Mayo book first semi-final in five years but wasteful Cork will have regrets
Mayo's Diarmuid Duffy has a shot saved by Patrick Doyle of Cork. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Many momentum-grabbing Mayo moments. Too many Cork misses.
There's your quarter-final story in two sentences. Read on and we'll flesh out those two truths.
A first Croke Park championship win in four years for the westerners. A first All-Ireland semi-final appearance in five years secured.
After only one orange flag against both Meath and Tyrone, Andy Moran’s side found five here. In the process, they found out a great deal about themselves. They grew several inches in the space of 35 coherent second-half minutes.
Cork were kept to two orange flags. Both were from the placed ball. Across the entire 70 minutes, Cork were kept to just one two-point attempt from play. What they didn’t do outside the arc and what they did do inside it will haunt them. 14 wides. Neither of their two goal openings put away.
Extremely fortunate to be level turning around, a pair of two-pointers within three second-half minutes shoved Mayo 0-14 to 0-10 in front on 41 minutes.
The first was a Darragh Beirne free following a foul on Ryan O’Donoghue. Both inside forwards were phenomenal. They contributed 0-15 between them.
The second was again from Beirne, this time from play. Colm O'Callaghan and Sean McDonnell were somehow outnumbered three-to-two on a mid-range Pa Doyle restart underneath the Hogan Stand.
Cork subsequently halved the deficit. Colm O’Callaghan was haring through to leave the minimum between them. Diarmuid Duffy executed a perfect tackle and dispossession. The play ended with an O’Donoghue point and 0-15 to 0-12 Mayo lead on 49 minutes.
John Cleary’s side came again. Paul Walsh’s third and Rory Maguire reduced the margin to the minimum. Jack Livingstone’s kick-out, as was the case in the opening half, was wobbling.
His restart following Maguire’s fisted point went down the centre. Kobe rose highest. Bob Tuohy was fouled. O’Donoghue’s free from outside the arc came back down off the post, was recycled to him, and he pointed.
The opening score in a three-in-a-row act for a 0-19 to 0-14 advantage on 57 minutes.
In the story of the second half, a Sherlock two-point free brought Cork within catching distance of their opponents. They were unable to catch. Livingstone saved a Brian O’Driscoll goal drive to stretch to 10 games Cork’s losing run at Croker. 2013 remains the year of their last championship win at GAA HQ. They know the roots of this latest failure.
It’s impossible to begin assessment of the first half on anything other than a hugely critical note. It was a first-half of poor quality for this stage of the championship.
Wilful waste from the red corner. Cork’s conversion from play was five from 15 shots. Along with seven wides kicked from play, only one of which was launched from outside the arc, there was a Chris Óg Jones goal chance five minutes in that Mayo ‘keeper Livingstone did so very well to push away for a ‘45.
Cleary’s side were extremely solid off their own restart (eight out of 12 retained) and properly troubled the Mayo kickout at the Davin End (won seven from 16), but the too often the deflating nature of the finished product meant the 0-9 apiece interval scoreline did not reflect Cork's competency and control in other areas.
Cork’s first-half lead peaked at three - 0-7 to 0-4 - on 25 minutes. The two scores to establish this three-point lead were perfect examples of the last piece matching the approach play.
One of four consecutive short restarts from Doyle went through the hands of Dara Sheedy, Mark Cronin, Tommy Walsh, and finisher Steven Sherlock.
The second saw Cork with two players unmarked on the arc. Paul Walsh dummied rather than attempt orange. He was content with white.
Two pieces of Mayo orange brought interval stalemate. The first was a gorgeous Kobe McDonald outside of the right effort. The Crossmolina kid engineered the opening for himself with a clever one-two involving Stephen Coen.
The second two-pointer was a gift. Cork were found guilty of having only two players in the opposition half in the final minute. O’Donoghue, who had kicked two earlier points, had a goal shot blocked by Ian Maguire, and a penalty claim not entertained by Martin McNally, provided the required accuracy.
Accuracy - a simple, yet revealing metric. Mayo finished with just two second-half wides. Even allowing for two second-half goal shots they didn’t convert, they were the more clinical by a distance. They were not for wasting. They are instead for July.
R O’Donoghue (0-8, tp free, 0-2 frees); D Beirne (0-7, tp, tp free); K McDonald (0-4, tp); J Carney (0-2, tp); T Conroy, C Loftus (0-1 each).
S Sherlock (0-7, tp free, 0-2 ‘45s, 0-1 free); P Walsh (0-3); M Cronin (tp free), C Óg Jones (0-2 each); R Maguire, I Maguire, C O'Callaghan, B Hurley (0-1 each).
J Livingstone; D McHugh, E McGreal, J Coyne; S Callinan, D McBrien, E Hession; B Tuohy, J Carney; S Coen, P Towey, J Flynn; D Beirne, R O’Donoghue, K McDonald.
D Duffy for McGal (12 mins, inj); T Conroy for Towey (HT); M Ruane for Tuohy (54); R Brickenden for Duffy (65).
P Doyle; D O’Mahony, M Shanley, S Meehan; B O’Driscoll, T Walsh, R Maguire; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; S McDonnell, D Sheedy, P Walsh; M Cronin, C Óg Jones, S Sherlock.
R Deane for McDonnell (48); C Loftus for Coen (49); C Corbett for Sheedy (51); B Hurley for Cronin (61); S Brady for R Maguire (62); S Walsh for P Walsh (65).
M McNally (Monaghan).
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