Seán Rice
ON Sunday in London the great odyssey resumes. Last year Mayo reset the parameters in Connacht. Now, they invite us to travel with them again on their journey of renewal – half scared as we are that it might end too soon – losing ourselves in the madness of it all, paralysed with excitement … ‘trying to f***ing breathe’ as John Gunnigan (AKA Willie Joe) of the Mayo GAA Blog, succinctly put it in a recent interview.
While every county takes sensible precautions in the championship, nothing is predictable, even in London. In the deepest recesses of their minds, some players in stronger counties will harbour a nagging disregard for their weaker neighbours.
But you dismiss them at your peril. They, too, have it in them to surprise.
Sligo fell to the exiles three years ago, and Roscommon bowed out embarrassingly last year when the Yeats County upset their aspirations. Roscommon didn’t learn from that dismissal, as their experience in New York confirmed a few weeks ago, but Leitrim felt the full blast of the backlash on Sunday.
Feeble opposition is occasionally capable of getting inside the heads of stronger sides when the action begins, harassing and unnerving them, and rising above their own modest standards to produce the shock result. They have nothing to lose. Nobody is watching.
So while London generates no fear for Mayo, they must not be taken for granted, a warning with which James Horan will undoubtedly agree. Leading Mayo for the first time five years ago, the manager was forced to call on Andy Moran to produce the equalising point that forced extra time and an eventual blushing victory before a shocked audience in Ruislip.
In atonement later that year, Mayo reached the All-Ireland semi-final.
On Sunday they may re-discover that in the confined space of Ruislip tactical sophistication is less likely to be the weapon of the victor than good old-fashioned shoulder-to-shoulder, eyeball-to-eyeball, hard-hitting engagement.
Indeed, many see this as the season of an almighty effort by Mayo to make the final breakthrough, to go for it, take on every opposition with every sinew in their body, or spend the rest of their lives wondering what might have been. Stage fright is no longer the problem. But whether they still have the passion for victory is another matter.
For some of the side that have served the county so well those past five years, it may be their last chance to finally fulfil the ambition gnawing at their souls for so long.
It’s a test, too, for the new manager Stephen Rochford and his team who have been working diligently throughout the spring to fashion a side capable of meeting his own high ideals. His objective is no more earnest or profound than any of those who have gone before, but the hope is that he will be visited with the success that has eluded all who have had the courage to assume the responsibility in the past.
It’s a journey paved with pitfalls on which the manager has embarked. But no one would take up the reins if he were not confident of winning. So far Rochford has led judiciously, holding his nerve in the wake of testing league results. And you feel now that entering the championship he is freer to exercise his own plans.
His team is built largely around that developed by James Horan. At the heart of it are Robert Hennelly, the O’Sheas, Ger Cafferkey, Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, Dona Vaughan, Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor and Jason Doherty.
THE true gifts of Tom Parsons, one of the finest fielders in the country, have been belatedly discovered. The underage potential of the Charlestown man was never fully tapped. Somehow he did not measure up to the demands of management ... for want of greater toughness perhaps. He is now a valued member of the side.
His league performances will have assured Brendan Harrison of his role at corner back in place of Tom Cunniffe, who is taking time out after years of loyal service. The Aghamore man, lively and alert around the box, grew in stature as the league progressed.
No one has fully nailed down the left corner position with the competence of the man who seems to have vacated it. Who will forget that famous duel between Keith Higgins and James O’Donoghue in the infamous semi-final replay between Mayo and Kerry two years ago?
Injury ruled the Ballyhaunis man out of the league just when management had offered him a role up front. He is now starring with the Mayo hurlers, but the corner back spot is still up for grabs; Chris Barrett (when fit), Donal Vaughan, and Shane Nally the contenders.
The forward line has been strengthened by the return from injury of Cillian O’Connor, the new team captain. His brother Diarmuid has brought to the team the same glowing attributes that have distinguished his performances at under-21 level.
The inclusion of Evan Regan adds a new seam of skill to a sector that has lacked penetration in recent times. And if the thrusts of the adroit Keith Higgins were to be added, a forward line of some quality and significance is envisaged.
The zenith of London’s ambition was reached three years ago in their defeat of Sligo in Ruislip. No further surprises were expected in Connacht that season. But ready though they were to host them, Leitrim were unable to check the onward march of the ex-pats, ceding the semi-final to them in a replay.
On a chartered jet, the team and their retinue arrived for the game of their lives at MacHale Park, their first Connacht final. They would have guessed that Mayo were a different kettle of fish and they surrendered nobly before losing to Cavan in the Qualifiers.
London have been keeping their powder dry those past few weeks, pitching their hopes perhaps on exposing some mental frailty that might destabilise Mayo’s confidence. Nothing they have done in recent times has illuminated their prospects of creating what would be a shock of enormous proportions.
In Division 4 of the league they beat Waterford by a point and ran Antrim close.
As ever, some native stock from Mayo speckle their squad, notably Caoimhín Carty of Aghamore, James Moran of Burrishoole, Kilmeena’s Danny Ryan, Michael Walsh of Ardnaree and Conor Campbell of Swinford. They also have Mark Gottsche and Dave McGreevy of the team that scared Mayo five years ago.
To be sure London are outsiders. But they’ll not want for courage, and in conditions with which they are not familiar, let’s not think it will be sunshine all the way for Mayo.
