THE MICHAEL NEARY VIEW Stephen Rochford will have many sleepless nights over his decision to replace Clarke

MORE heartbreak for the Mayo footballers. Maybe there is something about the alleged curse. How many more chances will it take for Mayo to achieve their All-Ireland goal? Worryingly there is no guarantee that it will happen soon.

After the extreme bad luck of conceding two own goals in the first game they followed this up in the replay by conceding at least a further 1-03 from unforced errors. Stephen Rochford will have many sleepless nights over his decision to replace goalkeeper, David Clarke, with the unfortunate Rob Hennelly.

David Clarke does at times look very awkward and uncomfortable when taking short kick-outs and I can see why Rochford made that call. I am a great believer that a goalkeeper’s first and most important job is to save the ball.

I am aware that the role of a goalkeeper has evolved greatly in the modern game but making saves should still be the number one responsibility of any keeper.

It was an average performance from back-to-back All-Ireland winners, Dublin, especially in attack.They should be really grateful for forgotten man Cormac Costello who almost singlehandedly got the Dubs over the line.

Bernard Brogan must be a mightily relieved man that Cillian O’Connor missed that last minute free as he had squandered the chance of making the game safe following a great run and pass from Mick Fitzsimons.

Brogan delayed his chance and Mayo blocked his shot. Dublin have produced many excellent and fluent performances over the last four or five years but their performance in both finals fell well short of expectations and they can count themselves very fortunate to have claimed another title against a limited Mayo team.

I would envisage that Kerry are feeling extremely sick that they let a great opportunity slip and they too would have defeated this Mayo outfit.

Dean Rock, despite his limited contribution from open play, was brilliant from placed balls and he proved his immense worth to the team with a near flawless display of place kicking.

Hopefully in time he will contribute more from open play as with packed defences in the modern game players need to have a hard edge to their game which he is currently lacking.

The selection of Paul Mannion didn’t work and with Diarmuid Connolly well contained by Lee Keegan (while he was on the pitch) the Dublin attack in general failed to ignite until the introduction of Costello.

Ciaran Kilkenny, despite the amount of time he had in possession, needs to add more penetration to his game and get himself into more scoring positions.

The Dublin management will know that to win a three-in-a-row some surgery will be needed to the team.

As a manager Jim Gavin is prepared to make changes and it will be interesting to see what direction the careers of Bernard Brogan, Paul Mannion, Cormac Costello, Con O’Callaghan and Jack McCaffrey go in. Dublin have everything in place both on and off the pitch to gain further success but on this year’s two final performances no doubt the gap is closing and I expect Kerry and Tyrone to mount a serious challenge to a three-in-row for the Dubs.

The black cards or the application of them has now gone beyond a joke. How did Dublin’s John Small not get a black card early in the first half when he blatantly tripped Andy Moran?

How did none of the eight wired-up officials on the day not see that? I would say Johnny Cooper and Lee Keegan are very disappointed that they got their marching orders for what looked like less stonewall black card offences.

The issue of the black card will no doubt have to be looked at again. Would a sin bin be a better alternative? The inconsistency in using black cards is also very frustrating.

Last Saturday morning was a dreadful one and I was awaiting word that the under-16 shield final between St. Pat’s and North District would be called off but thankfully the rain eased off and the game went ahead. As a member of the management of the current under-16 hurling academy squad I had an added interest in this game.

North District started the game with great gusto and raced into a four-point lead, however, as St. Pat’s settled one could see they were the stronger outfit. When Paddy Moorehouse returned to the edge of the square he caused untold havoc in the North District defence.

The supply of excellent ball he received from Paddy Murphy and Robert Moffett enabled him torment the defence for the remainder of the game.

Paddy finished the game with an astonishing 4-07 to his name in what was one of the finest attacking displays seen in Ashford in a long time.

Were it not for some excellent saves by the North District keeper, Oisin Curry, Paddy could have scored even more.

North District, despite trying different men on Paddy, just couldn’t contain him. Paddy Murphy also gave an exhibition at midfield for St. Pat’s for the full hour and he was everywhere on the pitch.

His penetrating runs into the heart of the North District defence were game changers.

North District never gave up and battled right to the final whistle.

Best for St. Pat’s were Paddy Murphy, Paddy Moorehouse, Eamonn and P.J. Keogh, Robert Moffett and Mikey Griffin while for the North District Oisin Curry, Shane Ryan, Neil Browne and Shaun Cranley stood out.

Special mention must go to the St. Pat’s manager, John O’Brien, for the tremendous work he has done with this group of players and this victory is a well-deserved award for his dedication.

On this result the future is bright for hurling in Wicklow town.

In the under-16 ‘A’ final Bray Emmets overcame champions Carnew in a cracking game of hurling in Aughrim which acted as the curtain-raiser to the Senior semi-final.

Bray Emmets have qualified for the Senior hurling final following a hard earned victory over a gallant St. Pat’s team.

Goals by Christy Moorehouse and Padraig Doyle sealed their victory.

Pat’s will disappointed that their spirited efforts for three-quarters of the game came to nought as Bray finished stronger and deservingly took their place in the final.

St. Pat’s hurling is now thankfully going in the right direction and they were certainly competitive throughout the championship campaign.

They now know that with even greater application, work-rate, commitment and self-belief they have the necessary quality to close the gap even further on the top three.