Mayo 1-8 Tyrone 0-11: Same day, different year. Twelve months ago, Tyrone managed a late score in Killarney to ensure that they, not Kerry, progressed to the Allianz NFL semi-finals.

Yesterday before 6,000 excited spectators in Castlebar, the failure to score a late point put the All-Ireland champions agonisingly out of this year's league race.

In the fourth minute of injury-time Stephen O'Neill stepped up to a 40-metre free with the sides level. The draw would do Mayo, but Tyrone needed the win.

Facing into a strong breeze O'Neill decided to try and thread the ball through to a better placed player, but his kick was intercepted by Austin O'Malley who lustily booted the ball far away beyond the opposing 45.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte wasn't inclined to be too hard on his Footballer of the Year. "It wasn't going to be easy for a left-footed player on that side of the field, but I thought he'd have a bash at it. Obviously he saw something else and thought he could make it happen; it didn't happen and there's where it went."

Harte also acknowledged his team were in command of the match going into the final quarter, having worked hard to overturn a five-point deficit in the 20th minute with eight unanswered points.

"We weren't really dependant on anyone else. We had this in our own hands and we wanted to win this for ourselves. If we had won this match we'd be through regardless. We didn't do that.

"We tried our best, but at the end a point on the scoreboard would have done it for us and we didn't get it."

The draw was a fair result. Playing into the wind during the first half, Mayo put on a determined display, taking on Tyrone with the sort of running game the All-Ireland champions usually swallow in one gulp.

"I though we played some lovely football in the first half against the breeze," said Mayo manager Mickey Moran afterwards. "I don't think that anyone has scored a better goal against Tyrone because if you look back this past few years their defensive system just doesn't let you in. I knew that if we could just keep the ball alive and keep running off the shoulder we could cause bother."

Although at times Mayo lived dangerously with their short passing at the back and were frequently turned over in possession, Moran's pride in the goal was justified. Ronan McGarrity and Ger Brady moved the ball at pace, broke the necessary tackles and located prolific wing back Peadar Gardiner steaming up in support and he exploited the uncharacteristic gap in the Tyrone defence to clip home a goal that opened up a 1-4 to 0-3 lead.

Whether it established too much of a comfort zone or aroused Tyrone, the goal was Mayo's last score for over half an hour, although a 33rd-minute penalty offered a good chance after James Nallen (who might have palmed into the net) was footblocked trying to kick the rebound from a Billy Joe Padden shot.

But Tyrone's work-rate had intensified and they chipped away at the deficit with a string of points that levelled the match by the break.

On the re-start, the Ulster team kicked on with a couple of frees from O'Neill and a point by Kevin Hughes. Under pressure, the Mayo defence aquitted itself well, with both David Heaney and Keith Higgins particularly effective in the corners, but the match was running away from them.

"In the second half we got anxious," said Moran, "and lost territory around the middle of pitch and they upped their first phase of defence, but any time we nipped the ball out wide fast and got it down early we looked like we could score."

The Mayo manager did his own bit by introducing David Brady with 20 minutes left. The Ballina veteran made plenty of impact around centrefield, including kicking a rallying point - Mayo's first since the goal - and the match was gradually pulled back into the balance.

Although Alan Dillon and Padden both blew good opportunities from frees, Mayo added points from Austin O'Malley and Ger Brady, whose running game began to pick up again, to tie the match at 1-8 to 0-11.

Dillon made amends with a free in injury-time that pushed the home side ahead, but Conor Gormley, who had switched with Joe McMahon to cope with Ger Brady, got up for an equaliser.

"We knew we had to dig deep because Tyrone are still the best team in the country," said Moran. "They're terrific All-Ireland champions - and that's a Derry man saying that. We had to fight and scrape for that draw, but I don't think that Tyrone would begrudge it to us."

MAYO: J Healy; D Heaney, L O'Malley, K Higgins; T Howley, J Nallen, P Gardiner (1-0); J Gill, R McGarrity; BJ Padden, A Dillon (0-1, free), G Brady (0-1); A O'Malley (0-3), K O'Neill (0-2, one free), A Moran. Subs: D Brady (0-1) for Gill (49 mins), T Mortimer for O'Neill (60 mins).

TYRONE: P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Gormley (0-1), M McGee; D Harte, J McMahon, P Jordan (0-1); C Holmes, S Cavanagh (0-1); B Dooher (capt; 0-1), B McGuigan, K Hughes (0-1); M Penrose (0-1), S O'Neill (0-4, all frees), R Mellon (0-1). Subs: O Mulligan for Mellon (half-time).

Referee: J Bannon (Longford).