Andy Moran’s Mayo made it two wins from two outings in this year’s National Football League, as they got the better of Dublin by six points at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this afternoon. In what was a scrappy enough encounter, the home side stayed strong coming down the stretch to hold off their fourteen-man opponents to prevail by 1-18 to 2-9.
The day was clear and cool in the west today, with a brisk enough breeze coming in from the direction of the Reek, blowing diagonally across the pitch towards the bacon factory end. A big crowd assembled for the game, with an official attendance of 15,197 announced at half-time.
We made one change to our starting fifteen, with Fergal Boland lining out instead of Tommy Conroy who was replaced in the 26 by Cian McHale. Dublin had one change too and it was a significant one, with Con O’Callaghan not starting (and not togged either by the looks of it). Mind you, they did have a good replacement in the person of Cormac Costello.
We came roaring out of the blocks. Fergal Boland posted our first score on 35 seconds when James Carr claimed a long ball pumped in by Ryan O’Donoghue and offloaded it to the Aghamore player to apply the finish. Thirty seconds later Sam Callinan doubled our lead.
Before we could get too smug about that positive opening Dublin had the ball in the net at the other end. The ball in from Lundy was excellent and Breathnach’s finish was emphatic. A few minutes later Costello’s 45′ had plenty of legs and the required accuracy too.
We needed a response and the ever-industrious Ryan O’Donoghue provided it, whipping over a two-pointer from just outside the arc to level it. Lundy was on target with an outside-of-the-boot effort but Darragh Beirne quickly cancelled that one out.
A few minutes later we hit the front. David McBrien – a towering presence for us today – curled a cracker over for a two-point score. That came on 13 minutes and, although both sides had their moments from then on, this was a lead we wouldn’t subsequently surrender.
Both sides were already facing trouble in locating the posts. Breathnach shot a few bad wides for them, with Jack Carney, Bob Tuohy, James Carr (off the upright) and Rob Hennelly (from a two-point free attempt) all off-target for us. At the finish we’d racked up twelve wides to ten for them.
McGillis ended a ten-minute scoreless spell for Dublin by knocking one over from a central position. Stephen Coen, from a nice Darragh Beirne lay-off, responded for us and it was score for score ’till the break, as we added points from Fergal Boland and Ryan O’Donoghue (a free) to go in two points clear.
It was hard to know how the game would go from there. Both teams were wasteful enough and neither of them were playing all that well. A typical National League encounter, you might say.
What turned the contest shortly after the restart was the straight red card handed to Dublin’s full back Seán MacMahon. There didn’t, in truth, appear to be much in the offence for which he got the line and this was a game where hard hits were very much the exception but Martin McNally deemed it enough for the ultimate sanction and the visitors were left with fourteen players with more than half an hour still to play.
Just before that incident, we lost the ball out around the middle and Costello smashed a piledriver off the crossbar, in what was a lucky let-off for us. Up the other end David McBrien thumped one over to edge us three in front.
We broke through for a goal a few minutes later. Darragh Beirne was without doubt impeded on his run through the middle but he kept going, taking an indelicate number of steps before burying it low to the net.
Aidan O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor joined proceedings then and, after Ryan O’Donoghue’s perseverance eventually afforded him sufficient space to get off a scoring shot, Diarmuid marked his return with a trademark boomer from distance.
That put us eight up with twenty minutes to go. Game over? Not a bit of it.
We got caught napping soon after when they sent a free quickly back out beyond the arc where Costello arrowed it over for a two-pointer. Then Small came in along the end-line and his low shot ended up in the net via a late deflection.
What was admirable from our performance then was, after being rocked back in that fashion, how we responded to close the game out without any unnecessary drama.
Ryan got a settling score, from a Fergal Boland assist, just after the Dublin goal. Then Cian McHale, just on the field as he replaced Darragh Beirne, knocked over a free.
