Mayo escape to victory over Donegal, book Croker date with Kerry
Jack Carney of Mayo steadying himself prior to kicking a point. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho
If there was an easy way for Mayo to qualify for their third National League Final in four seasons, they certainly didn’t find it here.
Instead, the Westerners kept everybody in suspense right until the final hooter sounded before finally getting the better of Donegal and escaping with a victory that sends them to Croke Park to play Kerry next Sunday.
Nobody was too sure what to expect beforehand, but what unfolded was a rollercoaster of a match that ebbed and flowed relentlessly before Kevin McStay’s team eventually got what they wanted.
Such were the vagaries of the league table on the day, at one stage Mayo were in the frame to be relegated when they fell behind here in the closing stages, and with other results going against them.
But it all worked out for the great survivors in the end, with the majority of the crowd of 9,160 going home happy.
Despite the outcome, Donegal had plenty to be pleased about too, producing a fine second half display and managing to hold their own despite the absence of sharpshooters Michael Murphy, Patrick McBrearty and Oisin Gallen.
But, ultimately, despite their best efforts after half-time, in particular, they missed out a place in the league decider and are now free to concentrate on their upcoming Ulster SFC clash with Derry in a fortnight’s time.
Mayo, on the other hand, will now be fully focussed on a rematch with Kerry in a repeat of the 2019, 2022 and 2023 league finals.
Such an outcome had seemed unlikely when Daire Ó Baoill stood over a Donegal penalty in the 67th minute with Mayo clinging to a two point lead, and needing to win to avoid relegation given the way other games were going.
But Colm Reape came to the homeside’s rescue, diving low to his right to save Ó Baoill’s effort and keep Mayo in front.
They also stayed there moments later when Donegal midfielder Hugh McFadden saw a goalbound shot rattle the crossbar, as Kevin McStay’s charges rode their luck and tried to keep the visitors at bay.
In the final frantic minutes, Aaron Doherty did clip a neat point for Donegal to heighten the tension, but the outstanding Ryan O’Donoghue popped up to fire over an insurance score five minutes into added time to settle the debate once and for all.
Mayo played their best football of the opening half in the second quarter to surge ahead by 1-7 to 0-6 at the interval.
Jim McGuinness then made a statement of intent by introducing four substitutes during the break and two of them paid their way immediately; Michael Langan firing over a point before Eoin McHugh buried a goal to get the Donegal comeback going.
A point from Finbar Roarty then levelled the match for just the third time and it felt like the momentum had swung.
But Mayo weren’t long in wrestling it back again, and they had Donegal at arm’s length again within five minutes as a couple of brilliant two-point efforts from Ryan O’Donoghue left them up by 1-13 to 1-8.
Then it was Donegal’s turn to come roaring back with five points in six minutes from Ciaran Thompson, Conor O’Donnell (2), Aaron Doherty and Shane O’Donnell to draw level once more after 52 minutes.
From there to the end it was a rollercoaster of a contest, with the teams trading scores twice before Mattie Ruane stepped up to guide over an inspirational two-pointer that nudged Mayo ahead by 1-17 to 1-15.
Shortly afterwards Donegal missed the penalty that could have changed everything, and Mayo held their nerve in the closing stages to book a place in another league final.
Their half-time lead was built on an impressive 15-minute spell before the break when the homeside took control around the middle and shot 1-5 without reply.
The goal came on 20 minutes from the outstanding Jack Carney, who took a perfectly-weighted pass from Ryan O’Donoghue before slipping the ball under the oncoming Gavin Mulreany.
Carney also clipped the equaliser before Frank Irwin (2), Ryan O’Donoghue (free) and Carney again all raised white flags before the hooter sounded.
Little did we know it at that stage, but the best was yet to come.
R O’Donoghue (0-6, 1tp, 1tpf, 1f), J Carney (1-3), F Irwin (0-3), M Ruane (0-3, 1tp), S Coen (0-1), P Towey (0-1), J Flynn (0-1).
E McHugh (1-0), M Langan (0-2), A Doherty (0-2), C Thompson (0-2), S O’Donnell (0-2), C O’Donnell (0-2), D Ó Baoill (0-2, tp) N O’Donnell (0-1), G Mulreany (0-1, ‘45); F Roarty (0-1), L McGlynn (0-1).
C Reape; J Coyne, D McHugh, E Hession; S Callinan, D McBrien, F Kelly; S Coen, M Ruane; J Carney, D McHale, J Flynn; A O’Shea, F Irwin, R O’Donoghue.
D Neary for McHale (47); P Towey for O’Shea (54); E McLaughlin for Kelly (63); F Boland for Irwin (65); D O’Connor for Flynn (69).
G Mulreany; F Roarty, S McMenamin, B McCole; R McHugh, C McMonagle, C McColgan; H McFadden, C Moore; D Ó Baoill, C Thompson, S O’Donnell; N O’Donnell, C O’Donnell, L McGlynn.
M Langan for McGlynn (HT); A Doherty for McGonagle (HT), M Curran for McColgan (HT), E McHugh for N O’Donnell (HT); C Ward for McCole (63).
J McQuillan (Cavan)
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