Inside Track
Mayo’s chance to finally banish demons of the past
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SIX times Mayo footballers have been beaten in All-Ireland finals since 1989 and on each occasion, they have fallen short – and badly short in their three September showdowns against Kerry. During that period, the Connacht men have run the gauntlet of being labelled as big day failures and lacking the necessary bottle as a county’s six decade yearning for Sam Maguire reaches desperate levels.
Last year, they suffered an honourable four-point loss to Donegal despite being raided for two morale-sickening early goals, including Michael Murphy’s rocket. Mayo didn’t die or collapse and battled bravely to the finish even if there was a certain inevitability about the outcome after the opening ten minutes. Manager James Horan has brought a harder edge to the Connacht champions and they have certainly trained on in 2013.
It’s doubtful if ever a team has proven as superior to all their rivals in the provincial championship as Mayo did out west this summer. They just didn’t beat Galway, Roscommon and surprise finalists London in turn, they beat them all out the gate before also powering over Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Still, the jury was out on how good the team was as all Mayo’s opponents so far had hardly raised a gallop and only offered token resistance.
We were always going to find out more about Mayo’s capabilities against Tyrone in the subsequent semi-final and for a while they reverted to type. Under-performing, shooting bad wides and in trouble until defenders Chris Barrett and Lee Keegan stormed forward to pick off critical points approaching half-time. By the end of the game, there was only one team in it as a physically powerful and mobile Mayo almost cantered home.
They look a new Mayo but until they actually win the All-Ireland title, long-held suspicions about them will not evaporate. And they face a massive challenge on Sunday in coping with an in-form Dublin outfit who again steamrolled their way through Leinster before accounting for Cork and Kerry – the match of the year – on their way to the final. The Dubs came close to falling in that epic battle with the Kingdom but, ultimately, their younger legs, stronger bench and a Roy of the Rovers style finish got them over the line.
It would be a great way for Mayo to end their title famine and they do have every chance despite Dublin’s current verve and strength indepth. For a start , the O’Shea brothers, Aidan and Seamus, are a much more formidable midfield pairing that what Jim Gavin’s men had to contend with against Kerry and it should also be to the Connacht champions’ advantage that they will hardly engage Dublin in an end-to-end shootout like Kerry did. Mayo are tactically astute and are hardly going to allow opposition half-backs Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy the scope to attack at will.
Mayo will also have to target Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs which are so often a launching pad for Dublin’s attacks, while they can’t afford the level of poor finishing that was so evident in the opening half against Tyrone. It is heartening, however, the manner in which they got themselves out of a big hole in that match and there is undoubtedly a seasoned maturity about them now. There is little evidence either that Mayo will under-perform in the final. They have come through the school of hard knocks and are all the better for it.
There is such an intense longing for an All-Ireland title among their long suffering supporters that a Mayo triumph on Sunday could herald unequalled-style celebrations. It would be a mighty final to win with a formidable Dublin team in the other corner and though their well-chronicled list of final failures is lurking in the background, it’s about time Mayo stepped up to the plate on the biggest day of them all. In reality, this team has no excuses as they are good enough to do it.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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