"We've Seen Them Given" - Mayo Furious To Be Denied Penalty Against Cork

Mayo may have felt aggrieved in the early stages of their All-Ireland SFC quarter-final on Saturday afternoon, after Ryan O'Donoghue appeared to be fouled by Cork's Maurice Shanley in the opening stages.

This quarter-final presented a golden opportunity to both counties to surpass expectations and book a place in the last four.

Perhaps predictably, the opening stages were cagey, with scores few and far between at Croke Park.

The biggest flashpoint of the first half came after just ten minutes, when Ryan O'Donoghue felt he should have had a penalty for Mayo.

With ten minutes played, a clever hand pass from Kobe McDonald had full forward Ryan O'Donoghue racing towards the Cork goal.

As he neared the square, he came into contact with Cork corner-back Maurice Shanley.

O'Donoghue was knocked to the ground, with replays showing that Shanley had, at least, reached across the Mayo man.

The same angle also suggested there may have been foot contact.

Despite this, Mayo were then penalised for O'Donoghue and Darragh Beirne's combined efforts to reclaim possession from Cork goalkeeper Patrick Doyle.

Needless to say, the Mayo forwards were incensed by the decision, baffled that the penalty had not been given the other way.

On commentary on GAA+, Michael Meehan speculated that O'Donoghue may have gone to ground too easily for the liking of referee Martin McNally.

There's a hand across the ball. He goes down quite easy.

Have we contact on the leg as well?

Absolutely, we've seen them given.

Martin McNally wasn't entertaining it today.

The teams were level at 0-09 each at half-time, with O'Donoghue scoring 0-04 of Mayo's tally.