2011 loss changed Cork's record v Mayo

Kerry had booked their place in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final, but Tomás Ó Sé was unimpressed.

On July 31, 2011, Jack O’Connor’s side beat Limerick by 1-20 to 0-10 at Croke Park. Interviewed on television afterwards, Ó Sé gave an honest assessment of the Kingdom’s performance, finishing with the warning that there would need to be a big improvement for the Cork game.

Kerry would go on to win their semi-final, but it wouldn’t be against Cork. While the counties had met in the All-Ireland series in six years in the previous decade, the expected last-four match-up didn’t happen in 2011 – they haven’t met in Croke Park since.

Cork – the reigning All-Ireland champions – took the field in the immediate aftermath of the Kerry game, with Mayo their opponents. Despite the fact that Conor Counihan’s side had lost key forwards Ciarán Sheehan, Colm O’Neill and Daniel Goulding in a short space of time, they were still 1/5 favourites.

DOMINANT

Part of that was probably due to the recent history between the counties – while Mayo had recorded a comprehensive victory over Cork in the 1916 All-Ireland semi-final replay, Cork had won the four most recent clases, a span from 1989-2002.

Mayo had reached the All-Ireland finals of 2004 and 2006, losing to Kerry on both occasions, but fortunes dipped after that. They had exited the 2010 championship with a first-round qualifier defeat to Longford but, while new manager James Horan had guided them to the Connacht title in his first year, Cork were seen as a test beyond them.

The low levels of Mayo belief can be demonstrated by the fact that the double-header only drew 22,732 people to Croke Park.

However, though Cork had early goals from Donncha O’Connor and Paul Kerrigan to lead by 2-4 to 1-3, they would be outscored by 0-10 to 0-2 for the remainder.

While Mayo would fall to Kerry in the semis, it set in train a run where they would go on to reach six All-Ireland finals in 10 years, with wins over Cork in 2014 and 2017.

That was part of the reason why Cork were underdogs when they headed to Limerick to take on Mayo in a round-robin tie in 2023, seeking qualification for the preliminary quarter-finals after a win over Louth and loss to Kerry, who had lost to Mayo.

A cagey first half on June 17 ended with Cork having scored six of the 11 points registered but grateful to goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin for an important save to deny Aidan O’Shea a goal.

Mayo got on top in the second half, pushing three ahead before Tommy Conroy’s goal made it 1-11 to 0-8 with just 13 minutes left. Amazingly, it was the Connacht’s side last score.

Cork responded brilliantly. Colm O’Callaghan’s driving run was halted for a penalty, which Steven Sherlock stroked home – on a roll, he kicked four consecutive points to put Cork back in front for the first time since the early stages of the second half.

However, with Kerry well ahead of Louth in the other match, a three-way tie loomed and a win on its own would not have been enough to lift Cork higher than third place.

A three-point win was needed to tie Mayo on scoring difference, with total points scored then the deciding factor. Cork pushed on in injury time as subs John O’Rourke and Chris Óg Jones helped them to reach the magical margin.

Even then, there was a chance for Mayo to earn a victory in defeat as they were awarded a late free but Aidan O’Shea’s effort dropped into the waiting hands of Cork goalkeeper Martin.

The final whistle brought joy for the Cork team and backroom, as well as those supporters who had made the journey. What they would give for something similar on Saturday.