We have an obligation to repay faith shown by Mayo fans, says Durcan
IT is the trip to Ennis which Paddy Durcan remembers most from this mad and magical summer. That was a truly special afternoon. Mayo supporters were sardined into Cusack Park hours before throw-in. The team could hardly believe the sight when they came out for their warm-up. If ever a day illustrated the bond between this remarkable group of footballers and its followers, it was that one in Clare.
‘It’s mental,’ Durcan exclaims. ‘After all the qualifier games, it would be an hour before you get out of the stadium. They are still packed with Mayo supporters. Two hours before games, the ground is packed with supporters. ‘That day in Ennis and even the support down in the Gaelic Grounds for the Cork game was unbelievable, too. We had so many games and it is costly for supporters to travel the country. The cost factor and their willingness to see us succeed, as players, we are aware of that and have an obligation to perform to our best.’
More than most of his team-mates, Durcan understands the particular strain of madness that afflicts the Mayo supporter. It wasn’t so long ago that he was one himself. When they last met Kerry in the 2014 Championship, Durcan was on the Hill, burying his head in his hands like the rest of his tribe when Kieran Donaghy saved the Kingdom.
The following weekend, he had work commitments. As a 19-year-old student about to go back to college, he couldn’t miss the shift. He had to watch the seismic replay in Limerick from his sofa at home. Big mistake, he resolved that he would never miss another Mayo match. He hasn’t; because he is now an integral part of the team. Durcan was drafted into the squad the following winter and despite fighting for a spot in the best halfback line in the country, didn’t take long to establish himself.
When he wants war stories on Mayo’s magical, mystery tour around Ireland these days, he asks his twin brother, James. Paddy is the older by two minutes. The pair play at club level together with Castlebar Mitchels and although they both featured on the Mayo Under 21 side in 2015, they have yet to play for the county senior team at the same time. James was called into the extended panel for the FBD League earlier this year.
If Paddy didn’t take long to make an impression in the Mayo side, he also proved himself to be comfortable on the biggest stage. He was his team’s best player as they fell short in last year’s AllIreland football final replay to Dublin.
‘I’d watched the team in the final a couple of years previous to that and it is always the stage you want to get to, so when you get there, I was looking forward to it. I had a bit of nerves but that’s only natural. Growing up, I always wanted to give myself a chance to perform at that stage.
‘Once it comes, you can’t let nerves get the better of your excitement or willingness. At the end of the day, you have to go out and perform. I did enjoy it, but I was also focused on performance.’
He grew up idolising Andy Moran and Keith Higgins, with whom he will share a dressing room in Croke Park this afternoon. ‘When you come into a new group, you don’t know what to expect. I had experienced minor and U21 so you have a good element of how the dynamics in a Mayo panel works but senior is another step up in terms of commitment.
‘But it’s a new group and there’s new fellas coming in all the time. Everyone’s been in that position at some point.’
Even though the DCU student is known as a wingback, he has often found himself in the corner as Mayo have lived on their nerves during their run through the qualifiers this summer.
And Durcan, who played as a forward until U16 level, feels in modern football that each of the six defensive positions can be inter-changeable.
‘The way that the game has gone, you need to play any of the positions. The game has become flexible where sometimes, you find yourself in the full-back line and other times, you are in the half-back line. You just need to be adaptable. It is much the same in the forward unit, there is so much movement that you just need to be adaptable,’ he added.
This summer, Mayo have shown themselves to be adaptable. It is what has kept them alive. If Paddy Durcan and his team-mates are going to keep the wild ride going this afternoon in Croke Park, they might need to come up with something unexpected.
Given everything that has happened over the course of this Championship, don’t count against it.