Connacht SFC semi-final
Mayo 1-18 Roscommon 2-25
Wow!
Roscommon produced a football masterclass in the second half at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Sunday to sweep Mayo aside and storm into the Connacht final with one of the best championship performances that we have seen from a Roscommon team in many years.
A few of us spent Sunday evening wondering if we could recall a better win by Roscommon in championship football in our memory. The All-Ireland minor title success in 2006 will always be special, and the All-Ireland semi-final victory against Armagh in 1980 would have to be another contender. Last Sunday’s win in Castlebar is very close to any of those. It was simply sensational stuff.
With Roscommon trailing by three points at the break, it looked like it would be a battle for Mark Dowd’s team to overcome the home side. But from the throw-in after the interval, Roscommon played with power, precision, and pace. The scores flowed from every angle. Roscommon won an ocean of breaking ball around the middle of the park. Mayo were chasing shadows as Roscommon played some magnificent football. It was tremendous to watch.
As it was a superb team performance, there were many stars on the day, but I will pick three out for special mention. With Daire Cregg absent through suspension, Mark Dowd opted to play Colm Neary. While the number 14 was on his back, the Strokestown man played everywhere except full-forward, and was superb throughout. What a player he is.
Diarmuid Murtagh was always a class act, but in 2026 he has established great consistency and on Sunday he was lethal in front of the posts again. A personal tally of 1-10 says it all about his performance. Mayo tried four different markers on Murtagh last Sunday, all to no avail.
Dylan Ruane rarely gets his name in lights, but he has been such a hard worker for the side in recent years. Superb on Sunday, Ruane was a constant thorn in Mayo’s side, especially in that second half.
On a beautiful, sunny day, the 15,321 crowd were expecting a championship cracker – and all the ingredients were there. Mayo started their teenage sensation Kobe McDonald and his presence from the beginning added to the intrigue.
The home team began much the stronger. Points from Conor Loftus, Paddy Durcan, Jordan Flynn and a beauty from young McDonald saw them four ahead after eight minutes. Loftus was having a real impact and Roscommon were struggling to get their hands on the ball early on.
But the Rossies were up and running in the 11th minute when Mayo goalkeeper Rob Hennelly fluffed a kickout. Rob Heneghan pounced and passed to Diarmuid Murtagh who put the ball into the empty net (Murtagh had hit the post when in on goal just a minute earlier). Darragh Heneghan followed up with a point in the 14th minute. That rapid 1-1 was a timely tonic for Roscommon, but Mayo were still on top.
By the 22nd minute Mayo’s edge in general play was reflected as they led 0-8 to 1-1, with McDonald on the mark again and Ryan O’Donoghue on target with a two-point free after a three-man ‘breach’ called against the Roscommon attack.
Two points from Diarmuid Murtagh (one a free) narrowed the gap by the 25th minute, but Roscommon were rocked back on their heels a minute later when Mayo scored a peach of a goal. Conor Loftus did most of the spadework for Ryan O’Donoghue who sold a superb dummy before planting the ball past Conor Carroll. Now it was 1-9 to 1-3.
But that was as good as it got for Mayo. Three points without reply from Dylan Ruane, Diarmuid Murtagh and Rob Heneghan were to prove crucial in the final analysis. Mayo’s best player on the day was Kobe McDonald, and a point from him in the last few seconds of the half saw the sides go in with Mayo leading by 1-11 to 1-8.
It had been a reasonable performance from Roscommon in that opening period, but once the ball was thrown in for the second half they really came alive. Roscommon dominated the breaking ball and won almost every kickout and major possession around the middle.
Mayo simply couldn’t cope with the pace and power running of players like Senan Lambe, Ronan Daly, Colm Neary, Paddy Gavin, Darragh Heneghan, Enda Smith and Dylan Ruane. Roscommon won the second half by an incredible 1-17 to 0-7. You almost had to pinch yourself at times to realise just how good they were playing.
