GOING INTO THE weekend an awful lot us were primed for an upcoming spectacle. We had the weather and everything, an Indian summer, dry ball, the two best teams in the county and everything looked like we’d be in for a pretty good game.
It certainly didn’t live up to the billing. It just never got going, it was a damp squib right from the throw-in.
It would appear there were an awful lot of nerves on show, especially on the Mayo side. They came out and did well at the start, but they never really kicked on.
Ultimate difference
The ultimate difference was the class in the forward lines. I said before the game that Bernard Brogan up against Ger Cafferkey was possibly a huge pointer to the outcome.
Brogan didn’t have his greatest game in the Dublin jersey, but he kicked 2- 3 in an All-Ireland final. On any day that’s a hell of a return. If he did nothing else – if he sat on the sideline and scored 2-3 – then it’d be a hell of an achievement. In a low-scoring game that was critical.
The first goal, there’s no way he should have scored that. The ‘keeper should have come out full whack and taken everything. I had a keeper behind me that would have planted his knees in my back to clear that ball.
When the game was in the melting pot, Dublin stood up on the day.
We can talk about all the great free-flowing football all year, but ultimately when it boiled down to it they’re a team that dug out a result. They struggled in certain aspects of the game, but they fought and fought and fought to win that match.
They’re going to take more from that than had they gone out and played champagne football. They struggled to a win, but they believed in themselves.
They had guys who stood up: Paddy Andrews kicked a score from a standing position that was the starting point, then Ger Brennan came up and kicked a point from distance with his right foot – I didn’t know he had a right foot.
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They took responsibility, and for me that’s what it all boiled down to.
What happened to the Mayo that trounced Donegal?
Just to have Cillian O’Connor playing was an achievement for whoever got him on the pitch, but ultimately he was playing a fair bit from goal. Obviously, they didn’t want him in around the real impact areas. Around goal he has a great habit of creating goals, we’ve seen that this year, but although Andy Moran is after kicking 1-2, for me the forward line was toothless. They had the opportunities to win this game.
It wasn’t just down to O’Connor not being fully fit though, it was a combination of everything.
Beforehand there was talk that Mayo would be going with a plan of dropping a man back and ‘staying in the game’. That, for me, is an incredible mindset to go into any game with.
What you’re stating is that you believe you’re not good enough and you have to hang on. Then, hopefully, the time will come to come out and play the football you’ve played all year.
If you go out into Croke Park with that negative attitude it’s very hard to suddenly turn it around. Unless, of course, you’re conditioned to it – like Tyrone who can go out and bring a game down to a level that suits them.
Tyrone are comfortable at that level, Mayo are not. Mayo have played great football all year until they got to an All-Ireland final, then all of a sudden we have the age-old problem that seems to befall Mayo players; on the pitch in an All-Ireland final they struggle to make the right choices. Ultimately, whether it be taking a shot on or giving a loose pass, that’s what it boils down to.
It sounds too simplistic to say nerves, but what else can you say to explain them not hitting the passes. Dublin were putting them under pressure? Sure, to a point, but it’s nothing major, nothing they haven’t experienced this year already.
Horan’s task is monumental
You read about Andy Moran talking about Andy Murray or LeBron James and how if you keep chipping at the door eventually it’ll open.
There’s no doubt that if you keep knocking at the door long enough then, potentially, there is a chance of opening it, but unless you kick it open, it won’t open. There’s a chance they can come back, but I think this is another big body blow for a talented team and a talented group of lads.
Winning an All-Ireland is the biggest thing any manager can have on his CV, but if James Horan can lift Mayo off the ground after this, then it’ll be an achievement above that.
Two years on the trot now they’ve lost finals in very contrasting ways. Against Donegal last year, they shipped two goals very early, but they kept going, trusted what they were doing and really went for it. For the rest of that game they out-scored Donegal. They still lost, but there is solace in that.
Yesterday was a dogfight and they were outfought. Dublin stuck at it and had to use their full quota of subs early on. It was an opportunity for Mayo to kick on and they didn’t do it.
Ugly or pretty doesn’t matter, winning does
We talk about great teams in any sport you want – they work very hard when things are going poorly, they still find a way of winning. That’s what we seen yesterday, Dublin found a way of winning a match that maybe another day, if Mayo truly believed they could win, they wouldn’t have.
That’s the thing that will hurt Mayo the most, they had the chances to put Dublin away, but they didn’t truly believe down in the pit of their stomach that it was going to happen.
It was substance over style for Dublin without a shadow of a doubt. I find it quite entertaining to read the stuff that starts coming out on twitter about cynicism.
How bad was it? It was bad in the last five minutes when they were down to effectively 13 men and they pulled fellas down and made no bones about it.
Would Mayo have been any different in the same position? I wouldn’t think so.
The day of ‘this lovely game’, it’s gone, but if you want excitement there was buckets and spades of it. I don’t know what a purist’s game is any more, but that was exciting stuff no matter how you look at it.
Referee verdict
I thought the referee came down on Mayo’s side. He gave most 50-50 calls Mayo’s way. Are you telling me they only fouled Dublin four times in the second half? No way.
You can look at cynicism or the referee helping out, the bottom line is Dublin did what they had to do. Finals are all about winning, it’s not about playing well, it’s not about being nice people, when you’ve trained and sweated as both sides have done all year, that’s all that matters. Supporters don’t care about anything else.
