Mayo late show denies Dublin in dramatic All-Ireland semi-final
Wednesday 2 September 2015 10:16, UK
Mayo produced an incredible comeback to snatch a 1-15 to 2-12 draw with Dublin in an incident-packed All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
The Connacht side trailed by seven points with nine minutes left on the clock but hit 1-4 without reply to force a replay, which will be held at Croke Park next Saturday at 5pm.
Dublin led by 1-7 to 0-7 at the interval, Diarmuid Connolly finding the net from the penalty spot on five minutes, and when Kevin McManamon scored their second goal on 57 minutes they looked on course for a third All-Ireland final appearance in five years.
But Mayo refused to throw in the towel and after scoring three points without reply, the unwavering Cillian O'Connor converted a penalty with two minutes remaining, before substitute Andy Moran brought them level.
Neither side could muster a winner in injury time, where Connolly was given a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident with Lee Keegan and could now be suspended for the replay.
Such a gripping finale didn't look likely as Mayo relied heavily on the free-taking of Cillian O'Connor to keep in touch with their opponents. The Ballintubber clubman scored 1-9, with all of those coming from placed balls.
It was Dublin who quickly seized the initiative in this eagerly-anticipated clash, scoring an unanswered 1-3 after Lee Keegan had broken the deadlock.
The Leinster champions were awarded a penalty on four minutes when Paul Flynn was fouled by Jason Doherty, although replays showed contact occurred outside the box.
Connolly made no mistake from the spot, smashing a low shot to the bottom corner of Rob Hennelly's net.
Points from Paddy Andrews (2) and Connolly followed as Mayo struggled to get to grips with the movement of the Dublin forwards.
At the other end, Aidan O'Shea cut a lonely figure at full-forward, holding his own in an aerial tussle with the Dublin defenders but let down by the lack of support.
Andrews, Bernard Brogan and a trio of points from Ciaran Kilkenny were all cancelled out by O'Connor, who converted his sixth free in injury time to leave a goal separating the teams at the break.
O'Connor added another free after the restart before brother Diarmuid scored Mayo's first point from play in 37 minutes.
Substitute McManamon opted for a point after breaking through the Mayo rearguard, O'Connor replying at the other end, but the Westerners were then guilty of a spate of poor wides as they sought an equaliser.
Those misses looked as though they would prove costly when Jack McCaffrey embarked on a surging run through the heart of Mayo's defence. The wing-back found Brian Fenton, whose shot was parried by Hennelly but the ball fell into the path of McManamon and he made no mistake.
O'Connor replied with a free but Dublin had the momentum and Bernard Brogan, brother Alan and McCaffrey all kicked excellent points to put them seven points to the good.
Mayo cut the gap to seven with two quick-fire points before John Small blocked Andy Moran's shot on the line after he had dispossessed Stephen Cluxton.
Denis Bastick, who had replaced the black-carded Michael Darragh Macauley, suffered a similar fate on 66 minutes before Mayo were awarded a penalty when Colm Boyle went down in the area.
Cluxton guessed the right way but was unable to get a hand to O'Connor's spot kick, and Moran equalised from the next passage of play.
Both teams had their chances in injury time, Cluxton off target from a free moments after Connolly was sent off, but neither could muster a winner and must do battle against next weekend.
Dublin: S Cluxton; J Cooper, R O'Carroll, P McMahon; J McCarthy, C O'Sullivan, J McCaffrey (0-1); B Fenton, MD Macauley; P Flynn, C Kilkenny (0-3), D Connolly (1-2, 1-0 pen, 1f); D Rock, P Andrews (0-2), B Brogan (0-2).
Subs: M Fitzsimons for O'Carroll (4), K McManamon (1-1) for Rock (ht), J Small for Cooper (44), D Bastick for Macauley (51, black card), A Brogan (0-1) for P Andrews (55), T Brady for B Fenton (58), E Lowndes for Bastick (68, black card).
Mayo: R Hennelly; G Cafferkey, D Vaughan, K Higgins (0-1); L Keegan (0-1), C Barrett, C Boyle; S O'Shea, T Parsons; D O'Connor (0-1), D Drake, K McLoughlin; C O'Connor (1-9, 1-0 pen, 8f, 1 '45), A O'Shea, J Doherty.
Subs: P Durcan for Vaughan (9), A Moran (0-2) for Drake (44); A Freeman (0-1) for Doherty (62), B Moran for S O'Shea (65), M Sweeney for D O'Connor (70).
Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).
Watch the All-Ireland semi-final replay between Dublin and Mayo live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday from 4.50pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.
