Donegal 0-19; Mayo 1-15
Isn’t it funny how one man listening and one man thinking can turn a jaded old game on its head?
President Jarlath Burns was the man listening to the public about how “unwatchable” Gaelic football had become and when he approached former Dublin boss Jim Gavin, neither could have envisaged how profound the changes he proposed could alter the face of the game.
Twelve months on, the proof of the pudding is in the eating - and boy did we have another feast last weekend as first Dublin and Derry and then Galway and Armagh had us holding onto our seats on Saturday. And that’s not to mention the thriller in the Tailteann cup where Kildare edged past Offaly by a single point.
Surely there couldn’t be better than that? Oh yes, there could. In that same competition, Wicklow turned over one of the bigger fish, Westmeath, with a last second score after the hooter had sounded thanks to skipper Dean Healy.
And then there was Donegal and Mayo to take our breaths away. A great game, slightly better than Monaghan just edging out Down, who were also qualified, and an ending to make you want to change scriptwriters such was the outrageous plot followed.
Fergal Boland, on for two minutes looked like being Mayo’s savour when he landed a point to draw the sides level with seven seconds, yes just seven seconds left on the clock.
Both sides would go through on that scoreline but wait, Shaun Patton, the Donegal goalkeeper, had other ideas.
His spot on kick out found marauding half back Ciarán Moore as he accelerated into full-flight leaving two less swift players in his wake. The half-back then cut in and did the unthinkable - he flashed the ball over the bar and suddenly his county had home advantage (they play Louth in Ballybofey) while poor Mayo were out in the most heartbreaking of circumstances.
What a game, what a series and guess what, the GAA in their (lack of) wisdom are going to change it next season meaning the Donegal-Mayo game could be the last we will ever see under these rules. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Why change something that has worked as near to perfection as we’ve ever seen on the GAA pitch.
The 18,731 supporters who watched this game in the flesh at Roscommon and the hundreds of thousands who tuned in on television know they have watched something that has become special - the new rules, the two-pointers, the new almost chivalrous demands of handing the ball back and the three players up in the opposing half at all times. What a difference a good committee makes and this has probably been Croke Park’s finest.
And so back to the break and butter of the weekend. As the winners progress, Mayo will rue their home loss to Cavan, who despite being routed by Tyrone on Sunday, progress on the head-to-head rule to this week’s preliminary quarter-finals.
There is no doubt we will miss Mayo though. Had it been them rather than Cavan going to play Killarney next, we wouldn’t have known what to think as on their day they are capable of beating anybody, just as they are capable of losing to anyone on another day.
Still the luster is going from that fixture and Mayo must wait another year since last winning Sam back in 1951. They started this game poorly enough but a David McBrien goal rallied them against a much better Donegal side who immediately responded with three points, one a two-pointer.
This is an art the losers have never got a hold of and once again even their best forward Ryan O’Donoghue saw a few efforts drop short when his side needed them to bolster the scoreline and their confidence in equal measure. Oh what a difference a Micheal Murphy would have made in their forward line to fulcrum their attack and kick two-pointers and frees when called upon. He may have been two years out in retirement but his return and the influence he wields on this team makes this writer think they are slight favorites to go on and collect Sam this year.
Even Homer nods they say and when his misplaced pass ended up in the back of his side’s net to give Mayo a 1-12 to 0-13 lead after coming back from being 0-9 to 0-6 in arrears at half-time, there was a sense that the plot lines were giving us unusual denouements.
Murphy didn’t take long to change all that. He worked the ball for Dáire Ó Baoill to level the game with a double, and with play opening up, he made one outrageous catch and then slotted over a great point which Shane O’Donnell added to, thus giving his side the upperhand once more.
Everything was becoming palpable in Dr Hyde Stadium, even the sun decided to shine on the efforts of the players.
Colm Reape, with help from Jack Coyne, somehow kept out a goalbound effort from recently introduced sub Patrick McBrearty who should have used his right foot to tap home and was blocked when favoring his ciotóg.
Not to be outdone, Patton made a remarkable double save to deny Jack Carney and Paul Towey from close range.
The second half was heading for the red zone and the hooter when Boland made his cameo role look like a massive headline grabber, only for Patton and Moore to deny their opponents with quick thinking and quick feet respectively.
You couldn’t make this stuff up it was so off the wall – but what an advert for Gaelic football as it should be played.
Donegal: S Patton; B McCole, C McColgan (0-1), Fr Roarty (0-1); P Mogan (0-2), E Bán Gallagher, C Moore (0-2); H McFadden, M Langan; C O'Donnell (0-2), C Thompson (0-2, 0-1f), R McHugh; S O'Donnell (0-1), M Murphy (0-5, 1tp, 0-1 45), O Gallen Subs: J McGee for McFadden (52), D Ó Baoill (0-2, 1tp) for Gallen (52), P McBrearty for McHugh (57), E McHugh for S O’Donnell (67).
Mayo: C Reape; J Coyne, D McHugh (0-1), E Hession; P Durcan, D McBrien (1-0), R Brickenden; S Coen, M Ruane; C Dawson (0-2), D McHale (0-3), B Tuohy; J Carney (0-1), A O'Shea, R O'Donoghue (0-6, 0-5f) Subs: J Flynn (0-1) for Tuohy (23), D Neary for McHugh (42), S Morahan for Hession (52), P Towey for Neary (55), F Boland (0-01) for Coen (67).
Ref: P Faloon (Down).
GAA RESULTS & FIXTURES
All-Ireland SFC Round 3
Tyrone 0-31 Cavan 0-18
Donegal 0-19 Mayo 1-15
Monaghan 2-27 Down 1-26
Louth 2-17 Clare 2-14
Galway 2-22 Armagh 0-27
Dublin 0-22 Derry 0-20
Cork 0-19 Roscommon 0-17
Meath 1-22 Kerry 0-16
Tailteann Cup quarter-finals
Limerick 4-21 Wexford 2-19
Wicklow 2-18 Westmeath 2-17
Kildare 1-17 Offaly 0-19
Fermanagh 0-21 Sligo 1-16
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals
Dublin 3-25 Kildare 0-13
Tipperary 3-32 Laois 0-18
All-Ireland JFC quarter-final
New York 2-8 US GAA 2-7
FIXTURES
Saturday 21 June
All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-finals
Down v Galway, Pairc Esler
Kerry v Cavan, Fitzgerald Stadium
Dublin v Cork Croke Park
Donegal v Louth, Ballybofey
The four winners of above will go into quarter finals proper alongside Meath, Tyrone, Armagh and Monaghan, who finished top of their respective groups
All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals
Galway v Tipperary
Limerick v Dublin
Sunday 22 June
Tailteann Cup semi-finals
Fermanagh v Kildare, Croke Park
Wicklow v Limerick Croke Park
