Cavan put in a brave performance but came out on the losing end, while Mayo obliterated Donegal to claim a place in the semi-finals
Cavan were ultimately unsuccessful despite putting together a good run and mounting somewhat of a comeback in the second half against Kerry, while Mayo looked absolutely ruthless against Donegal.
Kerry were awesome in the first half of their quarter-final, looking strong all over the pitch and punishing any mistake by Cavan. While it was the men in blue and white who got the first point on the board, they were outclassed for the rest of the half, with Kerry showing their vast experience and slotting over every point that came their way.
The second half was a different story, as Cavan seemed to finally overcome the awe of the occasion, and put everything into the game. Some heroic blocks and some great play saw them start to peg Kerry back, but a good few wasted shots could have had them just a point shy with minutes on the clock, if they’d been a bit more accurate from the boot. As it happened, it wasn’t to be, but Kerry will know they had a few weaknesses exposed too, despite the win by a score of 0-15 to 0-09.
Mayo scored two goals in the opening 13 minutes of the game against Donegal which saw the reigning All-Ireland champions totally ripped to shreds before they had a chance to catch their breath.
The Connacht champions went up a goal after Cillian O’Connor capitalised on a mistake and slotted home, with Donal Vaughan adding a second less than five minutes later. Donegal had been pushing up trying to get a score back, but Mayo made them pay for opening up and put real distance between the teams early on.
O’Connor wasn’t finished however, as he hit a hat-trick before he was substituted with over 15 minutes still to go, but by that stage Donegal were well and truly finished. In fact, there was a long period in the second half where McGuinness’ men were only able to register one point.
Eamonn McGee let his frustration get the better of him and was shown a red card as he stamped down on Enda Varley, but he wasn’t the only one to see red as Aidan O’Shea, who put in a great performance, managed to get himself sent off in injury time for a second yellow.
Despite a consolation goal from Colm McFadden close to the end, Donegal simply had no answer to the firepower and the intensity of Mayo, as they were well and truly hammered by a score of 4-17 to 1-10.
As many will be quick to say, this is not the same Donegal team as last year, however Mayo looked to be on a different level, and whoever wants to stop them this year will have to put in one hell of a performance to do so.
