All our dreams come true as Mayo lift Sam Maguire after 75 long years

Mayo are All-Ireland Senior Football Champions.

For 75 years, generations of reporters with the Western People have waited to write those words and it is a privilege to have this opportunity to do so and to be in Croke Park to witness a moment in our county’s history that has been dreamt of and talked about for longer than most of us are alive.

It was only fitting that Mayo would finally end their long famine in a finale that will never be forgotten as Kerry fought back valiantly in the final minutes, cutting Mayo’s five-point lead to two and coming within touching distance of a two-pointer equaliser on several occasions.

For Mayo, this game was won in a majestic 25-minute spell either side of half time when they outscored Kerry by 1-11 to 0-4. Trailing by six points in the 23rd minute, Mayo were four ahead by the 45th, and although Kerry battled to the very end, Andy Moran’s men did not relinquish their lead as they gained almost total dominance around the midfield. Even a flurry of wides midway through the second half failed to knock them off course as they stared history in the face and refused to blink.

The key score in that unforgettable third quarter came in the 39th minute when David McBrien set up Darragh Beirne for the all-important goal that propelled Mayo to victory. Beirne had got Mayo off to a flying start in that second half with a point in the opening minute before Kobe McDonald – the other teenage revelation of Mayo’s summer of dreams – put his side in front for the first time in the game, 0-12 to 1-8.

Beirne’s goal gave Mayo a cushion they held until the final whistle, even stretching the lead to five points when Jack Carney struck a two-pointer in the 45th minute to complete a remarkable purple patch.

It would be almost ten minutes before Mayo registered another score – from Kobe McDonald – and there were a series of wides in that spell that might have proved disastrous on another day. But this wasn’t any other day. This was Sunday, July 26, 2026, and Mayo were not to be stopped.

By the 62nd minute, they were still five points ahead as Kerry’s forwards struggled to break down Mayo’s heroic rearguard action, and although David Clifford and his brother Paudie narrowed the gap to just two points, 1-19 to 1-17, with three minutes remaining, the Mayo defence held firm and they eventually turned the ball over on the cusp of full time before working the ball to the lone Tommy Conroy who could have gone for goal but was more than happy to take a point. After all, we had only waited 75 years for an insurance score in an All-Ireland Final, so why be greedy?

COMEBACK

The seeds for Mayo’s stunning victory were planted in those final ten minutes of the first half when Kerry’s early lead was completely wiped out to leave the Kingdom with just a one-point advantage at half-time, 1-8 to 0-10.

Mayo would have gladly taken that half-time score after 16 minutes when Sean O’Shea put Kerry seven ahead. At that stage, Mayo had registered just one point – from David McBrien in the seventh minute – and it seemed as if this final was following similar patterns to 2004 and 2006.

On a day when there were a plethora of marquee forwards at both ends of the field, it was a defender Dylan Casey who opened the scoring in the second minute after a well-worked Kerry move. Sean O’Brien had a chance for a goal two minutes later before David Clifford scored his first of the day after a Mayo attack had run aground. Kerry won the resulting kickout and Clifford got on the end of a lightning-fast move to fist over this side’s third in the sixth minute.

McBrien raised the first cheer from the huge Mayo following a minute later but a series of missed opportunities from Mayo – Darragh Beirne and Paul Towey were both short while Jordan Flynn was wide with a two-point effort – halted any potential momentum. Instead it was Kerry who regained the initiative with Sean O’Shea scoring his side’s fourth in the 14th minute before the first big moment in the game came in the 15th minute when O’Shea combined with Clifford for the latter to finish with typical aplomb. O’Shea’s point a minute later left Mayo seven adrift, but a combination of Kerry wastefulness and Mayo doggedness turned the half on its head.

A magnificent two-pointer from Jack Carney cut the gap to five before Tom O’Sullivan, a late addition for the injured Diarmuid O’Connor, kicked successive wides and then Clifford showed he was mortal by failing to convert a two-pointer that would normally be within his range. However, he made amends shortly after by setting up Sean O’Shea to put his side back into a six-point lead.

It was, however, the end of Kerry’s period of dominance and Mayo enjoyed the better of the remainder of the half, outscoring the Kingdom by seven points to one in a remarkable period of dominance.

Ryan O’Donoghue kicked it all off with an outstanding two-pointer before frees from Beirne and O’Donoghue narrowed the gap to three points in the 26th minute. Sam Callinan reduced the gap further after a great run from Kobe McDonald and the another free from Beirne left just the minimum between the teams as half-time approached. However, it got even better for Mayo when an hopeful effort from substitute Tommy Conroy, who had replaced Paul Towey, brought the sides level after the helpful intervention of Hawkeye.

Joe O’Connor put Kerry back into the lead on the stroke of half-time but Mayo were right back in the game after a half that had seemed to be drifting away from them just 20 minutes earlier. The only question at half-time was whether Mayo could carry their form of those final ten minute of the first half into the second. We need not have doubted. Mayo were men on a mission and so they proved in an unforgettable second-half performance that wiped away years of hurt, frustration and heartbreak.

Mayo are All-Ireland Senior Football Champions.

Need we say anymore? 

Well, we will, have lots and lots more in our souvenir Western People on Tuesday morning. We have only spent 75 years preparing it so it's going to be a good one!