O'Donoghue's 'pride and relief' after banishing ghosts of 2021

O'Donoghue's 'pride and relief' after banishing ghosts of 2021Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, O'Donoghue scored 2-56 in the 2026 championship, second only to Kerry's David CliffordByMatt GaultBBC Sport NI senior journalistPublished1 minute agoMayo's emotional All-Ireland triumph on Sunday brought a collective release to everyone associated with the county, but victory on Gaelic football's biggest day also provided Ryan O'Donoghue a measure of redemption. In the 2021 final, O'Donoghue missed a penalty that would have given Mayo the lead over Tyrone in the second half. While O'Donoghue top-scored on the day with 0-8, Tyrone won the game, leaving the spot-kick failure - which came 12 months after the 2020 final loss to Dublin - to eat away at him for five years before he got another crack at the final. And against Kerry on Sunday, the 27-year-old set the tone for a furious Mayo performance as he pressed and hassled the Kingdom defence from the first minute in a man of the match performance. "The two main emotions are pride and relief," he told The GAA Social."After 2020 and 2021, if I'm being honest, I was never over 2021 until about a half-hour ago [at full-time on Sunday]. "Now I'm an All-Ireland champion, we're All-Ireland champions and I'm over it. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. "There are a lot of things that have happened in the past couple of years on the pitch - 2020, 2021 and the Roscommon game [a 10-point loss in this year's Connacht semi-final]. I don't think today would have happened if we didn't go through those things."Pride and emotion as Mayo end 75-year wait for gloryPublished16 hours agoMayo beat Kerry in thriller to end 75-year All-Ireland waitPublished19 hours agoImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, O'Donoghue missed a penalty against Tyrone in the 2021 All-Ireland final 'This...