From provincial champions to Tommy Murphy contenders in the space of a year; Sligo's fall from grace was confirmed as Mayo ran out 13-point winners in a one sided Connacht semi-final. Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7 In blustery conditions a high scoring encounter was unlikely but such was the home side's penchant for goals that Sligo found themselves on the end of a mauling at McHale Park. Buoyed by a fine display in New York, Tommy Jordan's men felt they were in with a chance of redeeming themselves after they were relegated to Division 4 during the NFL, but there was to be no redemption as goals from Pat Harte, Trevor Mortimer and substitute Aidan Kilcoyne ended their championship hopes. The hosts looked more fluent in front of goals and championship newcomer Tom Parsons opened the scoring with a point. Sligo had their chances but failed to convert and by the end of the first quarter the scoreboard read 0-3 to 0-0 in Mayo's favour, with Conor Mortimer bagging the two additional scores. To their credit, Sligo probably should have nicked the first goal of the game but David Clarke pulled off a good save from the onrushing Michael McNamara, and from that point on you had the feeling it was not going to be the defending champion's day. 17 minutes in Mark Breheny pointed for the visitors but quick scores from Austin O'Malley, Harte and the younger Mortimer had John O'Mahony's men in control. Then came a fatal blow for the Yeats men as Conor Mortimer was fouled in the square after a quick free landed in his path and from the resultant spot kick Harte gave Philip Greene no chance. That penalty was preceded by two Sligo points from Breheny and David Kelly, so at the break Mayo led by 1-6 to 0-3. Keen to avoid the dreaded Tommy Murphy Cup, Sligo came out fighting after the interval but they were cut down in their stride when Mortimer goaled five minutes into the half. The visitors narrowed the gap with points from Kelly and Breheny, who were the Yeats County's only scorers on the day. Then Kilcoyne bagged Mayo's third goal and as the Sligo heads dropped, a flurry of scores were the icing on the cake for the home side as Mortimer, O'Malley, Kilcoyne and Parsons all raised white flags. Mayo - D Clarke; C Boyle, K Conroy, K Higgins; T Cunniffe, D Heaney, J Nallen; R McGarrity, T Parsons (0-2); P Gardiner, P Harte (1-1, 1p), T Mortimer (1-0); C Mortimer (0-5), A O'Malley (0-2), A Moran. Subs - A Kilcoyne (1-1) for Gardiner, BJ Padden for O'Malley, M Mullins for T Mortimer, M Ronaldson for Moran. Sligo - P Greene; C Harrison, P Naughton, R Donavan; P McGovern, B Egan, E McHugh; E O'Hara, K Quinn; G Gaughan, M McNamara, B Curran; J Davey, M Breheny (0-4, 3f), D Kelly (0-3). Subs - B Phillips for McGovern, N McGuire for McNamara, S Gilmartin for Quinn, J McPartland for McHugh, G McGowan for McPartland. Ref - J Bannon (Longford) Tweet

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