Forde's men battle hard but McDonald's influence decisive

Only a point stood between them in the end, but a fitter Mayo were the superior force in the second half of this game, which was played in stamina-testing conditions at McHale Park in front of crowd of around 3,500.

Darkness was engulfing the venue when Gerry Sloyan put away a penalty three minutes into injury time after Sligo had battled back gamely from a six-point deficit with 15 minutes remaining.

Peter Forde's men had looked the better side in the opening 20 minutes and built up an 0-3 to 0-1 lead, with Gerry McGowan and Gerry Maye both on target inside three minutes. But by half-time it was Mayo who had gone in front, Conor Mortimer, always alert to the half chance, stabbing the ball home from close range and also atoning for a glaring miss when he pointed with the goal at his mercy to open Mayo's account in the seventh minute.

But it was his goal, along with points from Kieran McDonald, which put Mayo 1-3 to 0-4 in front at the break, Sligo having had the help of very strong cross-wind in that half. Mayo had also outscored Sligo 6-2 in the wides department.

But goals were to play an import part on a day when both teams had to work extremely hard for every score, with the backs very much on top.

Mayo's second strike was a timely one, Shane Sweeney deceiving the goalkeeper on the near post with an effort from 25 yards out that seemed to most observers to be heading for a point. That put Mayo five clear and in the driving seat, with McDonald now very much the dominant figure in the game.

A gem of a point from the Crossmolina man which appeared to have locked the gates on Sligo when he put Mayo back into a four-point lead, Sligo having closed the gap to three, with seven minutes remaining.

Substitute Ger Brady and McGowan traded points as Mayo ran down the clock, McGowan creating and converting the penalty, which came just too late for Sligo to launch a late bid for an equalising point, although it could well have been a different story had Peadar Gardiner not robbed Seán Davey near time.

But Mayo created one further glorious goal chance, the full forward line combining to set up Liam Moffatt, who blazed wide from the edge of the square.

The win will provide John Maughan with just the boost he needs on his return to the Mayo helm but Forde, who was missing a number of key players, will be encouraged by Sligo's refusal to lie down, which would have been the easy option in such dreadful conditions

MAYO: P Burke; K Mortimer, P Kelly, R Connelly; F Costello, B Prendergast, P Gardiner; J Nallen, J Gill (0-1); D Sweeney (1-0), K McDonald (0-4), M Moyles; L Moffatt, C Mortimer (1-1), M Horan (0-1). Subs: P McGuinness for Moyles, G Brady (0-1) for C Mortimer, R Moran for Sweeney, S Grimes for Gardiner.

SLIGO: J Curran; B Phillips, N Carew, M Cosgrove; P Gallagher, M Langan, D Durkin; P Durcan (0-1), P Doohan (0-1); K Quinn (0-1), S Davey, E O'Hara; G Maye (0-2), J McPartland, G McGowan (1-4). Subs: P Naughton for Carew, P Taylor for Davey, K O'Neill (0-1) for Quinn.

Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).