‘Mayo would be gone already if it wasn’t for O’Shea’ – O’Mahony

IN THE 16 seasons since the qualifiers were introduced to expand the All-Ireland football championship, only Kerry have exploited the second chance in successive campaigns to reach back-to-back finals – in 2008 and 2009.

It’s something Mayo are seeking to emulate this season, their degree of difficulty accentuated by provincial championship exits prior to the final this year and last, increasing their qualifier game load by two in each case.

In 2008, Kerry’s loss to Cork in the Munster final re-routed them for just one game.

The man who led Mayo to the All-Ireland final in 1989, John O’Mahony (pictured), feels it would be a “truly incredible” achievement if they were to reach the decider once again, but acknowledged that it would be of little consolation were they to lose once more at the final hurdle.

O’Mahony felt from the outset that having to take the back-door route would be too detrimental second time around.

But against Clare in Ennis the last day he detected “green shoots” fuelled by Aidan O’Shea’s resurgence after injury.

Lee Keegan is also looking more like the 2016 Football of the Year as the season progresses, he argued.

“What can’t be questioned is their resilience. I always felt that they needed to go through the front door this year and when it didn’t happen in Pearse Stadium I feared the worst,” said O’Mahony.

“I probably said the same last year. If they hadn’t got Fermanagh at home they might not have survived, if they hadn’t got Derry at home this time they might not have survived.”

O’Mahony feels that overturning a five-point deficit at one stage against Clare to win by seven, on top of their extra-time performance against Derry, reflected a team finding form again.

“To take a hammering in the first-half and to come back and be so impressive represents green shoots at this stage of the season. Where they will develop is hard to know.”

His concern is the standstill nature of the team. After the introduction of Brendan Harrison and Paddy Durcan over the last two seasons, only Conor Loftus and Fergal Boland have made breakthroughs this season and even they may yield when the pace of the championship quickens again.

“When you look at Dublin in the Leinster final, Tyrone in the Ulster final, Mayo are really depending on resilience and high energy.

“In fairness, what has happened in Mayo’s case is that Aidan O’Shea (below) has come back into form. He was criticised enough when he wasn’t in form.

“But the team isn’t changing. The one exception was Conor Loftus who saved them against Derry. But there is not an assembly line like you have in some of the other counties.” O’Mahony feels that without O’Shea’s impact in the last two games there would be no conversation about Mayo and Cork this week.

“He has been very good in the last couple of games. That was an absolutely crucial ingredient. If that hadn’t happened I don’t think we’d be talking about a game this week.

“Cillian O’Connor, who might have led the line in other years, hasn’t been as prevalent. Keith Higgins missed a game and Colm Boyle wasn’t picked against Galway. They’d be all the leaders who have led from the front in the past.

“The one man who has retained his form has been David Clarke, who has saved them really over the winter and into the summer.

“In my opinion his work is unparalleled. Obviously, [Stephen] Cluxton is superb but there is a different dynamic. No one can touch Cluxton on kick-out strategy but Clarke, certainly on shot stopping and command of the square, is unchallenged.”

O’Mahony also wonders about the Cork mindset, suggesting there is only so much criticism they can take before they bite back.

Fermanagh apart, Mayo were much more comfortable taking last year’s qualifier route against Kildare and Westmeath than they have been in their last two games.