What goes around comes back around as a year after they were knocked out of the Connacht U20 championship having lost a penalty shoot-out to Galway, Mayo got their back in the lottery this time around.
The penalties, they were sensational from a nerveless bunch of young men but you could have searched the length and breadth of Tuam Stadium and you still wouldn’t have found anyone as cool, as calm or as composed as Mayo wing back Conor Flynn who didn’t just score once in the shoot-out but scored twice.
Gareth Southgate will be looking for connections and English grannies.
Having taken over the second half, Maurice Sheridan’s Mayo team will have wondered how his team let it come to this but after a low-scoring 1-8 to 0-11 draw, here they were and here it was. In a strange quirk of ruling and circumstance, the first five penalty takers were considered the night’s nominees and so when the shoot-out roared and shrieked its way to sudden death, it was the same boys, and the same nerve-wracking situation again as the bluffing and the double-bluffing commenced.
Amazingly, Nathan Grainger and Jack Mahon seized the moment for a second time as did Tomo Culhane and Connell Dempsey. Galway’s leader and their inspirational centre back Tony Gill saw his second penalty saved which set the stage for Knockmore half back Conor Flynn, who having netted minutes earlier and having swept the flanks all day, strolled up to the spot with confidence.
It took more than just confidence to do what he did next though as a la Harry Maguire, Flynn beat Galway keeper Conor Flaherty as the ball sailed onto the postage stamp. If, like in Wembley, Tuam Stadium had cameras in the top corner then they would have cut out after Flynn’s strike landed with the power and placement of a perfectionist.
Ping! @RefComeOn pic.twitter.com/OGW4dBaMbI
— KnockmoreGAA (@Gaa_Knockmore) July 13, 2021
“What a magnificent penalty,” said the commentators.
“Just look at what it means to those Mayo players. What is it when it comes to the rivalry between Galway and Mayo?” They asked.
They bring the best out of each other, there’s no doubt about that but there was no need for a lights-out moment here because Mayo are through to a Connacht final and after a game like that, what more could they possibly want?
📸 That winning feeling!
Conor Flynn after drilling home the decisive penalty in a tense shootout with Galway which went to sudden death! pic.twitter.com/wNnD64lJmP
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) July 13, 2021
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