Mayo have been tantalisingly close to Sam Maguire on a number of occasions in recent years. Picture a gentleman who is quite taken with the posterior of a lady. It is tantalising. She is aware of his attention and doesn’t demur. He is in pole position, but not quite there, but almost. A sure thing always needs a slice of luck, a break. Needs a set of circumstances to go his way, to be in the right place at the right time. But like Mayo, he never crosses the line. There are regrets.
Most people don’t believe in curses. In fact they ridicule them. At this stage, everyone makes an honourable exception for the Mayo footballers. In 1950, they won the All Ireland and in 1951 they retained it. Fifteen years earlier they won the 1936 All Ireland title, along with a hatful of league titles in that era. In 1953 they won a minor All Ireland title. There was no baggage back then. There wasn’t a Dublin football juggernaut either though, possibly the best football side of all time. But you begin to wonder if Mayo would beat Leitrim in an All Ireland Final at this stage. Tipperary, with no relative baggage, might actually have tested Dublin more late in the game.
We have all heard of the man who asks a lady out 10 times. She plays up to him, gives declarations to both his and her friends that he is destined to be her beau. However, any time a proposition is made, she drops him like a hot plate. He keeps trying, heartened by the declarations. When he moves on, like the boy who cried wolf, she decrees that she would have said yes the 11th time. In the case of Mayo, there is no point in asking a lady out an 11th time, in case she changes her mind. Simply because Mayo are gone beyond eleven now.
Since 1951, Mayo have now played in 12 All Ireland finals (including replays) without victory. They were genuine contenders in most of those games. In 1989 a bruised and battle hardened Cork side after the 87/88 finals, masked their insecurities to slip over the line ahead of them. Anthony Finnerty had a goal chance that he often rued in the media afterwards. It was a chance. In 1996, Ray Dempsey goaled to put them generously ahead but they let it slip, a late Colm Coyle hoofed delivery bouncing over the bar in the drawn game.
The replay was a dogfight and it was late in the game when Meath finally got over the line. The 1997 final was one where the 1996 baggage probably rested on their shoulders. When you fail to win an All-Ireland Final with a group of players, perhaps the burden weighs heavily upon their shoulders the next year they play in a final. Cork, for instance, carried baggage into the 1989 final. Dublin footballers had losing baggage from 1992 in 1994, and struggled to cross the line in the 1995 final. Cork footballers had baggage in 2010. Mayo had baggage in 1997. They would have 2004 baggage in 2006. And 2012 baggage in 2013. Not to mention later years.
They never really inspired on the day in 1997 and Maurice Fitzgerald’s boot got an average Kerry over the line. A Kerry side that struggled to beat Tipperary a year later, before losing to Kildare. Mayo did not lose to a vintage Kerry team in 1997 and their 1996 performances would have beaten Kerry in that final. That was the end of the road for Mayo football in All Ireland finals until 2004. At that, it took a replay over Fermanagh to reach the 2004 final. Not a football stronghold. If the 1997 Kerry team was not a vintage team, the 2004 team most certainly was, and the 2006 team was an improved version of the 2004 team. Mayo blew up in both finals.
They came again with the current crop in the 2012 final. Jim McGuinness had perfected a win-ugly formula and Mayo conceded an early couple of goals to achieve the inevitable. A year later in 2013, Cillian O’Connor delayed when kicking a late free, which can be his trademark. There was controversy over the time played by the referee, who never delivered the time that he allegedly promised. Another year, another defeat. There was no final in 2014. Instead it brought an absolute riding from the referee against Kerry at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Mad Mayo Mick invaded the pitch. He wasn’t wrong, Mayo were rode bareback that day. Kerry won Sam, but would Mayo have beaten Donegal? Probably not.
They came again in 2016, a draw and a narrow replay defeat to Dublin. Two own goals in the replay seemed to have been made and created with the curse in Foxford. Realistically they needed to keep Donal Vaughan on the field to have any chance in 2017, but Dean Rock defied a flying GPS strap to nail the winner. The baggage was mounting. For 2016 and 2017, they had enlisted the services of Stephen Rochford, a man with winning form in Croke Park. He gave his bit, it wasn’t enough and James Horan came back.
Another final against Dublin in 2020, another defeat. Two first half avoidable goals for Dublin didn’t help. Mayo started making unforced errors after the second half water break. It seemed their game was done with 10 minutes remaining. It was. The longer injury time went on, the less chance they had of victory. There was no final surge. Just a gradual acceptance of defeat. Dublin were eminently beatable at a certain stage in the game. There have to be regrets. The Kerry of 2019 would have beaten the Dublin of 2020 in this final.
