Mayo minors made to pay by clinical Roscommon outfit

ELECTRIC IRELAND CONNACHT GAA FOOTBALL MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3

Mayo 0-13

Roscommon 2-17

ROSCOMMON proved too clinical for Mayo in the Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Football Championship at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park on Friday evening, running out comfortable winners on a 2-17 to 0-13 scoreline.

Cathal Nerney struck inside the opening minute, palming home after Seamie Carthy's long delivery caught the Mayo defence hesitant, and Roscommon never relinquished the lead from that point.

Mayo responded with spirit. Charlie Fallon was sharp early on, raising two white flags the second after Zac Mullaly could only parry a cross into the path of the Ballintubber corner forward and Fiachara Ó'Cinnseala also chipped in as Mayo clawed back to 1-0 to 0-3.

But wastefulness in front of goal was Mayo's undoing in the first half. They missed five shots with the breeze and dropped two more short, while Roscommon were ruthless at the other end.

Jayden Jennings landed a two-pointer, Joshua Coyne was accurate from placed balls and Seamie Carthy added a fine score as the visitors led 1-7 to 0-7 at the break.

Adam Burton pointed at the whistle to give Mayo something to build on, but Roscommon reasserted themselves after the restart.

Carthy was outstanding, landing a series of fine scores including one two-pointer that drew gasps for its precision and power.

Enda Browne was also influential, breaking from deep to add scores.

The second Roscommon goal came on 55 minutes when Nerney pounced on a rebound the goalkeeper couldn't hold.

Late scores from Ó'Cinnseala, Conor Hoban and Aidan Brogan offered scant consolation as Roscommon ran out deserving winners.