IT’S 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 – Dillon ploughing furrow with the Mayo senior setup and Duffy forging a career with Connacht and Harlequins.
Now they’re 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 Duffy’s potential.
“He 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. It’s great to have him back. He’s a good fella around the camp.
“He keeps everyone honest and he’ll add that couple of percent to everyone’s game that is of benefit to the overall squad. He’s equipping himself well in training and he’s physical. His physical presence is something that we probably didn’t have bar Aidan and Seamie O’Shea in that middle third department.”
Duffy may have been the midfield king back in minor days but it’s still unclear where he is best suited to on the senior stage.
“It’s up in the air,” says Dillon. “We probably need to see a bit more of where he’s most comfortable. But in and around that area in training he’s a hard man to have.
“I wouldn’t say he’s a manufactured footballer, he has natural ability. If you compare him to different footballers, he’s similar to some of our current lads. He’s not a million miles off. It will take time to feel comfortable in that environment and playing with that intensity.
“From speaking to him, the big thing he notices is the quickness of the turn of the feet, that type of stuff. It’s just the intensity of the game and where it’s gone from when he was 18 or 19 years of age. He’s come to grips with it, the five-a-side games, the crossfield games, the simulate games – he’s learning every time.”
After the disappointment of Mayo losing two All-Ireland finals, Duffy’s arrival has been a boost to their camp. His experience as a professional sports person has been tapped into.
“Lads would bounce ideas off him,” reveals Dillon. “Try 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?
“It’s not a thing like he gives open presentations and that type of stuff. It’s an internal thing. He’s an addition. First of all, he’s a Mayo man so James (Horan) is entitled to bring him back, even if he was playing club football. He’s part of the squad, that’s the most important thing.”
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 him…..Firmino not bad either : )
Time to sack Ranieri…….
@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 don’t think I’ve ever seen a PL side as bad as that Watford side today….if they lost 10-0 it wouldn’t have been a surprise! Woeful…
@Ottomaaan: you forgot to mention that they were up against a solid side with a rampant front three, there, I fixed it for you…. :)
@Gordon Larney: no need to fix anything. That was the worst performance I’ve 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 he’s up and down. If he held this form, he’d be close to 40 goals?
Bigger tests against Athletico and United on the way.
@Finn Faulkner: did you like your own comment…
@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: you’re gonna need bigger bait on that hook ….
@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. I’m HOPING he keeps this lethal form indefinitely. He still can’t be put in the Messi/Ronaldo category until he starts being seriously clinical. I’d love to see him win the Balloon d’Or 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, it’s 102 in 153 for Liverpool
@Shane Roche: It’s 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.