Semi-final
Roscommon1-11
Mayo1-5
Edwin McGreal
Roscommon
NEVER have Mayo looked further from provincial success in the now six year gap since their last Connacht title in 2001 than they did last weekend.
They were comprehensively outplayed in Hyde Park on Saturday evening and the six point margin does nothing but flatter Ray Dempsey’s side.
Rarely has a Mayo team at this level looked so flat, so insipid, bereft of ideas and lacking in leadership. That was the story from pillar to post and though Jason Doherty’s goal in the 48th minute gave them hope and pared the gap to five points, it was still hard to see where Mayo were going to get the inspiration to make further ground.
Roscommon were just far superior in too many sectors. Physically they dwarfed Mayo who repeatedly carried the ball into the tackle and rarely kept possession. The winners had no such concerns.
The quality of ball into the Mayo forward line was also dire. Far too often it was slow arriving, and when it would get there it would more often than not be an aimless, high punt into a crowded area.
Roscommon were the opposite; more direct, quicker and a lot livelier in their movement both on and off the ball. They played like the All-Ireland champions that they are. In fact they looked better than last year. They were physically immense and their work-rate, tackling, intensity, all things they were praised for last year, were there again in droves.
So Roscommon were very good, Mayo were very bad. How related were the two?
Somewhat but not entirely. Roscommon did have the benefit of two round robin games but Mayo will reflect on this game and know there was areas where they could have been better prepared. The selection of Aghamore’s Caoimhin Carty at centre-half forward backfired. Carty has made his name as a quality defender but the Mayo management thought he could offer something in attack.
It didn’t work and Carty was called ashore on 24 minutes. The lack of any structure in the forward line generally was a huge problem. Mayo’s movement was often slow and when players did move, they tended to get in each other’s way, instead of creating space.
An amazing total of 1-8 of Roscommon’s final tally came from preventable mistakes from Mayo. It was a day where nothing went right.
Roscommon led by 0-6 to 0-1 at the break but they will know that it could and should have been more. Darren McDermott got them off the mark with a free after Ruaidhrí O’Connor, one of Mayo’s better performers, picked the ball off the ground.
A bad mix-up in the Mayo full-back line saw Kevin Cummins break through on goal. It should have been three points but he blazed over. Mayo were well beaten in midfield and were struggling to get quick ball into the full-forward line for a variety of reasons.
Aghamore’s Alan Freeman was the only Mayo forward to regularly pose a threat and he got Mayo off the mark when he converted a free after Mark Tierney was fouled.
It was Mayo’s only score of the half with Freeman off target with a number of efforts while another free ended up with a harsh hop ball after the same player took too long to take the kick. He also had the ball in the net but the umpire signalled that Niall Prenty had carried the ball wide before giving the final pass.
At the other end Roscommon’s forwards were able to work much easier scoring chances and points from Alan O’Hara, Paul Garvey, McDermott (free) and a ‘45 from Donal Shine, just back from injury, left five in it at half-time.
McDermott got Roscommon off the mark in the second half with a 13 metre free after Michael Gallagher had hauled down Alan O’Hara when through on goal. Roscommon didn’t have long to wait for the game’s first goal though. The excellent Kevin Higgins was unmarked when he received possession 30 metres from goal. His high ball was taken down a little too easily by Alan Duffy and his eventual pass across goal was blasted to the net by McDermott.
Alan Freeman responded with Mayo’s first point from play on 41 minutes and Mayo tried to change things by moving corner-back Kevin McLoughlin up to the forward line. Firstly Roscommon stretched the lead, McDermott converting a free.
However, a goal and a point within a minute seemed to give Mayo hope. Freeman converted a free and when the same player broke a speculative high ball from Sean Prendergast in the direction of Jason Doherty, the Burrishoole attacker swept in to finish calmly.
Roscommon responded positively with lively substitute Alan Duffy pointing well. Things might have got interesting had Alan Freeman goaled when he fielded a high ball from Damien Keane. However, from 10 yards, he blasted over and Roscommon turned the screw, McDermott converting another free.
Aidan O’Shea would kick Mayo’s last score with a free but Roscommon, and Donal Shine, had the final say with a free in injury-time.
Mayo
J Tierney (Ballina); M Gallagher (Achill), K Keane (Westport), K McLoughlin (Knockmore); S Prendergast (Claremorris), M Jennings (Breaffy), R O’Connor (Ballintubber); S Morris (Charlestown), M Nestor (Ballintubber); K Glynn (Davitts), C Carty (Aghamore), N Prenty (Ballyhaunis); M Tierney (Garrymore), J Doherty (1-0, Burrishoole), A Freeman (0-4, 2fs, Aghamore).
Subs: D Keane (Westport) for Carty (24mins); A O’Shea (0-1, f, Breaffy) for Glynn (42mins); G Loftus (Ballintubber) for Tierney (42mins); R Warde (Shrule/Glencorrib) for Nestor (50mins); D Gallagher (Achill) for Morris (59mins)
Roscommon
D O’Malley; C Boylan, N Collins, P O’Grady; D Lennon, J McKeague, E Bannon; C O’Neill, K Higgins; K Brady, D Shine (0-2, 1f, 1 ’45), P Garvey (0-1); A O’Hara (0-1), K Cummins (0-1), D McDermott (1-5, 5fs).
Subs used: A Duffy (0-1) for Garvey (inj. 28mins); N Carty for Cummins 53mins; E Stritch for Brady 57mins; G Brady for Bannon 60mins.
Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo)
