Kevin McStay Column - The Hogan Stand

Culchie

Nothing more to be said really, it says it all





Time to believe - In September 2004 Mayo people left Croke Park with heavy hearts. It had been a humiliating day for followers of the Green and Red. For the second time in recent history (1997 was the previous one) we had under-estimated the Kerry challenge. Silly boys us.

There are many difficult aspects of big time championship football but I will hazard a guess that being hammered on the scoreboard, with the game over by half time and knowing in your dressing room that you must face another 35 minutes in Hell is one of the worst.

And as we headed west few would imagine they might see a Mayo team in an All-Ireland final for a good few years to come. Kerry are Kerry and they pop up all the time at this stage of the race but the westerners are a little more fragile and generally need a little TLC before setting off again.

While the past year or so has been a great time to follow the fortunes of Mayo football (Minor final 2005, Club champions 2005, Under 21 Champions 2006 and senior finalists 2006) all fans in the county realise that only one cup matters now - we have got our hands on all the rest in recent enough years. It really is Sam Maguire or bust.

In the immediate days following the Connaught and Munster finals few would have predicted this year’s finalists. Mayo failed to spark against Galway and the Kingdom were awful as Cork won the day. But both teams regrouped and set off to improve.

Nobody can deny they played in the two best games of this season - Kerry beating Armagh in a pulsating contest while Mayo came back from the dead to take the Dubs in a game to remember. Once again, the two best teams this season have reached the All-Ireland final.

In doing so, they have re-established the primacy of skill in our game. Of course strength, fitness, heart, commitment and steel form important blocks for the modern footballer. But somewhere along the way, some management teams lost sight of skill as a life force in winning. The ability to kick with both feet accurately, the ability to pass with both hands, catch the ball over your head, a clean first touch and so on define players, allow them to stand out.

Tackling, blocking, harassing and many other routine chores of the game are very much needed and add to the spectacle but a solo run followed by a quick exchange of passes by hand or foot and an accurate finish from an awkward angle sets the spectators off. Both teams have an abundance of highly skilled practitioners.

I got a very interesting and sobering text from a friend some minutes following the victory over Dublin. He reminded me of the difficulties the Mayo back three faced against Kerry in 2004 when Crowley, Cooper and the excellent O’Cinneide bored holes in that defence. Not much has changed for Mayo back there and while Dara O’Cinneide has left the stage a certain Mr. Donaghy has replaced him - eventually!
This will be a game of football where speed of thought and movement will dominate. Quick and slick. You can be sure both teams will tear into the final and one expects Mayo will have the greater hunger. Kerry retain a great advantage in that most of their players and certainly their management know full well how to win these finals. Yet, Mayo are a very experienced team with more than a handful of battle-hardened players to turn to. And quite a bit of that experience has been of the heartbreak variety. No need to worry about motivation then.

So who will the big performers on the day be? Before we go through the various match winners we insert the rider that allows a relative unknown to provide the critical difference between winning and losing. It happens all the time - cast your minds back to the All-Ireland hurling final of a few weeks ago. Aidan who? He powered Kilkenny to their great win?
But we go to the experienced and form players to see who will provide the platform. Dara and Tomas O Se are super players and the brother Marc is fairly handy too! Down in Mayo we love the skill and quality of Gooch Cooper and MF Russell. A favourite of mine is Eoin Brosnan with the smooth solo run and blistering shot - watch out for him. Seamus Moynihan is one of the best I have ever watched and so life will not be easy for this Mayo team.

But we are a pretty serious outfit too and David Heaney is sure to give it a mighty lash. Ronan McGarrity and Peadar Gardiner are flying this year while up front we have possibly the best forward line since we won it all those years ago - McDonald, Dillon and Mortimer are nifty and are playing very well this year.

Deep down, deep down Kerry people will expect to win. It is not arrogance, more the result of years of dominance. Both teams met in 1997 when Kerry were questioning themselves having endured a gap of 11 years to their previous win. Of course they went on to win that one and Mayo suffered on again having lost in 1989, 1996 and would lose again in 2004.

The comforting thing about a run of defeats (is there such a thing?) is it eventually comes to an end. As it must surely do. The past 18 months have been a great period in Mayo football - Club Champions from Ballina in 2005, Minor finalists 2005, Under 21 winners 2006.

You will recall that our under 21 side beat a fancied Cork team after a losing streak that reached to five in this particular grade. The minor sequence must be something similar while the senior one is close.

But in the matter of Gaelic football, Kerry set and continues to set the standards of excellence that most counties can only hope to sniff at. They too arrive for the minor final and while their youngsters are aching for a win, we all realise the seniors are winning plenty of Sam Maguires already this decade.
They are simply very difficult to beat once they get to a final. Tradition plays a very big party but let us not forget they produce great players routinely that play this game to an extremely high standard. And that is why they are so hard to put down.

Mayo will descend on HQ in their thousands again. The deep frustrations that defeat spawns allow us to travel hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Until we win this most elusive of cups our confidence will remain fragile.

While thirty-one counties might wish to see Mayo finally win an All-Ireland, sporting life does not obey such corny sentiment. We will have to earn it, as Kerry men never seem to tire of winning. I am a great believer in every dog having his day and the great pride we have in our county, both as people and as footballers, has insisted we keep trying. That we keep going back for more - pain, disappointment, regrets - certainly. But each new season we rev up and go again. Always dreaming; knocking at the door. We are there again at the front door. This time we might just kick it in.

threebeards

I think it's a very fair article. IMO he's mirroring the feeling down here in Mayo, quiet optimism. I have a good feeling about this weekend and hopefully this is our year.

Audioslaven

It's Kevin McStay, not Paul. But a good article. I am starting to believe, getting the sick feeling in my belly and at 5/2 in bookies is not bad for a two horse race. Got news of my ticket.

Our Time has come!!!

threebeards

Audioslaven wrote:

5/2 in bookies is not bad for a two horse race.

I think the bet is Mayo to win by between 1 and 3 points @ 4/1

Audioslaven

threebeards wrote:

I think the bet is Mayo to win by between 1 and 3 points @ 4/1

I have them 11/1 before the dublin game for SAM, just pissed I didn't put more on them.

hoolamoppa

After defeat in 1989 final to Cork, the manager's wife, one geraldine o'mahony, held up a big banner in front of us in the canal end, it read

"JOHNNO SAYS KEEP THE FAITH"

I , along with a lot of my mayo buddies, have done just that !!!

FAITH !

Micky Moran made a big thing of that word 3 weeks ago again.

I believe this is our year, our moment of glory.

To all Mayo people out there,

Savour this time ahead