Jack Carney, guilty of a few bad wides today, took the right option when he found himself close to the posts and fisted over. As Dublin’s challenge petered out we tacked on further scores from Sam Callinan and Jordan Flynn. Bugler bagged the final score of the day but we had the final word on the scoreboard.
Any day we have six points to spare over the Dubs is a good day. Indeed you have to go back to 2012 to find when we enjoyed a bigger winning margin over them and, while the sending off was pivotal, we finished the game far the stronger and fully deserved the win.
Two wins from two is the ideal start to this Division One campaign. You’d have to think that, while significant challenges face us in the weeks ahead, we’re already well on the way to securing our top tier status.
All the while as our style of play is so much more easy on the eye than it has been in recent years. Yes, there’s plenty to feel good about from our perspective after two rounds of League games.
Mayo: Rob Hennelly; Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Enda Hession; Sam Callinan (0-2), Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen (0-1); Bob Tuohy, David McBrien (0-3, one 2pt); Jack Carney (0-1), Ryan O’Donoghue (0-5, one 2pt, one free), Jordan Flynn (0-1); Darragh Beirne (1-1), James Carr, Fergal Boland (0-2). Subs: Aidan O’Shea for Durcan, Diarmuid O’Connor (0-1) for Carr, Cian McHale (0-1 free) for Beirne, Paul Towey for Boland, Donnacha McHugh for Coen.
Our bumper Final Whistle podcast show is up on Patreon now.
Plunkett says:
February 1, 2026 at 4:34 pm
Anyone know what happened to conroy?
Jordan Kearns says:
February 1, 2026 at 4:35 pm
Great to win against Dublin plenty to work On Ryan O’Donoghue man of the match looking forward to 2 weeks time against Donegal
KM79 says:
February 1, 2026 at 4:42 pm
A rare boring comfortable win
Never mind that it came against the Dubs (who look incredibly poor though)
Pullhard says:
February 1, 2026 at 4:44 pm
That wasn't a great showing from Dublin all thkngs considered. They've gone back a fair bit but a win all the same for us and hopefully we can do enough now to stay in Division 1. Some good performances esp from Sam, Darragh Beirne, Bob and Ryan
Mikey says:
February 1, 2026 at 4:47 pm
Mixed day, few positives, I thought that FB line did OK with the 1:1 defending, MF did ok overall, some of the attacking play was good, we created a number of clear goal chances, and ironically our goal was not amongst them.
In reality, with these rules, a team should not lose if a player up, Dublin were limited and our shot selection is a work in progress. I thought that AOS did well to provide a bit more structure to our attacking play as we better managed the end game compared to the Galway match. I also like ROD at CF. Donegal next will be another step up so good to have the two week break
Willie Joe says:
February 1, 2026 at 5:01 pm
Final Whistle pod up on Patreon now. It's a bumper one too in light of the absence of TV coverage, weighing in at just over an hour.
Ever the optimist says:
February 1, 2026 at 5:33 pm
It's on the record that the Dublin machine is well and truly fried lads. I think they're a cert for the drop and that's care of the Mrs who's currently berating me for bringing her up to the game. I, in my defence, offered her a refund on the ticket.
Mayo1992 says:
February 1, 2026 at 5:33 pm
8/10 performance overall I'd say. Just the backs need to get to grips with things, as that's about 7-8 really good goal chances in the last 2 games. Kerry, Armagh, Tyrone await us yet and we won't get as lucky.
The last time Boland played at corner forward, was against Kerry in the league, scoring 0-3. He played another blinder today. I think him and ROD swapping corner forward to centre forward is a genius move by Andy, it suits the pair of them so well.
Beirne is a class act, can't believe he's only 19. The many years of a cute, left-footed forward since Conor Mortimer are at an end it seems! Just wasn't James Carr's day today. Hopefully Conroy is back soon, whatever his issue today was.
Very happy with Andy and co. so far, a great blend of youth and experience so far.
Aidan says:
February 1, 2026 at 5:59 pm
A lot of positives so far but yet still a lot of improvement.open again at the back.
Dublin are regressing. Be no surprise to see them between div 2 and 3 in a few years.
