JUST NOT FAIR!
YET again a gallant Mayo side have come up short in an All-Ireland football final. They did absolutely everything possible within their powers to wrestle Sam Maguire away from Dublin but it just wasn’t to be.
I’m not a great believer in curses, old wives tales or the likes but after yet another cruel defeat for the men in red and green, I may have to reconsider.
In advance of last Sunday’s game I thought Mayo would do well against the All Ireland champions for a certain period of time but I expected the Dubs to pull away in the final quarter.
Like most observers I assumed that the firepower from Dublin’s bench would prove too much for tired Mayo legs to deal with and that Jim Gavin’s men would win out with plenty to spare.
But that’s not how it turned out. Mayo matched their opponents in every facet of the game. In fact they bettered them in almost all of the key battles.
Stephen Rochford could not have asked for more. His players could not have given any more.
I can’t remember when Dublin were last made to look so ordinary. Lee Keegan did a remarkable job on Ciaran Kilkenny. Dublin’s playmaker-in-chief, who normally is the heartbeat of the team, was anonymous throughout.
The much vaunted Sky Blue forward line could not function without him. They ended up chasing down their markers as Mayo defenders poured forward relentlessly.
I cannot even begin to imagine how these Mayo players felt when they woke up on Monday morning.
Where would you start? In a fair world Mayo would be the 2017 All-Ireland champions. In a fair world Cillian O’Connor would have walked up the step of the Hogan Stand and lifted the trophy.
In a fair world Chris Barrett’s heroic defensive display would have been rewarded with a man of the match accolade.
In a fair world Stephen Rochford and his backroom team would be lauded for their astute tactical plan.
In a fair world Mayo supporters would be celebrating the end of a torturous 66-year famine.
But life is not fair. And sport is no different.
Mayo will be devastated. This was about as cruel as it gets. Neither set of players could have given any more.
Dublin have been at this level for quite some time now and they show no signs of letting up.
Mayo are not quite at Dublin’s level but they played above themselves on Sunday.
Their efforts deserved victory but they came away with nothing. It will be difficult to recover from. Cillian O Connor’s missed free in the 70th minute will haunt Mayo folk for an eternity.
In the curtain-raiser Kerry minor David Clifford gave one of the alltime great individual performances at Croke Park.
His display was simply superb and his personal scoring tally of 4-4 will take some matching. It’s rumoured that he will shortly be off to the AFL in Australia but Kerry will do all in their power to keep this talent in the Kingdom.
I cannot remember the last time I saw such a dominant display from a single individual which so influenced the outcome of a football match.
He is a special talent.