‘A real gent' – GAA fans hail Aidan O'Shea for amazing gesture to kids moments after Mayo's heartbreaking elimination
AIDAN O'Shea has been hailed for his incredibly gracious willingness to acquiesce to fan requests moments after Mayo's heartbreaking exit.
Even by the standards of Mayo defeats,
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James Crombie of INPHO captured this amazing shot post-match
Credit: @INPHOJames
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While the pain in his face is clear to see in this Sportsfile snap
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The 34-year-old is Mayo's all-time record appearance holder
It'll be up to O'Shea, 34, whether he goes again for another year in 2026.
But his humility in not shunning young supporters who stormed the pitch after the final whistle showed the best of what the GAA is about.
Fin hailed: "A real gent. I have a lot of respect for the guy."
Meanwhile Jonathan O'Connell added: "Good picture James! Fair play to Aidan." Finally, another X user labelled O'Shea "a class act."
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Earlier this year the Breaffy man
The two-time All-Star and Division 1 League winner has been lining out for them since his Leaving Cert year of 2009.
It's probably fair to estimate that over the span of his career he's been subjected to more abuse from online trolls.
This is despite longtime rivals like
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Yesterday it was Ciarán Moore's dramatic winner that condemned the green and red to a shock Championship exit at Dr. Hyde Park.
With Tyrone top, Mayo were going through in third when the hooter sounded thanks to Boland's equaliser with Donegal in second.
GAA fans 'loved seeing and hearing' the late Micheal O Muircheartaigh as he features in RTE documentary Hell for Leather
But Moore's kick kept Cavan in the Championship instead on the head to head rule after the Breffni stunned the Connacht men in round 1.
It all seemed too cruel, but Donegal were out to win. The game went right to the wire thanks to David McBrien's second half goal as Ryan O'Donoghue starred with 0-6.
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Donnacha McHugh went toe to toe with Michael Murphy before falling injured seven minutes into the second half to sum up Mayo's luck.
Donegal's talisman was their main outlet again and kicked 0-5, but Caolan McColgan and Shane O'Donnell stepped up the mark and ran Mayo ragged.
It remains to be seen if boss Kevin McStay will return to the Mayo hotseat after
But the Crossmolina man is adamant they can rise again despite their earliest championship exit since their 2010 round 1 qualifier loss to Longford - but cursed their failure to win another tight game.
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He said: 'I think we've shown ourselves to be competitive over the last two years.
"But, you know, we do need to develop a strength to us that gets us across the line. That's ultimately what we're missing just at this moment in time.
'Even though a draw would have done both teams, I don't think either team would have been happy with a draw.
"And, you know, we certainly came into this with no view other than we wanted to win the game.
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'There's a lot of young players in that group, a lot of players that are, you know, learning every day.
I think that has to be the way of it. But, you know, the likes of Conal Dawson, Sean Morahan coming in there, Jack Coyne.
'Donnacha McHugh had to go off, Davitt Neary had to go off, Enda Hession also had to go off with a hamstring injury and these are all players that we would look to have got a bit more impact from.
'But they're all young players, Enda is 25 but all those other players are 23 or less. And so, they've got bright futures ahead of them.'
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