Defeat for misfiring Mayo sends them into preliminary quarter-final

ALL IRELAND SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Mayo 1-11

Cork 1-14

Failure to score for the last 19 minutes consigned Mayo to a dramatic defeat in Limerick today and left them facing into an away preliminary quarter final next weekend.

A goal from Tommy Conroy after 56 minutes had left Kevin McStay's men six clear and cruising towards a quarter-final but that was as good as it got for the men in green and red and Cork reeled off 1-6 without reply before the finish.

That turnaround saw scoring difference and scores-for decide the final group placings after Mayo, Kerry and Cork all ended up with two wins from three games. Kerry had by far the better scoring difference and qualified for a quarter-final spot in two weeks time.

Cork and Mayo were tied on scoring difference but over the course of the campaign, Cork had scored four more points than Kevin McStay's men, so they secured second spot and left Mayo in third place and looking at a preliminary quarter-final next weekend.

The first half was a dogged, dour affair with Cork making the most of their limited possession to deservedly lead by one at the break, 0-6 to 0-5.

Mayo had most of the ball and the majority of the frustration. They only kicked one wide, an effort from Paddy Durcan after 27 minutes, but found shooting chances limited by a swarming sea of Cork bodies.

Mayo seemed somewhat hesitant to shoot when split seconds of opportunity arose and were then closed down by the men in red.

Aidan O'Shea did have a goal chance after 12 minutes when he won possession in the right corner, turned his marker and headed for home, but his shot was saved by Mícheál Aodh Martin.

Ryan O'Donoghue was Mayo's bright spark in attack with three points in the opening half, as he showed for ball consistently.

Cork looked dangerous every time they attacked and found space through the middle when they ran at Mayo. Central defender Rory Maguire twice got forward to kick points while Ian Maguire had a great goal chance denied by a Colm Reape save just before half time.

The third quarter was much better from Mayo and midway through the second half they enjoyed a 0-11 to 0-8 lead as Jordan Flynn came into his own. The Crossmolina man was by far Mayo's best player and the momentum was certainly behind the leaders at that stage. That situation got even better for Mayo after 56 minutes when Aidan O'Shea and Ryan O'Donoghue combined for Tommy Conroy to rattle home a goal.

That left Mayo six clear but the concession of a soft penalty moments later when Colm O'Callaghan went to ground enabled Steven Sherlock to shake the net and close the gap again.

That's when Sherlock took over and Mayo found it impossible to stop the St Finbarr's man. He kicked four more points as Mayo stalled disastrously. Sherlock's power had the Munster men a point in front entering five minutes of injury time and that lead was pushed out even further when John O'Rourke and Chris Óg Jones got the crucial scores to secure second place in the group for John Cleary's team.

Aidan O'Shea did have an opportunity to secure a home tie for Mayo with the last kick of the game but his free from 35 yards dropped short and the final whistle sounded just seconds later.

MAYO: C Reape (0-1 '45); J Coyne, D McBrien, P O'Hora; D McHugh, C Loftus, P Durcan; S Coen, M Ruane; D O'Connor, J Carney, J Flynn (0-4); A O'Shea, J Carr, R O'Donoghue (0-5, 4f)

Subs; T Conroy (1-1) for Carr (ht), E Hession for Coyne (50), E McLaughlin for Coen (51), K McLoughlin for McHugh (66)

CORK: M Martin; M Shanley, R Maguire (0-2), T Walsh (0-1); L Fahy, D O'Mahony, M Taylor; C O'Callaghan (0-1), I Maguire; B O'Driscoll, R Deane, K O'Hanlon; S Powter, B Hurley (0-2, 1f), E McSweeney (0-1)

Subs; S Sherlock (1-5, 1-0p, 0-1f, 0-1 '45) bloodsub for Deane (38), J O'Rourke (0-1) for McSweeney (51), C Corbett for Hurley (55), K O'Donovan for Fahy (58), C Óg Jones (0-1) for Powter (64), M Cronin for O'Hanlon (64)

Referee: P Faloon (Down)