John O'Mahony has quit as manager of the Mayo football team after his side were dumped out of the All-Ireland Football Championship by Longford.
Longford caused the shock of the GAA Football Championship so far as they sent Mayo packing by 1-12 to 0-14 in their first-round qualifier at Pearse Park.
Alan Dillon had helped Mayo take a 0-07 to 0-04 interval lead but Paddy Dowd set up Longford substitute Paul Kelly for a galvanising goal and the dismissal of Keith Higgins left Mayo under all sorts of pressure.
After Alan Freeman had twice levelled for the visitors, Longford closed out a famous win with late points from Shane Mulligan and Sean McCormack.
RTÉ Sport's Siobhan Madigan reported that many of the senior Mayo players - Alan Dillon, Trevor Mortimer, Ronan McGarrity - left the dressing room in tears after the game and without speaking to the media.
John O'Mahony followed shortly after and said he had given it his all and that he had brought this team from transition to a team that he feels will achieve.
O'Mahony said this Mayo team will get over the winning line soon but that he had brought them as far as he could.
Longford were hungrier for this win and clearly determined to bounce back from losing to Louth in the Leinster Championship.
Belief spread throughout the Glenn Ryan-managed outfit as they moved ahead in the second half, helped by a man-of-the-match performance from Dowd and key contributions from free-taker Francis McGee and goalscorer Kelly.
Looking to put their recent reversal to Sligo behind them, Mayo strode confidently into an early 0-03 to 0-00 lead courtesy of points from Alan Freeman, Seamus O'Shea and Barry Moran.
McGee kicked two frees and Brian Kavanagh, who caused problems for marker Ger Cafferkey, added another as Longford opened their account.
Play was scrappy and neither side could take a stranglehold, with Mayo frustrated by five early wides. The visitors did enough to warrant their three-point lead at the break though, with Andy Moran delivering two quick-fire points in the closing stages.
Longford lost the services of key forward Paul Barden who injured himself when scoring his side's first point from play in the 28th minute. Midfielder Bernard McElvaney secured possession and the ball was ferried on to Kavanagh who teed up the team captain.
Nonetheless, his replacement Kelly went on to have a major role in the home win. Dillon and McGee traded points on the resumption before Longford picked up the pace and started to find holes in the Mayo defence.
O'Mahony introduced Peadar Gardiner and Mark Ronaldson but the pair had little influence on proceedings. The game swung in Longford's favour when Dowd took down a crossfield ball, picked out the advancing Kelly with a lovely centre and the substitute did the rest with a sidefooted finish past Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke.
Kavanagh tagged on a point for a sudden 1-09 to 0-09 lead. Mayo did not crack and took up the challenge with Freeman and Dillon getting them back level.
Tom Parsons was another Mayo substitute brought into the fray, as they sought to overhaul Ryan's strong-running side. Parsons' poor connection resulted in a poor point attempt but the attack was rescued by Barry Moran who gave Freeman a sight of goal. Unfortunately for the travelling support, the wing forward's shot skimmed over the crossbar for a point.
Kavanagh moved Longford's total to 1-10, but Mayo were giving themselves every chance of rescuing the situation. Conor Mortimer made it a one-point game from a free.
Then, some ill-advised back chat from wing back Higgins resulted in referee Gearóid Ó Conámha showing him a straight red card.
Mayo were on the brink of elimination from the Championship and up popped Freeman with a terrific point to keep them somewhat on track.
In a dramatic finish, Shane Mulligan raced forward from his defensive position to fist Longford into a 1-11 to 0-13 lead with two minutes remaining.
Freeman levelled again with another top-drawer score, but it was not enough to save Mayo as McCormack kicked a match-winning point befitting such an outstanding night for Longford football.
