Treacy and Co take their inspiration from Mayo’s epic year

The legacy of Mayo’s incredible Summer lived on in MacHale Park last Sunday. It’s standard practice for club teams all over the country to replicate whatever approach brings home Sam Maguire, but when it was so close to home, Davitts captain Niall Treacy felt the resonance of Andy Moran’s style of play even more deeply.

So when it came to making sense of his side’s all-action, shoot-on-sight approach to the intermediate county final against Ballinrobe, the wiry and wily inside forward simply said that they were taking a leaf out of the Mayo playbook.

“It's a thing we work on a lot, we're not afraid to take shots on as you can see,” beamed the inside forward, who ended the day with two frees and 0-6 from play.

“Mayo have done it, and it's kind of egged us on to try it, you can't be afraid to shoot. To be fair to Jack Melvin, he’s a serious operator off the ground and he was firing today,” he continued, deflecting praise over to his fellow attacker.

“Watching them do what they did this year just really drove us on. Our thinking was that if they can do it, we can do it. You have to have belief, that’s what helped us to win this today”.

Of course, a forward can have all the belief in the world, but if the ability to deliver under pressure isn’t there to match it, then all that results is a gargantuan wide column. Davitts, with Melvin and Treacy leading the way, were incredibly efficient throughout.

“It's practice at the end of the day. But you have to have confidence in taking the shot and we'll never be afraid to shoot, I'll back everyone on that team to shoot,” he said, though time and again in this game, it fell back to Treacy to deliver.

He was the one who struck the two-pointer that instigated their strong run, it was him who clipped over a gorgeous point on the run to consolidate their advantage before half-time, and when they got a fortuitous double to break a run of three consecutive Ballinrobe scores, once again it was his boot that delivered.

“We’re all leaders out there, I think. If someone else does it, it'll drive me on to do something like that and get the next score. And then someone else might drive on and do the next score. We all back each other, that's the main thing.

“The scores are important of course, but it was all down to work-rate. We kept pressing them, kept harassing, tackling. They kept coming back and we kept firing over scores.

“Every game, we improved. We might have lost to Moy Davitts (in August) but after that, we set standards at training, we were like, this isn't happening again. We had to improve and keep driving on, training got better and better, and that's all you have to do.” 

Or as defender Charlie Phillips put it, train hard and have belief is how you do it – but in the lead up to this final, his focus was all about digging deep and finding the motivation needed to ensure that they brought all their preparation and commitment to the fore.

“From the first ball, even in the dressing room, or driving here, you're thinking that you give it a bit of meaning,” was how he reflected on his side’s mindset, and how that manifested in their performance.

“Management will give you all the how in the world, but it's about finding the why. With us, you find your why in the dressing-room and it's about giving to your parents and the people that bring you to the games and stuff like that, like it's just about giving back to them and giving them a day out.” 

And what a day, even if it was postponed by 24 hours. Davitts reached this final on the back of a five-game campaign where they conceded 1-81, considerably more than the 4-51 conceded by Ballinrobe in their games. In that context, it could be argued that inclement weather, which usually favours defenders, would have been of more help to them than Ballinrobe – but Phillips didn’t even consider that angle.

“If you’re letting stuff like that get to you, what are you doing?” he laughed.

“I felt worse for the fans. I know my sisters had to change their work schedule, that was more the issue. For players, it's a county final. End of the story, you're showing up.” And show up he did, with two crucial blocks, three turnovers and an inspirational performance at the heart of the defence.

“It’s a great day, the best day of my life so far. Words can't describe the joy you feel, winning with the lads you grew up with playing football all the way through underage and then, Colm Boyle rolling back the years, so winning with those boys as well, I’ve great time for them.” 

Boyle was also the link back to 2011 when Davitts last win this title, and they went on to pick up Connacht honours and to reach an All-Ireland final.

Can a similar story unfold this winter?

“I believe so, yeah. I think we can do anything,” said Treacy.

The Mayo approach has served them well up to now, they’re hardly likely to abandon it any time soon.