Aidan O’Shea, Mayo, and Hugh McFadden, Donegal, in All-Ireland SFC action. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
All-Ireland SFC Group Two
Donegal 0-19 Mayo 1-15
By Kevin Egan at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park
Mayo supporters had all of about 10 seconds to celebrate a sensational kick from Fergal Boland levelled this contest and seemingly kept their championship season alive, only to watch in horror as Ciarán Moore won Shaun Patton’s kickout, and with the sound of the hooter ringing in their ears, the rampaging St. Eunan’s man sprinted through and split the uprights with the last kick to save Cavan, and draw a line under a tumultuous year for the westerners.
Mayo’s championship exit comes at the end of a round robin series in which they made a dismal start, and their greatly improved showings against Tyrone and this afternoon weren’t enough to save them.
This game in King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park was a microcosm of that, with Mayo struggling to catch fire in the first half before dialling up the intensity after the interval, briefly taking the lead through a David McBrien goal and then rallying again after Donegal responded to the green flag by kicking the next three scores, one a two-pointer.
All year long, the lack of a two-point threat was a significant weakness in Mayo’s profile, and this afternoon that manifested again. While the audience of 18,731 supporters bathed in Roscommon sunshine, there was a deceptively strong breeze blowing down the ground in the first half, and Mayo made just three attempts on goal with that breeze behind them, failing to hit the target on any.
Donegal, for their part, were much more dominant than an interval score of 0-9 to 0-6 would suggest. Mayo outscored the Ulster county by three points to no score while Peadar Mogan was off the field after receiving a black card for a trip, but outside of that there was so much more cut and thrust to the Donegal attack.
Mogan and Caolan McColgan surged forward to kick early points for Jim McGuinness side, and once Mogan returned to the field in the 21st minute, they took over again to outscore Mayo by 0-6 to 0-2 before half-time.
With no one side dominating the kickout battle and plenty of turnovers in a game where Paul Faloon allowed the two sides to let their physicality flourish, Donegal’s ability to hold the ball for longer spells and engineer clear striking opportunities from 30 metres out was all important. Moore and Finbarr Roarty came forward to make it four defenders on the scoresheet, whiole Michael Murphy also stroked over a two-pointer.
No single aspect of play could be pointed to as the key ingredient in Mayo’s resurgence after half-time, simply big individual plays that made an impact. Jack Coyne came up with some big turnovers, David McBrien’s battle with Michael Murphy rocked the stadium with neither man taking a backward step, and two excellent points from Conal Dawson put the tie right back into the melting pot.
It was a misplaced pass from Murphy, intercepted by Darren McHale and worked upfield for McBrien to squeeze the ball into the net off the goalpost that gave Mayo their only lead of the second half at 1-12 to 0-13, but it was short lived.
Dáire Ó Baoill sent a majestic kick over from the terrace side to level the game with a double, and with Mayo chasing the game, gaps opened up for Murphy and Shane O’Donnell to make it 0-4 without reply.
Not a single soul left the ground as heart-stopping moments started to flow with regularity. Jack Coyne and Colm Reape combined to prevent Patrick McBrearty scoring what looked like a tap in, Shaun Patton made a stunning double save to deny Jack Carney and Paul Towey, and then with time winding down and Mayo desperate for an equaliser, Fergal Boland made his brief cameo role count with a sensational strike off the outside of the right boot to level the game.
For a brief, fleeting moment, Mayo were rapturous; until Ciarán Moore turned the game on it’s head with a score that made no difference to Donegal’s status in tomorrow morning’s championship draw, but meant absolutely everything to Mayo, and to Cavan.
Scorers for Donegal: Michael Murphy 0-5 (1tpf, 1 45), Peadar Mogan 0-2, Conor O’Donnell 0-2, Ciarán Moore 0-2, Ciarán Thompson 0-2 (0-1f), Dáire Ó Baoill 0-2 (1tp), Caolán McColgan 0-1, Finnbarr Roarty 0-1, Shane O’Donnell 0-1, Oisín Gallen 0-1.
Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-6 (5fs), Darren McHale 0-3, David McBrien 1-0, Conal Dawson 0-2, Donnacha McHugh 0-1, Jack Carney 0-1, Jordan Flynn 0-1, Fergal Boland 0-1.
Donegal: Shaun Patton; Brendan McCole, Caolan McColgan, Finnbarr Roarty; Peadar Mogan, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Ciarán Moore; Hugh McFadden, Michael Langan; Conor O'Donnell, Ciarán Thompson, Ryan McHugh; Shane O'Donnell, Michael Murphy, Oisín Gallen.
Subs: Jason McGee for McFadden (52), Dáire Ó Baoill for Gallen (52), Patrick McBrearty for McHugh (57), Eoin McHugh for S O’Donnell (67)
Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Enda Hession; Paddy Durcan, David McBrien, Rory Brickenden; Stephen Coen, Matthew Ruane; Conal Dawson, Darren McHale, Bob Tuohy; Jack Carney, Aidan O'Shea, Ryan O'Donoghue.
Subs: Jordan Flynn for Tuohy (23), Davitt Neary for McHugh (42), Seán Morahan for Hession (52), Paul Towey for Neary (55), Fergal Boland for Coen (67)
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)
