A few good men
Ray Dempsey has chosen his backroom team very carefully
Mike Finnerty
WHEN Ray Dempsey was appointed as Mayo minor manager almost two years ago, it was widely acknowledged that his choice of selectors had done his candidacy no harm at all.
Sitting opposite the County Board mandarins that night, armed with the names of Kevin Beirne, Stephen Healy and Tomás O’Grady, Dempsey’s plan of action would have been water-tight. Between the four of them, this management team had enough club and county honours to fill the biggest of trophy-cabinets. They were all proven, all experienced, and all winners.
Stephen Healy had come to prominence when he led Charlestown to Mayo and Connacht club championship glory in 2001. He had also earned a reputation as a shrewd observer of the game and was well-respected within the county.
Kevin Beirne, meanwhile, had worn the county colours with distinction throughout the 1990s and also impressed many observers during his time as Claremorris manager earlier this decade.
And Tomás O’Grady? Well, if you’re ever seen the NCF commissioned Mayo squad poster before the 1989 All-Ireland final, you’ll know he was among John O’Mahony’s substitutes that year. He was also one of the toughest Burrishoole forwards that togged out in those days.
Beirne and O’Grady had also shared one of life’s great experiences; they were corner-stones of the Mayo minor team back in 1985, the last team from the county to win the Tom Markham Cup. And that link with the past has proved invaluable this summer.
“There was never a game in ’85 where people were looking at us as potential All-Ireland champions,” reflected Kevin Beirne last week. “We were never hot favourites going into any game and it’s been the same with this team all year.
“We played a Meath team in ’85 that everybody was talking about, they had the likes of PJ Gillick coming though. Now you have a Kerry team that’s the talk of the place. But leaders will come through on the day. They did then and they will again.”
When Ray Dempsey and his management team sat down with their preliminary squad last October they recalled something that Declan Ryan, last year’s Tipperary minor hurling manager, said after winning the All-Ireland. “These lads were willing to listen,” Ryan had told reporters. It was a philosophy that Mayo were preparing to buy into too.
“We have 30 lads who will listen and take on board most of the things we say to them,” says Beirne. “You hope to pass on whatever experience you picked up as a player and in club management and I think we work well together.
“From the very outset there are rules and guidelines when you’re working with any team. And it’s the same with minors, you have to stay within certain parameters. We listen to feedback from players quite a lot, we’re not foolish enough to think we know it all. And there has to be respect between management and players and vice-versa.
“We set our goals at the beginning of the year and although we were taking it one step at a time, we did hope to be playing in Croke Park at the business end of the championship. We’ve worked very hard since last October. Okay, we had a topsy-turvy league campaign, but we always had one eye on the championship and here we are.”
Where Mayo ‘are’ is preparing for a trip to Croke Park and a date with the Munster champions, Kerry. There is no doubt that they are battle-hardened and resilient but whether they are ready or able for the step-up in class remains to be seen.
“If you don’t concede goals you’re going to be in the shake-up,” is Kevin Beirne’s honest assessment. “We’ve been lucky at times and we’ve defended brilliantly too, all over the field.
“The tackling has been good all year from corner-forward back, and will have to be even better again against Kerry. They have Barry John Walsh at full-forward and there’s a lot expected of him but it won’t be just Kevin Keane’s job to mark him. Everyone will have to work hard to deny Walsh a supply.
“We’ve been in a few tight scrapes along the way but we’ve never panicked, as a team or as a management. Roscommon got a good start and went 0-5 to 0-1 up in the Connacht final but we stayed calm and never lost sight of them. I think we’ve used our bench well too all the way through.
“Playing at Croke Park is a big challenge for any player too,” he adds.
“Some lads will react brilliantly and raise their games 10%, and we’d be hoping that nobody will go into their shell. We’ll be hoping to use the pitch and that environment to our advantage as much as possible.”
And that’s where the Mayo supporters come in. They have been slow to rally around the county’s minor teams in recent years but now they are needed more than ever before. Once Mayo run out onto Croke Park next Sunday they will need all the help they can get.
“I remember back in 1985 we had massive support and that stood to us in tight games,” recalls Beirne. “These lads are the future seniors and we’d be hoping that we can win an All-Ireland with them. And if we don’t, that we’d have helped their development and improved them as footballers.”
We couldn’t ask for anything more.
