Mayo’s All-Ireland final goalscoring hero Darragh Beirne says he felt no nerves going into the biggest game of his career to date.

The 19-year-old top-scored for the winners with 1-3 in the 2026 All-Ireland SFC final at Croke Park, including a match-winning 40th-minute goal precisely placed to the top right corner of the Davin End net, as Mayo famously downed holders Kerry to claim their fourth title and first in 75 years.

“I feel like I’m dreaming, I keep on having to pinch myself,” he told The Sunday Game. “I grew up coming to Croke Park, seeing Mayo coming to finals. This wasn’t new to me; I wasn’t nervous at all coming here today. A completely free shot at it; no-one gave us any chance. We came out fighting, we’re bringing Sam home back to Mayo.

“We had to do our homework, obviously stop their key men. We had to defend as a team, we couldn’t defend as individuals.

“The work rate out there, everything was hit. We said before the game we were going to die out there, and we did, we just took our chances down the stretch.

“My heart was in my mouth for the last ten minutes. When Clifford kicked the one off the right, I thought we were dead and buried, but the character of this group is strong. No one gave us a chance at this game, but everyone in that dressing room believed and that’s all that we needed.”

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