Patchy performance sees Mayo sneak past Sligo in Castlebar

CONNACHT SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

Mayo 2-20

Sligo 2-17

Castlebar

MAYO moved into the last four of the provincial championship with a hard-earned victory over a daring and resilient Sligo team in sun-splashed Hastings Insurance MacHale Park. The home side were hanging on at the end after a two-pointer from Sligo captain Niall Murphy closed the gap to three with time almost up. The Yeats men sniffed a famous result and went in search of a goal to force extra-time, but Mayo held onto possession and sealed a date with Leitrim in the semi-final.

Aidan O'Shea was the best player on the pitch. The Breaffy man was the fulcrum of the attack and Sligo found it hard to deal with his power and athleticism.

Darren McHale chipped in with four points, Jack Carney kicked three while Fergal Boland came off the bench and landed two of his own. However, it was the goals which gave Mayo the cushion to withstand a late Sligo rally and they arrived one in each half, from Ryan O'Donoghue and O'Shea.

Sligo started slowly but never let the home side out of their sight once they got rolling.

Murphy led the attack very well while his forward colleagues Pat Spillane and Alan McLoughlin backed him up impressively. In midfield Canice Mulligan and Patrick O'Connor worked hard for the guests and they were only three adrift at half-time, 0-8 to 1-8.

Mayo came out for the second half in bullish fashion and O'Shea shook the net after 37 minutes when David McBrien sent an excellent delivery into the mixer and Carney slipped O'Shea in for the three-pointer.

Sligo were soon seven behind and drifting but they powered back with a goal from wing-back Luke Towey, and with wing-forward Cian Lally becoming more prominent the guests were back in it.

However, a Mayo surge at the start of the final quarter pushed the gap out to nine and it looked all over with 13 minutes to play but Sligo were having none of it.

Murphy kicked a point and then Lally left Mayo men flailing when he danced through for a goal.

O'Donoghue and Boland moved Mayo seven clear again with six minutes to play but Sligo finished like a train. Oisin Flynn kicked a point, Alan McLoughlin landed a two-pointer and when Murphy raised another orange flag there was only a goal between them.

In truth, Murphy's two-pointer was kicked from well inside the arc, but the referee awarded it and that's all that matters.

The final whistle soon followed, much to the relief of the home side at the end of a game described as 'patchy' by Mayo boss Kevin McStay.