Mayo 2-10 Donegal 0-4 Donegal are on the verge of being knocked out of the All-Ireland championship – at half-time.
McGuinness will need a miracle at half-time
Mayo have literally peppered the Donegal goal with goals and points with the All-Ireland champions being given a footballing lesson.
All around Croke Park, Donegal have been beaten to the ball.
And the sad reality is that Mayo should be even further ahead.
Mayo have scored form every angle and have wasted few scoring chances.
Jim McGuinness made two late changes with Mark McHugh beating all the odds to start while Karl Lacey didn’t make the starting fifteen.
Almost 50,000 have piled into Croke Park for a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final.
But what they have seen so far is certainly not a reflection of last year’s game as Mayo tore Donegal apart from the backline to the frontline.
Cilian O’Connor opened the score for Mayo with a calmly taken point after just a minute.
Just a minute later Ballintubber man Alan Dillon added a second when he scored from long range.
Paddy McBrearty
Cillian O’Connor stuck the knife into the Donegal defence when Eamon McGee was disposed and O’Connor slotted home form close range.
In just six minutes Mayo had opened up a six point lead when Alan Dillon scored again for Mayo.
Donegal composed themselves a little more with twoscores to make it 0-6 to 0-2 for Mayo after 8 minutes.
Frank McGlynn was left struggling when Aidan O’Shea caught him in the chest – getting the Mayo man a deserved yellow card.
Mark McHugh shot wide a couple of times when he perhaps should have scored.
Michael Muprhy cecrased the lead to three points when he scored a point after Rory Kavanagh was fouled.
But disaster hit Donegal in the next passage of play when Paul Durcan was beaten to a fifty fifty bouncing through ball by Donal Vaughan who netted to give Mayo their six point advantage again.
Murphy pulled another point back with a free after Colm McFadden was fouled.
Alan Dillon scored a fine point in the 20th minute to put six points between the teams again.
Karl Lacey was drafted in for Anthony Thompson on 23 minutes as McGuinness sought to give his team some form of fluidity.
But Mayo answered with another fine point to stretch the lead to seven points a minute later.
Donegal were officially in trouble when Matthew Ward another another to put eight points between them.
Alan Freeman found another score as Mayo began to make it look easy to make it 2-7 to 0-4.
Kevin McLaughlin could have netted yet another only for an outstretched leg from Mark McHugh as Donegal’s forwards were left all at sea.
Mayo pushed it to an eleven point lead with another point in the 34th minute.
O’Carroll could have natted even another goal when O’Carroll hit
Colm Boyle managed another point to put a margin bigger than Mt Errigal between the sides at half time.
