Mayo's mighty Minors secure place in All-Ireland semi-final

ALL-IRELAND MINOR QUARTER-FINAL

Mayo 3-13

Offaly 4-7

In Roscommon

A performance packed with grit, fighting spirit, bravery, composure and no little skill powered Mayo past Offaly in Hyde Park this afternoon. The hard-earned and richly-deserved victory secured a place in the All-Ireland semi-final after they out-played and out-fought the Leinster champions.

The young men in green and red turned in a fantastic first-half display to lead by nine at the interval. However, Offaly had the wind on their backs in the second half and roared back to level the scores with nine minutes remaining.

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It seemed as if the Midlanders would push on and win the game from there. Indeed, the Leinster boys went a point clear as time ticked away but Mayo refused to fade away and showed great composure and a massive fighting spirit to kick the last four points of the game and seal a place in the semi-final.

Mayo led 3-7 to 1-4 at the interval. Goals from Conor Hession, Dara Flanagan and Conor Coghill rocked the Offaly boys as Adam Kelly turned in a powerful display for the Green and Red in the middle of the field.

Offaly's goal arrived from Ruairi Woods after five minutes but it failed to derail the western warriors who were well-served by Dara Flanagan who cut through the middle of the field time and time again.

Offaly needed a good start to the second half and got it when Tony Furey crashed home a goal after 32 minutes, however Mayo settled and scoring chances came and went at both ends without any major changes to the scoreboard.

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Mayo were still six points ahead midway through the second half, but Offaly, backed by a huge band of supporters. got back into it when full-forward Cian McNamee cut in from the right and found the net. Another net-shaker from Dylan Dunne balanced the scores after 51 minutes and Mayo were in trouble.

A pointed free nudged the Leinster champions in front and Mayo needed an urgent response. They got it when Conor Hession drilled over a two-point free into the teeth of the wind and a huge surge of confidence powered through the Green and Red.

Offaly threw everything forward in an effort to level things again, but Mayo were having none of it. They held the ball with great intelligence and notched two precious points courtesy of Oran Murphy and Ben Joyce to seal the deal and book a place in the last four of the All-Ireland series.

A full match report and after-match reaction will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.