Niall Carolan shuts down Ryan O'Donoghue as Cavan stun Mayo in Castlebar

The Irish Sun

20-05-2025

NIALL CAROLAN was more than happy to fulfil his mission of stopping Mayo marksman Ryan O'Donoghue on Sunday.
The Breffni claimed a shock
2
Ryan O'Donoghue of Mayo punches the ball to a team-mate, under pressure from Niall Carolan of Cavan, during the All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 clash
2
Niall Carolan and Cavan shocked Mayo to earn a famous three-point triumph
And they were helped in no small part by Carolan who kept sniper O'Donoghue scoreless.
When the teams met at the same stage of competition last year, O'Donoghue scored seven points in a facile 0-20 to 1-8 win.
But he had no luck this time out with Carolan disarming his threat.
Carolan and his Breffni backline also held the
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
And Cúchulainns clubman Carolan said: 'Ryan is quality.
'I've marked him a few times in college games and I knew it was going to be a tough task.
'But it's nice to know that you have a job going out to play.
'It's black and white, and once you do that, you give the team the best possible chance to win.
Most read in GAA Football
'People might say that it's a burden.
Limerick GAA fans troll RTE pundit Donal Og Cusack after win over Cork
'But you get that privilege to be trusted with that sort of a role and you just have to relish it.
'If you shy away from it, he won't be long kicking a few scores, so you have to get stuck in.
'I would have got one-on-one marking roles in the past and it's about devoting yourself to the role and making sure you do it.
'You need to be tuned in from the moment the ball is thrown up and you don't lose concentration.
'Ryan is so important to them and keeping him from scoring is very important.'
But stopping O'Donoghue was only a small part of the Cavan masterplan in Castlebar.
The Breffni wanted to start quickly to see if they could unsettle Kevin McStay's troops who were coming into the game after losing the Connacht SFC decider against Galway.
And they did that by scoring the first two points through Cormac O'Reilly and Ciarán Brady.
Mayo battled their way back into the game to lead at the break.
But McStay's men were not at their best and Cavan punished them with a dominant second-half display.
And Carolan, 23, explained: 'We went after the first ten minutes.
'We thought they might be hurting after the Connacht final.
"We knew that if we got stuck into them early, maybe in the back of their heads, they would have been thinking that, 'We got over these easily last year and we'll do the same again'.'
Cavan came from nowhere to ambush Mayo on Sunday.
They were well beaten when they faced them in the Championship a year ago and were dismissed 1-24 to 0-20 by Tyrone in the Ulster SFC quarter-final last month.
But Cavan were determined to atone for both of those defeats. Carolan said: 'The performance wasn't really there in Ulster.
'But we had it in our heads as a group to right the wrongs of Tyrone in a few weeks and Mayo after last year when we didn't come with the right intensity. That was brilliant on Sunday.'
Cavan's will get a chance to exact revenge on Ulster rivals Tyrone next month.
But Ray Galligan's side welcome provincial champs Donegal to Kingspan Breffni Park before that on June 1.
Should they win that battle — even though they will go in as rank outsiders — they will all but secure their place in the knockout stages of the race for Sam Maguire.
And Carolan hopes a big crowd descends on Breffni Park for Cavan's test against Jim McGuinness' Ulster kingpins.
He said: 'We have the Ulster champions coming in a few weeks so we'll have to get back to work.
'We'll need to get everything right for that one.
'Hopefully we'll get a bit of support. Great credit to the crowd that came to Mayo — it's a long journey.
'We're thankful for that and hopefully we'll get a crowd in Breffni