Trip to Tralee will tell a tale
Mayo will know more next Sunday
Seán Rice
MAYO got back on track in Derry with a general performance that was no better or no worse than any of their four league matches this season.
We travelled with misgivings. Derry has ever been a stumbling block for Mayo in any competition, and a week after their profligacy against Dublin, we wondered could Mayo find the combative drive to do what they have never done in Celtic Park.
It was a big call for a team without the services of the injured Peadar Gardiner and Ronan McGarrity.
But at the finish there was every reason to celebrate their rediscovery of a winning beat.
While Derry were no Dublin, it is fair to say that Mayo would scarcely have survived without the return of Alan Dillon. Following his prolonged holiday, an early recall for the Ballintubber man seemed unlikely.
In the circumstances, he made a mockery of our scepticism.
Dillon’s well-crafted performance revealed that his condition had suffered nothing from his travels. When Mayo’s early lead of three points was wiped out and Derry looked to be building to victory, Dillon moved out from the front line and helped re-establish Mayo control.
When the new crop come to study his performance closely they will see that it was the little things he did so well that mattered, his ease on the ball, the familiar jink, the accuracy of his passing, the way he won ball . . . things learnt only from experience.
While the spirit of the team in general was exemplary there is still much to be done.
Without Ronan McGarrity, midfield laboured. And on that performance it is unlikely to survive the might of Kerry’s big midfielders next Sunday in Tralee.
There is no lack of commitment or honesty in Mayo just now. But it took a bold decision by the mentors to seal off their leaking defence.
Full-back Ger Cafferkey will have been disappointed with his showing against Eoin Bradley, and it is to be hoped being substituted will not have dented his confidence.
But no other choice was open to John O’Mahony, and in delegating Keith Higgins to the full-back role shortly after the resumption, he re-instilled more firmness and confidence in the entire defensive unit.
Andy Moran was back to his best form in a forward line so capably marshalled by Dillon. All of the six scored, but some have a tendency to give possession away too easily and to pass aimlessly under pressure. There was less wastage up front because they were not subjected to the pressure exerted by Dublin.
Next Sunday, however, they face the lion in its den. Kerry’s annihilation of Galway last Sunday at Pearse Stadium makes Mayo’s trip to Tralee a formidable task.
Because they need the points, Kerry are fielding full sides, and the manner in which their centre-half forward Declan O’Sullivan drove, almost unchecked, through the heart of the Galway defence is one of the headaches facing John O’Mahony.
Nor can Mayo expect much change from midfield unless McGarrity has recovered from his hamstring injury. The O’Sheas, Moran, the Gooch, O’Mahony, Donaghy, Scanlon and Sheehan etc are names that send shivers down the spines of opponents. And Mayo has not escaped the cutting edge of their carving knife.
Let’s see if Mayo have learnt anything from their encounters with the Kingdom.
Ballina stalwart is my number two selection
RECORDS reveal that some 77 footballers occupied the right full-back berth on Mayo teams over the past fifty years. And there is a plausible argument for selecting any one of a dozen or so as the outstanding figure.
Many might choose Martin Carney whose 101 appearances in League and championship in the Mayo jersey were divided between corner back and wing forward, and who excelled in both roles.
The holder of an Ulster medal with his native Donegal, he captained Mayo in 1981 to their first Connacht title in twelve years. He holds a Railway Cup medal with the combined Universities and was joint selector of the Irish International Rules team.
Kenneth Mortimer of Shrule, who was shepherded by Carney at underage football, graced the position with some sterling performances, and can never be dismissed when great backs are being discussed.
Nor can Seamus Hughes. The Mayo Abbey man made only 22 appearances, but the quality of his defending was an inspiration to the rest of the defence.
The late full-back Ray Prendergast often spoke with admiration of Hughes’ attributes as a corner-back and how confident he himself always felt with him by his side.
Jimmy Browne of Ballina Stephenites was another to serve in that position with commendable character, and you could similarly extol the virtues of Aidan Higgins, Michael Gavin and John O’Mahony. Because their future is still ahead of them, current team members are not in serious consideration.
Deserving, too, of selection is the county’s first All-Star, Johnny Carey, who captained the team to Mayo¹s tenth National League title in 1970, which was then a record. It was the only silverware won by Mayo senior side in the seventies.
In his 71 contests, the honours-laden Bangor native also won three Connacht senior medals, and in 1969 a Railway Cup medal with the last Connacht team to claim the trophy. He also played with Tuam Stars, Dunmore McHales, Roscommon Gaels and his own native Kiltane.
For this writer a good argument could be made for any one of those were it not for one man whose prowess has been obscured in the mists of the receding years.
Willie Casey’s is a bare enough sideboard. He featured only in two Connacht finals . . . winning in 1955, and losing in 1964. He is a residue of the all-conquering Mayo, but because his career extended almost to the mid sixties he qualifies for consideration.
He was on the periphery of that great team as a teenager, but one man stood between him and selection . . . the great John Forde. Casey played for Mayo for the first time in the league of 1952, but not until 1955 was he acknowledged as the authentic replacement for the Ardnaree man.
Strong, sure and stylish in the air, Casey was also adept with either foot.
He played for Connacht, and for Ireland against the Combined Universities, and his qualities as a corner-back were recognised when selected on the Connacht team of the millennium. He was also picked on the team of the century whose members never won an All-Ireland senior medal.
Of Mayo’s possibilities to regain old glory he once said: ‘if they put their heart into it they will win out, but they should not confuse the pain and sweat of training with ‘heart’ which is something deeper, more fundamental.’
Heart was ever a trait exhibited by the Ballina Stephenites’ man. Time has not dimmed the calibre of his football in the memory of this writer. And he is my choice as right-corner back on my team of the last fifty years.
Just a thought ...
Andy Moran’s frank admission about Mayo’s shortcomings was heartening from a man who himself had not had the best of games against Dublin. Confronting their problems openly could be a means of solving them ...
