IT WAS DIFFICULT not to feel sorry for Mayo’s Rob Hennelly last night as he fought back the tears whilst watching Dublin lift Sam Maguire for a second consecutive year.
The goalkeeper, who was preferred to David Clarke for the All-Ireland final replay, was shown a black card for a foul on Paddy Andrews after he spilled a Paul Flynn delivery.
Diarmuid Connolly clinically dispatched the 39th minute penalty and Jim Gavin’s side never looked back, ultimately sealing a one-point victory at Croke Park.
Hennelly was a picture of devastation on the pitch afterwards, no doubt playing his mistakes over and over in his head. In a game of such fine margins, any error is going to be accentuated.
Cork U21 goalkeeper Anthony Casey knows what it feels like to have the blame put on your shoulders and to burden the guilt of such a shattering defeat.
Casey was the subject of a torrent of sickening online abuse after enduring a day to forget as he conceded five goals in Cork’s All-Ireland final hammering at the hands of Mayo in April.
But when the young goalkeeper was receiving it from all angles, he received a consoling show of support from Hennelly — and the favour was returned last night.
Rob Hennelly / Twitter
Rob Hennelly / Twitter / Twitter
A classy act.
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Darragh has a hell of an act to follow after his old fella