Donegal 1-14
Mayo 3-7

Donegal received a pre-championship boost when they edged out Mayo in a SF challenge at Swinford yesterday.

The game marked the official opening of Swinford's new pitch which is named after Garda Robert McCallion, who lost his life while on duty in Letterkenny in 2009. The visitors were first to settle with points from Adrian Hanlon and Stephen Griffin, but Peadar Gardiner's seventh-minute goal and points from the same player and Enda Varley put Mayo in the driving seat.

Four frees from Colm McFadden brought Donegal back into it, but a second goal from Cillian O'Connor ensured the home side of a 2-4 to 0-7 interval lead.

Martin McElhinney reduced the deficit on the restart, only for Mayo to hit back with their third goal from a Pat Harte penalty. But the visitors battled back with a penalty of their own from McFadden and they went on to seal a narrow victory thanks to scores from Frank McGlynn, McFadden, Neil McGee and Patrick McBrearty.

Scorers - Donegal: C McFadden 1-5 (1-0 pen, 5fs), M McElhinney, P McBrearty, S Griffin (1f) 0-2 each, N McGee, F McGlynn, A Hanlon 0-1 each. Mayo: C O'Connor (1f), P Gardiner 1-1 each, P Harte 1-0 (pen), E Varley, D Kirby (1f) 0-2 each, A Freeman 0-1.

DONEGAL: P Durcan; P McGrath, N McGee, F McGlynn; A Thompson, L McCloone, D Walsh; M McElhinney, P McGee; M McHugh, A Hanlon, R Bradley; D Molloy, C McFadden, S Griffin. Subs: M Boyle for Bradley, A McFadden forHanlon, T McKinley for McGrath, P McBrearty for Dermot Molloy.

MAYO: R Hennelly; M Walsh, S McHale, E O'Reilly; P Gardiner, D Geraghty, R Feeney; B Moran, P Harte; A Campbell, C O'Connor, M Forde; E Varley, A Freeman, J Doherty. Subs: R O'Connor for Boyle, F Durkin for Forde, D Kirby for Doherty, K Keane for Gardiner, C O'Shea for Campbell.

Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo). Tweet

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