Mayo Come From Behind To Secure Finals Spot

Allianz Football League Division I Semi-Final: Mayo 2.15 Kerry 1-17

Two remarkable comebacks from Mayo, first in normal time, and then in extra time, secured a dramatic 2-15 to 1-17 victory over Kerry in the first of the Allianz Football League Division I semi-finals at Croke Park on Sunday.

Colm Boyle's goal in extra-time, followed by Richie Feeney's superb winning point, sent Mayo into the final after Kerry had led by three points with just a few minutes of the extra period to go.

Kerry had originally looked to be cruising towards the final when they led by four points with three minutes of normal time to go.

However, a mistake from Kieran Donaghy led to a converted Patrick Harte penalty, before a last-gasp free from Cillian O'Connor set up the extra 20 minutes.

Mayo led 0-9 to 0-7 after 35 minutes, after a first half in which the Connacht men dominated the opening 15 minutes, before a Kerry purple patch brought them into the game.

James Horan's side led 0-5 to 0-1 after 12 minutes, with Conor Mortimer their most potent force up front.

He hit four of their early points, with two particularly classy efforts coming from play off his left alongside two frees.

A Bryan Sheehan free was Kerry's sole score to that point, and when Alan Dillon sailed the next one over it extended the gap to five.

It had been a particularly sluggish Kerry performance to that point, and a vibrant Mayo, led by a rampaging half-back line, were making hay.

They seemed to realise this midway through the half and an elegant score from the left from Colm Cooper ended the Mayo point run.

Three points from play from Patrick Curtin, Kieran O'Leary and Anthony Maher followed, and suddenly the gap was one.

Another Mortimer free ended the Kerry burst but a Cooper free and a brilliant score from Sheehan from play levelled it up at 0-7 apiece.

Mayo's intensity had clearly dropped considerably but they managed to raise it again in the final portion of the half as further efforts from Mortimer and a point from Andy Moran which could easily have been a goal, left them two ahead going in.

A Dillon point immediately after the restart re-established a three-point Mayo buffer, however a second Cooper free and another from Sheehan either side of a good score from distance from Paul Galvin left them level after 47 minutes.

Kerry had moved Donaghy into full-forward by this point, and they began to target him more and more as the second half went on. His superb catch and lay-off set up Darran O'Sullivan, and the Glenbeigh man finished sweetly to put the Kingdom ahead for the first time, 0-11 to 0-10 the score.

Kerry, having been five points behind after 15 minutes, found themselves five ahead on 55 minutes when some poor Mayo defending led to the first goal of the game.

Donaghy's presence unnerved Donal Vaughan under a high ball across the goal, and it broke to substitute James O'Donoghue, who finished well to the net.

Mayo hadn't scored in 20 minutes, but they ended that fruitless spell with a Mortimer free and a Boyle effort from play.

But just as they looked like edging closer, a majestic placed ball from over 50 metres from Sheehan demonstrated why he is one of the best placed-ball kickers around at the moment, and Kerry led by four again with five minutes left.

Then came the drama. A dreadful skewed pass across his own goal from Donaghy played Dillon in, and as the Ballintubber man raced towards goals, Galvin brought him down to give Mayo a chance from a penalty.

Substitute Harte buried the kick to the net to leave just one in it, and with the last movement of normal time, Mayo were awarded a free on the right which O'Connor, just on for Mortimer, dinked over to send the game into extra-time.

Kerry performed the better in the first 15 minutes of extra-time, leading by three points following scores from Barry John Keane and Sheehan.

But just as they had in normal-time, Mayo kept fighting, and Boyle burrowed through a mass of Kerry defenders and finished well to the net, before Feeney cut in from the left and sailed the ball over the bar to suddenly put Mayo ahead.

Sheehan, who had been excellent for Kerry from placed balls all day, had a chance to level it up from a 45' with the last kick of the game, but he put his kick to the left and time was up.