Tar melting, ice cream melting and the Rossies beaten in Hyde Park

A Fan’s View

The tar and the ice-cream were melting for sure, but the Rossies must have been dreaming only of a miracle with five minutes to go in Sunday’s Connacht semi-final. After what has felt like eleven years of winter, summer and the 2024 championship both arrived with a bang. While it wasn’t an emphatic victory, it was convincing enough to ensure the smaller-than-usual Mayo crowd went away smiling, more from relief than elation and satisfaction over delight at getting over that first tricky fence.

It’s an age-old pattern – scientifically verified, of course – that the number of Rossies slowly driving tractors in large numbers along the N5 on Sunday mornings when Mayo fans are trying to make their way to Croke Park increases exponentially. There were tractors aplenty out on Sunday, but given the wet winter they have endured, you couldn’t give out too much about it.

When travelling to a game on a sunny championship Sunday, it’s important to hang several flags from your car to make sure everyone on the road knows where you’re from. Especially when travelling through enemy territory.  Several lawns were being vigorously mowed along the route. We gave a friendly beep as we passed one such mower outside Tulsk, only to be met with a two-fingered salute and what we could only imagine was a string of expletives. The heat must have been getting to him.

A text arrives as we get closer to Roscommon town. “Buongiorno and welcome to Championship Sundays. Mayo to win…. on penalties.” There is sadism, and then some. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, or else the heat would surely have started getting to us as well.  A quick lunch in the sun on the square – we could have been on our holidays - and it was time to wander over to Dr Hyde Park. Surprisingly, the heat didn’t appear to get to Roscommon during their extended warm-up, which given the length of it must surely count as another of Davy Burke’s famous training sessions.

It pains us greatly to credit our neighbours with well, just about anything, but they really have done a fine job on their ground re-development. Ensuring your stand in the county ground has no obstructive poles and seats in the county colours is not a very high bar, but they have also made an excellent job of the pitch itself and it is a testament to a slick Club Rossie operation and shows what is possible with a bit of ambition and organisation. Dr Hyde Park is a happy hunting ground for Mayo, and happily, it remained so on Sunday as the sun beat down on the terrace.

As for the game itself? The optimists amongst us would say we answered the critics. A win, for starters. Only three wides. 1-12 from our starting forwards, with four of them scoring. The pessimists, however would point to the catastrophe-in-waiting that is our kick-outs, Roscommon’s poor return from their chances, our two non-scoring forwards and our injury concerns. It’s hard for McStay and co to win, in every sense of the word and ultimately, they got the job done, even if supporters remain unconvinced. It was remarkable to hear the plea from the manager for the crowd to get behind the team in Salthill, given the reputation of Mayo supporters, but there was an unmistakable silence in the ground during the second half that was reminiscent of the ill-fated All-Ireland final of 2013. The 2021 loss and the cost of living are both still taking their toll.

Conserving energy was the name of the game in the first half, though Aidan O’Shea appeared not to have received that memo. It was a good day for him, and he received a blistering ovation when his shift concluded. It was great to see Conor Loftus grab his opportunity emphatically after last year’s strange experiment at 6. Who knew he was a scoring forward, and a decent one, at that? And Ryan O’Donoghue, understandably ‘roashted’ at the final whistle, showed his mettle and remarkable work ethic yet again. If only we could clone him.

Going forward, our kick-outs will be targeted, and our dearth of ball-wining midfielders was really exposed, particularly when we were failing to collect the breaking ball. Paddy limping off will also be a concern as we await news of Diarmuid O’Connor after a ten-week layoff. Roscommon had some dreadfully uncharacteristic misses, and despite defending very well for the most part, we were definitely let off the hook more than once. This writer would welcome consideration bringing Brickenden out to 6 and leaving McBrien at 3, but to be fair she doesn’t know an awful lot about football. Overall, it was a relatively mediocre game, but a win is a win and slow and steady progress is better than no progress. We did what we needed to do, relatively comfortably and have kept any notions or hype well dampened down. 

On the way home, the driver was jubilant. “Won’t it be great to wake up tomorrow morning not feeling sickened?” And it was. We have a week now to enjoy the win and another to look forward to a Connacht final fixture with the Auld Enemy. The pundits are hyping it up already, but it’s been a while since we had a rip-roaring clash with the Maroons. Maybe the bank holiday weekend will deliver. But at the very least, let’s hope the sun shines like it did at the weekend and in the meantime, it’s no harm to smell the roses while the Rossies comb through yesterday’s scraps seeking some sustenance for the weeks ahead. 

A comment on Mayo GAA Blog on Sunday night summed it all up. “For me, Mayo beating Roscommon is one of the great pleasures in life.”

And so say all of us.