McBrien's goal steers Mayo past Galway into last eight

June 25, 2023

Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue celebrates at the final whistle ©INPHO/James Crombie

Mayo brought the curtain down on Galway’s season with a come-from-behind victory in Salthill this afternoon to earn themselves a place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.

Kevin McStay’s men rode their second-half momentum towards a 1-10 to 0-12 victory at a packed Pearse Stadium, where a superbly taken 43rd minute goal from David McBrien swung the derby tie for the visitors.

Incredibly, Mayo could afford to go scoreless for 30 minutes of the first-half and still come out on top in this one, with their strong start having been wiped out by the Tribesmen whom kicked on to lead by 0-8 to 0-3 at the halfway stage.

That lead could’ve been more for the home side had ace attacker Shane Walsh been in his best form and, with the wind at their backs, it was McStay’s charges that turned up the heat after the turnaround.

Two Ryan O’Donoghue points (one a free) had them right back in contention seven minutes into the restart and a minute later the ball was in Galway’s net after a perfectly timed run through from McBrien whom one-twoed with Aidan O’Shea and kept his finish low.

From there, Cillian O’Connor came off the bench and contributed an immediate point before a brace from Paddy Durcan had it at 1-8 to 0-8 headed into the closing quarter.

Padraic Joyce’s men would get it back to a one-point game just before the added minutes but couldn’t get level, as James Carr sent over another for Mayo ahead of a last ditch chance at the other end being blazed over Colm Reape’s crossbar.


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