Forward flare means Mayo are no makeweights

A week can be a very long time in sport. Particularly in this incredibly unpredictable football championship.

In the space of less than seven days, Andy Moran’s first season in charge has gone from staring down the barrel of an abject defeat to Meath to beating Cork in an All-Ireland quarter-final and having a most unexpected opportunity open up in front of them.

At 6.45pm on Saturday week last, Mayo were ten points down against Meath and the only question many of us had was what the margin of defeat would be.

At 5.40pm on Saturday evening, Mayo were celebrating winning our first All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park since 2017 and counting down the days to a semi-final appearance.

And it is not Donegal, or Armagh, or Galway who await. They’re out of the championship.

Or Kerry or Dublin – they’ve been drawn in the other semi-final.

It is Louth, completing the most remarkable semi-final pairing in some time, perhaps back to Mayo and Fermanagh in the 2004 All-Ireland semi-final after shock respective quarter-final wins over Tyrone and Armagh.

To be clear – Louth will relish drawing Mayo too. Most neutrals will struggle to believe that one of Mayo or Louth will be in an All-Ireland final.

Many of their fans might feel the same, especially if they cast their minds back a few short weeks.

Louth were abject when Dublin beat them in Leinster 0-20 to 0-10, just as Mayo were in losing 2-25 to 1-18 to Roscommon (the same margin of defeat six days previously).

This represents a huge opportunity for both.

Defeat to Meath would have consigned Moran’s first year in charge to a very underwhelming, disappointing one.

It would have incorporated a humiliation at the hands of Roscommon, falling over the line v Monaghan, failing to see out a winning position against Tyrone and a home defeat to Meath.

For all the talk of development and youth, the pressure would certainly be significant on the Mayo manager heading into year two.

Now the Roscommon performance looks more like an outlier, the Monaghan game a positive response, the Tyrone defeat a blessing in disguise (they drew Kerry) and the first-half against Meath a wake-up call.

‘Events, dear boy, events’ Harold MacMillan famously said. Well for Mayo, it is the Meath result that was the event on which everything has pivoted.

And the magnitude of Enda Hession’s two points late in the first-half has grown. They profoundly changed the trajectory of Mayo’s season. Mayo went in at the break with a pep in their step, the fans were out of their seats and Mayo came out for the second-half like men on a mission.

A lot still had to happen from there but Mayo had entered the contest.

Victory meant a return to Croke Park and a favourable draw. For all the talk of Cork’s momentum, their Croke Park record is shocking and their performance on Saturday reflected that.

Mayo find themselves in an improbable semi-final and cannot complain about any bad draws.

In the All-Ireland series, Kerry will have played Donegal, Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin just to get to a final. Mayo have avoided a lot of the big guns to get to the last four.

The luck of the draw can be a huge factor in your progress but Mayo had made their own luck too.

As poor as Cork were and while there has been plenty of criticism about Mayo at national level, their quarter-final performance was quite decent. They should have been behind at half-time but for some poor Cork wides but defensively, on the fast, wide expanses of the big house, Mayo were better than many of us believed they could be.

They gave up two goal chances – at either end of the game – with Jack Livingstone equal to both with very impressive saves.

Tomás Ó Sé criticised the Cork full-back line for Mayo’s starting inside line scoring 0-19 out of Mayo’s 0-23. From our viewpoint high in the Cusack Stand, it looked to be more about Mayo’s quality than Cork’s lack of.

It is hard to believe now that Darragh Beirne was left on the sidelines for the entire game against Roscommon. The Claremorris teenager has been a wonderful addition to Mayo this year and while there has been much justified acclaim of Kobe McDonald’s brilliance, Beirne has shown how great a prospect he is too.

He struck 3-22 before Saturday and left Croke Park with a most deserved Man of the Match crystal after adding another seven points to his tally.

His brace of two-pointers in the third quarter irrevocably turned the game in Mayo’s favour. That they came after missing an easier chance just before demonstrates his resilience and confidence in his shooting.

What enables Beirne to play so well is being part of such a good full-forward line. Any one of the three starting inside forwards – Beirne, McDonald and Ryan O’Donoghue are proven match winners. Tommy Conroy continued his return to his best form with a stirring display off the bench, a great outlet inside in the second-half with O’Donoghue proving hugely influential at centre-half forward.

McDonald produced a handful of moments of pure genius that showed how at home he is on this stage and what a loss he will be not just to Mayo but to the game itself.

With such an array of talent, there is only so much that opposition can shut down. McDonald was exceptional in the first-half, O’Donoghue a constant threat and Beirne showed real class.

We cannot recall such a collective threat in the Mayo full-forward line. It is Andy Moran’s greatest strength – and something that makes Mayo far from makeweights at this stage of the season.

While Mayo did well defensively, the issues at the back haven’t disappeared. Cork’s attack was perhaps talked up a bit too much. Mayo simply had their number and we ought to credit both the individual and collective defensive display while remaining circumspect about how they do against a higher quality attack.

In particular, Donnacha McHugh was excellent in quelling the threat of Steven Sherlock. Eoin McGreal started well before picking up another unfortunate injury necessitating Enda Hession moving back and both Garrymore men performed well in the last line.

Jack Coyne produced arguably his best display of the year.

Behind them, Jack Livingstone continued his meteoric rise. The Breaffy man has been called on to make big saves in every game he has played.

The biggest save yet was from Brian O’Driscoll with seven minutes remaining. A deflection from Hession made it very tricky but Livingstone’s reactions were cat like.

A goal there would have levelled the game. Instead, Mayo went up the field and Tommy Conroy drew a free for Ryan O’Donoghue to point.

The save effectively sealed the deal for Mayo. Livingstone is in the All Star debate. It was a big call dropping Rob Hennelly for a rookie, especially given Livingstone only had one league game, the dead-rubber against Roscommon.

It could have backfired for someone of a weaker disposition but Livingstone has shown his mettle and his ability in emphatic style.

Whatever about All Stars, the possibility of could this be the year has started to float into the ether around the county.

Have Mayo had better teams in the past 15 years? Unquestionably.

Are they the best team in this year’s championship? Certainly not so far.

But sometimes it is the team who makes the most of the opportunity placed before them that triumph. Think Leicester in the Premier League in 2016, Greece in Euro 2004, Denmark in Euro 1992 and, dare we say it, Tyrone in 2021.

Mayo need not be backwards about coming forwards. They have a forward line to compete with anyone. They only have Kobe McDonald for a few more weeks before he departs for Aussie Rules.

Mayo may never get a better opportunity than the one that now lies in front of them. What’s the point in waiting for a ‘better chance’?