The Mayo junior team will go in search of a place in the Connacht Junior Championship final this evening when they host Roscommon in the semi final of the competition in Ballyhaunis. John Kelly’s side will be facing into their second game in seven days’ after they saw off the challenge of Leitrim in a close fought encounter in Aghamore a week ago. Mayo had only two points to spare over a Leitrim side managed by former Mayo senior manager Mickey Moran in the east Mayo venue. Swinford’s Colin Dempsey was the main man for Mayo bagging a personal haul of 1-8 from Mayo’s total of 1-15 on the night.
Mayo put up an impressive fight back in the game after falling behind by seven points after only 20 minutes of the game when Leitrim led by 0-10 to 0-3, but by the break Kelly’s men had the gap back to a more manageable four points. The turning point in the game came midway through the second half when Dempsey finished to the net after an effort from Parke’s Simon Cloherty was only half blocked. That was the only goal in the contest and enough to keep Mayo out in front until the final whistle. If Mayo see off the Roscommon challenge they will then face off against the winner of the Galway v Sligo semi final which will be taking place this evening in Tuam Stadium.
Hurlers bow out for the season
Even before summer had officially started the Mayo senior hurling team’s interest in the championship has concluded. Last Saturday’s defeat, at the hands of a much slicker Kildare side, brought the curtain down on Murt Connolly’s first year in charge of the side. It took Mayo 25 minutes to register their first score of the game and by that stage Kildare were well out of sight. The defeat brings to an end a bad couple of weeks for Mayo who have lost for the last four weekends running after starting the year with five wins on the trot and making the National League final.
Antrim pose no challenge
Mayo’s facile 3-11 to 0-8 win over Antrim is not the kind of competitive challenge that Mayo manager James Horan would have been hoping for going into last Sunday’s game. It did at least offer him the chance to give Trevor Howley and Donal Vaughan a run out after they returned from injury. Game time was also given to the likes of Seamus O’Shea, Neil Douglas, Kevin Dolan, James Burke and David Gavin. Having said that he and his management team would be monitoring the performances of everyone in club games after announcing a number of cuts to the panel following the conclusion of the National Football League, a number of players have been drafted in for a look by Horan. Former captain Trevor Mortimer and his club-mate Dermot Geraghty, David Gavin from Breaffy, and Ballycastle’s Michael Forde have all been brought into the training panel as the championship throw in moves ever closer. With two rounds of action in the senior league coming up over the next two weekends before the break ahead of the London game, there will be a number of players keen to try to impress Horan and his team and put themselves in contention to break into the squad.
