Inside Track: An All-Ireland win for all to celebrate
Inside Track with Joe Carroll
Just when we thought the rich were going to get richer and the poor poorer, that Kerry were going to bring up a fortieth win and Mayo would be destined to fall to a twelfth defeat, we get a result with which few from beyond the Kerry border wouldn’t want to celebrate.
Sunday’s All-Ireland final was one for the ages, the best there’s been in years. And Mayo winning it made it even better.
It’s part of the story of the country’s premier football competition: the ill-luck Mayo have had in All-Ireland finals.
Until Sunday, the red-and-green was worn in 11 finals – 13 if you add replays – since 1989, and each time supporters had to make the journey back to the West bitterly disappointed.
History, therefore, didn’t bode well for Andy Moran’s team, for aside altogether from the county’s record, they had in opposition a side laced with All-Stars, one of them arguably the best the game has seen.
In addition, Kerry were the holders, raging hot favourites with the bookies, and the choice of nearly every pundit.
Jack O’Connor, for all the success he’d had as manager, never managed to put two All-Ireland wins together. If Mayo lacked nothing in incentive, neither did Kerry.
It’s one thing winning an All-Ireland – another is doing it in style and against the odds. That was Mayo. Big odds going into the game, their price would perhaps have doubled when, in early exchanges, they found themselves seven points in arrears, this on a day when there wasn’t enough wind about to blow out a candle.
David Clifford was weaving his magic, kicking points and putting the finishing touch to a beautiful move with a shot to an empty net.
That there was just one point between them at the break was testimony to the fighting qualities Mayo have shown since shedding the indifferent league form and overcoming a poor start to the championship. It had them returning to the dressing room believing that this was a game that could be won.
Win it they did, more than matching the champions in every facet. Crucial was their haul from midfield exchanges. The supply to attack was consistent, while Kerry were prevented from getting the ball to David Clifford as often as they would have wished.
Kerry were in and out of the game. When it was going right for them, they were a real threat, never more so than in the dying minutes. Mayo’s exceptional second-half performance had them five points clear with the finish-line in sight.