So where now for Mayo. What do they need? What will improve them? Will improvement even matter if the improvement is only effective until the final whistle on Semi-Final day? Are their defenders too willing to attack with the ball and less willing to defend. Mick Fitzsimons rarely ventures into the opposition 21. Can the same be said of the Mayo defenders. Defensive stability is the bedrock of any team. Not necessarily Ulster Football defensive tactics, but sensible, bolster the middle, track all runners, and stay minding the house tactics. How many scores do Mayo concede because men do not track forwards, men do not stay at home and men do not bolster the middle?
Who do they need in charge of them? There was a local school, where the Principal was moving on. As the rumours regarding a replacement circulated, the ex-Principal decided to impose her will on the Board of Management of the school. She made no secret of her views, “the staff in this school need a bitch in charge of them at all times.” To which the Board of Management Chairperson replied “We have had a bitch for the last number of years, the last thing we need is another bitch. There might be more thought of you if you weren't such a bitch.”
She went about her business. The staff were able to breathe under the new Principal, her non-bitchy ways releasing them to prosperity. The original bitch resents the day she left, resents their prosperity granted by their freedom in her absence, and resents the ways of the new boss. To be fair, James Horan seems to be of the less bitchy type and is the right personality. However, he is not a lucky manager in All Ireland Finals. No more than Stephen Rochford was before him. No more than the Mayo players themselves.
The Mayo Football Book, “House of Pain” tells a story in itself. There are more chapters due.
Keith Duggan, if you are out there, scratch the pen.
A couple of weeks ago, Cork reincarnated Tadhg Murphy’s emotional goal from 1983. Mark Keane of Mitchelstown scoring a goal at the death to cheat defeat. Cork were declared Munster Champions momentarily, a source of motivation to Tipperary, except it was not a final.
You can read about it here. While Cork were tipped to win, read the line that stated that Cork had not yet laid a hand on the cup.
08/11/2020 - Cork enjoy another rain shower victory over Kerry
https://sites.google.com/view/gaaviewpoint/gaelic-football#h.w8f8dnj1rapm
Bloody Sunday was a chilling chapter in the history of the GAA. A number of ordinary GAA people including players were shot dead in cold blood at Croke Park.
This is a damaging defeat for Cork. The victory over Kerry has been to no avail. If the game a fortnight ago was replayed, Kerry would have beaten Cork 99 times out of 100. Cork know that, Kerry know that and Tomás O’Sé knows that. He knew it in the Sunday Game studio on the night of the defeat, and he knew it today in the RTE pre-match analysis. Kerry have fucked up here and have probably left an All Ireland title after them. But Kerry will make somebody pay. Cork might well be the team made pay for many years to come. In short. Cork Football is fucked again.
Kerry and Cork both ran a gameplan designed to counteract Dublin. The intention is to retain possession, let the opposition chase, and slowly and patiently build scores. This may suit Cork who have limitations, but does not suit Kerry who need their inside forwards on the ball. There is no point having blades in your tool belt if you don’t wield them. The Eoin Murchan goal after half time last year has received a lot of press in Kerry. They needed to shore up the defence but not to choke the forwards. The defenders simply needed to defend.
But this is about Tipperary, who have a football tradition of their own. Outside of Bloody Sunday, there have been minor successes in Munster, not just in 2011. They have 10 Munster Senior Football titles, the majority from pre-war times. Their minor record tells a different story with Munster titles in the 30’s, 50’s, 80’s 90’s and most recently in 2011 and 2012. Their All Ireland Minor title in 2011 was against a star-studded Dublin. Munster Under 21 titles were won in 2010 and 2015. They have been beaten Munster Finalists a number of times in recent years at Minor and Under 21 level. Counties can pull as many players off beaten teams as they can off winning teams.
Tipperary have been working since the early 1990s on producing a competitive football team. They set up a Football Friends trust which seems to fund the football side of things in Tipperary. This Tipperary team didn’t come out of nowhere. John Evans got them promoted through the divisions in the league but as with Roscommon the bounty didn’t last. Evans tends to get his teams to peak in early Spring, but they run out of road in the summer.
