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GAA | Mayo beat Donegal to reach last four

Mayo have beaten Donegal by 1-14 to 1-10 in Castlebar to reach the All-Ireland semi-final.

The four-point win sees the Connacht county finish second in Group 1 behind Kerry, ending Donegal's unbeaten Championship record this season and eliminating them in the process.

Elsewhere, Kerry beat Meath by 2-18 to 1-13 in Navan to top the group on five points.

Mayo led by 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time after a low scoring first half in the rain in Castlebar.

Paddy McBreaty - who was an injury doubt before the game - kicked the first point of the game for the visitors at MacHale Park, and Niall O'Donnell soon added a second.

Paddy Durcan got Mayo on the scoreboard, before Cillian O'Connor's free drew Mayo level in the ninth minute.

Chris Barrett fired Mayo ahead with a well-taken point after O'Connor picked him out deep in the Donegal half.

Michael Murphy restored parity with a free after Keith Higgins was shown a black card for a cynical foul on McBrearty.

Jason Doherty edged Mayo in front with a shot from distance in the 19th minute, and the hosts never let their lead drop from that point.

Mayo kicked five wides in the opening 25 minutes, but a fine James Carr point made it 0-5 to 0-3 in their favour.

O'Connor's routine free put them three clear in the 27th minute, at a time when Donegal had gone 13 minutes without a score.

O'Connor then fisted the ball into the back of the net after Doherty's hopeful lob into the box to make it 1-6 to 0-3.

Murphy and Durcan traded scores before the interval.

Unbelievably, Donegal went 33 minutes without a point from open play in the first half.

Watch all the Half-Time highlights from Mayo v Donegal here on GAANOW. pic.twitter.com/wPFFOs4ID1 — The GAA (@officialgaa) August 3, 2019

O'Donnell scored the first point of the second half for the Ulster champions.

Andy Moran came off the bench for Mayo in the first half, and the veteran forward teed up Carr for Mayo's first score of the second period.

Donegal were awarded a controversial penalty - replays suggest it was soft - after a tussle between Murphy and Lee Keegan following a high ball into the square.

Murphy dusted himself down to dispatch the penalty into the bottom corner, sending Rob Hennelly the wrong way.

Kevin McLoughlin scored a fantastic point with virtually his first touch after coming off the bench, with Daire Ó Baoill soon splitting the posts at the other end.

McBrearty and Durcan traded points before an O'Connor free in the 60th minute took his personal tally to 1-3.

Another Ó Baoill point reduced the deficit to two points five minutes later, with both teams wayward in their kicking.

O'Connor converted another free in the 70th minute after a foul on Moran, but the majority of the 27,000 crowd were dismayed to see seven minutes of additional time on the board.

Murphy drove forward to score an excellent point, but a fisted effort from Moran at the other end kept Mayo three ahead.

Moran added another score in the 73rd minute, and Mayo held on to advance to the last four in Donegal's stead.

One thing is for certain.

You can never write this Mayo team off.

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