Mayo 0-21 Roscommon 0-9
Champions Mayo encountered few difficulties in advancing to another Connacht as they saw off the weak Roscommon challenge with the minimum of fuss in front of 19,867 at McHale Park in Castlebar.
But the big crowd got little value for money as the Roscommon challenge fizzled out and Mayo notched up another big championship win without ever hitting top gear.
Four Mayo defenders were among twelve scorers for Mayo as they picked off some quality points but the competitive edge went from this one before the break.
Roscommon’s hopes of a shock result suffered a massive blow when Mayo struck for six points without reply in the closing seven minutes of the opening half.
Roscommon had initially contained Mayo despite playing against the wind but James Horan’s men turned a 0-7 to 0-4 lead after 28 minutes into a 0-13 to 0-4 interval advantage.
Earlier, Roscommon had started brightly and trailed by just 0-3 to 0-2 after 14 minutes with Donie Smith and Karol Mannion landing points as Kevin McLoughlin got a brace and Donal Vaughan found the target for Mayo.
Roscommon worked extremely hard in the opening quarter but bit by bit Mayo got on top and they pushed into a 0-7 to 0-2 lead after 22 minutes.
Roscommon rallied and Kevin Higgins and Conor Devanney gave them hope with good points to reduce the margin to three points with nine minutes remaining in the opening half.
But Mayo took over from there to the interval as they took control and their excellent use of the ball produced a scoring blitz.
Colm Boyle, Kevin McLoughlin, Alan Freeman, Richie Feeney, alan Dillon and Enda Varley found the range for the reigning champions who are bidding for three successive Connacht titles for the first time since they last won the All-Ireland title in 1951.
An Aidan O’Shea point within seconds of the restart pushed Mayo further in front as the Roscommon challenge fizzled out despite wind advantage.
Mayo again introduced captain Andy Moran off the bench but their margin of victory would have been much greater had they not taken their foot off the gas in a dreadfully one-sided second period.
Substitute Enda Smith became the only Roscommon player to score twice from play but they were merely consolation scores as Mayo advance to a Connacht final without being tested in any meaningful way.
Mayo became sloppy in the closing stages and the margin would have been even greater, but there was no doubting the significance in class between the sides.
Mayo: D Clarke; T Cunniffe, G Cafferkey, K Higgins (0-1); L Keegan (0-1), D Vaughan (0-1), C Boyle (0-2); A O'Shea (0-1), S O'Shea; K McLoughlin (0-5, 4f), R Feeney (0-1), C Carolan; E Varley (0-1), A Freeman (0-4, 3f), A Dillon (0-1).
Subs: K O’Malley for Clarke (35 mins), A Moran (0-1) for Carolan (44 mins), D Coen (0-2) for Varley (49 mins), S McHale for Cafferkey (54 mins), K Keane for Higgins (59), C Compton for Higgins (61 mins).
Rocommon: D O'Malley; N Collins, N Carty, S McDermott; D Keenan, N Daly, C Daly; K Higgins (0-1), M Finneran; C Devanney (0-1), K Mannion, C Cregg; D Smith (0-1, 0-1f), S Kilbride (0-3,0-2f), D O'Gara.
Subs: C Shine for Smith (35 mins), D Shine for Cregg (49 mins), E Smith (0-2) for O’Gara (51 mins), D Ward for Keenan (59 mins).
Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo).