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Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Cavan v Donegal live score updates from All-Ireland Football Championship clash
After recording a shock win over Mayo, Cavan bid to deliver another surprise in the All-Ireland series when they take on Donegal at Breffni Park. Raymond Galligan's side were defeated by Tyrone in their Ulster Championship quarter-final and were handed a difficult draw when pitched into Group One with the Red Hands, Ulster champions Donegal and defeated Connacht finalists Mayo. However, they have given themselves a good chance of progressing to the knockout stages and they welcomed back star attacker Paddy Lynch against Mayo in Castlebar. Donegal played four games to win Ulster and are facing their sixth all-Ulster Championship clash of 2025 today. Last weekend's loss to Tyrone in Ballybofey was their first defeat in League or Championship under Jim McGuinness at MacCumhaill Park. The back-to-back Ulster champions will be keen to return to winning ways this afternoon. They also suffered a loss to Cork in the group stages last season and still managed to top the group and Tyrone's loss to Mayo last night means a win for Donegal would leave every team with one win and one loss going into round three. You can follow all the action live below. All-Ireland SFC Round Two, Group One: Tyrone 1-13 Mayo 2-17 Mayo have blown Group One wide open following a stunning seven-point defeat of Tyrone at O'Neills Healy Park. Goals in each half from Darren McHale and Ryan O'Donoghue from the penalty spot helped an embattled Mayo side claim a full-merited win. The fortunes of both teams could hardly have been for contrasting coming into the game with Mayo losing to Cavan in round one before Kevin McStay was forced to step aside for health reasons with Stephen Rochford coming in as interim boss. Tyrone's first half performance was reminiscent of their League showing in MacHale Park when they suffered a 0-12 to 0-10 defeat in an forgettable and drab affair. Just seven days previous, they'd handed Jim McGuinness his first loss in Ballybofey as they defeated Ulster champions Donegal. Yet, the Red Hands never matched the pitch of that game. They posted a meagre four points in the first half as Mayo dominated the midfield battle in the absence of the influential Brian Kennedy. Malachy O'Rourke might have been happy enough with a five-point deficit at the break, but an error from Niall Morgan afforded Mayo a goal after several missed chances earlier in the half. A speculative effort from Bob Tuohy was caught in the wind and Morgan failed to collect possession leaving Darren McHale to fire into the net to put Mayo 1-9 to 0-4 ahead. O'Donoghue almost plundered a goal on the restart as he was denied by the post and Tyrone's third quarter gave the home support something to cheer about. Mattie Donnelly curled over a good score before Darragh Canavan was given the space to jink in behind the Mayo defence and fire a cracking goal past Colm Reape. The introduction of Errigal Ciaran duo Peter Harte and Ruairi Canavan increased Tyrone's attacking intent further. Darren McCurry and a two-point free from Niall Morgan had one point between the teams, but Tyrone couldn't get back on level terms. Mayo replied in style with back-to-back scores from Jack Carney and the impressive Paddy Durcan, who finished with three points from play. Moments after Conn Kilpatrick was blown for over-carrying in a promising position, Mayo put the result beyond doubt with a penalty. Aidan O'Shea put substitute Davitt Neary through on goal and he went to ground under the weight of challenges from Liam Gray and Cormac Quinn. O'Donoghue gave Morgan no chance from the penalty, although the Tyrone goalkeeper converted a second two-pointer minutes later. However, that score fell either side of points from O'Donoghue and the inspirational O'Shea and Jack Coyne's point after the hooter gave Mayo a seven-point win in Omagh. The beaten Connacht finalists face Donegal at a neutral venue in round three with the Red Hands set to face Cavan for the second time in the Championship. Should Donegal get the better of the Breffnimen this afternoon, all four teams would have two points going into round three. Things could get very interesting in Group One. TYRONE: N Morgan 0-4 (2tpf), C Quinn, P Teague, N Devlin; M McKernan 0-1, R Brennan, K McGeary 0-1; B McDonnell 0-1, C Kilpatrick; S O'Donnell, M Donnelly 0-1, C Daly; D McCurry 0-2 (0-1f), M Bradley, D Canavan 1-3 (0-2fs). Subs: L Gray for Brennan (HT), S O'Hare for O'Donnell (HT), P Harte for Bradley (47), R Canavan for Daly (47), A Donaghy for McDonnell (61). MAYO: C Reape 0-1 (0-1 45); J Coyne 0-1, S Moraghan, R Brickenden 0-2, S Coen, D McBrien, E Hession; P Durcan 0-3, M Ruane; J Carney 0-1, D McHale 1-0, B Tuohy; A O'Shea 0-1, C Dawson 0-2, R O'Donoghue 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-5fs). Subs: J Flynn for Tuohy (45), D Neary for McHale (45), F Kelly for Dawson (55), F Boland for Ruane (67), S Callinan for Durcan (69). REFEREE: D Coldrick (Meath).
Irish Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Colm Boyle column: I can't see McStay lifting Mayo now, Dubs still a real danger
It may have been a shock but there was no element of fluke about Cavan's victory over Mayo in Castlebar. Cavan's second half performance, in which they scored 1-13, was brilliant and they were cruising in the end, with Aidan O'Shea's late goal putting some gloss on the scoreboard for Mayo. Darren McHale had been the only other Mayo forward to score from play prior to that, having kicked a point in the first half. Up the other end Cormac O'Reilly and Oisín Kiernan were running riot on the Mayo back line. The first half was abysmal with Mayo undeservedly leading by 0-7 to 0-4 at half time. They scored six times (including one two-pointer) from a measly eight shots with a slight breeze on their backs on a perfect day for football. I was expecting Mayo to come out with real intent and energy at the start of the second half. Instead they won possession from the throw-in and signalled to play keep ball. Cavan turned them over, broke fast and finished Gerard Smith blasted to the net. They never looked back from there. For Mayo this is a fatal blow to any lingering hopes they had of being a bolter in this year's Championship. The defeat itself is obviously a worry from a Mayo point of view, but the manner of it is far more concerning. Their body language for most of the second half was really poor. The lack of fight and resistance against the second half Cavan tide was startling. Time and time again Cavan broke through the middle of an absent Mayo defence and picked off scores while Mayo players ambled back after them. On the ball there was no quality in their play and nobody was thinking clearly in the last 20 minutes with some really poor decisions made on the ball, which seemed to snowball. There was no urgency on the Mayo sideline either as they waited until the 55th minute to make their first substitution with Fenton Kelly replacing Jack Carney. On a day of sweltering heat, they waited until the 69th and 70th minute to make their last two changes when the game was effectively over. This was a sobering day for Mayo football and it's hard to see how Kevin McStay will raise his team for Tyrone in two weeks' time. But Cavan are the story and for Raymond Galligan and his troops it was a brilliant result. Ahead of the All-Ireland series, all the talk was of a 'big four' that had suddenly emerged. Well, Dublin showed on Saturday evening that this quartet - Armagh, Donegal, Galway and Kerry - are all vulnerable to those in the chasing pack. To describe Dublin's win over Galway as an ambush would be wrong considering the ridiculous amount of All-Ireland medals that the core group of the Dublin squad have. But it was a timely reminder that class is permanent and no one demonstrated that more than Ciaran Kilkenny. This is not the best Dublin team that Kilkenny has been a part of and it was far from one of the biggest games he has played in, but it was one of his most influential games in a Dublin jersey. That's a statement I didn't think I would be saying at this stage of Kilkenny's career but what we witnessed on Saturday evening was an act of defiance. Think of Roy Keane in Turin in 1999 and you're getting close to Kilkenny's masterclass of leadership in Salthill. Straight from the off, with his team playing into the Salthill breeze, he got to work and assisted Sean Bulger and Killian McGinnis for Dublin's first two scores. He finished the half with two more assists for Con O'Callaghan's scores and a buzzer beater point for himself in a move where he touched the ball four times. With Dublin expected to struggle on their own kickout in particular, Kilkenny won four on his own in the first half as Dublin took control of the middle ground battle. It was noticeable that Cluxton was putting most of his kick outs down Kilkenny's wing. In the second half, with Dublin's backs to the wall after conceding 1-2 in the opening couple of minutes to go from four points up to one down, Kilkenny chased back 60-70 metres to get involved in a big turnover which ended up in Lorcan O'Dell winning a free down the other end to settle Dublin down after a shaky start to the half. But nothing Kilkenny did was more powerful than the two big hits in a row to force Shane Walsh out over the sideline - what a signal to send to your teammates. If anything, Kilkenny's performance got even better when O'Callaghan, who was also brilliant, was forced off through injury in the 43 minute. He never wilted and seemed to take every free against the Galway press to get Dublin out of the trouble. He finished the game with two more assists for scores and kicked another himself. It was by a country mile the best all-round individual display in the Championship so far. Galway took the same approach with Kilkenny as Meath did last week with Sam Mulroy - he roamed freely without a designated man marker and the home side paid the price. For Galway, this is a wake-up call and, in hindsight, it might not be the worst result as long as they can lift themselves for the next two games. But it is the second game in a row in which they haven't played particularly well. Mayo let them off the hook in the Connacht final with some erratic shooting coming down the stretch but Dublin were the complete opposite and razor sharp in the second half on Saturday, converting nine out of 13 shots. Pádraic Joyce will be raging that his team didn't deliver a performance in front of a big home crowd but there will be a group of a lot of twists and turns yet and I would expect a big performance from them in Celtic Park in two weeks. Kerry didn't need to get to the same level of intensity as Dublin or Galway as they easily defeated Roscommon on a baking hot Killarney on Saturday. In saying that, they weren't massively impressive in doing so. They are very much in damned if they do and damned if they don't territory. They are expected to cruise through this group and, ultimately, they will. It's whether the lack of intense games in the group stage will be a help or hindrance when the fat is in the fire in a knockout game. Last year's easy group didn't do them much good when Armagh turned up the heat in the All-Ireland semi-final. The big plus from their point of view was the return of Diarmuid O Connor. It wasn't until David Clifford's goal in the 50th minute that they could finally relax and the final 20 minutes were played at challenge match pace. In a game that won't live long in the memory, the one striking aspect was how referee David Coldrick implemented the rules compared to David Gough in the Galway-Dublin game. Coldrick allowed Clifford take some eight or nine steps for his goal despite the FRC looking to clamp down on the four steps rule. He barely allowed any contact at all in the tackle which led to so many soft frees. Gough, on the other hand, policed the steps rule stringently, pulling the Dubs a few times early on especially. He also allowed for much more contact and physicality in the tackle similar to his performance in the Armagh-Tyrone Ulster semi-final. This type of refereeing almost always leads to a better spectacle, so let's hope more refs follow Gough's example rather than that of his fellow Meathman.
The 42
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Galway edge Mayo in thriller to win fourth straight Connacht title
Galway 1-17 Mayo 1-15 Kevin Egan reports from Hastings Insurance MacHale Park SMALL MARGINS ON the scoreboard, but a landslide when it came to the big moments. Galway are Connacht champions once again and their Nestor Cup success was all about the huge plays that they made in the closing minutes, snatching victory from a Mayo side that looked to have done everything right to set themselves up for a big finish. When Mayo won the toss and chose to play into the strong breeze at their home venue, it was clear that they had a plan – and when the platform was being laid for the final quarter their execution was everything they would have wanted. For the first quarter it was like the old cliché – Galway had the breeze, Mayo had the ball. Ryan O'Donoghue picked off two early frees, Davitt Neary set up Darren McHale for a goal, and while Paul Conroy hoisted over a trademark two-pointer from distance, Mayo would have been thrilled with their 1-2 to 0-2 lead with 15 minutes to play. All across the pitch, the home script was being followed. The kickout battle was utterly congested with no room for Cillian McDaid, Cein Darcy and Conroy to exhibit their fielding prowess, and when Galway did take possession, Mayo were robust in the tackle, forcing turnovers in plays where Galway would have expected to work the ball out of trouble. Mayo's Enda Hession and Johnny McGrath of Galway. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO Eventually the Tribesmen did find their range and in the second quarter they pushed on, but it was only after they shed their reliance on scores from range. Their first five attempts were all struck from distance, and after Matthew Thompson split the posts from the right corner to make it 0-7 to 1-2 with 20 minutes played they finally took on a shot from inside the two-point arc. Once they added that variation to their attack, they thrived. A Matthew Tierney penalty – awarded for a pull by Matthew Ruane on Johnny McGrath – added rocket fuel to their engine and their briefly moved nine clear before Darren McHale broke a 26 minute scoring drought for Mayo shortly before half-time. Just as the first quarter went entirely according to plan however, so too did the third. Ryan O'Donoghue set the tone with a double, Matthew Ruane soon followed up with another and by the midway point in the half they were level at 1-13 each. Even then, that was only because of an incredible Connor Gleeson tip on a free from O'Donoghue to prevent Mayo taking the lead. Psychologically, that was huge, because Mayo never managed to take that lead, and time and again it seemed like Galway had the ability to deliver a big play when they most needed it. Cillian McDaid struck two incredible points under pressure, Dylan McHugh blocked down what looked like a simple Paul Towey score, and Connor Gleeson denied Enda Hession when a potential lead goal was on. Mayo had their own chances to seize the initiative, but that killer instinct wasn't there. O'Donoghue dropped another two-point free just short, Paul Towey was off the mark with two chances and a butchered short kickout from Colm Reape meant that Rory Brickenden was forced to drag down Rob Finnerty and pick up a black card. Mayo's Matthew Ruane and Johnny McGrath of Galway. