage but were missing the target to often and turning over possession cheaply at times. Ballina’s Daniel O’Hara showed why he was included in the side with two good scores inside sixty seconds. His first came after a neat move involving the impressive James Cafferty and Aidan Walsh who put O’Hara through on the run. His second was a more impressive effort when he looked to have been backed into the corner, but jinked his way to a inch of space and fired it over from a tight angle.
McDermott got his and his sides second of the day 16 minutes in when he chased the ball down skipped his man and hand passed it over the bar to close the gap to three and a minute later it was back to two points, when Eammon Bannon broke free from a maul of players and took it a pace before slotting over on the run.
For all their domination of the ball at times Mayo were struggling to convert it to scores and Roscommon could now feel themselves coming back into the game, but the impressive O’Hara got his third and Mayo’s sixth of the game on 25 minutes after O’Shea won the ball and played it in to Shane Nally who hand passed it off to O’Hara who clipped the ball over the bar. Mayo could have hand a goal with two minutes left in the half, but had to take a point. Aidan Walsh got on the end of a move involving O’Shea and Geraghty which put him through on goal, he drilled his effort past the dive of Darren O’Malley but his effort came back off the post, but he was aware enough to get on the end of the rebound but that effort came back of the other post and Geraghty took the sensible option once and pointed when it the ball came out to him. O’Hara got his fourth and Mayo’s eighth point of the half just before half time leaving the score Mayo 0-8 Roscommon 0-3 at the break. While the play in the opening stages was lacklustre at times, all eleven points in the half came from play which was mark ably different from how the second half panned out.
Roscommon came out of the traps flying and in the first nine minutes Dara Lennon put on a display of free taking that will be hard pressed to be bettered in the senior championship never mind the minor any time this year. He added on four points to the Roscommon total with out reply. The first was a fine effort right footed from the right hand side close in to the end line, the next two were long range efforts from the 45 meter line one a free and the other a 45, the last another fine effort from distance. Mayo were rattled at this stage and David Drake replaced Charlton at wing forward and O’Shea was brought back to programme position of midfield to sure things up a bit and shortly after Aidan Walsh popped over a free to open the gap pit two and repeated the trick a minute later to leave a major between the sides. O’Shea showed why he is one of the most exciting minor talents in the county after when he climbed high to field the ball and power forward shake off two challenges and point on the run and put Mayo in command. The game more or less petered out after that with both sides adding a solitary point each on to their total through, Walsh for Mayo and Lennon for the visitors. So with Galway finally overcoming Sligo after a tough battle in the Yeats County Mayo will take on the Sligo men in the Connacht semi-final proper on June 27 in Castlebar and Galway will face Ross at home in the other.
Mayo: Robert Hennelly; Shane McHale, Kevin Keane, David Dolan; Cathal Freeman, Dara Quinn, Shane Nally; Aidan O’Shea, James Cafferty; Kieran Charlton, Alex Corduff, Dean Gavin; Aidan Walsh, Ray Geraghty, Daniel O’Hara. Subs: David Drake, John Carney
Robert: Darren O’Malley; Paddy Brogan, Neil Collins, Niall Daly; Eammon Bannon, Mark Keaveny, Michael Higgins; Colm O’Neill, Eugene Stritch; Eoin Sheey, Dara Lennon, Thomas Hanly; Bernard Carthy, Cathal Shine, Darren McDemott. Subs: Brian Murtagh, Shane Regan, Shane Byrne.
Ref: Michael Duffy (Sligo)
