Mayo delivered an emphatic performance against Louth this evening to secure their passage into a first All-Ireland senior football championship final in five years.

Andy Moran’s side’s impressive 3-23 to 0-15 win at Croke Park saw Ryan O’Donoghue (1-11), Darragh Beirne and Conor Loftus netting the goals as they'd dominate in the second-half against their Leinster counterparts who made a disappointing exit after reaching the last four for the first time since 1957.

O’Donoghue’s goal came in the sixth minute and saw Mayo into a 1-0 to 0-1 lead after Dara McDonnell had got the Wee County up and running with a third minute point.

Ciaran Downey’s two-pointer would eventually bring the sides level by the 14th minute and a free from beyond the arc by Sam Mulroy ushered Gavin Devlin’s men back in front.

Two more from O’Donoghue squared the sides again and the Belmullet sharpshooter sent over a two-point effort which was backed up by fellow inside forwards Kobe McDonald and Beirne (free).

Conor Grimes nailed back-to-back scores, including a two-pointer in response for Louth, but they’d concede a Beirne goal just before the break that saw their opponents go in with a 2-9 to 0-11 advantage.

Following the change of ends, it was Moran’s men that dominated in all sectors of the field and their full-forward line of Beirne, O’Donoghue and McDonald, which combined for 2-17 over the 70 minutes, punished their Leinster counterparts on the scoreboard.

After Jordan Flynn sailed over a two-pointer, McDonald hit back-to-back points and an O’Donoghue free would be followed up by Loftus making the most of a Tommy Conroy burst into the squad to find the back of Niall McDonnell’s net.

A brilliant fetch by McDonald helped to set-up Cian McHale for the substitute to raise the Connacht side’s tally to 3-15, with Louth having gone scoreless during the barrage on their goal until Tommy Durnin clipped over a 59th minute point.

From there, McHale, O’Donoghue (two-point free) and McDonald would register scores that put the margin at 16 points ahead of Downey’s two-pointer being erased by O’Donoghue (free) after the hooter had sounded at headquarters.

The result means that Mayo now progress to the Sam Maguire Cup decider on July 26th when they’ll play the winners of tomorrow’s other semi-final between holders Kerry and Dublin (4pm).

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