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Dillon and Mortimer seal Mayo's final berth

MAYO secured their place in the Divison 1 final as they beat Cork, who will also be their opponents in the decider, at Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday.

With the home side having already ensured their place in the final, the side was missing many regulars as Mayo, once they had asserted their superiority, triumphed at their ease.

Conor Mortimer and Alan Dillion each kicked four points for them, while Andy Moran looked lively after the break. Aidan O'Shea was a strong focal point in attack, getting two points and winning countless frees.

Though all of Cork's six forwards got on the scoresheet, nobody else did and their highest scorer was Donncha O'Connor with 0-3, all from frees.

In a first half that was fairly even overall, the sides were level on five occasions, including at half-time when it was 0-7 each.

Cork captain Graham Canty was making his first appearance of this league campaign, but his game only lasted until just before the half-hour mark as he had to retire injured.

Despite this loss, two good John Hayes points immediately after gave them a 0-7 to 0-5 lead only for Mayo corner-back Chris Barrett to reduce the gap with a fine solo effort and then Seamus O'Shea, having won the resulting kick-out left it level.

Mayo raced out of the blocks after the break and added five points to their total, leaving Cork reeling, Mark Ronaldson and Moran with the best efforts. An O'Connor point gave Cork brief hope, but on 47 minutes, Mayo wing-back Donal Vaughan pointed to kick-start Mayo again. O'Shea landed two good points, and only a goal-line clearance by Cork sub Noel Galvin prevented Ronaldson finding the net.

In the end, the visitors were full value for the win.

Scorers -- Mayo: A Dillon (3f), C Mortimer (2f) 0-4 each, A O'Shea, A Moran 0-2 each, C Barrett, D Vaughan, M Ronaldson, S O'Shea 0-1 each. Cork: D O'Connor 0-3 (0-3f), C O'Neill (2f), J Hayes, F Goold 0-2 each, K MacMahon, C Sheehan 0-1.

MAYO -- D Clarke; C Barrett, G Cafferkey, L O'Malley; D Vaughan, T Howley, K McLoughlin; T Parsons, S O'Shea; A Moran, A Dillon, T Mortimer; M Ronaldson, C Mortimer, A O'Shea. Subs: P Harte for Parsons (45), A Freeman for Dillon (67).

CORK -- A Quirke; D Kavanagh, J O'Sullivan, E Cotter; K O'Connor, G Spillane, B O'Regan; A Walsh, G Canty; F Goold, D O'Connor, K MacMahon; C O'Neill, C Sheehan, J Hayes. Subs: N Murphy for Canty (29, injured), P O'Flynn for MacMahon, S Kiely for O'Regan (both 44), N Galvin for Kavanagh (54), C O'Driscoll for O'Sullivan (57-70, blood), F Lynch for Hayes (61).

Ref -- G Ó Conámha (Galway).

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