Mayo fall to efficient Roscommon in Connacht Minor derby-day clash

LGFA - CONNACHT MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Roscommon 1-9

Mayo 0-7

In Bekan

A tight and tense first half looked like there would be a neck-and-neck finale in this meeting of two Connacht neighbours.

However, with the sun setting early in Act Two, a wasteful period where the Green and Red dropped five shots short in seven minutes was fatal.

Roscommon may not have had many attempts to trouble the scoreboard operator in the 15 minutes after the changeover, but when they did, efficiency was the name of the game.

It took them 18 minutes to misfire, and they led by the minimum as the final furlongs came into focus.

Then came the moment which wrapped up this contest. 

Shauna McGrath's searing pace had been a thorn in the Mayo side all evening, and in minute 51, it proved fatal.

She tore up the turf, leaving flailing defenders in her wake, before offloading to sub Rachel Flynn.

Flynn made no mistake, precisely slotting into the onion bag to take this game beyond Mayo, and essentially ensuring the points would be making the short trip East back across the border.

Flynn's carefully placed goal effort was fatal. Mayo pushed up to try and find an all-important major, but the cracks were showing defensively, and both Flynn and Alison Nugent added some gloss to the scoreline as the floodlights took effect.

It was a defeat with some green shoots for Francis Regan and his management. Kate Byrne showed well at centre half-forward, while last year's Under-16 captain Amy Doherty was like a one-woman wall in defence at times.

However, at the end of the day, inefficiency was a key contributing factor to this loss.

That said, Mayo march on, and will be looking to build on this defeat and their 21-point win over Leitrim when they travel to Galway next Wednesday.

A full report will be carried in Tuesday's edition of The Mayo News.