Mayo exit championship in most Mayo way possible after survival instincts let them down
Survival. That's what the weekend was about. At a certain point, style means nothing and staying alive is the only substance. Sixteen teams started out, 12 are left standing. Mayo, Roscommon, Derry and Clare are the counties who couldn't escape the guillotine's blade.
Mayo went out
in maybe the most Mayo way possible. The clock in Dr Hyde Park read 69:43 when Fergal Boland drew them level with Donegal. The crowd bounced in the stands, as a draw would mean Cavan were gone and Mayo were through.
With
Tyrone
12 points up at the time,
Donegal
could do nothing to improve their lot. Draw the game, win the game – it didn't matter. They were finishing second regardless. All that was left was for their goalkeeper Shaun Patton to boot the ball into the stands.
He did not boot the ball into the stands.
READ MORE
Instead, he aimed one last long kick-out at Brendan McCole, overhit it with the wind behind him and saw it bounce into the arms of Ciarán Moore. The hooter went as Moore gathered the ball and the young Donegal wing-back skinned Seán Morahan, cut inside Jack Carney and scored the winner.
And so
Mayo
were beaten, sent out of the championship by a point that didn't even do Donegal any good. They paid the highest tariff possible for losing to Cavan three weeks ago. 'When you play a league format, you get what you deserve,' said Stephen Rochford afterwards. 'Over the course of the three games, the league table doesn't lie.'
Mayo's Jordan Flynn tackles Michael Murphy of Donegal during Sunday's All-Ireland SFC round-robin clash at Dr Hyde Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
The championship is feral and suffocating. Of the eight games over the weekend, six were decided by four points or less. Tyrone's 13-point hammering of Cavan and the nine (!) points
Meath had over Kerry
were the only outliers. Everywhere else, it was scratch and claw and scrabble all the way to the end.
Even Clare, lowly Clare, forgotten and dismissed by everyone, presumed an easy mark for Louth, even they hauled it back to a two-point game as time ran dead. Ger Brennan's side survived but they were ragged and frayed by the hooter's blast.
You want a sense of how tight this all is? None of the provincial champions are guaranteed a spot in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The fortnight's break that comes with topping your round-robin group will be enjoyed by Monaghan, Meath, Armagh and Tyrone. The latter two are among the favourites for Sam Maguire, despite having been beaten twice in the championship already. Every county has lost at least once.
That's how it goes. On a weekend like this, everyone starts out like a school student with a brand new copybook, all neat lines and tidy writing. By the end, everything is covered in ink blots and scribbles and Tipp-Ex, and you're hoping against hope that you've poxed the right answers. Fortunes flip in the time it takes to update the ScoreBeo app.
Cavan's Ciarán Brady goes shoulder-to-shoulder with Michael McKernan of Tyrone. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
On 54 minutes, Mayo were bottom of the table and going out. On 55, they were top and heading straight to the quarter-final. On 56, they were in third and going away next weekend for a preliminary quarter-final. On 57, they were bottom again.
Ultimately, they danced on the knife-edge one too many times, sunk by their terrible display at home to Cavan the first day out. They end the group stage with a points difference that is 32 points superior to Cavan's but go out on the head-to-head record. Given that they were able to match strides with Donegal and Tyrone, it is a deeply careless way to exit the championship.
Survival is all. You have to find a way. Mayo and Derry are better than probably four of the remaining teams and a match for the rest on their day. But their game-management let them down when it mattered most. Derry should have seen out their game against Galway last week. Mayo only needed to play one more pass before their equaliser and there wouldn't have been time for the kick-out. But both made a mess of it and so the season is done.
Shane Walsh of Galway is congratulated by teammates after the Tribesmen's come-from-behind victory against Armagh at Kingspan Breffni Park.
Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho
Others got busy livin'. Galway are the most dangerous third-placed team in Monday morning's draw and will be going to one of Ballybofey, Killarney or Newry next weekend. Armagh had them on toast for the first half on Saturday night but
Pádraic Joyce's side found their way back and won
. He summed up the game – and the whole weekend – perfectly.
'Yeah, look, the objective, obviously, was to get out of it. You try and get out in as high a position as you can. The way the last two weeks went for us, we happily settled for third to win the game tonight. We're happy to just get out of it.