After successive heavy Munster Championship defeats to Kerry in 2010 and 2011, The 2012 league didn’t offer much promise, and Evans absconded in March. A few weeks later, Kerry awaited in Munster yet again. The prognosis wasn’t good. Within days, Evans was on high mileage trips to Meath. The fondness of the Kerry men for the long road. Tipperary regrouped in jig time under Peter Creedon and ran Kerry close in May. Evans was on the sideline at Meath vs Wicklow the same day. Tipperary showed promise. There were positives in a 0-16 to 0-10 defeat. Michael Quinlivan made his championship debut only 8 months after winning a minor All Ireland. Old order was restored in 2013 with a comprehensive Kerry victory.
In 2014, Tipperary had Cork in the gallows but Aidan Walsh who had been tied up with hurling was sprung from the bench. He kicked three monster points to see Cork through. But it was no good if Tipperary didn’t follow up. Their championship ended in the qualifiers after an impressive defeat to Galway. 4-17 to 4-12. They had forwards anyway. A respectable defeat to Kerry in 2015 was encouraging, but they bombed out to Tyrone in the qualifiers. However that year brought a Munster Under 21 title and a narrow All Ireland final appearance, also to Tyrone.
Peter Creedon slipped away, and the vastly experienced Liam Kearns took over. But then the bodyblow. Colin O Riordan departed to play with Sydney Swans. Seamus Kennedy and Stephen O’Brien departed to the Tipperary hurlers. Kearns somehow galvanised them and they went on a 2016 journey that involved defeat of Cork, a Munster Final appearance vs Kerry and culminated in an All Ireland Semi Final defeat to Mayo. But again, another bodyblow. Peter Acheson the fulcrum of the 2016 team departed to the Middle East.
People often ask what happened Tipperary after 2016. Having those four players would have helped. Then Evan Comerford acquired a lengthy suspension arising out of a club match and missed the 2017 campaign. They were drawn against Cork in Munster and nearly won. Michael Quinlivan did an ankle very early in the game when looking like delivering a MOTM performance. He was in the dugout by the 19th minute. Nevertheless, Conor Sweeney scored what looked to be a winning goal at the death, but Luke Connolly scored after a breakaway to steal victory for Cork. Armagh beat them by a point in the qualifiers.
In 2018, they had Stephen O’Brien back, but Cork washed them off the field in Semple Stadium. Mayo beat them in the qualifiers. Twenty Nineteen was not much better. A tame exit in Munster to Limerick followed by a 9th June defeat to Down. Tipperary were out of their misery. David Power had coveted the job for a while, but his time had not come. It came in late 2019. Some managers are lucky. Any jibes that John Evans made his name as minor manager are banished now. David Power is a Munster Championship winning manager. John Evans is not.
Tipperary football has often been about the players they haven’t had rather than the players they have had. When they won the minor All Ireland in 2011, they gathered hurlers, soccer players and rugby players from all corners and assembled a winning team. Likewise in 2015 when they reached the All Ireland Minor Football final again. Likewise today. Colin O’Riordan had been in Australia. Michael Quinlivan available purely because of Covid-19. Stephen O’Brien back after a couple of years with the hurlers. Paudie Feehan introduced as a sub after a stint with the Tipperary hurlers. Colman Kennedy who once pursued a professional soccer career.
And therein lie the links to another famous Munster Final, hurling this time. Donkeys don’t win Derbies. Cork beat Tipperary in Thurles in 1990. John Kennedy was 6. Pat Fox 13. Dr Con Murphy in the Cork dugout. There were common links today. John Kennedy is the father of Colman, Conal and Jack Kennedy. Brian Fox is a nephew of Pat Fox. Dr Con is still Dr Con and still in the Cork dugout – despite the sniping of Kieran Shannon.
Tipperary now have many players of big game experience. Several remain from the 2016 run. Winning All Ireland Minors. Winning Munster Under 21s. They are now Munster Senior Football Champions. It is a pity when a famine ends that the supporters aren’t there. Likewise all the subs. There are 200 spaces at a venue. How many yellow bibs are needed? Are any needed. What is their function, apart from needing to look important? It is total discrimination against the extended panel members and injured players that they must shed their tears from the sofa.
Conor Sweeney showed great respect mentioning them and he is not the first high profile name this week. Management have made careers out of making dirt of such players. Ger Loughnane once said that victory is not truly satisfying unless someone in the squad is made shit of along the way. He was not alone. But when teams win, the trodden upon get forgotten.
It isn’t often that the Tipperary Footballers have outlasted the hurlers in the championship. In a year where the hurlers had a second chance, and the footballers had only one, the status quo would expect to prevail. The weakness of Tipperary football is that for all their moral victories over superior opposition, they struggle against the likes of Clare and Limerick. There must have been something in the air when Conor Sweeney nailed the sideline kick against Limerick.