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO Matthew Tierney joined Brickenden at the sideline and Mayo had one last chance, but by now, the script was set in stone. The ball was worked to Ruane on the right flank, he shot off the outside of the right boot, but his reaction told the story before the umpire had the chance to wave his arms. When it was a tactical battle, Mayo had the edge. When it was about delivering under pressure, Galway's credentials passed the test. Scorers for Galway: Paul Conroy 0-7 (2tp, 1tpf), Matthew Tierney 1-1 (1-0 pen), Robert Finnerty 0-4 (0-3f), Cillian McDaid 0-2, Matthew Thompson 0-1, Seán Kelly 0-1, Liam Ó Conghaíle 0-1. Advertisement Scorers for Mayo: Ryan O'Donoghue 0-9 (0-6f, 1tp), Darren McHale 1-2, Matthew Ruane 0-2 (1tp), Davitt Neary 0-1, Colm Reape 0-1 (45). Galway: 1. Connor Gleeson (Dunmore MacHales) 4. Jack Glynn (Claregalway), 3. Seán Fitzgerald (Bearna), 2. Johnny McGrath (Cahirlistrane) 5. Dylan McHugh (Corofin), 6. Seán Mulkerrin (Oileáin Árann), 7. Liam Silke (Corofin) 8. Paul Conroy (St. James'), 9. Seán Kelly (Maigh Cuilinn) 10. Cein Darcy (Ballyboden St. Enda's), 11. John Maher (Salthill-Knocknacarra), 12. Cillian McDaid (Monivea-Abbey) 15. Matthew Thompson (Salthill-Knocknacarra), 14. Robert Finnerty (The Downs), 13. Matthew Tierney (Oughterard) Subs: 20. Cathal Sweeney (Salthill-Knocknacarra) for Maher (half-time) 19. Kieran Molloy (Corofin) for Fitzgerald (40) 18. Cian Hernon (Bearna) for Mulkerrin (48) 26. Peter Cooke (Maigh Cuilinn) for Sweeney (61) 23. Liam Ó Conghaíle (An Spidéal) for Thompson (65) Mayo: 1. Colm Reape (Knockmore) 2. Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis), 4. Enda Hession (Garrymore), 3. Donnacha McHugh (Castlebar Mitchels) 26. Rory Brickenden (Westport), 6. David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen), 7. Stephen Coen (Hollymount Carramore) 19. Diarmuid O'Connor (Ballintubber), 9. Matthew Ruane (Breaffy) 14. Jack Carney (Kilmeena), 12. Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers), 11. Darren McHale (Knockmore) 15. Ryan O'Donoghue (Béal an Muirthead), 13. Aidan O'Shea (Breaffy), 10. Davitt Neary (Breaffy) Subs: 5. Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites) for McBrien (9-FT, temp) 25. Paul Towey (Charlestown) for O'Connor (half-time) 19. Kieran Molloy (Corofin) for Fitzgerald (41) 21. Fergal Boland (Aghamore) for Neary (61) 20. Fenton Kelly (Davitts) for McHale (65) Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).
BreakingNews.ie
04-05-2025
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
GAA: Galway defeat Mayo to win fourth Connacht title in-a-row
Galway have won their fourth straight Connacht title with a 1-17 to 1-15 win over Mayo in MacHale Park. The All-Ireland finalists had to dig deep in the final moments to hold on, as Mayo could not overturn a strong first-half performance from Galway. Advertisement Mayo got off to a quick start, with Darren McHale scoring the opening goal of the game in the 11th minute to put them 1-2 to 0-2 up. Galway responded strongly with two pointers from Paul Conroy, helping them to a 0-7 to 1-2 lead after 21 minutes. Matthew Tierney extended their lead from the penalty spot, as they went into the interval with a 1-11 to 1-03 lead, as they took control of the game. Mayo started the second half strong, with scores from Ryan O'Donoghue, Matthew Ruane, and Darren McHale helping Mayo reduce the gap to one point in the 49th minute. Advertisement O'Donoghue brought Mayo level three minutes later with a long-range free, with Mayo taking charge of the kick-out. However, Galway regained control, with points from Conroy, Robert Finnerty, and Liam Ó Conghaile sealing victory for Galway. In the Munster final, David Clifford scored 2-5 to help Kerry to a 4-20 to 0-21 win over Clare in Killarney. Kerry's goals all came in the first half, with Cifford's first coming just after three minutes. His second goal came in the sixth minute with further goals from Micheál Burns and Barry Dan O'Sullivan, as they took a 4-10 to 0-7 lead into the break. Clare kept pushing with nine points coming from Emmet McMahon, but the damage was done in the first half, as attention turns to the All-Ireland group stage.
