Honours even for Mayo and Roscommon U-20s after thriller in the Hyde

Connacht U-20 Championship Round 1

Mayo 3-7 Roscommon 1-13

Oisín McGovern in Dr Hyde Park

A valiant Roscommon comeback saw Mayo drop a point in the opening round of the Connacht championship this evening.

The draw was a fair result after a thrilling spectacle of end-to-end attacking football from two teams who played on the front foot.

A trio of first half-goals weren’t enough to hand victory to Mayo, who only scored three points in the second half and failed to score after the 44th minute. 

Inspiring displays from Shane McGinley and Bobby Nugent, who shot all but two of Roscommon’s scores, got the game level in the dying stages.

However, there wasn’t enough time for Roscommon to get the job done as Mayo were saved by the bell when the hosts failed to score in three minutes of injury time.

Efforts from Niall Hurley, Darragh Beirne and Finbar McLoughlin pushed Mayo into the ascendency against a plucky Roscommon side who edged their way back into contention in the second half.

Shane McGinley got Roscommon’s only goal of the first half as the home side racked up 1-6 as Mayo ended the half with 3-3.

Having been seven points adrift at one stage, the hosts levelled the game in the closing stages while Mayo failed to hit the target in the last 15 minutes.