THE FINAL ROUND of All-Ireland SFC qualifier action did not disappoint, with the remaining Super 8 spots decided over the weekend.
Mayo, Tyrone, Meath and Cork all prevailed to join provincial winners Dublin, Donegal, Roscommon and Kerry in the business end of the championship, with three of the four Round Four qualifier clashes televised.
In those, three key individual performances were recognised with man-of-the-match honours.
Darren Coen’s scintillating recent form was rewarded with the man-of-the-match award following the dramatic clash of Mayo and Galway in Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night.
The Hollymount/Carramore forward finished with three points from play and was excellent throughout as James Horan’s men ran out three-point winners.
In Clones, Tyrone’s Colm Cavanagh took the man-of-the-match award after the Red Hand’s hefty win over Cavan.
It was a decision that may have raised a few eyebrows with Cathal McShane and Peter Harte among those to also impress, but Sky Sports analyst Dick Clerkin felt the Moy midfielder — who contributed an inspirational point — deserved the credit.
“Amidst all the slick hand passing, and hard running, it was the positioning and overall influence that Colm Cavanagh had on the match that caught my attention, and saw him narrowly edge out many of his team-mates for the man of the match award,” as the Monaghan man wrote in his Irish Independent column this morning.
And in yesterday’s final All-Ireland SFC qualifier meeting of Meath and Clare, the Royals emerged one-point winners in Portlaoise as they sealed their Super 8s spot.
'It's huge for Meath football' - man of the match Donal Keogan on today's win over Clare #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/OfXFHlKoIw
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 7, 2019
Meath star defender Donal Keogan has been exceptional this year, and yesterday was no different as he kept his side in it as the Banner clawed their way on top towards the end. Solid at the back, the Rathkenny man also loves to get forward and chipped in with a point from play yesterday.
Elsewhere this weekend, Cork and Laois progressed in the All-Ireland SHC, but with neither of the clashes televised, no man-of-the-match awards were handed out.
Do you agree with the man-of-the-match winners? Let us know.
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