The turning point came on 51 minutes when Roscommon ‘keeper Patrick Gaynor was caught dallying on the ball too long and conceded possession to Joe Forry, and the Castlebar Mitchels man was subsequently pulled down by Gaynor. He was shown a black card and Roscommon had to finish the game with 14 men. Mayo’s Kobe McDonald kicked three of the next four points and it was academic from there.
Roscommon’s gameplan frustrated Mayo in the first half, with McDonald well-marshalled by Keelan Kelly, and they should have been ahead at half-time. Four first-half wides, however, would prove costly and a stunning score was required by Roscommon’s Stephen Tighe off the outside of the boot to level it at 0-5 apiece just before the break.
The sides remained locked six minutes into the second half but Mayo hit four of the next six points to lead 0-11 to 0-9 on 46 minutes, with Mayo substitutes Andrew Quinn and Forry having a major impact.
The pressure from the Mayo forwards ultimately forced Gaynor into his fatal error five minutes later and McDonald converted the resulting free and the next two scores for Mayo to retain the Tom Kilcoyne Cup.
They will now face Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final on the weekend of June 8/9, with Roscommon taking on Munster champions Kerry.
Scorers – Mayo: K McDonald 0-6 (5f); O Deane 0-3; E Walsh 0-2 (1f), C Moriarty, A Quinn and J Forry 0-1 each. Roscommon: D Casey 0-4 (1f), D Curran 0-3 (2f), D Devaney, A Conroy and S Tighe 0-1 each.
Mayo: N Roddy; C Cohill, T Hession, D Butler; D Hurley, M Noonan, M Sheeran; J Moyles, O Loughney; H McHale , K McDonald, D Flynn; E Walsh, O Deane, C Moriarty. Subs: A Quinn (for Moriarty ht); J Forry (for McHale 44).
Roscommon: P Gaynor; L Finneran, G Casey, C Murray; E Collins, K Kelly, D Kennedy; D Devaney, C Enright; J McKeon, D Curran, A Conroy; S Tighe, S McGuinness, D Casey. Subs: S McDonnell (for McKeon 42); M Connaughton (for Kennedy 47); S Alec-Hannon (for Tighe 57); M Brooks (for Casey 58); J Oates (for Casey 60).
Referee: Christopher Ryan (Galway).