But you have read it, Tipperary are the Munster Football Champions of 2020. The thing about this victory is that like many famine ending provincial champions, Tipperary can open up here. They are in bonus territory. There is no pressure. But with 1920 and all that, a Tipperary vs Dublin All Ireland Final may well be in the stars.
There is a lot of pressure on Mayo. Both met at the same stage in 2016, when Mayo went on to draw the All Ireland Final with Dublin and narrowly lose a replay. Tipperary never fear Mayo.
If Mayo win this, they will have earned it
Cork seem to put it up to Kerry in the pissing rain. This game was shades of Tadhg Murphy in 1983 with the late winner, but it is forgotten in the last minute sunshine that it was also a significantly wet day.
In 1999 Cork faced Kerry at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Again it pissed rain, and again Cork won, with manager Ronan McCarthy completely nullifying Maurice Fitzgerald. In 2002 Kerry and Cork played in Killarney with “The Rock” at corner forward for Cork. The match ended in a draw, and there was a significant bereavement ahead of the replay won by Cork. Kerry set the record straight in Croke Park later that year.
In 2008, Kerry seemed to buck the trend in the rain, but Cork introduced Michael Cussen (not Cussens as Martin Carney annoyingly used to say). Cork came into the game and won the Munster title. This victory is more significant. Kerry were going for eight Munster Championships in a row. Chasing records. Looking to emulate the great Mick O’Dwyer team and the team of the sixties.
Kerry are dumped out of the championship, and Cork march on to the Munster Final, though tonight feels like they are Munster Champions. Mark Keane, extraordinarily granted sanction to play, made little impression in the time he was on the field, but made the greatest contribution he could make.
In truth, Kerry were sloppy. Very sloppy. Chances were missed that were untypical of Kerry, even allowing for the conditions. Perhaps it is the imagination, but it seems as though marks were not taken. Frees were missed from not insurmountable angles.
Cian O’Neill will get a lot of credit for the physical conditioning of Cork, who seemed as though they were well prepared for any eventuality. It makes you wonder what sort of training Cork have been doing in recent years.
Tipperary are in the Munster Final on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. There is always a feeling in Munster, that if a minnow was to slay a big gun, it was more likely Cork rather than Kerry that would fall. Clare bucked that trend in 1992 beating Kerry, but Limerick, Tipperary and Clare have all slain Cork in relatively recent times and Waterford almost nailed them a couple of years ago.
Pat Nolan might know when a minnow last beat Kerry in Munster prior to 1992. That Kerry team was the worst living team in memory. They remained poor for a while and were so poor in 1995 that a Parish Priest deemed fit to target critic Pat Spillane from the altar. That they were in the Munster Final at all in 1992 has a lot more to do with Cork wintering well than Kerry bringing form into their first round game.
Cork have done too much tonight to fall the next day against Tipperary but injuries, cards and the weather can be significant levellers. Cork might feel like Munster Champions but they have yet to lay a hand on the cup. Tipperary meanwhile had their struggles against Limerick, escaping death through and extraordinary score from Conor Sweeney and winning the game through Brian Fox.
1920 romanticism and history apart, Cork to win.
If the Connacht Championship went ahead next Sunday, Sligo would be unheard of. Galway would march on. Sligo have not won Connacht very many times, thrice to be precise. Their time may come again, but now was not their time. The unfortunate timing of Covid-19 has put them in a position regarding the fixture against Galway. Fulfil or not fulfil.
There are a number of factors. First of all there is the GAA player grants. Do players who sign up for a single match (there wouldn’t be any subsequent games) have an entitlement to the GPA grant. Then there is the gear entitlement. Don’t mention the mileage. Some would play with no strings attached, others would want all the perks.
The Covid-19 factor would essentially mean that a totally independent squad would need to feature as risk of contamination from any remaining original squad is too great. So essentially Sligo were in a position where they needed to choose 24 completely new players or withdraw. They withdrew.
The decision taken to forfeit the fixture is not always the best decision. There is an opportunity there to cap a number of guys who may never be capped again. But therein lies the problem. Status. Some players, and not necessarily confined to Sligo either, do not want to share the love.
I can be a county player but you cannot, etc. etc. Status. This can be a bit like the farmer going to mass in the 1950s and being completely bothered that his inferior compatriot, wears a new suit or has a new pony and trap, or whatever bothered the Joneses in those days. Nothing bothers certain players of status more, than the prospect of someone being elevated to the same status. Particularly someone they deem inferior. Insecurity, it is said
This situation afforded an opportunity to those of lesser status. Statistically they would go down in the record books as having represented Sligo in Connacht Championship Football. Known as former Sligo players in years to come. Former players from years ago can be heard in the bushes voicing their objections. A lesser player’s son etc. etc.