'We were eight down at half-time. Could have been more down actually as well. In saying that, we fought back. We knew at half-time that we were fighting for our lives. The lads showed great character and I'm really proud of them, the way they played. It was great. We're on to next week.'
The only thing that matters.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
44 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
GAA defend Hyde Park, Roscommon venue decision after Jim McGuinness blast
GAA chiefs have defended the decision to fix the Donegal/Mayo All-Ireland round robin encounter for Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon - following stinging criticism from Jim McGuinness after the game. Donegal knocked Mayo out of the Championship with a last-gasp Ciaran Moore point at the Roscommon Town venue to set up a home preliminary quarter-final encounter with Louth next weekend. But McGuinness claimed Donegal fans are 'being taken advantage of,' as the county face into their eighth championship game - more than any other side, with five of those away or at neutral venues. For comparison, this weekend's encounter with Cork will be Dublin's sixth championship game with four of them at away or neutral venues. In Kerry's case this weekend's preliminary quarter-final against Cavan will be their sixth championship game, with just three of them on the road, although the choice of Tullamore for last Saturday's encounter with Meath certainly favoured the Royals, with the venue much closer to them. In Armagh's case, they've played six championship games, with just one in Armagh. If Donegal are to make an All-Ireland final, it will mean they'll have played in 11 championship games this season with trips to Croke Park (3), Clones (3), Cavan (1) and Roscommon (1). Speaking about the Hyde Park decision, McGuinness said: 'It was the equivalent of bringing Mayo to Omagh and staying in Derry and I don't believe that would happen. We put in an email to the CCCC to say we couldn't get a hotel in the area so we had to stay in Athlone. "We had to go beyond the venue to come to play in the venue. I think that would only happen because it's us. Disappointed in that. 'We made a case and we made the case early. It was on deaf ears. But again, that's for another day but I don't like the fact that our supporters are always being taken advantage of.' He added: 'We had seven games up to this point. Nobody's played more games than us. Nobody. And yet and all, we had the longest trek and all those people have to find a way to do all that. Breffni (Park) was an option. They're going to say it wasn't. 'I know that Clones was offered and that was rescinded. All you're looking for is fairness and the middle is fair.' CCCC Chairperson Carroll outlined why the decision to stage the game at Dr. Hyde Park was made and said he'd heard McGuinness' comments. 'The CCCC, we sit down to put these fixtures together,' said the current Roscommon Chairperson. 'A lot of situations have to be taken into consideration. In the case of Donegal and Mayo, the obvious venue for us was Sligo. Unfortunately for us, Sligo wasn't available because the pitch is being repaired. The ground wasn't available. 'Breffni Park wasn't available. Cavan were playing at the same time. Clones wasn't available. Monaghan were playing two hours earlier in the day. 'Omagh wasn't available because Tyrone were playing at the same time, so our feeling was that the most logical venue for both of these counties was King and Moffat Dr. Hyde Park. 'There was people in Mayo had to travel just short of three hours as well, so it wasn't ideal for both. Look, there are a lot of things that have to be taken into consideration when we are doing these fixtures. 'When you have the most northerly county and a westerly county playing each other, it is always going to be difficult to find an ideal venue, but in fairness I think both counties were looked after well and got a good welcome. 'I'd say most Donegal people are fairly happy this morning. They are in second place (in their group).' Fixture making is determined by a number of factors, but ultimately the GAA have the final call on dates, times and venues. The availability of local GAA officials and stewards at venues to run big games is a primary factor. The GAA tend not to fix games for venues when that particular county are playing elsewhere on the same day - to allow officials to attend their own county's matches and carry out match day duties. Another factor in fixture making is broadcasting rights, with RTE having the first choice of live games. They tend to opt for Sunday slots, with GAA+ screening some of the other ties on offer over the weekend. Last weekend RTE screened Donegal versus Mayo and Down against Monaghan as a Sunday double header. Derry versus Dublin or Armagh against Galway would have been regarded as bigger games in most quarters than Down versus Monaghan, but they both went on GAA+. However, final round games have to be played at the same time and had RTE screened Dublin/Derry or Armagh/Galway, their viewing figures would have been hit if GAA+ staged the other one at the same time.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Dublin's path forward becomes clear and what else we learned from the GAA weekend
