Worst possible outcome for Mayo in final group game
Mayo will have to travel for their All-Ireland senior football championship preliminary quarterfinal next weekend following their 1-11 to 1-14 defeat to Cork in the final Group 1 game, played in TUS Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, this afternoon.
Kevin McStay's charges entered the final round of the group stages in pole position with two wins from two games and a healthy +6 score difference.
A win or even a draw would have seen them top Group 1 and go straight into the quarterfinals.
However, Kerry secured a big win over Louth in the other game and that result combined with Mayo's defeat by three points means the Kingdom top the group, Cork finish second (by virtue of having scored more than Mayo) and the westerners place third.
That means they will face Galway, Kildare or Donegal away next week, the draw for which will be made on Monday morning.
Aidan O'Shea had a chance to reduce the gap to two at the end with a free and if it had gone over the bar, it would have reversed the positions of Cork and Mayo. It fell short, however, and Cork had done enough to secure second place.
Defeat for Mayo seemed most unlikely after 57 minutes as they had just gone 1-11 to 0-8 up, Tommy Conroy with the goal following an intercept by O'Shea and a driving run by Ryan O'Donoghue to create the chance.
Less than a minute later Cork were given the chance to reply in kind when Colm O'Callaghan was adjudged to have been fouled in the area. Referee Paul Faloon decided it was a penalty and Cork super sub Steven Sherlock scored from the spot to reduce the gap to three (1-8 to 1-11).
Amazingly, Cork reeled off the next five scores too through Sherlock (four, including one free and one 45'), John O'Rourke and Chris Óg Jones.
Mayo had no reply (they failed to score for almost 20 minutes at the end of the game), but that late chance for O'Shea could have made a big difference.
The first half was close, with Cork arguably the slightly better outfit in possession. A few of their six points came at the end of patient build-up play, particularly those by Eoghan McSweeney, Colm O'Callaghan and Tommy Walsh, while towering midfielder Ian Maguire had a goal chance in the last minute that forced Mayo 'keeper Colm Reape into a full-length save.
Mayo had some decent moves too and they also created a good goal chance, O'Shea forcing Mícheál Aodh Martin into a good stop on 12 minutes.
O'Donoghue (three, two frees), Reape (45') and Jordan Flynn scored Mayo's five first-half points, and Flynn looked as though he would be the hero on the day with a succession of great scores in the second half, while O'Donoghue (two frees) and substitute Conroy also chipped in with scores.
When Conroy scored the Mayo goal in the 57th minute, it looked as though the Green and Red had turned the corner and were heading for home. Cork had other ideas, however, and blew them off course with a stunning finale.
The drama will continue next weekend.
Mayo: Colm Reape (0-1); Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Padraig O'Hora; Donnacha McHugh, Conor Loftus, Paddy Durcan; Stephen Coen, Matthew Ruane; Diarmuid O'Connor, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn (0-4); Aidan O'Shea, James Carr, Ryan O'Donoghue (0-5).
Subs used: Tommy Conroy (1-1), Eoghan McLaughlin, Enda Hession, Kevin McLoughlin.
Cork: Micheál Aodh Martin; Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire (0-2), Tommy Walsh (0-1); Luke Fahy, Daniel O'Mahony, Matty Taylor; Colm O'Callaghan (0-1), Ian Maguire; Brian O'Driscoll, Ruairi Deane, Killian O'Hanlon; Sean Powter, Brian Hurley (0-2), Eoghan McSweeney (0-1).
Subs used: Steven Sherlock (temporary sub, 1-5), John O'Rourke (0-1), Conor Corbett, Kevin O'Donovan, Chris Óg Jones (0-1), Mark Cronin.
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).