Louth laid low as Mayo storm into final

All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final 

Mayo 3-23 

Louth 0-15 

Anthony Hennigan in Croke Park 

Mayo booked their place in the 2026 final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship on Saturday with a rebellious display that screamed of a team bristling at the notion pedalled by most national pundits that Louth were a better bet for victory.

In doing so, the players have brought the county to within 70 minutes of the Holy Grail for a seventh time since 2012 – and a twelfth time since last lifting the Sam Maguire Cup – but perhaps never before have Mayo been more unlikely finalists as now. If somehow able to complete their mission on Sunday week they will become the first champions to have lost twice along the way.

But this is a Mayo team unrecognisable from the day of their sobering Connacht championship home defeat to Roscommon in April as they laid bare the differences between Division 1 and Division 2 teams with their most complete performance of this year’s championship yet.

The game was all square after 29 minutes but from that point on Mayo outscored their opponents by 2-15 to 0-4. By full-time, a Louth team on the back of consecutive victories over Dublin, Armagh and Monaghan (despite a player down for 64 minutes) had ended up beaten by 17 points. And it could have been by much more.

Darragh Beirne and Ryan O’Donoghue both scored Mayo goals but drew saves from Louth goalkeeper Niall McDonnell from other attempts, and substitute Tommy Conroy was twice denied in the second-half also, by a combination of crossbar and keeper. But in raising three green flags on one glorious summer’s evening in Croke Park, Mayo doubled the number of goals they had scored heretofore in this year’s championship. It was also their second consecutive clean sheet having conceded six goals in four games before that, with Jack Livingstone not having a single save to make – so this is undoubtedly an improving Mayo team at both ends of the pitch. It’s also one whose swashbuckling approach has rekindled a bond with supporters who greeted this win as though it was they who had chased a first All-Ireland Final since 1957 and not Louth.

Mayo didn’t quite hit the ground running on Saturday but the early signs in the warm conditions were positive nonetheless. Jack Carney and Darragh Beirne, twice, had missed point attempts and Beirne had drawn a save from McDonnell all before the Louth goalkeeper ended up picking the ball from his net in the sixth minute. Ryan O’Donoghue applied the rolled finish after Kobe McDonald’s deft flick of Paul Towey’s delivery had put the Belmullet man in behind the cover.

Dara McDonnell already had a point on the board by then and Louth doubled their tally through full-forward Ciaran Downey before back to back points from O’Donoghue and Beirne left Mayo 1-2 to 0-2 ahead after eight minutes.

Louth’s best spell came when a Conor Grimes point was followed by consecutive two pointers by Downey and Sam Mulroy, from a free conceded by Jordan Flynn for which he received an early booking, which left Louth two in front after 16 minutes. Grimes and Downey proved a handful throughout the first-half while Dara McDonnell’s spectacular fielding of kickouts offered his side a platform, but the open nature of the contest was to suit Andy Moran’s team best.

O’Donoghue converted a self-won free, fisted over to draw Mayo level and then in reply to a Ciaran Keenan single, nailed a two-pointer into Hill 16. Kobe McDonald fisted open his account too, and that point left Mayo 1-7 to 0-8 ahead after 22 minutes.

The Wee County suffered a blow when wing-back Craig Lennon slipped and injured himself under pressure from Mayo’s high press. The decision by the Mayo management to place Sam Callinan at right-half-forward and keep the attack-minded Lennon on the backfoot had been working well.

If losing Lennon was a blow, Louth could be thankful referee David Coldrick decided against any further action on their other wing-back, Conal McKeever, whose foul on David McBrien resulted in a point for Darragh Beirne. McKeever’s offence had looked of the black card variety but Louth’s 15 fought back to level matters for a third time.

A shot you fancied Kobe McDonald to score had dropped short from which Lennon’s replacement, Tadgh McDonnell, counterattacked to set up Conor Grimes for a point which he followed shortly after with one from outside the arc. But misses by corner-forwards Ryan Burns and Kieran McArdle prevented Gavin Devlin’s side from edging in front.

A point by Paul Towey, offering plenty on his second consecutive start at centre-forward, moved Mayo in front again – and their lead was about to become four thanks to Darragh Beirne’s second goal of the championship. The Claremorris teenager had a point effort half-blocked by Daire Nally but the dropping ball was broken by Flynn to Callinan, and Beirne had continued on his run to receive the pass before firing right-footed past McDonnell.

