Mayo 3-07
Roscommon 1-10
Two goals in the opening eight minutes gave Mayo a valuable cushion and left Roscommon chasing the game as their bid to complete the three-in-a-row of Connacht minor titles fell agonisingly short. Despite the poor start and the concession of a third major shortly after the restart, which left them trailing by nine points, Fergal O’Donnell’s side refused to accept defeat and almost pulled off a remarkable comeback with Ultan Harney’s injury-time effort coming back off the crossbar.
Diarmuid Murtagh had thrown the Rossies a lifeline with a late converted penalty to set up a grandstand finish, but in the end it was the Mayo men who just did enough to hang on.
They may have fallen short on this occasion but there were plenty of positives as Roscommon dominated for long spells except of course where it mattered - on the scoreboard.
They now face a highly rated Kildare in the All-Ireland quarter-final but provided they get off to a better start they are in with a great chance.
