
Football
Share
Published 10:43 27 Jul 2026 BST
Updated 10:47 27 Jul 2026 BST

It was written in the stars for Mayo yesterday, so much so that even a huge jersey error worked out in their favour, as boss Andy Moran explained.
During the second half of their All-Ireland final win against Kerry, Mayo substitute Rory Brickenden was forced to change jerseys in the 55th minute.
He had gone on with the No 18 shirt, despite being down as No 19 on the teamsheet, with Paddy Durcan down for the 18 jersey.
However, it worked out surprisingly well for Mayo as it slowed the game down while Kerry were mounting a comeback.
After the game, Andy Moran also joked how they made the mistake on purpose.
He said: "Sure we had a plan, we had Rory wear the wrong jersey. It kind of just slowed it down for us. That’s surely a quiz question 'who was the only person to wear the wrong jersey in an All-Ireland final?'
"He seen the top off on the big screen, and said ‘I’m in good shape’. He might not be in great shape in a couple hours."
"Rory’s a very calm fella. When he went on first, there was a bit of over and back between myself. I’d say he got 10 possessions to get us out over the full back line which really, really helped us coming out of the pitch.
"The little bit of a mistake, it really helped us moving forward to be honest with you. And then his play after that was excellent."
After the game, Moran also described how bringing in youth to the squad helped invigorate some of the older players.
He said: "We brought in youth and I think it reinvigorated Ryan (O'Donoghue) and Jack Carney and Jack Coyne and David McBrien," he told The Sunday Game after the match.
"It gave them new life which they probably didn't have. All of a sudden they saw a bit of light and thought 'ok what can we do, we'll go for it'."
Explore more on these topics:

Legendary Tyrone boss being proven right after staunch anti-AFL stance
He was loud about it! Tyrone’s legendary All-Ireland winning manager, Mickey Harte, has long been banging the anti-AFL drum. As far back as 2006, he was highly critical of the International Rules series, which he felt was taking away from the GAA and providing a platform for players to showcase themselves to Aussie rules teams. […]
Football
2 days ago
Kerry on verge of losing two of their best talents to AFL
Sad times. If Mayo fans think they have it bad with the departures of Kobe McDonald and Oisín Mullin to Australia, Kerry have objectively been hit worse, and it does not look to be getting any better for the Kingdom. According to a report from the Irish Examiner, U20s talents Evan Boyle and Daniel Kirby […]
Football
2 days ago
Mayo star suggests Kobe McDonald could come back this season for club
Football