Mayo outclass Leitrim to book semi-final spot

Mayo booked their place in the semi-final of the Nickey Rackard Cup following a comprehensive 19-point win over Leitrim at Elverys Intersport MacHale Park, Castlebar, this afternoon, writes John Melvin.

The game finished 0-29 to 0-10 in favour of the home side – but it may have come at a price as their top forward, Shane Boland, picked up straight red card just nine minutes into the second half.

Despite remonstrations with the referee, Boland was sent off after a consultation with the linesman following an off the ball tussle with Leitrim corner back Martin Feeney.

Boland had infliced most of the damage on Leitrim prior to his departure with his array of skills, hitting three points on the bounce from play to extend Mayo’s interval lead of 0-14 to 0-7 to 0-17 to 0-7.

Keith Higgins picked up where Boland left off, however, and ran the show in that second half as Mayo took control, Leitrim also losing a man to a straight red with nine minutes remaining when substitute Colm Moreton was also sent off.

Mayo always had the edge in terms of fitness and while they were headed at one stage in the first half (0-5 to 0-4) thanks to the scoring of Leitrim's top gun Gavin O’Hagan, who scored 0-8, they took control of the game, with full-back Michael Morley commanding the defence, Sean Kenny very solid around the middle and Boland and Higgins scoring 19 points between them in the forward division, where Adrian Phillips and substitute Jason Coyne were superb.

The scorers for Mayo were: K. Higgins 0-10 (0-5f), S. Boland 0-9 (0-4f), A. Phillips 0-3, J. Coyne 0-2, B. Hunt, K. Kiely, S. Regan 0-1, C. Phillips and G. Nolan 0-1 each. Leitrim's scorers were: P. O’Hagan 0-8 (0-5f), D. McGovern and L. Donnellan (f) 0-1 each.

*See Tuesday's print edition of the The Connaught Telegraph for a full match report.