Brave Roscommon hold on

Roscommon 0-10 Mayo 0-8:DIARMUID MURTAGH was the hero for Roscommon as they put back-to-back Connacht minor football titles together for the first time at Hyde Park yesterday.

Murtagh kicked four second-half points as Mayo staged a brave comeback after being dominated early on.

Two minutes into added-time Mayo had the chance to force a replay after substitute James Quinn had dragged them back to within touching distance. However, fellow substitute Ryan Coleman was unable to find the target from 30 metres and Roscommon broke up field and Murtagh landed the insurance point.

Mayo struggled to get their hands on the ball in the first quarter as Roscommon held a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 13 minutes.

In the early exchanges Roscommon’s Ruardhri McManus followed his side’s opening point in the first minute with a free after 11 minutes.

Kevin Lynch put Mayo on the board after 16 minutes and he was quickly followed by Adam Gallagher with a long-range free.

By the break Mayo had pulled to within three points, but four minutes after the restart the gap had closed to just one as Gallagher kicked two quick scores for Mayo.

Murtagh fisted a score to settle Roscommon in the 38th minute, but Gallagher landed his fourth free for Mayo to put the minimum between them once more.

However, Murtagh stepped forward once again with a super point five minutes from time and completed the job three minutes into added-time.

Roscommon:S Mannion; P Neilan, D Barron, C Kenny; R Daly, C Hussey, N McInerney; U Harney, T Corcoran; C Compton, R McManus (0-2, one free), E Smith (0-2); D Murtagh (0-5, one free), K Finn (0-1), M Gunning. Subs: P Kenny for Gunning (9 mins), K Kilcline for Compton (37 mins), B Fannon for McManus (41 mins), C Casserly for Kenny (53 mins).

MAYO:C O'Malley; D McHale, S Moran, K Lynch (0-1); P Durcan, C Burke, M Plunkett; B Mullen, E Lavin; A Gallagher (0-6, five frees), S Coen, D O'Connor; C Byrne, S Hennelly, S Regan. Subs: D Duffy for Lavin (h-t), J Geraghty for McHale (38 mins), J Quinn (0-1) for Regan (53 mins), R Coleman for Mullen (61 mins).

Referee: S Ó hEithir (Galway).