Leitrim 1-12, Mayo 3-21, Páirc Seán MacDiarmada, Carrick-on-Shannon
A swashbuckling display of pace and power propelled Mayo to a comprehensive victory over Leitrim in a one-sided Connacht Under-20 championship fourth round match in Carrick-on-Shannon on Wednesday evening.
Goals in the opening quarter from Crossmolina duo Dylan Flynn and Kobe McDonald set Mayo on their way to a third successive win of the campaign, and a third goal from Darragh Beirne on 46 minutes ended the match as a contest once and for all.
Leitrim did battle away to the bitter end, outscoring Mayo by 1-4 to 0-2 in the final quarter, but it was too little too late as Keith Higgins’ charges freewheeled to a facile win.
This result — coupled with Galway’s one-point win over Sligo in Tuam — means that next Wednesday evening’s final round clash between Mayo and Galway in Castlebar is a de facto semi-final, with the winner progressing directly to the provincial final.
Tom Lydon, who shot seven points from play, and the outstanding Colm Lynch, who landed five points from play, including a couple of two-pointers, were the front runners for man of the match.
Rio Mortimer also put in a fine display at the heart of the Mayo defence, kicking two excellent points, while Mayo’s new midfield combination of Knockmore’s Darragh Staunton and Westport’s Joey Holmes also dove-tailed well and gave Mayo a platform to attack at will.
The winners went in front inside the opening 10 seconds through the fleet-footed Kobe McDonald and they never looked back from there.
Despite the sides being level at 0-2 apiece after five minutes, a blitz of 2-9 without reply saw Mayo disappear into the distance.
Leitrim did pull a few scores back against the breeze from Paul Honeyman (2) and Ronan Fox before the interval, but Mayo led by 2-12 to 0-5 at the short whistle and were in total command.
The visitors put any thoughts of a Leitrim revival to bed with quickfire points after the restart from Rio Mortimer and Darragh Beirne, although a superb two-point effort from Leitrim substitute Bailey McBride gave the home crowd something to shout about.
Darragh Beirne’s goal left 0-20 between the sides and a rout looked a possibility .But, to their credit, Leitrim kept plugging away and were rewarded with a goal from Colm McLoughlin, a two-pointer from Paul Honeyman, and a late effort from Ronan Fox.
Mayo managed the game to the finish line, and ran their bench as the clock wound down, with late scores from substitute Nathan Roddy and Colm Lynch glossing the final scoreline.
Mayo: Conor Meaney; James Lavelle, Tom Lambert, Aaron Coggins; Colm Lynch (0-5, two 2pts), Rio Mortimer (0-2), Josh Moyles; Darragh Staunton, Joey Holmes; Andrew Quinn, Kobe McDonald (1-3), Dylan Flynn (1-1); Darragh Beirne (1-2), Oisín Deane, Tom Lydon (0-7). Subs: Thomas Tuffy for Lambert; Conor Jordan for Holmes; Dara Neary for Flynn; Nathan Roddy (0-1) for Beirne; Yousif Coghill for Coggins.