Mayo and Roscommon play out thrilling U20 draw

Mayo 3-07 Roscommon 1-13

A free from man-of-the-match Shane McGinley earned Roscommon a share of the spoils after a pulsating Connacht Under-20 Football Championship first round clash at Dr. Hyde Park.

Such an outcome had seemed highly unlikely when Mayo scored three goals in the first quarter to race into a seven-points lead, but the homeside battled back to level the game for the first time in the final minute of normal time.

Noel Dunning's well-drilled young Roscommon team actually outscored the visitors by 0-12 to 0-5 in the final 50 minutes of the match and dominated possession in the second half.

But Mayo managed to keep them at bay until the closing stages, and were left to rue a missed goal chance from substitute Brendan Collins in the 50th minute.

Instead it was Roscommon’s top scorer Shane McGinley, who finished with 1-8, who stole the headlines as he converted a free to equalise in the 60th minute.

Mayo had led at the end of a high-scoring first half by 3-3 to 1-5.

They had also got off to a flying start with a goal from Niall Hurley after only nine minutes while points from Hurley and Darragh Beirne (free) topping up their advantage.

Roscommon opened their account after 12 minutes with a neat effort from the aforementioned Shane McGinley, and the corner-forward then grabbed a goal from close-range two minutes later.

The cheers had barely died down though when Mayo hit back with a brilliant goal from Finbarr McLaughlin in the 15th minute and Darragh Beirne then flicked in Mayo’s third green flag of the evening two minutes later.

This left the visitors ahead by 3-2 to 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.

It was at this stage of the game that Roscommon really warmed to their task and five points in the second quarter