Dub l in draw some comfort, whi l e Derry curse their l uck In the aftermath of Saturday's defeat to Dublin, Derry's 11th and final competitive game of a winless 2025 season, Oak Leaf manager Paddy Tally highlighted the hurdles they were tasked with jumping over the course of the campaign. 'We're the only team in Ireland that's played nothing but Division One teams this year,' said Tally. 'Every other team has played a lesser [team], we've played all our [games] against Division One teams. Nobody else has done that.' Across the way, Dublin manager Dessie Farrell was chatting about recovery and waiting to see what Monday morning's draw would throw up in terms of preliminary quarter-final opponents for his side. READ MORE Division Two outfit Cork was to be the answer. It will be Dublin's sixth championship game and their third against a team from outside of Division One. So far they have played Wicklow (Division Four), Meath (Division Two), Galway (Division One), Armagh (Division One), Derry (relegated from Division One). Dublin manager Dessie Farrell. Photograph: Evan Logan/Inpho Having ended up in the so-called Group of Death for the round-robin series, there is now a decent chance Dublin could progress to the All-Ireland semi-finals without encountering another Division One team. Should they beat Cork next weekend then their potential opponents in a quarter-final would be Meath (Division Two), Monaghan (promoted from Division Two) or Tyrone (relegated from Division One). Dublin cannot play Armagh as they met in the All-Ireland group stages. Kerry could advance to the quarter-finals without playing a single Division One team having so far faced Cork (Division Two) twice, Clare (Division Three), Roscommon (promoted from Division Two), Meath (Division Two). They will play Cavan (Division Two) in the prelims. They could however face Armagh in the quarters. 'There's no let-up now, you've just got to keep going,' said Farrell last Saturday night. 'We know that there's huge room for improvement, huge room for growth.' The draw might just help provide Dublin with that room. – Gordon Manning No more second chances from here on out Mayo accepted that their defeat by Cavan had been the iceberg, which ultimately sank their season and that, having lost three matches, they could really have no complaints. 'Look,' said Stephen Rochford afterwards talking about Group 1, 'we weren't good enough to win that game. Donegal had a loss as well, Tyrone had a loss, and they've gone through. So, you know, we suck up our medicine for that.' The carousel effect of counties losing matches and their future depending on who beat them has thrown out significant effects. Donegal lost to Tyrone, who lost to Mayo, and will now have an additional match in this year's itinerary, which was already the longest of any team left in the championship because of their having to play a preliminary round in Ulster. Dublin lost to Armagh, who lost to Galway, and now have to follow the same extended route. Aidan O'Shea after Mayo's defeat to Donegal on Sunday. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho What stands out is the fact that with 12 teams left in the All-Ireland championship, not a single county is unbeaten and of the dozen, five have lost two matches en route to the knock-out stages. Only Monaghan managed a 100 per cent record in their group but lost to Donegal in Ulster. Meath were unbeaten in the group but lost the Leinster final to Louth. The county's spectacular win over Kerry made this year the first since 2001 that Meath have defeated both Dublin and Kerry. For the first two years of the All-Ireland group matches, whereas defeats are more likely to occur, there were teams at this stage of the championship still unbeaten. In 2023, Dublin became the most recent team to win the All-Ireland without losing, and last year, Armagh took Sam Maguire, having lost just the Ulster final on penalties. Anyway, from now on, there are no more second chances. As Rochford summarised: As Rochford summarised: 'They're tight games. If you're not ahead on the final whistle, I'll speak the obvious here, you're nowhere.' – Seán Moran L averty has Down moving in an upward direction The job Conor Laverty has done with Down can't be lauded enough. It's worth remembering that when he took over in late 2022, the county hadn't won a game of any kind in over a year. They had beaten Laois in a Division Two relegation play-off in June 2021 but after that, they had to wait until January 2023 against Tipperary in Division Three to see their next positive result. Piece by piece, he has built them back up. Beating Donegal in 2023 ended a three-year stretch without an Ulster championship victory. They made a run through to the Tailteann Cup final that year before coming back to win it the following summer. They were promoted to Division Two last year and were damn unlucky to fall back out of it this time around, relegated on their head-to-head record with Louth despite having amassed six points and a better scoring difference. The crucial result was a one-point defeat on Drogheda in February. Down manager Conor Laverty shakes hands with referee David Coldrick after Sunday's game against Monaghan. