Mayo defeat Galway to book Connacht final spot

Mayo maintained their 100% record in the Dalata Connacht GAA Under 20 Football Championship with a 3-16 to 1-12 victory over Galway in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, writes Aiden Henry.

As a result of the victory, Mayo are now through to the provincial decider, which will be played at the same venue this night two weeks, where they will face the winners of the semi-final between Roscommon and Galway.

Mayo laid the foundation for their victory in the opening half, when they were assisted by the strong wind. Although not playing at their best, they still made great use of their scoring opportunities.

Just over a minute in, county senior player Darragh Beirne got them up and running with a two-point free. They would go eight minutes before scoring again and By that time Galway had drawn level after scoring two points.

However, in a six-minute period between the 12th and 18th minutes, Mayo scored a goal and seven points. Joey Holmes, Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald all landed delightful two-pointers before McDonald scored a fabulous goal.

Galway wasted numerous chances and only added two more points to their tally in this opening half, and they really left themselves with a mountain to climb after Tom Lydon set up McDonald for another magnificent goal. It left Keith Higgins' charges leading by 12 points (2-10 to 0-4) at the break.

On the resumption, Galway started on the front foot and narrowed the gap with two early points. However, once Mayo goalkeeper Conor Meaney brought off a great save to deny Galway’s Matthew Collins in the 34th minute, the home side began to grow back into the game.

McDonald landed a great point in the 40th minute before Oisín Deane raised two flags to null Galway’s early scores.

Then, in the 48th minute, it was game, set and match to Mayo when Lydon picked out Dylan Flynn to score a third goal.

This killed off the Galway’s chances, yet the Tribesmen kept battling away. Full-forward Mikey Mulryan kept the scoreboard ticking over for them by scoring a goal and four points before the end.

Overall it was a good win for Mayo. However, they will feel they have to improve in certain areas before the Connacht decider as neither Roscommon nor Galway will be accommodating next time around.

*See Tuesday's print edition for a full report