All-Ireland champions Cork have surrendered their crown after a shock Croke park quarter-final defeat to Mayo.
Conor Counihan’s side were beaten 1-13 to 2-6 by the Connacht title holders who now meet Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Mayo were well worth their win according to manager James Horan on a weekend that also saw Kerry comfortably beat Limerick and Donegal score an extra-time win over Kildare.
“This is not bonus territory for us,” said Horan. “We came to Croke Park to win and we want to come back here and win again. We are an ambitious team.”
Cork, favorites for the All-Ireland in many eyes, had no complaints after scoring just one point in the second-half.
“We were clearly beaten by the better team over the 70 minutes,” said Rebels boss Conor Counihan. “We couldn’t have any excuses.”
Kerry will now assume the tag of favorites for Sam after their comfortable 1-20 to 0-10 win over Limerick in the first of the Sunday quarter-finals.
Donegal scored a one point extra-time win over Kildare at Croker on Saturday night in a game that saw a controversial decision to disallow a Tomas O’Connor goal for the losers.
Tyrone booked their place in the quarter-finals – and a date with Dublin this coming Saturday – when they defeated Roscommon by 3-19 to 1-14 in the final fourth round fixture on Saturday night.
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