Out of the top 8 teams in the country 3 are in Connacht.
Finding Sam says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:04 pm
Any day we beat the Dubs is a good day! A big crowd saw an entertaining game and Mayo were the better team all over the pitch today. It’s early days but we look to be on the right track and Andy will be happy with the start to the league. He won’t be happy with some of our shooting after half time and it took that goal from Beirne to take the game away from Dublin. He looks very comfortable at senior level and he is a real find for Mayo. Ryan O’Donoghue was excellent again today and he is the heartbeat of this team.
Ever the optimist says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:14 pm
Aidan, you're not far wrong there imo, but the strength in depth to me lies in Ulster. The Tyrone lads have won serious silverware at youth level, and I, despite having three jars on me at the moment, would be looking at them, under the tutelage of O'Rourke as serious contenders for a senior title soon. I'd be very surprised if Kerry and Tyrone weren't thrashing it out before long for major honours.
Give Andy a bit of space as it's his baptism of fire and it takes time before it clicks.
I can't see even a seasoned team like Galway troubling either of the aforementioned tbh. My dark horses are still Donegal but I think O'Rourke will upend McGuiness this summer. I also think Andy will upend PJ in some form or other.
Outside of the Boot says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:29 pm
I thought Carr was very good , linked play well , won ball on front , in the corners and in air .
A very good fullforward display and his short to loose.
Were alotnmore dangerous with pace and direct running in our team
Ontheditch says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Andy will be happy with the way we managed the last quarter allbeit the Dubs made it easier for us.
Concern still about contesting kickouts. Mix of poor kickouts, sliced of the boot, and inability to win breaking ball.
ROD outstanding. Sam very effective, Durcan coming back to form. I'd give a lot of credit to Tuohy. Things didn't always go his way, but he never stopped trying and finished the game strongly. Beirne was obviously targeted as a man to be watched but nonetheless caused plenty of problems. You can't beat class.
Deelrover says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:46 pm
Happy with the points, disappointed with the performance, the game drifted away from both teams at times, bigger days to come where the central characters will revert to type I'm afraid
2 hops says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Carr and Paddy shook off some more rust, and Diarmuid and Donnacha began their comeback trail,so building nicely and with Sigerson players being freed up in the coming weeks, let the experiment continue.
Mayo Forever says:
February 1, 2026 at 6:51 pm
Great to have 2 wins on the board for sure. But hope no one getting too carried away yet. Dublin very very ordinary today and yet if Costello had goaled the off the crossbar chance and they had 15 on the pitch to the end we could well have been beaten. Some terrible wasted chances after half time somewhat papered over by Beirnes wonder goal. Looking forward to the Donegal match which should tell us more on how things are progressing.
Great to see 3 connacht wins in Division 1 this weekend.
Catcol says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:11 pm
Blue skies in McHale Park - brighter days ahead.
Quite a crowd there at 15k, a lot of them Dubs. Great to get a win over les bleus, don’t care how many men they lost.
I wasn’t overconfident coming in, and their serious pace caused us problems. Yet if their goal was discounted, they added very little in the first half; we were asleep for it I’m afraid. Overall a concession of 2-9 isn’t bad in these high scoring times.
McBrien is adding serious pace and power to the midfield area, guys ought to he queuing up for his off loads. Hadn’t realised we hit 12 wides, but the defending was better than last week - Paddy Tally making an impact?
Jr says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:12 pm
15,000 at the game and Mid West. App goes down with volume of hits,mad
Swallowtail says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:12 pm
Nice to win, plus no injuries & great lads getting back.
On another note delighted at last someone in HQ has make the decision to make McHale Park Mayos HOME ground.
The Mayo flag on the stairs leading down to the dressing room, all the Mayo flags positioned high around the perimeter of the grounds & management giving interviews in front of the Elverys sign was great to see. Its about time we show pride in the wonderful facilities & make McHale Park Mayos fortress. Mayo Abú.
