Mayo prove they've still got it in win over subdued Tyrone

Irish Times

31-05-2025

All-Ireland SFC: Tyrone 1-13 Mayo 2-17
Mayo
gonna Mayo. The vibes were terrible, the manager was laid up, the noise off the pitch was turned up to 11. And so of course they came to Omagh and beat
Tyrone
up a stick. What else did you expect?
They showed a side of themselves here that most of us, in our innocence, presumed was gone for the year. They were full of running and purpose, tackling like dervishes, emptying themselves in every position.
Paddy Durcan made his first championship start in 14 months and went back down the road with three points and the Man of the Match award. Davitt Neary came off the bench to leave scorch marks in the grass. Aidan O'Shea was the fulcrum for everything.
For Tyrone, this was largely a non-performance. Other than 20 minutes of resistance after half-time, they looked like a team that had left their gallop behind them in Ballybofey last week. They played against a strong breeze in the first half but that didn't look like reason enough for their troubles. It was more of a demeanour problem – too passive, too meh, too inclined to wait for the half-time turnaround.
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By contrast, Mayo were snappier in the tackle and more forceful in their attempts to break up the field. The visitors didn't always look fluid in attack but this was the sort of night where sweat was worth more than swagger.
Tyrone's Ciaran Daly and Mayo's Paddy Durcan. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
They carried the ball with purpose and even tried a few kick passes into the full-forward line, in a notable departure from what they've been doing all year. They won breaking ball and frequently burst through the first line of Tyrone's defence, butchering two goal chances before finally cashing in on the stroke of half-time.
That goal from Darren McHale was a lotto win. Mayo had the ball with two minutes to go until the hooter and played it around among themselves – another sign of Tyrone's curious lack of bite. When, in the end, Bob Tuohy tried to kick a point to end the half, it dropped well short and Niall Morgan came to claim. Maybe the sun got in his eyes but even so, it was quite a howler from the Tyrone stopper – McHale will never score a handier one.
It left them eight points up at the break, 1-9 to 0-4. Even though the goal was jammier than a lock-in at a Chivers factory, it gave Mayo a cushion they probably just about deserved. They had been braver and more cohesive than the home side and got their reward in spurts. Rory Brickenden scored the first two points of his championship career, Conal Dawson curled a beauty in on the wind. Everybody threw into the kitty.
All of it was needed to. Mayo had plenty of the ball at the start of the second half but couldn't convert it to scores. They left 1-4 behind them in the first seven minutes, with Ryan O'Donoghue hitting the post after a deflection off Conn Kilpatrick. When O'Donoghue missed a kickable free on 43 minutes, it looked a crucial error.
Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue scores a penalty. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
All the more so when Darragh Canavan had the ball in the net a minute later. Durcan made his only mistake of the night, backing off the Tyrone magician and basically inviting him to have a go if he thought he was good enough. He did and he was.
That made it 1-9 to 1-6, with all but three points of Mayo's half-time advantage wiped out. They sucked it up and went again. O'Donoghue pointed a free, Drucan notched another from play. Even when Niall Morgan landed his second two-point free of the night to bring the gap back to one, Mayo didn't quail.
Durcan and O'Donoghue went again and by now Neary was off the bench and causing wreck. When he was fouled by Liam Gray for a penalty seven minutes from time, O'Donoghue stepped up and did the needful.
So after everything, Mayo went back down the road with their best championship win since beating Galway in 2023. You couldn't be up to them.
TYRONE:
N Morgan (0-2-0, 2tpf); C Quinn, P Teague, N Devlin; M McKernan (0-0-1), R Brennan, K McGeary (0-0-1); B McDonnell (0-0-2), C Kilpatrick; S O'Donnell, M Donnelly, C Daly; D McCurry (0-0-2, 1f), M Bradley, D Canavan (1-0-3, 2f).
Subs:
S O'Hare for Brennan, L Gray for O'Donnell (both ht); P Harte for Bradley, R Canavan for Daly (both 47 mins); A Donaghy for McDonnell (62).
MAYO:
C Reape (0-0-1, 1 '45); J Coyne (0-0-1), S Morahan, R Brickenden (0-0-2); S Coen, D McBrien, E Hession; P Durcan (0-0-3), M Ruane; C Dawson (0-0-2), D McHale (1-0-0), B Tuohy; J Carney (0-0-1), A O'Shea (0-0-1), R O'Donoghue (1-0-6, 1-0 pen, 5f).
Subs:
D Neary for McHale, J Flynn for Tuohy (both 52 mins); F Kelly for Dawson (55); F Boland for Ruane (64); S Callinan for Durcan (68).
Referee:
D Coldrick (Meath).