For what it is worth, the celebrity status of being a Sligo footballer is not going to net a player D4’s finest. Or have him competing with Leinster Rugby players for same. But to a Sligo man it is pride.
Let any 15 Sligo men play. It is their honour
The Ulster Football Championship. Cavan vs Monaghan. The game was let go by Ciaran Branagan, and how it should be. The assessors won’t be pleased, but the assessors are just clocking up soft mileage. And they can’t do that at the moment. Generally assessors are just trying to stay relevant.
A bag of First Half Goal Chances for Monaghan. You generally shouldn’t let such chances behind you, especially when Cavan have got a goal. A bigger score in football than in hurling.
Monaghan get 9 of the next 10 scores. Stephen Smith nails a response for Cavan and then Conor McManus gets the ball in a goal scoring position and scuffs it. But it crossed the line. Goal. If the contact was pure, he may not have scored.
The game ambled on. Cavan had the breeze in the second half. Never looking like using it. Monaghan trying to play keep ball against the wind. A 6 point differential just hanging there, right through the second half. Monaghan comfortable. Cavan seem disinterested. Game seems consolidated. A double point haul on around 60 minutes made it four. A disputed point on 64 made it three. Cavan still disinterested.
On 66, McManus failed to nail a close in shot for the insurance point. You sensed that Monaghan’s goose was cooked. No longer their victory. Defeat inevitable. Cavan broke to make it 2. Squeaky bum time. McManus went for a big one on 68, wide this time. Another big one just before 70, wide again. Cavan didn’t panic. A mark made it one. 70 minutes 48 seconds. Loads of time. 5 minutes on the board. Squeaky bum time.
Cavan continued to stroll. Nothing rushed. Level on 73. Momentum with them, the win seemed on. Then Ciaran Branagan had his say. First, a softish free to Monaghan. McManus wide again. Has he ever hit three wides in a row before. Then Branagan acts again, Jimmy Cooney reinvented. Blown before it should be. Extra time. The result nobody wanted, will be hard on the legs. Neither side will win next week.
Monaghan would get two points with the first half extra time breeze, but it would be Cavan’s day. A goal and a point, as they ambled through second half extra time. Goalkeeper Raymond Galligan nailing a late free at the death. Much to the relief of the Cork and Waterford hurling supporters. Frustrated that the Sky Red button wasn’t working. Doubt they would have handled penalties.
“Conor McManus kicking a ball is sport's answer to porn” was the Shane Stapleton assessment of the first half. Don’t know what prior experience of porn Shane Stapleton has, but we were a long way from Fifi in Clones. And Conor McManus was a long way from Fifi in the second half. And beyond
There is a great story from a Cavan village in the 1990s. A new manager came in. Training started New Year’s Day. Drink was not his thing. The ‘ban’ once of foreign codes, now refers to drink. The new manager implemented the early season ‘ban.’ This went on a while, and the local publican was feeling a bit of pressure. The players not in anymore after training.
When the boys weren’t in, the locals weren’t getting updates. The inside track. Who was going well, who was pulling birds, who was in whose knickers. The weekend trade collapsed. It was still only early March. There were bills to be paid. There was an upcoming 50th, not expected to be a crowd puller without the boys. A favour was done. Social media was put to use.
The players got down to business. Word was put out, and got out. A hired lady professional would be in attendance. At a time between 9pm and 11pm. Accuracy undefined. It didn’t matter. The pub was full at 8pm. They weren’t all locals. Fuller at 9pm. Crowd outside the door by 10pm. The stripper never showed. Sorry lads, she was in a car accident, we will reschedule again. There was no stripper 6 months worth of takings in the till.
Twas worth a go again, but the boy could not cry wolf this time. It was left a few months. An arrangement was made. The lady turned up, the pub sold out of drink. Men were reawakened. Went home and gave their worth. Brought one marriage back to life. A teenage birth or two. A 40 year old single mother. A few more babies born. Reviving the school that once risked closure. Every village should try it. The fruits representing Cavan today.
So Cavan march on. You wouldn’t fancy their weary legs against Donegal or Tyrone next week, unless they endure extra time themselves.
Monaghan regret the first half goal chances. Banty will read the tealeaves “Never go back”