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho They are in the Sam Maguire on the basis of being Tailteann champions and they have done the competition proud. Before this year, the record of the second-tier champions in the group stages read: Played 6 Lost 5 Drew 1 Won 0. Westmeath and Meath had a combined points difference of -38 across those six matches. Down have made a much better fist of it. Beating Clare was expected. Beating Leinster champions Louth – and gaining revenge for that league defeat – wasn't. Running Monaghan to the pin of their collar would have surprised nobody. Doing it in one of the most enjoyable, high-octane games of the whole summer showed that they have, definitively, arrived. So now they have Galway, in Newry, this weekend. They are fit and firing and mostly injury-free. They won't be one bit scared to see Pádraic Joyce's team coming to town and will pack the sort of ravenous crowd into The Marshes that hasn't been seen in well over a decade. Whatever happens, Laverty has them pointed in the right direction. – Malachy Clerkin L eads can't be protected any more – they must be attacked Of the teams remaining in the football championship this weekend nobody had lost more often than Cork. Only one of their three defeats, against Kerry in the Munster semi-final, would have done anything for their self-esteem; the second Kerry game exposed a gulf in class; the performance against Meath was demoralising. On Saturday they looked like a team trying to convince themselves they could win on the hoof, in real time. 'In the first half I thought we were tentative and nervous,' said John Cleary, the Cork manager. How could they be any other way? One of the beauties of the new rules, though, is that there is no way of tiptoeing around winning. In recent years, Cork were one of the teams happy to sit deep and hunker down behind sandbags. They didn't trust themselves to play on the front foot. Now, there is no choice. Cork's Daniel O'Mahony intercepts a pass to Roscommon's Diarmuid Murtagh. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho 'You can't control the game, big-time, any more,' said Cleary. 'You can't defend leads any more.' Just like in hurling, the only way to defend a lead in football now is to attack it. You can't deposit it in a savings account. There is no rate of interest. Cork led by six points midway through the second half on Saturday but scored just twice in the 18 minutes that remained. In the old rules, a six-point lead with just a quarter of the game to go would have been gold. In the end, Cork needed a diving block from Daniel O'Mahony to spare their season for another week. Of all the gifts bestowed on football by the new rules, skittish scoreboards might be the most satisfying of all. – Denis Walsh Ga l way face conundrum of a strong pane l By his own blunt own admission, Galway football manager Pádraic Joyce has a lot of difficult calls to make this week. Considering the big difference between the team that started and finished in Saturday's one-point win over Armagh, which kept alive Galway's season for another week at least, what now would be his best starting 15? The quick turnaround for the trip to Down this weekend, and real knock-out football, will focus that matter even further. Injury may well decide the fate of a couple of players, but Joyce will need to call on all his managerial experience when trying to get this one right. Before the throw-in in Cavan on Saturday evening, goalkeeper Connor Gleeson was replaced by Conor Flaherty, and 2024 footballer of the year Paul Conroy was replaced by Peter Cooke. When Galway fell nine points behind in the first half, with Rob Finnerty and Matthew Tierney both missing penalties, changes were promptly made. Conroy came in for Tierney after 33 minutes, and went on to have an excellent game, the 36-year-old winning the free just after the hooter that set up the winning score for Shane Walsh. Tierney later came back on for Cooke, on 59 minutes, making his presence felt in the helter-skelter endgame. Galway's Seán Fitzgerald in action against Armagh. