Mayo suffer heavy defeat in Connacht championship

A second half blitz by Roscommon ended Mayo's Connacht Championship aspirations at a sun-drenched Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, with the visitors recording a comprehensive 2-25 to 1-18 victory in the end.

Mayo began this tie at a whirlwind pace and points from Conor Loftus, Paddy Durcan, Jordan Flynn and his Crossmolina Deel Rovers clubmate Kobe McDonald shunted the green and red into a 0-4 to no score lead after eight minutes.

However, Roscommon began to find space in the Mayo defensive line and Diarmuid Murtagh saw his rasping drive hit the upright. The hosts did not heed the warning and seconds later Murtagh did manage to find the back of the net after he was set up by the raiding Darragh Heneghan.

Conor Loftus had an outstanding first half for Mayo and he managed to guide over a badly needed point for Andy Moran's troops towards the end of the opening quarter.

A Roscommon breech on 20 minutes was punished by Mayo, as Ryan O'Donoghue guided over a gem of a two-pointer free.

The primrose and blue's game plan then suffered a setback on 26 minutes when the influential Loftus set up O'Donoghue and the latter expertly guided the ball to the back of the net to garner a 1-8 to 1-3 lead for the green and red.

But the guests bounced back once again, with a brace of singles by Enda Smith and Murtagh delighting the Roscommon faithful in the attendance of 15,321.

Roscommon had more possession during the final exchanges of the first half and points from Dylan Ruane, Murtagh and Robert Heneghan reduced the deficit to just two points.

Mayo ended the half on a positive note though, with McDonald's white-flagged effort ensuring a 1-11 to 1-8 interval lead for the hosts.

Roscommon were fired up on the resumption and they rattled off six points inside the opening five minutes of the new half - with Murtagh's two-pointer the pick of those scores.

In a moment of brilliance, Mayo's McDonald shimmied his way through the Roscommon defence and curled over an exquisite white-flagged effort on 41 minutes.

Mayo tried to stay in touch with a buzzing Roscommon, and a brace of points from substitute Matthew Ruane and Paddy Durcan helped reduce the arrears to just two points after 48 minutes, 1-17 to 1-15.

However, Mayo would not trouble the scoreboard operator for the next 13 minutes and during that spell Roscommon upped the tempo considerably, with Conor Hand's effort on 59 minutes mustering a commanding 1-25 to 1-15 lead for Mark Dowd's outfit.

O'Donoghue landed a free for Mayo on 61 minutes, before McDonald guided over a two-pointer free.

Roscommon, though, ended the game in a flurry and they netted their second goal of the tie on 63 minutes, courtesy of the influential Darragh Heneghan.

Mayo must try and regroup from this major setback and prepare for the All-Ireland series, whilst Roscommon will face Galway in the Connacht Final.