Mayo finish league on a bright note as Roscommon are routed

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

Mayo 4-26

Roscommon 2-11

Castlebar

Mayo ended their league campaign with a rout of Roscommon in MacHale Park this afternoon. Andy Moran's men utterly out-played the disappointing visitors who arrived in Castlebar with a shadow-squad and never looked like beating the home side and putting themselves in the running for a place in the league final.

On the other hand, Mayo were clear and deserving winners and only missed out on a place in the decider when Kerry drew with Armagh and joined Donegal in next weekend's Croke Park classic.

Roscommon were very poor in the opening half and Mayo's swift counter-attacks tore them asunder. The 4-11 tallied by the home side in the opening 35 minutes indicated the one-way traffic, and the fact that Mayo missed at least another three golden goal chances underlined the differing strategies of both sides.

The guests played into the wind in the opening half and were competitive in the opening 20 minutes. A goal from Ben O'Carroll had them on level terms at that stage, 1-2 to 0-5, but two Mayo goals in less than a minute changed everything.

First Paul Towey slipped home at the end of a fine move and immediately afterwards Jack Carney shook the net as Ryan O'Donoghue created mayhem with timely and smart play.

A third goal arrived after 32 minutes when Aidan O'Shea finished smartly after being played in by Cian McHale. The fourth net-shaker came on the stroke of half-time when Sam Callinan was fouled when through on goal and O'Donoghue crashed home the spot-kick.

It left Mayo 15 points clear and surely on course for victory.

They powered on after the resumption with six points on the spin to leave the scoreboard reading 4-17 to 1-5. Roscommon needed something to keep them afloat and a goal from Eoin Colleran raised a cheer but Mayo were cruising.

Tommy Conroy and Cillian O'Connor came off the bench to great acclaim. Conroy landed two points and O'Connor kicked a two-pointer as Mayo eased to a 21-point win to end their league campaign on a bright note.

It must be taken into account that Roscommon didn't really fire a shot today and will surely be a different proposition if the teams meet in championship, but there were some noteworthy performances for Mayo, particularly from Sam Callinan who was excellent throughout. Jack Carney had one of his best games in some time while some of Ryan O'Donoghue's play in the first half was eye-catching.

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