IT REALLY never took off as a match in spite of stern resistance by Leitrim right to the end. Sadly a minor skirmish, when the match had already been decided, ended with the sending off of Mayo's Colm McMenamon and Leitrim's Gerry Flanagan.

McMenamon's moment of madness may have ruled him out of football for a considerable time depending on Galway referee Michael Curley's report.

And the game itself will suffer because among those "decked" in an unruly fracas was the Mayo manager John Maughan, whose impeccable behaviour cannot be questioned. The report of the referee could yet be a bestseller.

It's a pity that a match which was played with considerable intensity from the start should have ended thus. Mayo never really looked like losing their provincial title even though the late withdrawal of corner forward David Nestor resulted in a pretty drastic reshuffle in their lineup.

This involved calling in Pat Holmes when Nestor failed a late fitness test. Holmes took over at centre half back from James Nallen who moved to midfield with Liam McHale being shunted onto the 40 yards mark. Colm McMenamon switched to the wing with Maurice Sheridan taking over the left corner of the attack from Nestor.

There did not appear to be any major disruption to Mayo's style as a result of these changes although they had a sluggish start while playing with a considerable breeze.

Apart from the breeze the conditions were ideal for football on a splendid pitch with an estimated crowd of 20,000 urging the teams on. Unfortunately the hopes of the crowd did not materialise and neither team seemed capable of lifting the game to a higher plain. Leitrim's defence managed to keep the scoring within reasonable limits in the first half as Mayo struggled and several opportunities from frees and from play were squandered.

Seamus Quinn at fullback for Leitrim, ably abetted by Cillian McLoughlin at centreback and Gerry Flanagan on his left flank played heroically but all the Leitrim defenders were punished by the referee for lack of discipline.

Leitrim seemed to have taken a leaf out of Sligo's book from last week and were ahead on two occasions within the first 20 minutes.

It was not until the 22nd minute that Mayo got their noses in front. The accuracy of Maurice Sheridan from frees from then until halftime, and some splendid play by Horan and particularly Kieran McDonald resulted in an advantage of eight points to two at halftime for Mayo.

The Mayo goalkeeper Peter Burke caused his supporters some problems at times with an over adventurous approach and that might also be said of his counterpart Martin McHugh in the second half and yet the match ended without a goal as neither set of forwards showed an indication of being able to overwhelm the respective full back lines.

Mayo suffered a severe blow towards the end of the first half when their fullback, Kevin Cahill, had to retire through injury. This in turn caused a further reshuffle in the Mayo team with Holmes taking over from Cahill, Nallon returning to the centre half back position and McHale retreating to the middle of the field.

Any hopes that Leitrim would make good use of the wind in the second half was dispelled early on when Diarmuid Byrne and cornerback Mortimer tagged on two points to Mayo's lead within the first 10 minutes. This was followed by a successful free by Sheridan and although Declan Darcy, always in the thick of it for Leitrim, scored from long range to put Leitrim back into a reasonable position, another free from Maurice Sheridan stretched the Mayo lead to nine points with only 12 minutes gone.

Leitrim never really got into top gear from then to the end and Sheridan was always ready to punish any indiscretion. To some extent Darcy kept Leitrim's hopes alive but a point by Adrian Cullen in the 15th minute for Leitrim when a goal seemed a more likely option indicated a certain lack of confidence in the Leitrim side. From then on Mayo were in control of the match without ever indicating an over whelming superiority.

Mayo's victory over Galway which was widely accepted as one of the most accomplished performances they have given for some time is somewhat tarnished by this lacklustre match. One would have expected a more inspired effort on their home ground.

Leitrim need not have any reason to be ashamed of their performance of note was veteran Mickey Quinn, who never allowed any of his considerable talents to be submerged in the general mediocrity. His colleagues in the field, Jason Ward and Brendan McGuckian, need not look back on this match with any great regrets and the same applies to George Dovedale. However Mayo - were sluggish to the extent of carelessness and the fact that McManamon may be ruled out by suspension for the final against Sligo may cause a reshuffle in the attack.

That could either put new fervour into the operation or weaken the attack.

However, it will be up to the Connacht Council to decide once they get the referee's report. It was an uncharacteristic, but nevertheless, unacceptable fracas at the end of a game which will not live long in the memory of those who saw it.

. Defending champions Mayo found inspiration when reduced to 14 players in the second half to dismiss the challenge of Leitrim in the Connacht minor football semifinal at McHale Park yesterday. Mayo won out by 2-15 to 1-9.

Mayo's Enda Lavelle was sent off 10 minutes into the second half for a dangerous tackle.