Mayo lad says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:21 pm
Just a small note on the red card from watching it it looks to be a red card for being a 3rd man into a scrap rather than for the push more so
Catcol says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:26 pm
Fairly blunt stuff from Ger Brennan in post match interview.
Samantha Maguire says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:37 pm
Never under estimate the power and ability of a lady when it comes to predicting the out come of a game. Some thought i was nuts to predict a 6-8 point win. And in reality it should've been more but we will take it. Tell ya what needs to be driven into them lads is keep it low and hard in front of goal. Some difference from what we witnessed last year. Kicking ball is yer only man.
TsuDhoNim says:
February 1, 2026 at 7:38 pm
@Mayo lad: 3rd man in is a black card offense (5.14) in football (different in hurling, which may add to the confusion there).
From the ref's motions it was given as a strike (notified to him by the 4th official). I'd fully expect it to be overturned on appeal.
Clare says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Good win . Dublin are definetly im the rebuild mode though . No one is getting carried away . Ryan O' D again today was great. Darragh Beirne is a really promising young player fair play to him .
Donegal will be a massive test .
No doubt says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:27 pm
A few positives today as in Ryan and Sam were very good as was beirne and great to get some injured players back plus the 2 pts of course. They definitely need to sharpen up in front of the posts a few more players to come back soon and in fairness we couldn't ask for more at this point. It's only the start of February but it's ok to be content as fans though there will be plenty of times for doubt I'd imagine. There's the making of a real good squad there but it could take a couple of years for some to really show what they're made of. If you look at carney there were times over the years when it was touch and go with him imo but now he looks a real solid player.
Pullhard says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:34 pm
What exactly did MacMahon do to get a straight red? It must have been fairly bad. Did he clock Ryan?
Justoutsideballagh says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:37 pm
Punches thrown by both and none were serious! Ryan thought he was in trouble when it was brought to the refs attention.
Pullhard says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:39 pm
It all seemed to happen so fast and none around me saw a thing. Very hasty by the ref we thought
TsuDhoNim says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:41 pm
@Pullhard: https://x.com/smallerfishgaa/status/2018020874415136845
Justoutsideballagh says:
February 1, 2026 at 8:43 pm
More serious stuff in half time game than anything that happened between Mayo and Dublin. Ref would have had a field day sending off the kids!
Sam og says:
February 1, 2026 at 9:01 pm
Really loved the commerative 1951 Mayo jersey with the white square and black numbers, looks well and makes it very easy to make out numbers from distance.Hope we see the 1951 commerative white away jersey against Donegal and Kerry and not that terrible blue and pink stripe jersey we played in the National League Final last year.
Regina says:
February 1, 2026 at 9:34 pm
Had almost forgotten what pacy Mayo.football looked like..The warm up looked like championship standard I thought..All missed attempts at a Mayo goal were kicked at Comerford...Someone mentioned above that shots need to be aimed lower..All the team looked so up for the game..
Looking forward to Donegal already.
Pullhard says:
February 1, 2026 at 9:35 pm
Fair play TsuDhoNim ..ridiculous. Nothing in that.
Willie Joe says:
February 1, 2026 at 9:55 pm
I don’t think video footage on X will be enough to get it overturned and RTÉ had no clear footage of the incident either. It was definitely a harsh decision but there’s a good chance Dublin won’t even bother to appeal it.
Southmayo Exile says:
February 1, 2026 at 10:10 pm
It's ironic that a Dublin player gets a red card for that - when you think of all the heavy tackles Mayo players were subjected to in Croke park in big championship games and no red cards
Howshi Kuttin says:
February 1, 2026 at 10:41 pm
Murchan threw a low blow on ROD (@ it all day) , McMahon came in and shoved him in the back in a way that seemed to ride up high and catch him in the back of the head which would have been from a similar angle to the linesman. Surprised that a red was given, was a definite yellow. Didnt stop those around me calling for it though so plenty saw something fitting of it
John Hanevy says:
February 1, 2026 at 10:46 pm
T. V. Footage very poor on the Sunday game, the Referee most likely got feed back from his Officials on the sideline and he made the decision to issue a Red Card, I recall a similar event last season in the league final when Brian Fenton received a red card, the Official on the sideline informed the Referee of a off the ball incident, but T. V. Footage clearly showed Brian Fenton received a punch in the lower back around the kidney area. No action taken against the Derry Man (Conor Glass) I believe. Anyway I don't believe that the Dubs would have won 2day, kick outs very wayward. The Dublin team need to focus going forward. Well done Mayo, hopefully they will get their hands on Sam. Best of luck.
