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First published September 1997 in Another View, Western PeopleÂ
Second consecutive All-Ireland defeat- We must rescue something from this effort
By Terry Reilly (c)
IT'S not easy to write on the heels of a cruel defeat. Especially this one!
I'm as gutted as the management and players and the fans, and empathise with
the gnawing ache of disappointment that will eat at them in every
unoccupied moment for weeks.
Players are fit and strong and used to setbacks. But like you and I they
will wake up in their beds at night and for a horrible moment wonder if they
really lost or was it a nightmare.
For a player there is nothing worse than losing the one that counts,
especially a game one feels one had the capability of winning.
From a manager's perspective it's even worse when things go so dreadfully
wrong.... the sacrifices, the hours away from family eat into armoury of
even the toughest.
Â
It has happened this band of proud Mayo men twice in two years. Last year
rugged Meath spoiled the party as the table was being set. Twice.
This time Kerry, the aristocrats of Gaelic football, did not have to live
up to the form of previous Kingdom sides to collect an incredible 31 titles,
and their first in an unusually dormant eleven.
But, as last year, we know deep down that this was a winnable Al-Ireland had
we got it right on the day.
It gives me no satisfaction to write that we did not and that's just not my
view. The players and the management know it too, as did the respected GAA
men from the county who buttonholed confidants after the game. They felt the
hurt too because their innards told them what their conditioned eyes
observed.
We got a lot wrong, but for the best intentions. That's the way it goes
sometimes.
No one can fault the effort or the commitment. No one could. This is a
unique group of Mayo men in the annals of GAA lore. It has taken us to two
All-Ireland finals under John Maughan's campaigning and admirable
stewardship. It has transported us to heights we did not think possible when
we were labouring a couple of years ago in Division 3 and trying so
desperately to refind our pride and our confidence after crushing defeats.
I was chided, good humouredly, when I suggested, in trying to dampen down
expectations, eighteen months ago, Â that it would take three years before
we would have a realistic chance of winning an All-Ireland. I was wrong
though time may, ironically, prove me right. That said I have seen enough of
life and football to know that one takes one's chances when they arise
because they may never present themselves again.
CORK'S EXAMPLE
In the Burlington on Sunday night GAA President Joe McDonagh poured some
balm on wounds when he reminded us that Cork of the modern era lost two
All-Irelands before winning two in a row - a remarkable achievement but
nevertheless one that gives answer to those who now wonder if there is a
future for this Mayo team.
As optimists we grab at silver linings no matter how obscure because the
alternative is to give up the ghost. The bottom line is that we must rescue
something from these setbacks. To roll over meekly and surrender would be an
insult to the wit, drive and ambition of a band of young men who have a
pride in their county that is nothing short of magnificent.
On Sunday night captain Noel Connelly gave a speech that was rousing, lucid
and inspiring. It was not an easy thing to do to stand before almost 1,000
supporters and rally the foot soldiers. Â It was not an easy week for Noel
given the illness of his father, compounded by losing a game he and his
colleagues had busted gut and muscle to win with an all-consuming passion.
Yet, he stood erect, spoke from the heart as a man and a Mayo man and made
the point that  football is all-embracing and  is the force that unites and
drives us as a resilient people so accustomed to reversals. He pledged to
keep on trying to realise the ambition and , coming from him, all gathered
in the room knew it was a promise to which he would give nothing less than
100 per cent.
I don't really know Noel. I met him once or twice but this column has more
than once expressed the sentiment that he is more than an ordinary guy who
has led with decorum and a sense of purpose. I believe he will realise his
compelling desire to stand at the pinnacle in the Mayo colours. Â Ditto John
Maughan, Tommy O'Malley and Peter Ford for whom I also have the highest
regard.
As for the match itself, we never really got going. To start with, we did
not have the balance to wrest the initiative from Kerry. With a well-posted
weak attack Mayo needed to lead from the front and impose their will and
their strength. Â We never looked like doing it and the writing was on the
wall when we failed to open our account until the 23rd minute. By half-time
we had registered only 3 points to Kerry's 8, and worse still, all three
were from Maurice Sheridan, two from frees.
Almost everything we did in the opening half compounded the errors. Dermot
Flanagan, in probably his last game at HQ., lasted five minutes until his
troublesome hamstring went. Â The consequent repair work was far too complex
and discommoded too many players.
Liam McHale, utterly predictably, was like a fish out of water at
full-forward mainly because of a non supply of ball which isolated him: for
McHale non-involvement from the start is like turning off the gas.
GREAT POINTS
James Horan, who had come on for Flanagan, was improbably placed on the 40,
not an inspired move given the crying need for pace down to centre, though
let is be said Horan had a fine second half and swept over two capital
points from his more comfortable wing position which allows him the looping
movement he needs to home in on the posts so spectacularly at times.
At half time we lost Maurice Sheridan, a cruel and irrevocable blow that
was always going to leave us struggling, given the management's decision
over the months not to give any worthwhile real time conditioning in this
crucial discipline to other players. It's not a case of being wise after the
event, as readers of this column know we have already pointed out the high
risk strategy of such a policy.
The second half was better: much better. We showed heart and got the bit
between our teeth and fought back from six points down to a mere point
behind after 51 minutes. Actually, we could have gone ahead had we the
confidence to take our points, while at the same time we saw the
vulnerability of the Kerry attack when the pressure was on.
But then Kerry had Maurice Fitzgerald, a class act who finally came good
with a vengeance on the most demanding of occasions. He scored 9 points of
his team's 13 (6 from frees). Had Mayo Fitzgerald togged in the Green and Red we
would have won. Or had we Kevin Cahill, his effectiveness might have been
negated. Another of those imponderables.
We had, however, Peter Bourke between the posts and it is no harm reminding
ourselves that the Knock lad made two brilliant saves which probably saved
us from a pounding.
And yet, and yet, we could have won had we taken simple chances, including
two close in frees and several opportunities in front of the posts.
And that was precisely where we fell down. Up front.
Last year we scored enough in the game against Meath to have won many
an-All-Ireland. We needed to strengthen the attack, to add a bit of panache,
devil and creativeness.
Whether it was the pressure to perform or a lack of confidence or
originality we'll never know. It was obvious enough that the Mayo game plan
was to get the ball in behind the Kerry full-back line, but as chances were
missed confidence leaked like a sieve, and it was very late in the game
before Kerry's frailties in the full-back line were really tested. Had we
won midfield we might have seen a different pattern emerge.
MOVING ON
* At the post-match banquet there was much  speechifying about  the local
media sharpening its pen and turning in on the team. As a journalist of many
years experience with no time for recriminations in defeat as distinct from
constructive comments which in my case I deliberately give as Another View
rather than The View, I thought it was not very relevant in the light
of the obvious support the local media has given the team.
Yet, I defend the right of people to say it if that is what they truly feel
for I value a free and balanced press.
That said I do not  have a any time for an unquestioning press either. And
again I draw the line in the sand between the negative stuff -usually, may I
add, kicked up by county board members throughout the country  after every
championship reversal and  well intentioned comment.
Personally speaking, my admiration for this Mayo team and their management
is unqualified. As I read it  the local media and  the Mayo team are all in
this together. It is time we  laid any misconception aside and moved on. We
have great and wonderful things to accomplish for this dearest of dear
counties and we will do so by pulling together.
Anything else would be simply unthinkable.
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