All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Mayo 0-23 Cork 0-18 Four minutes from the end Kobe McDonald waved his arms at a pocket of Mayo supporters in the Cusack Stand and on his prompt, they let out a roar. It was over bar the shouting. Croke Park has been a harrowing place for Mayo since the turn of the decade, but they bent this quarter-final to their will in the second half, jabbing at Cork and dancing around the ring.There was no knock-out blow, just an accumulation of important things. Mayo controlled the two-point battle and won the big moments. They made three scoreboard surges in the second half and each one winded Cork. Once Darragh Beirne put them ahead with his first two-pointer four minutes after the break, they never trailed again.Mayo have not been difficult to score against this season, but this is the lowest total they have conceded since the opening round of the Connacht championship against London. They defended with more rigour and better structure than they have on other days this summer, but Cork’s capacity for self-harm aided their cause.By the end Cork had kicked 14 wides, with an overall conversion rate of less than 50 per cent. Part of that was caused by Mayo’s punchy closing down and disciplined tackling, but many of Cork’s misses were committed in high percentage scoring zones when the shooter had time on the ball.At the other end, Mayo were creative and efficient. On their Croke Park debuts, Beirne and McDonald were electric and productive and at home. In the first half, when Mayo suffered on kick-outs and were trapped in their own half for spells, the duo came up with scores that eased Mayo’s troubles.McDonald’s sumptuous two-pointer with the outside of his right foot ended a fretful period of just one Mayo point in 14 minutes, late in the first half, and by then Beirne had already scored twice.Mayo’s Darragh Beirne celebrates scoring a point at Croke park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho After the break, their influence grew. Beirne stood up to a two-point free four minutes into the second half and he added one from play just two minutes later. When Cork had reduced Mayo’s lead to a point midway through the second half, McDonald made a towering catch at centre field that ultimately led to a Mayo score. He ended the game with four points, Beirne with seven, two teenagers reaching up to the biggest game of their lives and grasping it.Alongside them, Ryan O’Donoghue was immense. In his first two seasons as a Mayo player they reached the All-Ireland final; since then, nothing has been simple. O’Donoghue has often carried the weight of the Mayo attack on his shoulders, but the load was shared here and that made all the difference.“I was saying to people during the week, I always thought this team was suited to Croke Park and the way it plays, because it’s a completely different game,” said Andy Moran.“Amazing journey, but again it all goes back to the Roscommon game and the week after and what Ryan [O’Donoghue], Darren [McHale] and Jack [Coyne] did. Jack the captain and the boys, the two vice-captains, just pulled everyone together. “They knew that wasn’t our best that we could produce. We probably made a few mistakes leading into that game in terms of coaching and managing, stuff like that. We took the hit for it and we kind of moved on, but the lads have been just superb since. They were superb before, but they’ve been really, really good since.”Cork will reflect bitterly on the chances they missed. In a season of undeniable progress this performance was a throwback to other years. Cork’s shooters weren’t able to impose themselves on the game and as the second half wore on some of Cork’s attacks veered from patient to ponderous.Cork's Colm O'Callaghan dejected after the loss to Mayo at Croke Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho They dominated the first half everywhere except on the scoreboard and, for Cork, that was probably where the game was lost. By the break they had kicked eight wides and missed a goal chance. The breeze wasn’t a massive factor in the play, but it was at Cork’s backs in the first half and yet they were only level at the break, 0-9 to 0-9.They were penalised for a breach in the final play of the first half, which O’Donoghue turned into a two-point score to draw the sides level, and they were penalised for another breach late in the second half when trying to haul themselves back into the game. Those breakdowns exemplified everything that was destructive about Cork’s performance.Over the years, Mayo have had that experience in Croke Park too. Not this time.MAYO: J Livingstone; J Coyne, D McHugh, E McGreal; S Callinan, D McBrien, E Hession; B Tuohy, J Carney (0-1-0); S Coen, P Towey, J Flynn; D Beirne (0-2-3, 1 tpf), R O’Donoghue (0-1-6, 1 tpf, 2f), K McDonald (0-1-2).Subs: D Duffy for McGreal (inj, 12 mins); T Conroy (0-0-1) for Towey (h-t); C Loftus (0-0-1) for Coen (49); M Ruane for Tuohy (54); R Brickenden for Duffy (65).CORK: P Doyle; M Shanley, D O’Mahony, S Meehan; B O’Driscoll, T Walsh, R Maguire (0-0-1); I Maguire (0-0-1), C O’Callaghan (0-0-1); P Walsh (0-0-3), D Sheedy, S McDonnell; M Cronin (0-1-0, tpf), C Óg Jones (0-0-2), S Sherlock (0-1-5, 1 tpf, 2 45s, 1f).Subs: R Deane for McDonnell (48 mins); C Corbett for Sheedy (51); B Hurley (0-0-1) for Cronin (60); S Brady for Maguire (62); S Walsh for P Walsh (65).Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).