MAYO SURVIVED A real scare in Castlebar this afternoon as they eventually saw off a spirited Fermanagh outfit – but they had a controversial decision to thank for decisively swinging the result in their favour.
Trailing by a point with six minutes remaining, Kevin McLoughlin launched a ball into the square, only for Aidan O’Shea to go down under the challenge of Che Cullen.
Referee Joe McQuillan pointed straight to the spot but replays clearly show there was little or no contact and O’Shea blatantly dived.
Cillian O’Connor converted from the spot and the home side went onto record a 2-14 to 1-12 win and advance to the next round of the qualifiers.
Speaking to RTÉ afterwards, Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath expressed his frustration at the decision. He labelled it as ‘as an incredibly soft penalty’.
It’s fair to say that wasn’t Aidan O’Shea’s finest moment.
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There’s hope for Ireland yet. All we need is to play Armemia and Leichenstein and the green army is back.
@Daire O’Reilly: or sink further
@Daire O’Reilly: I’m glad we’re not in Gibraltar’s group :-)
Won more games in the last 4 days than we have in a year…could be facing them in League C next time around
Was at the game in Gibraltar. Two decent headers for the goals. Fair play.
@Stephen Carthy: is that right Walter mitty
@Stephen Carthy: I think Gibraltar play their home games in Portugal.
@William T Smith: no they don’t
@Colm Connolly: you’re right, they used to play there before they sorted their own ground
Surely the losing streak was already behind them