At the other end, Sam Mulroy drove a two-point free wide of the posts on the hooter, so Mayo took a 2-9 to 0-11 into the dressing-room knowing that when they reappeared there’d also be a nice summer’s breeze at their backs. They also reemerged with Tommy Conroy in tow and the second-half wasn’t a minute old when Towey’s replacement had slipped inside full-back Donal McKenny only for his crack at goal to take a defection onto the crossbar and away to safety. It was, though, the sign of a long half to come for the Leinster men.

With Jack Carney and Bob Tuohy willing figures beneath the kickouts, Mayo’s tenacity around the breaking ball was the best seen by them all year. They were to win the ground-war closer to their own goal also, as countless Louth attacks floundered in the face of intense Mayo defending, with David McBrien and Jack Coyne central to numerus overturns. In fact, it would take 22 minutes for Louth to raise a flag in the second-half.

Jordan Flynn, a two pointer, and Kobe McDonald, two singles, were Mayo’s first scorers after half-time before another goal chance for Conroy, in the 44th minute, was saved, with the rebound whipped from the boot of Beirne by McKeever.

The pressure was ever increasing on Louth and Ryan O’Donoghue, in the midst of an outstanding display, was only denied his second goal by the strong hand of McDonnell who made an excellent save down at his left. But O’Donoghue, a free, and sub Cian McHale, kicked points either side of a third Mayo goal which was booted home by another of the subs, Conor Loftus, with the rampaging Conroy again at the heart of the all the destruction down the centre of the Louth defence.

The Mayo lead now stood at 3-15 to 0-11 after 50 minutes. The scramble for tickets was already underway.

Ciaran Downey and Tommy Durnin traded points with McHale and O’Donoghue, a free, to eventually give Louth fans something to cheer, but many of those same fans were already making for the exits when a two-point free by Ryan O’Donoghue was supplemented by McDonald’s fourth point, after he interlinked the play wonderfully with Enda Hession and Tommy Conroy, stretching the gap out to 16 points.

The hardworking Ciaran Downey swung over his second two-pointer from play in the 67th minute but that was his side’s final scoring act whereas Mayo weren’t yet done.

Loftus sprayed a fine ball into the lap of the newly introduced Matthew Ruane who fired over a beauty from the right wing and when Ryan O’Donoghue was fouled just seconds from full-time, not even the hooter – and the pouring of the Mayo sideline onto the pitch in celebration – could deny him from driving the two-point free between the posts. For 24 hours at least, O’Donoghue’s total for the day of 1-3-5 moved him three points above David Clifford as the highest scorer in this year’s All-Ireland SFC.

The biggest showdown is yet to come.

Scorers – Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 1-3-5 (2tpf, 3f), Darragh Beirne 1-0-2 (1f), Kobe McDonald 0-0-4, Conor Loftus 1-0-0, Jordan Flynn 0-1-0, Cian McHale 0-0-2, Paul Towey and Matthew Ruane 0-0-1 each.

Louth: Ciaran Downey 0-2-2, Conor Grimes 0-1-2, Sam Mulroy 0-1-0 (tpf), Dara McDonnell, Ciaran Keenan and Tommy Durnin 0-0-1 each.

Mayo: Jack Livingstone; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Eoin McGreal; Stephen Coen, David McBrien, Enda Hession; Bob Tuohy, Jack Carney; Sam Callinan, Paul Towey, Jordan Flynn; Darragh Beirne, Ryan O’Donoghue, Kobe McDonald. Subs: Tommy Conroy (for Towey ht), Conor Loftus (for Coen 42), Cian McHale (for Beirne 49), Fenton Kelly (for McGreal 54), Matthew Ruane (for Flynn 62).

Louth: Niall McDonnell; Emmet Carolan, Donal McKenny, Daire Nally; Conal McKeever, Dara McDonnell, Craig Lennon; Conor Early, Ciaran Keenan; James Maguire, Sam Mulroy, Conor Grimes; Kieran McArdle, Ciaran Downey, Ryan Burns. Subs: Tadgh McDonnell (for Lennon 23, inj), Ciaran Byrne (for Keenan 40), Tommy Durnin (for Maguire 46), Conall McCaul (for Grimes 52), Anthony Williams (for McKeever 62).

REF: David Coldrick (Meath)