Conor Deegan: All-Ireland was a dogfight, and the Dubs fought harder
GOING INTO THE weekend an awful lot us were primed for an upcoming spectacle. We had the weather and everything, an Indian summer, dry ball, the two best teams in the county and everything looked like we’d be in for a pretty good game.
It certainly didn’t live up to the billing. It just never got going, it was a damp squib right from the throw-in.
It would appear there were an awful lot of nerves on show, especially on the Mayo side. They came out and did well at the start, but they never really kicked on.
Ultimate difference
The ultimate difference was the class in the forward lines. I said before the game that Bernard Brogan up against Ger Cafferkey was possibly a huge pointer to the outcome.
Brogan didn’t have his greatest game in the Dublin jersey, but he kicked 2- 3 in an All-Ireland final. On any day that’s a hell of a return. If he did nothing else – if he sat on the sideline and scored 2-3 – then it’d be a hell of an achievement. In a low-scoring game that was critical.
The first goal, there’s no way he should have scored that. The ‘keeper should have come out full whack and taken everything. I had a keeper behind me that would have planted his knees in my back to clear that ball.
When the game was in the melting pot, Dublin stood up on the day.
They’re going to take more from that than had they gone out and played champagne football. They struggled to a win, but they believed in themselves.
They had guys who stood up: Paddy Andrews kicked a score from a standing position that was the starting point, then Ger Brennan came up and kicked a point from distance with his right foot – I didn’t know he had a right foot.
They took responsibility, and for me that’s what it all boiled down to.
What happened to the Mayo that trounced Donegal?
Just to have Cillian O’Connor playing was an achievement for whoever got him on the pitch, but ultimately he was playing a fair bit from goal. Obviously, they didn’t want him in around the real impact areas. Around goal he has a great habit of creating goals, we’ve seen that this year, but although Andy Moran is after kicking 1-2, for me the forward line was toothless. They had the opportunities to win this game.
It wasn’t just down to O’Connor not being fully fit though, it was a combination of everything.
Beforehand there was talk that Mayo would be going with a plan of dropping a man back and ‘staying in the game’. That, for me, is an incredible mindset to go into any game with.
What you’re stating is that you believe you’re not good enough and you have to hang on. Then, hopefully, the time will come to come out and play the football you’ve played all year.
If you go out into Croke Park with that negative attitude it’s very hard to suddenly turn it around. Unless, of course, you’re conditioned to it – like Tyrone who can go out and bring a game down to a level that suits them.
Tyrone are comfortable at that level, Mayo are not. Mayo have played great football all year until they got to an All-Ireland final, then all of a sudden we have the age-old problem that seems to befall Mayo players; on the pitch in an All-Ireland final they struggle to make the right choices. Ultimately, whether it be taking a shot on or giving a loose pass, that’s what it boils down to.
It sounds too simplistic to say nerves, but what else can you say to explain them not hitting the passes. Dublin were putting them under pressure? Sure, to a point, but it’s nothing major, nothing they haven’t experienced this year already.
Horan’s task is monumental
You read about Andy Moran talking about Andy Murray or LeBron James and how if you keep chipping at the door eventually it’ll open.
There’s no doubt that if you keep knocking at the door long enough then, potentially, there is a chance of opening it, but unless you kick it open, it won’t open. There’s a chance they can come back, but I think this is another big body blow for a talented team and a talented group of lads.
Two years on the trot now they’ve lost finals in very contrasting ways. Against Donegal last year, they shipped two goals very early, but they kept going, trusted what they were doing and really went for it. For the rest of that game they out-scored Donegal. They still lost, but there is solace in that.
Yesterday was a dogfight and they were outfought. Dublin stuck at it and had to use their full quota of subs early on. It was an opportunity for Mayo to kick on and they didn’t do it.
Ugly or pretty doesn’t matter, winning does
We talk about great teams in any sport you want – they work very hard when things are going poorly, they still find a way of winning. That’s what we seen yesterday, Dublin found a way of winning a match that maybe another day, if Mayo truly believed they could win, they wouldn’t have.
That’s the thing that will hurt Mayo the most, they had the chances to put Dublin away, but they didn’t truly believe down in the pit of their stomach that it was going to happen.
It was substance over style for Dublin without a shadow of a doubt. I find it quite entertaining to read the stuff that starts coming out on twitter about cynicism.
How bad was it? It was bad in the last five minutes when they were down to effectively 13 men and they pulled fellas down and made no bones about it.
Would Mayo have been any different in the same position? I wouldn’t think so.
The day of ‘this lovely game’, it’s gone, but if you want excitement there was buckets and spades of it. I don’t know what a purist’s game is any more, but that was exciting stuff no matter how you look at it.
Referee verdict
I thought the referee came down on Mayo’s side. He gave most 50-50 calls Mayo’s way. Are you telling me they only fouled Dublin four times in the second half? No way.
You can look at cynicism or the referee helping out, the bottom line is Dublin did what they had to do. Finals are all about winning, it’s not about playing well, it’s not about being nice people, when you’ve trained and sweated as both sides have done all year, that’s all that matters. Supporters don’t care about anything else.
In pics: Dublin players celebrate their All-Ireland win the morning after
Murph’s Sideline Cut: No choice for football-mad Mayo… they’ll be back once again
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All-Ireland All-Ireland SFC column Dublin expert view GAA Mayo Sam Maguire