O’Donoghue is the heartbeat of this Mayo team

There are 67 minutes on the clock and Mayo lead 3-20 to 0-13. It is long past being over. Dara McDonnell works the ball back to Ciarán Downey outside the two-point arc. Ryan O’Donoghue is 15 metres away, well inside the arc. It is a lost cause. Downey is a very good shooter and he strikes the two pointer. But O’Donoghue doesn’t give up. After covering so much ground already and with 1-9 to his name by this point, O’Donoghue’s reaction speaks volumes for what Mayo brought on the day.

He sprints flat out towards Downey and as the Louth man is shooting, O’Donoghue hurls himself through the air to try to effect a diving block. He misses by inches. It is worth watching back.

The gap goes from 16 points to 14 but the man of the match personified why the gap was so big. Mayo were ferocious from beginning to end and as bad as Louth were, particularly after half-time, Mayo’s manic intensity made them look the worst possible version of themselves.

Sure, there was a clear gulf between Division 1 and Division 2 apparent. And Louth were perhaps overawed by the occasion in a way Mayo were not. But Mayo made no apologies for being the better team and ruthlessly capitalised on that as the game went on and the result looked more and more obvious in the third quarter.

Too often we’ve failed to make the gap count against teams who might not be considered at our level. Louth being tipped to win by the vast majority of national pundits probably helped to focus Mayo minds.

But there was something about the players’ reaction after beating Meath and, seven days later, winning a big game in Croke Park, that told you they are in a zone now. Whether it will be enough against Kerry is another question but their approach and attitude will give them the best possible shot.

Considering the concerns many of us had about Mayo’s defence during this year, the last two games have been remarkable.

Against Donegal and Kerry in the league, Mayo looked well outmatched and it was hard to be confident. The Roscommon game appeared to confirm this while the second-half comeback by Monaghan was yet another file in the book of evidence.

The first half-hour against Meath had the jury almost ready to convict. Then the case for the defence began.

Mayo upped the ante late in the first-half. An Eoin McGreal turnover right on the buzzer exemplified it. In the second-half, they made Meath look very average in attack.

Against Cork, Mayo largely went man on man in defence but their nose for a potential turnover saw bodies converge at the opportune time and win back possession. They conceded two goal chances, at either end of the game, but that was still progress considering how often Jack Livingstone had to bail Mayo out in previous games.

On Saturday, Louth had no goal chances at all. And the defensive turnovers continued to be a big factor. David McBrien was immense, Sam Callinan too, and nobody defensively had a poor day.

But the manic intensity brought by the midfielders and half-forwards, personified by O’Donoghue’s refusal to accept the inevitable on 67 minutes, added immeasurably to the defensive effort.

Mayo were full of players in the zone and bringing a ferocity to turnover opportunities. Mayo didn’t chase aimlessly, they timed their efforts for when the chance presented. There was no little skill in their tackling either. Louth contributed but Mayo had them so frazzled and contributed hugely to this.

It wasn’t all in defence. David McBrien’s superb tackling on Ciarán Downey which led to a 13 metre free in the first-half was inspirational.

Kobe McDonald’s 41st minute point was when Mayo refused to let Louth come away with a turnover. Ryan O’Donoghue lost the ball in traffic but he, Stephen Coen and Sam Callinan tackled like their lives depended on it and, eventually, Bob Tuohy came away with the loose ball. Seconds later, McDonald was giving a familiar one-finger wag to the crowd.

How pleasing watching back the tape must be for Andy Moran, Colm Boyle and Paddy Tally.

The ability to win those turnovers is so crucial for Mayo. While they were competitive around the middle in the first-half, Louth still edged it. They won 8/13 of their kick-outs while Mayo retained 5/11 of Jack Livingstone’s restarts.

It meant Mayo only won 42 percent of primary possession in the first-half. Mayo’s greater forward threat has been rightly identified as a key counterbalance to this but so too have been turnovers and that is a full team effort.

At one stage Louth had won three Mayo kick-outs in a row (two caught by Dara McDonnell) and mined three points from them (a two-pointer and a single) and Mayo were under the cosh.

It was level approaching the half hour and in the next attack Ciarán Keenan and Kieran McArdle both spurned a chance to put Louth in front.

But could Mayo get a kick-out off? Enda Hession won it short under pressure in the left corner-back position and rapidly accelerated away from Ryan Burns and Keenan to drive Mayo forward. It was real leadership.

It ended with a Paul Towey point and on Mayo’s next attack, Darragh Beirne grabbed Mayo’s second goal. We weren’t certain of it then but that was that as far as the contest was concerned.

The remarkable thing is we've reached this point without mentioning Mayo's forward play. It is important to see how central Mayo’s defensive efforts and, in a wider sense, efforts when not in possession, have been.

It will be so important against Kerry and one might rightly fear that they will retain possession far better than Louth and be just as good, if not better, in winning primary possession too.

But Mayo now have a forward line that will cause plenty of headaches. Against Cork, the starting inside line scored 0-19 out of 0-23. On Saturday, it was 2-17 out of 3-23. We recall a decade ago analysing how central to Mayo’s efforts were scores from the half-back line in particular but from midfield back in general.

How it has flipped this year.

There was a real intent for goals the last day. And such assuredness from teenagers Beirne and McDonald, even when they made mistakes.

And central to it all, just like he works himself to a standstill when Mayo don’t have possession, has been Ryan O’Donoghue, the personification of Mayo’s blend of perspiration and inspiration. He is the heartbeat of this team.