More Mayo heartbreak - 'They'll rue that loss to Cavan. That one is going to hurt for a long time'

MAYO WERE KNOCKED out of the All-Ireland senior football championship in dramatic circumstances yesterday.

A last-gasp Donegal winner sealed their fate after the Green and Red thought they had saved their summer through Fergal Boland’s equaliser.

But Ciarán Moore had the final say just after the hooter, securing victory for Donegal and sending Cavan through to the preliminary quarter-finals instead.

The Breffni stunned Mayo in their group opener at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last month, and while the Westerners bounced back with victory against Tyrone, they lost out on head to head and now exit the championship in mid June.

“They’ll look back to that game in Cavan. It’s another heartbreak for Mayo,” former Dublin footballer Ciarán Whelan told RTÉ’s The Sunday Game last night.

“You can’t fault their desire, their effort, their intensity, the hunger they brought to the game. They really tried to unsettle Donegal in how they play. They brought it to a game of chaos, but ultimately, if you’re playing with a wind in the Hyde and you have eight shots from play in the first half and you don’t have two-point scorers, ultimately that came back to bite them and that’s been their problem.

“They give everything for the jersey. You can’t fault the players, the passion they give is fantastic, but they just haven’t been good enough.

“And still, they were there. It was small margins near the very end. It definitely wasn’t Donegal’s best performance, but it was because of the way Mayo played and the pressure they put on out the field.

“Listen, it’s heartbreak for them and they’ll rue that loss to Cavan. That one is going to hurt for a long time.”

Another championship ends for Mayo with stinging regrets and lingering frustrations. Ciaran Whelan and Dessie Dolan reflect on their shortcomings #RTEgaa #TheSundayGame pic.twitter.com/zg6hAjKiT4

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 15, 2025

Former Westmeath forward Dessie Dolan also reflected on “a tough time” for the county on the programme, after typically rollercoaster 2025.

“It is very disappointing, and very disappointing for Kevin McStay because the level of preparation that goes into a team, the sense of occasion today… we’re being spoilt by the football. Mayo were still in the championship with five seconds to go.

“You have to feel extremely sorry for Mayo. In fairness to the players, after the Cavan defeat, they went up to Omagh and bet Tyrone and then put a performance like that on today, which was incredible, to the bitter end.

“You’d feel very sorry for them. Cavan’s display today probably wasn’t at the level you’d expect either. It’s a tough time for Kevin McStay and Stephen Rochford, the players and management team, because I think they’re extremely well prepared.”

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