Niall Morgan Reveals Crucial Johnny Sexton Advice Behind Mayo Winner

Niall Morgan admitted his missed free against Armagh was running through his mind before he stepped up to kick Tyrone's dramatic late winner against Mayo.

The Tyrone goalkeeper held his nerve to land a two-point free deep into injury time as Malachy O'Rourke's side snatched a thrilling 0-22 to 1-18 victory and booked their place in the last eight.

With Mayo leading by a point and little over a minute remaining, Tyrone worked the ball upfield before winning a free outside the arc.

Back in Tyrone's Ulster Championship preliminary-round clash against Armagh, Morgan had the chance to force extra time with a late 45 but dragged the effort wide.

Speaking to RTÉ afterwards, the Edendork man admitted that miss was fresh in his memory as he prepared to strike.

Going up, I was thinking about eight weeks ago against Armagh.

I had the chance to equalise it at the end and I was just thinking don't do it again.

But it probably makes it a bit easier to have a two-pointer to actually win the game.

Niall Morgan then revealed that advice from Irish rugby legend Johnny Sexton had helped him approach the moment differently.

Some of the Tyrone squad had spent time with Sexton over Easter, with the former Ireland captain discussing the mental side of pressure kicking.

We were over in the campus at Easter and we actually met with Johnny Sexton, a few of us.

He just said about settling down, going through your routine, getting your breathing sorted and just all the wee things that are going through your head.

Morgan believes he learned an important lesson from the Armagh miss.

Against Armagh, I said afterwards I don't know why I rushed it so much because the time was basically up.

It was basically the last kick.

And I just regretted after not saying, you know what, just take your time and sort of get into the moment.

This time he did exactly that.

Mayo looked set for victory after edging ahead in the closing stages, but Morgan's composure under pressure proved decisive.

Aidan O'Shea had one final chance to level the game but his late effort drifted wide, sending Tyrone to the All-Ireland Quarter-Final and Mayo to Round 3 of the All-Ireland series.