Article first appeared June 2003

Slipping fan belts and near misses

By Terry Reilly (c) 2003

MAYO never minded playing Galway in Pearse Stadium in Salthill.  Big pitch.
Plenty of space. Room to express oneself. And some good results. The only
drawback was getting away after the game, along tar-melting roads knotted
with traffic that found out dodgy radiators and slipping fan belts.

Believe it or not,  in those days we checked radiators and fan belts and
oul and petrol and tyre pressure before setting out on any journey of
consequence. And we carried spare water for the rad, a hand pump just in
case Dunlop pressure dropped, maybe even a canister of petrol. And  veteran
drivers knew that a nylon stocking could serve as a replacement fan belt if
needed. Provided, of course,  there was a woman on board with the hosiery of
the requisite denier. Younger readers , check with your mums and dads if you
don't believe your columnist!

First there was 1967: Mayo, smarting from reversals at the hands of the
great three-in-a-row Galway side, had beaten Sligoi in the first round and
Leitrim had beaten Roscommon. But the semi-final clash of Mayo and Galway at
Pearse Stadium on June 25th was the one that counted.