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho Full back Seán Fitzgerald sustained a head injury early in the second half, and was replaced by Cian Hernon, who slipped seamlessly into the role. Both Fitzgerald and Hernon have been in and out of the starting 15 of late. Liam Silke was also replaced at half-time by Daniel O'Flaherty: Silke had a small bug in the week, and Joyce was happy to get the first half out of him. Cathal Sweeney came in for Dylan McHugh, scoring a point that helped sustain Galway's comeback. Damien Comer, originally named at number 26, didn't make the matchday panel at all, replaced by Colm Costello, and Joyce admitted that Comer's latest injury setback was likely to rule him out this weekend too. 'You can pick only 15, and it gives us huge headaches the next day trying to pick lads that are fresh again,' said Joyce. 'Teams nowadays are trying to finish with a stronger team than what starts, and there's different players and different horses in different courses. Galway's Liam Silke in action against Armagh. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho 'But it's tough, because Cathal Sweeney and Cian Hernon came in there, Danny Flaherty, and all to a man were really, really good for us. They put their hands up as well. 'Look, [that's] my job as manager, there's people picking teams in Galway every day of the week, and my job is to pick what I see in training. Paul [Conroy] probably struggled in the last couple of games, we spoke about that, and probably better have his impact off the bench. 'With Tierney, you're taking a big risk taking a man off and putting him back on, but he was just out of sorts in the first half. I know it's probably a bit of a harder one for the subs that didn't get on. But the lads are close enough to know that we have to do what we have to do to win the game.' It should make for a couple of telling training sessions in Galway this week. – Ian O'Riordan
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Kerry ladies boss Mark Bourke warns side they have key lesson to learn in spite of comeback vs Cork
MARK BOURKE warned TG4 All-Ireland SFC queens Kerry could get caught in the knockout stages if they do not rectify their poor first-half displays. Kerry — despite a second-minute goal from Niamh Ní Chonchúir — had to come from behind to 2 Ni Chonchúir raised a green flag after only two minutes 2 But Bourke's team still trailed at half-time Goals from Áine O'Sullivan and Katie Quirke gave Cork a 2-6 to 1-1 lead having played with the wind. And while the Kingdom outscored their rivals 4-4 to 0-3 in the second, boss Bourke was not happy. He said: 'It's knockout now and you're in top-team territory. If you give any team a start like that again we won't make it to the end. I didn't say much at half-time. 'They were getting balls into the killer zone way too easily. We knew that all week but we weren't working hard enough from our forwards and kickouts down.' Read More On GAA Siofra O'Shea, Danielle O'Leary and Rachel Dwyer got the Kerry goals in the second half, ensuring a home quarter-final for the All-Ireland champions. Cork must travel to Mayo next weekend to keep their season alive. Rebels manager Joe O'Carroll said: 'We knew Kerry were going to come at us in the second half even though we played so well in the first half. 'Maybe we should have been up a bit more as we had a few chances for goals but Kerry were clinical in the second half. There's no point crying over spilt milk. But today's performance won't beat Mayo.' Galway also booked a home quarter-final thanks to a 1-11 to 1-2 win over Donegal in Lifford. Most read in GAA Football They laid the foundation for victory in the opening half when Galway chief Daniel Moynihan said: 'We're a little bit frustrated with how we played in the first half. GAA fans 'loved seeing and hearing' the late Micheal O Muircheartaigh as he features in RTE documentary Hell for Leather 'We tried to break them down but eventually we got the job done.' Donegal, who travel to Tipperary next week to determine the group runners-up, finished strongly. Susanne White pointed a free before assisting for the goal that Mia Bennett finished to the net. Tír Chonaill chief James Daly said: 'On our squad of 32, there are 21 teenagers. 'Nine teenagers played and five of them are doing their Leaving Cert this week. We're under no illusions. We're a young team and we're trying to build. We're trying to get better. 'We're playing Tipperary next week and whoever wins that game goes to the quarter-final.' MEATH MATCH-UP Meath advanced to the last eight when The sides were level at 0-2 apiece at the break. But Meath got on top with Emma Duggan taking her haul to 0-5 to book their quarter-final spot. Royals midfielder Marion Farrelly said: 'We were disappointed at half-time not to be on top. 'We left a few goal shots out there and points-wise our conversion rate wasn't good. We said at half-time that it was do or die. There is still plenty to work on.' Kildare travel to Armagh next weekend with a quarter-final spot on the line. And Lilywhites goalkeeper Mary Hulgraine said: 'Whoever wins next week will be going through. 'That's our All-Ireland final. We'll be looking at it like that. We got to watch Armagh last week, they got to watch us this week. It'll be a great game.'