backtowins says:
February 2, 2026 at 12:53 pm
I know it’s not the most enjoyable football to watch but was it all that bad that mayo were doing a bit of ball holding around the middle while ahead.
i believe dublin had kicked a two pointer and mayo held the ball for a good while after wise
this completely sucks any momentum out of the opposition. prime dublin were at it for years
just tiring a team while holding the ball
everybody was complaining about game management for the last few years and this shows good game management to me.
what do we think
2 hops says:
February 2, 2026 at 3:40 pm
There's a time to slow it down no doubt but maybe not to be doing it around your own hb line, which we were for periods. Also I think if you are 4 ahead it's always better to try get 6 ahead but if you're going to take the shot on make sure it goes dead,one side of the post or other... dropping it short is not an option imo.
Samantha Maguire says:
February 2, 2026 at 4:04 pm
If my memory serves me right the last time Ger Brennan was in Castlebar as a player he himself was sent off.....not today or yesterday
Willie Joe says:
February 2, 2026 at 5:05 pm
Your memory is playing tricks on you there, Samantha! Dublin had two players sent off the last time Ger Brennan played for them in Castlebar (in 2012) but he wasn’t one of them, though one was a St Vincents club mate of his. Paul Flynn got a straight red (bit out of character, you’d have say) and then Vinnies’ Diarmuid Connolly picked up a second yellow so the Dubs ended up with just 13 players on the pitch that evening.
Samantha Maguire says:
February 2, 2026 at 5:23 pm
Ooops can you remeber when he did get sent off? Rem it happening at Albany end ? Certainly not like Paul Flynn but not as uncommon for Dermo....
Willie Joe says:
February 2, 2026 at 5:26 pm
I don’t think he ever did, Samantha, not in Castlebar at any rate.
Craggy boglands says:
February 2, 2026 at 6:20 pm
Good start for Andy. 4 point s. Tough game s ahead so them point s are needed. Listened to it. Cannot really comment on it. Nothing like being there. Better if we beat them with 15 but we cannot control that. It's a balancing act trying to look at new players formation s and still win. The belief is back in mayo. Big say in championship 26
TsuDhoNim says:
February 2, 2026 at 6:22 pm
@Samantha Maguire: Are you thinking of a Croker red in '13?
https://www.mft.ie/dublin-2-14-mayo-0-16-dumb-and-dumber/
2 hops says:
February 2, 2026 at 6:38 pm
Wow,WJ didn't spare the rod there, 😊
Samantha Maguire says:
February 2, 2026 at 8:32 pm
Ah that must be it thanks. This page sometimes reminds me of a question of sport with Jimmy Magee only ye always get the answers correct on here. Fair play.
Craggy boglands says:
February 2, 2026 at 8:39 pm
Does anyone think that conroy would be better suited in the half forward line
CPAMG says:
February 2, 2026 at 8:47 pm
He might be Craggy Boglands but can't see him there this year. Think it will be two big rangey half forwards either Carney,Flynn, Dawson or DOConnor) and Ryan at 11.
Willie Joe says:
February 2, 2026 at 9:45 pm
No, I didn’t! I think I’ve mellowed a fair bit since then.
So that was the game Ger Brennan was sent off in, it’s strange because, even though I was there, I have zero recall of it.
Turns out I was wildly off the mark about him that year - not only did Gavin want him back in the team he went on to score the winning point against us in that year’s All-Ireland final.