ITโS FOURTEEN YEARS since Alan Dillon and Gavin Duffy shared a dressing-room on a Mayo team that journeyed to the All-Ireland minor football final.
Defeat was their lot on that occasion by three points against Down in Croke Park. They went on their seperate sporting paths after that โ Dillon ploughing furrow with the Mayo senior setup and Duffy forging a career with Connacht and Harlequins.
Now theyโre back together as teammates following the high-profile recent addition of Duffy to the Mayo senior setup. Next Sunday, Mayo are in championship action in the Connacht semi-final against Roscommon.
Dillon is the only survivor from that Mayo 1999 team still involved in the senior squad, placing him as an ideal candidate to speak of Duffyโs potential.
โHe was the powerhouse in the midfield department. He was way more developed than a lot of us at that stage in 1999. I would have followed him with Connacht and with Ireland. Itโs great to have him back. Heโs a good fella around the camp.
โHe keeps everyone honest and heโll add that couple of percent to everyoneโs game that is of benefit to the overall squad. Heโs equipping himself well in training and heโs physical. His physical presence is something that we probably didnโt have bar Aidan and Seamie OโShea in that middle third department.โ
Duffy may have been the midfield king back in minor days but itโs still unclear where he is best suited to on the senior stage.
โItโs up in the air,โ says Dillon. โWe probably need to see a bit more of where heโs most comfortable. But in and around that area in training heโs a hard man to have.
โI wouldnโt say heโs a manufactured footballer, he has natural ability. If you compare him to different footballers, heโs similar to some of our current lads. Heโs not a million miles off. It will take time to feel comfortable in that environment and playing with that intensity.
โFrom speaking to him, the big thing he notices is the quickness of the turn of the feet, that type of stuff. Itโs just the intensity of the game and where itโs gone from when he was 18 or 19 years of age. Heโs come to grips with it, the five-a-side games, the crossfield games, the simulate games โ heโs learning every time.โ
After the disappointment of Mayo losing two All-Ireland finals, Duffyโs arrival has been a boost to their camp. His experience as a professional sports person has been tapped into.
โLads would bounce ideas off him,โ reveals Dillon. โTry and dissect what he was doing at the professional level, like how Ireland did in 2011 in the World Cup? How did they react to that?
โItโs not a thing like he gives open presentations and that type of stuff. Itโs an internal thing. Heโs an addition. First of all, heโs a Mayo man so James (Horan) is entitled to bring him back, even if he was playing club football. Heโs part of the squad, thatโs the most important thing.โ
Great save by Kelleher near the end. Comfortable afternoon for him
Top player.
Super performance and result albeit against a woeful Watford. Unlikely to be a worse performance by any PL team this season. Salah is unbelievable and his goal was magical, give him the contract his performances and goals deserve. Great to see Firmino scoring. Though Kelleher had nothing to do he kept his concentration to make a very good save at the end. Gonna be a tight title race. Surprised Salah and Mane played the 90 minutes, Minamino could have done with game time especially against that Watford team.
Mo Salah is WOW!!! a pleasure to watch himโฆ..Firmino not bad either : )
Time to sack Ranieriโฆโฆ.
@John S: dilly ding dilly dong
@Heckler davies: dilly ding, dilly gone
Class win and 3 more handy points. We will be hard to stop This season as we put last seasons blip behind us
Danny Rose will sleep tonight. Great performance against an albeit poor side!!
Give Mo all the money. Almost 0% chance of being able to replace him
Lewandowski and Salah are the best players in the world on current form.
I donโt think Iโve ever seen a PL side as bad as that Watford side todayโฆ.if they lost 10-0 it wouldnโt have been a surprise! Woefulโฆ
@Ottomaaan: you forgot to mention that they were up against a solid side with a rampant front three, there, I fixed it for youโฆ. :)
@Gordon Larney: no need to fix anything. That was the worst performance Iโve ever seen from a PL side, dreadful stuff and Liverpool could have put 10 past them.
@Ottomaaan: have to agree. I was at the game and never seen such a bad performance from a PL team.
Salah in great form. But how long canhe hold that form? He has 20-25 goals in him a season, but heโs up and down. If he held this form, heโd be close to 40 goals?
Bigger tests against Athletico and United on the way.
@Finn Faulkner: did you like your own commentโฆ
@Finn Faulkner: how long can he do that. ? He has been doing it for the last 4 seasons. 104 goals in 166 games in the Premier league but you think he should score more. Okay so
@Finn Faulkner: youโre gonna need bigger bait on that hook โฆ.
@WESHALLNOTBEMOVED: But by that metric 4 seasons at 40 goals would be 160 goals. He hasn t done that. But my point is that if he can keep that killer hat on his head for a prolonged period, and with our squad almost injury free, he could break records for us. Iโm HOPING he keeps this lethal form indefinitely. He still canโt be put in the Messi/Ronaldo category until he starts being seriously clinical. Iโd love to see him win the Balloon dโOr this year (or the next)
@len len: No, but seeing as you need likes, here, have mine. Have a lovely day.
@WESHALLNOTBEMOVED: you included his Chelsea stats there, itโs 102 in 153 for Liverpool
@Shane Roche: Itโs still an amazing number of goals per season, but I think he can go even further, he needs to keep this current form. Biggest tests are against Athletico and then United.
That salah. Goal was pure roy of the rovers.. Pure art.. He must be a great dancer..
As good as Liverpool are, and they are really good. This in my opinion is all about Klopp.