Things aren’t perfect but Mayo in a good place

Mayo footballers are mad yokes, aren’t they?

So far off it in the first-half on Saturday, yet so absolutely on it in the second period. I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. A woefully insipid and lethargic opening followed by a frenzied, barnstorming second-half salvo that makes you feel like Mayo could beat anyone in the world. The truth, and Mayo’s level, probably lies somewhere in the middle.

The more I watch Mayo, and having played my fair share at that level too, the more I think that tactics, skill, management and fitness aren’t the key factors in any Mayo performance or success. They are all, of course, important and you’re not going to win much without a good level of each whenever you go out. But, for me, the thing that correlates most closely with a high-performance level for a Mayo football team is energy.

If we are flat, listless and heavy-legged, we don’t look like relations of footballers. But when that surge of power, dynamism and zip comes, you try and live with us.

The same, of course, could be said of most teams, but other counties are more comfortable with calmness and stillness. Patience is a virtue for them. Our streak of madness and impatience makes us look less than ordinary if we are not up and at ’em. That second-half burst, fuelled by the most boisterous MacHale Park crowd we’ve heard in aeons, battered Meath into submission.

Even before the dubious red card, Meath were on the ropes and the result looked inevitable. Mayo were ten points down in the 45th minute, but it didn’t even take all of the remaining 25 minutes to rein the Royals in. The writing was on the wall for Meath by the 55th minute when Mayo had dramatically closed the gap, and the red card merely ensured that Mayo would have enough to see it home.

Mayo’s cause was helped by having Paul Faloon on the whistle – or should I say, not on the whistle. I have never seen a referee like him for letting stuff go. The Meath fans around me were wondering if Faloon had “swallowed the pea” of his whistle, such was the scarcity with which they heard its shrill blast.

Now, some people love a referee who doesn’t get too involved, but the Down man nearly goes too much the other way. As a forward, I would hate to have a ref like him in charge. You might say, “Typical soft, windy forward,” but he allows defenders to sail close to the wind with that initial big, barely legal contact, which delays the forward for a split second and allows a swarm of defenders to descend, hot and heavy. He’s never going to award a free and, alas, the poor forward gets turned over.

But it probably did help Mayo, and the spectacle. Not being whistle-happy meant it wasn’t a stop-start match, so there was a great flow to it in the second-half. That allowed Mayo to build a savage momentum and a high, intense press from which Meath could not escape. It also got the crowd up and, although Mayo have had their issues at their Castlebar HQ, home advantage really paid off in that second-half on Saturday.

While the substitutes didn’t really work out the weekend before against Tyrone, Mayo management deserve credit for getting them spot on this time out. Diarmuid O’Connor’s introduction was a masterstroke. DOC rolled back the years with an all-action display that made it look like there were two of him out there in the second-half. He has a lot of miles on the clock, but he still has a great head and will always be a good distributor of the ball.

Tommy Conroy is moving well too. He’s looking sharp and, more importantly, his confidence is returning. For one of his points, he received the ball easily out in front of his man, swivelled on a sixpence and stroked it between the posts with beautiful clarity and control. There was no doubting himself or second-guessing his intentions. The best forwards don’t.

Cian McHale was a thorn in the Meath defence’s side too, as they tired and spaces opened up. If Darragh Beirne doesn’t make next weekend, McHale would be an ideal like-for-like replacement.

Jack Livingstone’s nascent Mayo career couldn’t be going better. He has really surprised me with his shot-stopping ability. He is making a last-ditch, top-drawer one-on-one save every game now. Dare I say it, it’s almost David Clarke-esque the way he spreads himself. Mayo are still coughing up far too many goal chances though and, someday, Livingstone won’t be able to bail his teammates out. But, at the moment, he looks the find of the season.

Man of the Match Enda Hession dug in even when things were going poorly for his team – the sign of a good leader. He is so much more at home in the half-back line than tagging a corner-forward in the full-back line. The urgency, which has always been the hallmark of his game, is a great weapon to have at wing-back as it gets things moving for his team, helps press opposition kick-outs, snaps in on breaks and allows quick transitions between defence and attack. His tidy finishing and tigerish tackling were two other standout aspects of his display.

That Kobe kicked a handsome haul of four points and it is almost considered routine for him says everything about his rise and enormous contribution to the team. It is good that he will get at least one opportunity to grace Croke Park with Mayo before he departs for pastures new next month.

It wasn’t only Mayo’s manic second-half kick-out press that saved the day, but also their willingness and ability to kick two-pointers. Jordan Flynn, Jack Carney, Kobe and ROD are clearly backed by management to have a go from distance, and they duly oblige. They don’t always come off but their strike rate is pretty good and the rewards are significant. Having so many attacking threats and long-range kickers gives Mayo a fighting chance in every match.

After all the jigs and the reels of this year’s championship, Mayo are still standing and in a good place heading into next weekend. Sure, things aren’t perfect, but the fact that only one provincial champion remains and every team has suffered at least one defeat shows you that perfection won’t necessarily be required to be victorious in Championship 2026.

A semi-final is very reachable and that would represent a good Year One for Andy and his team. From there, you’re in bonus territory where the pressure is off and anything can happen. Mayo just need to do what they can to stay alive. Let the bigger guns keep knocking each other out.

Going forward, a more sustained version of that gutsy, second-half, never-say-die frenzy would go a long way towards further success.

To borrow from Ronan Keating: “Life is a rollercoaster, baby, you just gotta ride it”, a sentiment that feels like it could be the unofficial anthem of Mayo GAA.

One more thing… 

The eight football quarter-finalists are made up of two counties from each of the four provinces. This is in stark contrast to hurling where four neighbours on the Atlantic seaboard will duke it out for Liam. Gaelic football is in rude health right now.