Moore’s the pity as Mayo make dramatic exit from All-Ireland race
Mayo’s Donnacha McHugh tries to close in on Donegal’s Michael Murphy during Sunday's All-Ireland SFC clash at King and Moffatt Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon. Picture: David Farrell Photography
The last kick booted Mayo out of the All-Ireland SFC on Sunday as Donegal snatched a one point win in front of 18,731 enthralled spectators in Roscommon. It looked as though the Green and Red had snuck a draw that would have guaranteed them a place in next weekend’s preliminary quarter-finals, however, after Fergal Boland’s equalising point with only sixteen seconds left on the clock, the kickout by Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton beat the hooter – and Mayo’s midfield – to land in the lap of Ciaran Moore who drove forward to kick the winning point.
The gut-wrencher for Mayo is that Moore’s score didn’t even alter Donegal’s standing in Group 1 – they would have remained in second place by virtue of Tyrone’s win over Cavan – but it’s a case of season over for the Connacht men, who paid the ultimate price for their surprise defeat at home to Cavan in the group opener.
Speculation about who might manage Mayo in 2026 will now arise, after Stephen Rochford’s two game stand-in for Kevin McStay who had temporarily stepped aside post-Cavan on health grounds.
Rochford would have hoped for a third game in charge, particularly after David McBrien’s counterattacking goal in the 55th minute had seen Mayo take a two points lead. But they paid the price for a disappointing first-half display that saw them trail by three points having not only played with the wind but with a man extra for ten minutes, following Peadar Mogan’s ninth minute black carding.
Mogan had already kicked Donegal’s first two points – one of which was a gilt-edged goal chance – in what was an extremely eventful opening for the corner-back, with another point by the other corner-back, Caolan McColgan, handing Jim McGuinness’ side a 0-3 to 0-1 lead.
McColgan was also to give an excellent display of marking on Aidan O’Shea who was held scoreless.
Eoghan Bán Gallagher joined with Mogan as another of the Donegal defenders to threaten Colm Reape’s goal in a first-half that saw Mayo take a 0-4 to 0-3 lead after twelve minutes but raise only two more white flags before half-time as Donegal, with seven different scorers, took a 0-9 to 0-6 advantage to the dressing-room.
It's worth saying that Mayo were dealt some cruel luck in the second-half. Donegal talisman Michael Murphy had barely a sniff of a score from play until his marker Donnacha McHugh crumpled to the turf in agony seven minutes into the second-half. Between then and full-time Murphy made enough hay to be named as the official man-of-the-match.
And then Mayo were forced to replace McHugh’s replacement, as Davitt Neary too succumbed to injury after only thirteen minutes on the pitch. Mayo had scored 1-4 during the Breaffy man’s brief appearance and only three points in the fifteen minutes after his departure.
But Mayo had walked a tightrope throughout this match, with Shane O’Donnell drawing an exceptional save from Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape just minutes into the second-half, and Reape later getting his toes to a shot from Paddy McBrearty when it looked easier for the Donegal substitute to score.
If Darren McHale had helped keep Mayo in the game with his first-half brace of points, back-to-back efforts by Conal Dawson, who was making only his second start, stirred the outnumbered Mayo supporters, as it reduced the arrears of Rochford’s side to one point ten minutes into the second-half. Jack Carney scored his first point but could also have had a major, while McHale’s third from play preceded Mayo’s lead-giving goal.
It was Jordan Flynn’s interception of Michael Murphy’s hand-pass that saw David McBrien leave Murphy for dust in a sprint up-field, offloading to O’Shea and receiving the ball back from Carney before squeezing his shot in off the butt of the left upright, to leave Mayo 1-12 to 0-13 ahead. Within three minutes Donegal had wiped that out and some, with sub Dáire Ó Baoill’s two pointer supplemented by singles from Murphy and Shane O’Donnell.
Mayo never regained the lead in that final quarter, but nor did they need to – a draw would have sufficed. And it looked for all the world that Boland, less than three minutes on the pitch, had secured just that, with an exquisite kick off his right boot with 69:44 on the clock.
But as was the case last season, against Galway in the Connacht Final, against Dublin, also at the Hyde, and fatally, against Derry, in Castlebar, Mayo were punished for a familiar failing. Near enough wasn’t good enough.
Scorers – Donegal: Michael Murphy 0-1-3 (1tpf, 1 ’45), Dáire Ó Baoill 0-1-0, Peadar Mogan, Conor O’Donnell, Ciarán Thompson (1f) and Ciaran Moore 0-0-2 each, Caolan McColgan, Finnbarr Roarty, Shane O’Donnell and Oisin Gallen 0-0-1 each.
Mayo: Ryan O’Donoghue 0-0-6 (5f), David McBrien 1-0-0, Darren McHale 0-0-3, Conal Dawson 0-0-2, Donnacha McHugh, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn and Fergal Boland 0-0-1 each.
Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Enda Hession; Stephen Coen, Donnacha McHugh, Paddy Durcan; David McBrien, Matthew Ruane; Conal Dawson, Jack Carney, Bob Tuohy; Aidan O’Shea, Darren McHale, Ryan O’Donoghue. Subs: Jordan Flynn (for Tuohy 23), Davitt Neary (for McHugh 42, inj), Sean Morahan (for Hession 52), Paul Towey (for Neary 55, inj), Fergal Boland (for Coen 67).
Donegal: Shaun Patton; Peadar Mogan, Brendan McCole, Caolan McColgan; Finnbarr Roarty, Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Ryan McHugh; Hugh McFadden, Michael Langan; Ciarán Moore, Ciarán Thompson, Shane O’Donnell; Conor O’Donnell, Michael Murphy, Oisín Gallen. Subs: Jason McGee and Dáire Ó Baoill (for McFadden and Gallen 52), Paddy McBrearty (for McHugh 57), Eoin McHugh (for S O’Donnell 67).
REF: Paul Faloon (Down)
