​All-Ireland senior football championship quarter-final

Mayo 0-23 Cork 0-18

By Paul Keane at Croke Park

Phenom duo Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald underlined their rising star status with a couple of terrific Croke Park displays to help secure Mayo's All-Ireland SFC semi-final spot.

Connacht U-20 finalists with Mayo back in April, the talented teenagers reeled off 11 points between them to keep Andy Moran's side well in the hunt for the Sam Maguire Cup.

Beirne struck 0-7 and took the Man of the Match award while McDonald, bound for St Kilda and the AFL when the season is over, kicked 0-4 and lit up the game with sparks of genius.

There was a huge performance too from Ryan O'Donoghue, who finished with 0-8 and the Belmullet man must have pushed Beirne close for the individual award.

Tommy Conroy had a big impact when he came on, scoring a point and creating two more as the 2021 finalists turned the screw in the closing quarter.

Mayo reeled off five two-pointers in all, compared to just two for Cork who also registered 14 wides and ultimately failed in their bid to reach a first semi-final since 2012.

Cork's season is over but Mayo will return to Croke Park on the weekend of July 11/12 for their last-four clash.

Cork played a cautious, cagey game when pulling off one of the results of the Championship so far in Round 2A, overcoming Donegal in Ballybofey.

They were expected to be a little more attack-minded this time against a Mayo side that always possesses a licence to thrill.

Both sides did their best to rack up the scores and to get their key shooters in promising positions in the opening half.

But that 35 minutes finished with the teams locked on level terms, 0-9 apiece, and the nagging feeling that the game hadn't yet caught fire.

McDonald showed glimpses of his genius, turning his first possession after just 30 seconds into a point at the Hill 16 End and immediately giving a clenched fist gesture to Mayo fans on the terrace.

Later in the half, the Crossmolina man injected some more quality into the game when he played a slick one-two just outside the arc and contorted his body to send a spinning right-footed kick over for an orange flag score.

O'Donoghue had his first-half moments too for Mayo, nailing two points from play and a two-pointer from a free just before the break after a Cork three-up breach.

Colm O'Callaghan, back after suspension, pointed against the head for Cork in the fifth minute following a terrific turnover by Chris Óg Jones and breakaway.

Paul Walsh and Steven Sherlock nailed a couple of eye-catching singles as well but we were still waiting for the fireworks.

Neither side were quite able to work a fast attack to get in behind the opposition's defence, leaving a lot of 11 v 11, cat and mouse scenarios around the arc.

All too often from Cork's perspective, it petered out into nothing with the Rebels firing eight first-half wides.

Sherlock, who came into the game with nine two-pointers in the Championship, had just one attempt for a long-range score that flew wide. The first time he received the ball in a scorable position along the arc, he was swarmed by three Mayo men, indicating the homework they'd done beforehand.

Defences were clearly on top with Sherlock picked up by Donnacha McHugh and fellow Cork forward Jones trailed by Eoin McGreal.

At the other end, Kobe had Daniel O'Mahony for company, O'Donoghue was tracked by Jack Coyne and Beirne had Seán Meehan on his tail.

Jones nudged Cork ahead after the restart, 0-10 to 0-9, but Mayo then cut loose. Well, kind of.

They only hit three scores between the 39th and 41st minute but two of them were two-pointers, both from the increasingly influential Beirne, sandwiching a McDonald single.

Mayo's four-point lead, 0-14 to 0-10, was the largest either side had held to that point.

Cork cut the deficit back to the minimum, thanks in part to two Paul Walsh points, before Mayo got it back out to four again.

Their fifth two-pointer, by Jack Carney, left the westerners 0-18 to 0-14 clear and Conroy cut through for a single to extend the gap.

In the middle of it all, McDonald had the crowd, and anyone associated with his AFL club St Kilda, gasping after a brilliant high catch from a Mayo kick-out which led to an O'Donoghue point.

Brian Hurley lent some punch to Cork's attack when he came on but they needed a goal and Brian O'Driscoll's 64th minute shot that was saved by Jack Livingstone was as close as they came.

Leading by five with just seconds remaining, McDonald attempted to tie a bow on a special day for Mayo with a shot at goal after a searing solo run but his kick was blocked. Not to worry, there'll be at least one more day out for the Crossmolina phenom and Mayo at Croke Park.

Mayo scorers: Ryan O'Donoghue 0-8 (1 tpf, 0-2f), Darragh Beirne 0-7 (1 tp, 1 tpf), Kobe McDonald 0-4 (1 tp), Jack Carney 0-2 (tp), Tommy Conroy 0-1, Conor Loftus 0-1.

Cork scorers: Steven Sherlock 0-7 (1tpf, 0-2 45, 0-1f), Paul Walsh 0-3, Mark Cronin 0-2 (1 tpf), Chris Óg Jones 0-2, Colm O'Callaghan 0-1, Ian Maguire 0-1, Rory Maguire 0-1, Brian Hurley 0-1.

Mayo: Jack Livingstone; Donnacha McHugh, Eoin McGreal, Jack Coyne; Sam Callinan, David McBrien, Enda Hession; Bob Tuohy, Jack Carney; Stephen Coen, Paul Towey, Jordan Flynn; Darragh Beirne, Ryan O'Donoghue, Kobe McDonald.

Subs: Diarmuid Duffy for McGreal 12, Tommy Conroy for Towey h/t, Conor Loftus for Coen 50, Matthew Ruane for Tuohy 54, Rory Brickenden for Duffy 65.

Cork: Patrick Doyle; Daniel O'Mahony, Maurice Shanley, Seán Meehan; Brian O'Driscoll, Tommy Walsh, Rory Maguire; Ian Maguire, Colm O'Callaghan; Paul Walsh, Dara Sheedy, Seán McDonnell; Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Steven Sherlock.

Subs: Ruairí Deane for McDonnell 48, Conor Corbett for Sheedy 51, Brian Hurley for Cronin 60, Seán Brady for Rory Maguire 62, Seán Walsh for Paul Walsh 65.

Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).