STARS ANSWER MAY DAY CALL
Tipperary 1-11 Mayo 1-19
MAYO had to come with a late surge to stave off a shock defeat to a gallant Tipperary side in a thrilling Thurles qualifier.
Liam Kearns’ men looked set for a shock win when they opened up a three points midway through the second-half.
But a fortuitous goal from James Durcan was the breakthrough Mayo needed when his shot for a point dipped into the top corner of the net.
That tied the sides at 1-11 each after 52 minutes and Kevin Mcloughlin edged them in front to lead for the first time since the sixth minute.
Tipp’s challenge faded and they failed to score in the final quarter as Mayo romped home with eight unanswered points.
But they were in trouble when they trailed by 1-7 to 0-8 at the interval, with Michael Quinlivan flicking home a super goal after 10 minutes to wipe out Mayo’s early burst which yielded four points.
Mayo suffered a double blow when Seamus O’shea went off injured and Colm Boyle was black-carded on his 100th appearance but, with Jason Doherty superb, they came storming back.