Mayo 1-15
Wicklow 0-14

Brian Hunt's second half goal proved decisive as Mayo defeated Wicklow at a wet Arklow to set up a Christy Ring Cup semi-final against Kerry next Saturday.

Trailing by four points late in the first half, the Westerners rallied to trail by just two, 0-6 to 0-8, at the break, and they never looked back after Hunt's 44th minute strike gave them a 1-7 to 0-9 lead.

At the end of a keenly contested opening quarter, the sides were level on 0-4 each, but the home side then enjoyed a purple patch which yielded four unanswered points form Mikey Lee, Andy O'Brien, Wayne O'Gorman and Christy Moorehouse. However, Kenny Feeney and dual star Keith Higgins got two points back for the visitors before the short whistle.

Lee put Casey O'Brien's charges 0-9 to 0-6 up on the restart, but Hunt's goal changed the game's complexion. Another Lee free tied up the scoring briefly, but Mayo weren't to be denied as free-taker Feeney and Stephen Hoban fired them to a well-deserved victory.

Mayo - D O'Brien; A Brennan, A Connolly, D Kenny; D Gallagher, P O'Flynn (0-1), P Barrett; C Charlton, B Higgins; S Regan, K Feeney (0-7, 5f), K Higgins (0-2); B Hunt (1-0), D McDonnell (0-1), F Boland (0-1). Subs: G Nolan for D Gallagher, S Hoban (0-3) for F Boland, J Kennedy for P Barrett.

Wicklow - T Kennedy; G Bermingham, S Kelly, E Dunne; G Byrne, J Henderson, S Byrne; E Kearns, R Keddy; C Moorehouse (0-3), M Lee (0-9, 8f), J O'Neill; A O'Brien (0-1), W O'Gorman (0-1), D Staunton. Subs: L Kennedy for E Kearns, B Cuddihy for G. Bermingham, G Keogh for W O'Gorman.

Referee - S Cleere. Tweet

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