Mayo through to Connacht final

Galway 1-9 Mayo 0-18

(HT: Galway 1-6 Mayo 0-8)

Mayo were left playing catch-up for most of the first half, after Galway got off to the best possible start. Michael Meehan fired a goal past Mayo keeper Fintan Ruddy in the opening seconds of this Connacht semi-final at McHale Park.

Mayo had to wait until the eighth minute to get on the score board. By then, the Tribesmen had racked up 1-3.

A powerful ninth-minute shot from Conor Mortimer proved to be Mayo’s best chance of the half, with Galway keeper Brian Donoghue saving his defence’s blushes with a fine save. Donoghue was the hero again in the 20th minute, this time saving from Trevor Mortimer.

Mayo finally woke up and, with the wind behind them, patiently racked up the points until the sides were levelled by Ciaran McDonald on 28 minutes, Galway 1-4 Mayo 0-7.

Galway responded, with Michael Donnellan scoring from a free, and then from play a minute later. They looked to have restored their dominance in the crucial pre-half-time period, but Mayo came back with another point, to stand only one behind at the break.

This deficit was quickly wiped out in the first minute of the second half by Ronan McGarrity. But a magical point from Padraig Joyce, which almost looked like it was going to drop below the bar put Galway back on top.

The lead was switched with a quick brace of points from Mayo’s star man, Conor Mortimer.

There was a period of wides before he scored his sixth point of the game, and his fourth from frees, to give Mayo a two-point lead, 0-12 to 1-7.

By the middle of the second half, Mayo were dominant in all areas of the pitch, the confidence coming from this dominance allowing the players to try things, like James Gill’s floating point from an acute angle to the right of the posts in the 58th minute, which put Mayo five ahead.

Seven minutes from time, Galway seemed to realise that scores were needed, but ball after ball went wide as the Mayo forwards, and even the full-back, kept popping over the points.

A couple of late points from Galway talisman Joyce did little to halt Mayo’s flow, with John Maughan’s men looking like they had been playing together forever. McDonald finished off the scoring with a suitably dramatic long-distance point announcing the Crossmolina man’s return as a force to be reckoned with in inter-county football.

Roscommon face a tough prospect in the provincial final.

Mayo: Fintan Ruddy, Conor Moran, David Heaney, Gary Ruane, Gary Mullins (Pat Kelly 69), James Nallen, Fergal Costello (Peadar Gardiner 35), James Gill, Ronan McGarrity, Marty McNicholas (David Brady 35), Ciaran McDonald, Alan Dillon, Conor Mortimer, Trevor Mortimer (Andy Moran 66), Brian Maloney.

Galway: Brian Donoghue, Michael Comer (Damian Burke 26), Kieran Fitzgerald, Barry Doonan (Gary Fahy 55), Declan Meehan, Paul Clancy, Tomas Meehan, Joe Bergin, Sean O Domhnaill (John Devane 61), Michael Meehan, Michael Donnellan, Mathew Clancy, Derek Savage, Padraig Joyce, Tommy Joyce (Kevin Walsh 55).