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Cillian O’Connor shot 1-09 when Mayo entered a Connacht semi-final next weekend against champion Roscommon with a 2-15-0-10 win at Carrick-on-Shannon.
James Horan’s men proved too strong for Leitrim in a match played in difficult conditions.
Mayo led 1-06 to 0-06 at halftime, having played against the strong breeze in the first half, and moved on from there after the restart.
But Terry Hyland’s men forced them to fight for their victory, putting their position in when they raced to a 0-04 to 0-00 lead after ten minutes while using the wind well.
Points from Shane Quinn, Evan Sweeney, Domhnaill Flynn and Keith Beirne gave them a solid foundation as they sought their first win over Mayo since 1994.
Aidan O’Shea made a huge impact at the forward position and this gave Mayo a target man as they patiently built moves with Bryan Walsh to get them off the mark after eleven minutes before O’Connor hit two free hits.
The first of those free runs came after Leitrim’s Oisin MacCaffraigh received a black card and Mayo outscored the hosts 1-04 to 0-01 during the ten minutes they had an extra man.
O’Connor hit two in the game and Tommy Conroy capped his championship debut with a superb goal in the 23rd minute that drove to the bottom left corner of the net.
Leitrim struggled to get scores as Mayo beefed up his defense.
Beirne grabbed Leitrim’s first point in eight minutes after 18 minutes, but did not score again until just before half-time when Donal Casey finished a good play just before half-time that also featured Donal Wrynn and Beirne.
Two Beirne freees after the restart suggested Leitrim would pressure Mayo to the end, but Horan’s men regained their goal advantage thanks to another free O’Connor and one from Matthew Ruane.
Then O’Connor got a pass from Conor Loftus and crashed through the roof of the net to push Mayo 2-08 to 0-08 up front after 48 minutes and Leitrim had no turning back after that.
In fact, Mayo should have won by more, but MacCaffraigh produced a brilliant block to deny Lee Keegan a goal.
And then Leitirm goalkeeper Brendan Flynn made impressive saves to deny backups James Carr and Paddy Durcan as Mayo started to turn the screw.
It took a good save from defender MacCaffraigh to deny Lee Keegan and then goalkeeper Brendan Flynn made saves point-blank to deny James Carr and Paddy Durcan.
Mayonnaise: David Clarke; Oisín Mullin, Stephen Coen, Lee Keegan; Paddy Durcan, Michael Plunkett, Eoghan McLaughlin; Matthew Ruane (0-01), Conor Loftus (0-01); Bryan Walsh (0-01), Ryan O’Donoghue, Jordan Flynn; Tommy Conroy (1-00), Aidan O’Shea (0-02, 1m), Cillian O’Connor (1-09 (0-04f, 0-02 ’45s).
Subs: Diarmuid O’Connor for Walsh (48), James Carr (0-01) for O’Donoghue (48), Rory Brickenden for S Coen (51), Chris Barrett for Plunkett (62), Darren McHale for Ruane (64)
Leitrim: Brendan Flynn; Conor Reynolds, Oisin MacCaffraigh, Donal Casey (0-01); Cillian McGloin, Paddy Maguire, Aidan Flynn; Donal Wrynn, Domhnaill Flynn (0-01); Conor Dolan (0-01), Mark Plunkett, Jack Gilheaney; Shane Quinn (0-01), Evan Sweeney (0-01), Keith Beirne (0-05, 5f)
Subs: Riordan O’Rourke for A Flynn (55), Dean McGovern (for D Flynn (55), Pierce Dolan (Sean O’Heslin’s) for Sweeney (64), Tom Prior (for Dolan (68)
Referee: Paul Faloon (Below).
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