Mayo’s Fiachra O’Cinnseala in action against Offaly’s Caden O’Beirne during the Electric Ireland MFC quarter-final at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park Roscommon this afternoon. Picture: David Farrell Photography

Magnificent Mayo march into All-Ireland 'semi' against Kerry

Published: Sun 8 Jun 2025, 7:15 PM

by Aiden Henry

MAYO minors produced a magnificent display before beating Leinster champions, Offaly, by 3-13 to 4-7 in the All-Ireland minor championship quarterfinal played at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon.

They will now meet Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final in two weeks’ time.

This was a rousing contest which had the 2,000 plus crowd on tender hooks throughout.

At half time it looked as if Mayo had this game in the bag as they led by nine points.

However, wind assisted Offaly came back strongly in the second half where they not alone wiped out the Mayo lead but took a one-point lead themselves with eight minutes remaining.

But this young Mayo side showed their true grit down the stretch where they scored four unanswered points to end up the deserving winners by three in this cracking contest.

It was Mayo who got off to a cracking start as within 90 seconds the raised a green flag after Conor Hession crashed home a great goal after receiving an inch perfect pass from Ben Holmes.

However, instead of Mayo building on this good start, it was Offaly who hit back in style.

For the following eight or nine minutes they took control all over the field where they scored an unanswered 1-3.

But just when it looked as if the Leinster champions were going to run riot, Mayo suddenly regrouped.

Ben Holmes was very unlucky not to score a goal in the 10th minute when his rasping shot looked destined for the back of the net. However, the post came to Offaly’s rescue. Yet, within a minute, Holmes did get Mayo’s second score, a point from a free.

Although Offaly replied with a pint of their own in the 12th minute, Mayo took over completely for the remainder of the half where they never allowed their opponents add to their tally while they themselves hit an unanswered 2-6.

Mayo’s second goal came at the end of the first quarter when classy wing back Dara Flanagan raised through the Offaly defence before hammering the ball to the back of the net.

Flanagan and Holmes followed with a point each before another Mayo defender, Conor Coghill joined the attack before hitting an unstoppable shot to the back of the net.

Mayo at this stage were all over their opponents and when Flanagan again popped up to score another point, full forward Hession followed with the first two-pointer of the day from a free in the 25th minute.

Rhys Neary brought the half to a finish with a fine point to leave Mayo leading by 3-7 to 1-4.

Those who felt this game was over as a contest at half time had a different tune a minute into the second half when Offaly scored a goal to cut the deficit to six points.

Despite this body blow, Mayo managed to regroup again and held their opponents scoreless for the next 10 minutes while scoring a point themselves, a Hession free, at the other end of the field.

But the tide then fell in Offaly’s favour once again where they outscored Mayo by 2-2 to 0-1, in a seven-minute spell.

It now looked as if it would be Leinster champions who would progress to the last four of the championship at this stage with eight minutes remaining.

However, there was one final twist in this amazing game where this young Mayo side showed unbelievable character to bounce back. In those last eight minutes of normal time and four minutes of injury time, they regained control of the game again.

A magnificent two-pointer from a Conor Hession free put Mayo back in front before points from substitutes, Oran Murphy and Ben Joyce sealed a great win for Mayo.

Mayo: T. Williams, C. Coghill (1-0), B. Langan, C. Tighe, R. O’Donnell, D. Duffy, D. Flanagan (1-3), A. Kelly, E. Dever, P. Garvey, B. Holmes (0-2), C. Jordan, F. O'Cinnseala, C. Hession (1-5), R. Neary (0-1).

Subs used: O. Murphy (0-1), F. O'Cinnseala, O. McCann, B. Joyce (0-1)

Offaly: J. Ryan, C. O'Beirne, T. Carroll, C. Farrell, P. Duffy, T. Kelly, E. Rouse, E. Maher, C. Duffy (1-0), C. Weldon (0-1), D. Dunne (1-1), A. Daly, T. Furey (0-4), C. McNamee (2-0), R. Woods (0-1).

Subs used: D. Stewart, C. Duffy, D. Stayanov.