The scores flowed freely. Points from Colm Neary, Diarmuid Murtagh (a two-pointer), Enda Smith (2), and Keith Doyle (who had a super second half too), saw Roscommon go three in front within five minutes of the restart.
Kobe McDonald was Mayo’s best player but when Andy Moran’s men were depending on an 18-year-old to inspire them it gives an indication of just how poorly they played in that second half.
Roscommon were playing even better as the game went on. Between the 49th and 59th minutes they knocked over eight points, with Dylan Ruane (2), Keith Doyle, Darragh Heneghan, subs Conor Hand and Paul Carey, and Diarmuid Murtagh (2) all contributing. Roscommon turned over possession time after time and Mayo were simply blown away.
The home side managed to score points from Ryan O’Donoghue and a magnificent two-point free from McDonald, but Roscommon were to finish the scoring on a high. In the 64th minute Darragh Heneghan burst through the Mayo defence, and although Rob Hennelly got a hand to his shot, it found the back of the net and the victory was complete.
Without Daire Cregg, and with Brian Stack, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Ben O’Carroll and Pearse Frost still to return to the panel, this was a statement win from Roscommon, one of the best that they have achieved in the long history of the Connacht Championship.
Of course the reality is that as good as they played, Roscommon have only qualified for the Connacht final. The facts are that Roscommon have not beaten Galway in the championship in Dr Hyde Park since 1990. Despite Roscommon’s heroics last weekend, Pádraic Joyce’s men will fancy their chances in that decider on Sunday week.
However, if Roscommon can play the type of football that we saw in the second half in MacHale Park, there are very few teams that will live with Mark Dowd’s men.
For now, let’s enjoy what was a momentous victory. For many decades we traipsed out of MacHale Park with our heads bowed after another heavy defeat. That has all changed now. Roscommon have been successful the last three times we played there in the championship. A ten-point win in the championship in Castlebar. It doesn’t get much better than that.
It was a shocked and subdued Mayo team manager Andy Moran who faced the media after his side’s 10-point defeat on Sunday.
“Roscommon were hungrier for the ball today than us, and that’s the most disappointing thing for me. They were so sharp in the second half. They scored three points in a minute and they were level almost immediately. They say it’s great to have a plan until it doesn’t work and we couldn’t get the ball out of our own half.”
So where to now for Mayo?
“We are into a different competition now (the All-Ireland series, as opposed to the Connacht Championship), it’s a simple as that. We move on and try to improve. This is not a one-year process. Look at Donegal, they lost today and Jim (McGuinness) is in his third year. We will be back to training on Wednesday night and we hope to get to Croke Park by the end of the year.
“We will take learnings from today. We will look at the tape and figure out where it went wrong and we will take the opinions of the players and everyone else. My job is to make them better players and to make the team better, but as regards today that did not happen. So we move on.”
Players’ reaction
*Speaking to Seamus Duke
Conor Ryan
“We were happy enough at half-time. We stuck to our game plan and we said no matter what happened we would stick to the plan – and it worked out great.
“We are looking forward to the Connacht final now. It’s what we have been training all year for. We don’t get too down about our losses and we don’t get too high about our wins and it will be the same for the final.
“These are the days that you dream about as a young lad and it is unbelievable to be a part of it.”
Enda Smith
“We have won here the last three times we played in the championship but that was our most complete performance. We started slow but we got into it towards half-time and when the second half started we kicked on thankfully.
“The league was brilliant in that we added so many new players to the panel and instead of complaining about who we were missing we just got on with it and the new lads in have been phenomenal.”
Ronan Daly
“That’s one of the best wins I have ever been involved in. The second half was super. We felt we were well in the game at half-time and we took the shackles off in the second half and it worked out great.
“It was a great performance but the challenge now is to back it up in the final. We are really looking forward to that final now.”
Shane Cunnane
“It was a super display. When we came on as subs it was a matter of holding on to the lead that the players had built up. We went at it hard from the start of the second half and it was a great team display.
“Galway in the Connacht final now and we will have to see how that goes. It was a great day today.”
