Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
The chaos of Mayo could be just the kick that Dublin need
madness of clash can spark blues big guns
KILCOO won an AllIreland title last week in a manner which shows why we all love the game. No logic to it whatsoever.
In the first half, Kilcoo did their best to give Kilmacud Crokes the game, while, in the second half, Crokes did their best to return the favour.
In the last 30 seconds all Kilmacud had to do was hold on to the ball to become champions.
But they proceeded to kick it straight back to Kilcoo and then let their opponents waltz through for a goal.
One of the Kilmacud players ‘chasing back’ actually looked like he was out for a Sunday stroll, instead of frantically busting his balls to get back to deny a last-minute score in an All-Ireland final.
There’s a certain purity there in that last 30 seconds that you have to love — and it’s probably something you wouldn’t get in inter-county football.
For starters, the ball just wouldn’t be kicked away like that. The percentage pass and all that crack would be to the fore.
Secondly, a team two points up and facing a counterattack like that would resort to a cynical foul out the field.
I’m not saying there is no cynical play in club football or that possession football isn’t a thing there, it’s just nowhere near the level that county football is at.
Watching it. I said to myself ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a passage like that in the latter stages of the inter-county Championship’.
Then I copped myself on and thought of many Dublin v Mayo games where madness prevailed.
Red
Think back to the games over the past decade. Remember when Dublin actually went five points up at the half-time in an All-Ireland football final, despite none of their players scoring for the first 31 minutes?
Remember Donal Vaughan getting a crazy red card when they probably had the game won and Lee Keegan throwing his GPS pod at the ball for Dean Rock’s free kick?
Goalkeepers getting black carded? Not one own goal in a final, but two? When will that ever happen again?
Dublin/Mayo games tend to bring a type of chaos that we just don’t usually see in intercounty football.
Indeed, I’d argue it’s exactly why Dublin struggled so much in putting Mayo away — they brought chaos to a team that were all about the famed process. Mayo took them away from that.
Mayo travel to Croke Park this evening to face a Dublin team who have gone, in the flash of an eye, from ‘certs to do 8-in-a-row’ to ‘a crisis’.
Let’s get something clear. Dublin, once they have everyone back, are still a topfour team who are capable of winning the All-Ireland.
Yes, they are absolutely nowhere near the level they used to be at but they’ll still be in the conversation for Sam Maguire.
Dublin looked better against Kerry than during their complete misfire against Armagh but they still look like they have an awful bit of work to do to get anywhere near where they’ve been in recent years.
They need an internal kick, if that makes sense. Looking back on their rivalry with Mayo, I can’t think of a better team for Dublin to possibly get their kick from.
Response
Dublin are pointless after two games and there will be talk of a big response in the camp — but they’ll find no sympathy from their friends in Mayo. They’ll only be too happy to keep them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Dublin could do with some of that madness at the minute — something to rise them from their slumber.
In my opinion, that’s a small part of their downward curve, the fact that many of the big names in the squad have done it all in the game. If you are going out to tick a box by playing for your county then you’ll get taken down most days by the Tyrones, Mayos or Kerrys.
That’s why it might be no harm for Dublin to get caught up in the madness of a Mayo game. Rather than stay away from it — like they’ve been told for years — run towards it. Let that be the spark.
For Mayo, it’s a case of keep doing what they need to do, and keep the pressure on Dublin.
As is always the case, they’re going to be in that conversation about Sam Maguire. I said a few months ago that Mayo need to have difficult conversations in the off season and in the build-up to Championship.
You can’t keep landing in AllIreland finals and losing them and not face hard truths — but I see no evidence of Mayo having had those conversations.
Mentality
There is nothing that jumps out to point to this Mayo team having a different mentality.
Outside of Dublin, Mayo would feel that they can beat any of the rest. Yes, they’ve lost Tommy Conroy to a cruciate injury but they still have enough, with Jason Doherty finding his form, Aidan O’Shea now providing that vital lift in the graph from the bench and Ryan O’Donoghue coming into it.
I love Doherty, not just because of how he’s battled back from serious injury, but because of how he plays the game.
For the last decade, Cillian O’Connor, Andy Moran and O’Shea have been bright lights of the Mayo attack but Doherty is someone who has done an awful lot for that attack without as much praise as the rest. Moran is on record as saying Doherty made him a better forward, the work Jason does freed up the rest of them. It would be great if he could get a prolonged run in the team.
Pressure
Third game into the League and, normally, you wouldn’t be looking too deep but there is a lot going on beneath the surface here.
Dessie Farrell really needs a response from his players and James Horan could do worse than keeping the boot on Dublin’s throat.
I predict there will be fireworks and some of that chaos and, yes, there will be an improvement in Dublin but not enough to beat Mayo.
‘If you are going out to tick a box by playing for your county you’ll get taken down most days by the Tyrones, Mayos or Kerrys’