Roscommon 2-25, Mayo 1-18
Roscommon stunned the Mayo home crowd at Castlebar on Sunday when they eased to victory and thereby secured a place in the Connacht final against Galway.
It wasn’t quite the classic game of two halves as the Rossies just about kept pace with their opponents in the first and were a mere three points adrift, 1-11 to 1-08, at the break. Nothing, though, prepared the 15,321 attendance for the visitors crushing the favorites in the second half and their leaving for home with a 10-point winning margin.
Mayo, now 75 years since their last All Ireland title win, figured they had a new secret weapon in 18-year-old Kobe McDonald, who was making his championship debut. The young man did well enough, with a 0-6 tally, but it was perhaps a few hardy Roscommon souls who at the end of the day were daring to dream the dream of closing a long gap, which in their case goes back 82 years.
Part of the Rossie recipe for success was an impressive accuracy rate in front of goal, which saw them score 1-17 in the second half to Mayo’s 0-7. The home side had 10 wides overall in the game.
The scoring heroes of manager Mark Dowd’s side were captain Diarmuid Murtagh, who shot 1-10, and Darragh Heneghan, who got 1-03, while Enda Smith and Dylan Ruane registered 0-3 apiece.
Dowd later said that his squad had identified their midfield as a weak point in previous 2026 games and set out to strengthen their efforts in that sector. "That was really important for us; we wanted to get hands on the ball there. It was something we went after,” he revealed.
New Mayo boss Andy Moran said to RTÉ Sport, “Roscommon were hungrier for the ball today than us, and that's the most disappointing thing for me.”
Now Mayo will regroup for the All Ireland series, while Roscommon will see if their new midfield approach can work wonders again and if their accuracy in front of goal holds up at home in Dr. Hyde Park against Galway in the Western final on Sunday, May 10.
Roscommon: C Carroll; P Gavin, C Keogh, E McCormack; E Ward, R Daly, S Lambe; K Doyle (0-02), C Ryan; D Ruane (0-03), E Smith (0-03), D Heneghan (1-03); D Murtagh (1-10, 2fs, 1tp, 1tpf), C Neary (0-01), R Heneghan (0-01).
Subs used: P Carey (0-01, 1f) for Keogh (50); C Hand (0-1) for R Heneghan (55); R Dolan for Lambe (58); S Cunnane for Ryan (60).
Mayo: R Hennelly; J Coyne, R Brickenden, E Hession; S Callinan, C Loftus (0-02), P Durcan (0-02); B Tuohy (0-01), D McBrien; J Carney (0-01), R O’Donoghue (1-04, 2fs, 1tpf), J Flynn (0-01); C McHale, A O’Shea, K McDonald (0-06, 1tpf).
Subs used: T Conroy for McHale (HT); D McHugh for Brickenden (41); F Boland for O’Shea (45); M Ruane (0-01) for Tuohy (45); C O’Connor for Loftus (59).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)
