I’m sure the Mayo players and management weren’t reading my columns. After the Cavan game I said the Mayo team was done, that their season was over but on Saturday night they really put it up to me and the many others who wrote them off.

They shoved those words down my throat and I couldn’t be more delighted.

I had categorically stated that Mayo’s season was over and it still may end prematurely, but so many of the things that have frustrated us about watching Mayo football in recent times have been addressed to some extent. 

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AGGRESSION

THERE was a whole load of aggression around the middle of the field both in the air and on the ground. We so badly needed to see that and we were treated to it right from the throw-in.

We saw Mattie Ruane, Jack Carney, Conal Dawson, Bob Tuohy, all put the bodies on the line in the middle third and that gave them the platform to attack. 

The new players coming into the team added energy and spark. Seán Morahan was tiger-ish, Dawson had an immediate  impact and Tuohy handled a lot of ball in the Tyrone half.

We saw more variety in the Mayo play than we have in any of the other games and that kept Tyrone guessing. In the first half we saw Ryan O’Donoghue hit a couple of balls in to Aidan O’Shea that weren’t 70-30 in Aidan’s favour, they were probably 50-50 balls and Mayo got two frees out of them.

Paddy Durcan seemed to ensure the attacks were more direct and less lateral and that was a big improvement, which created space for runners off the shoulder. In one memorable moment near the end of the first half, Jack Carney ran hard off the shoulder, won the ball, got fouled, and O’Donoghue kicked the free. 

GAME PLAN

THE management team deserve huge credit. Firstly, for the changes they made to the starting team and then the way they used the bench with Jordan Flynn and Davitt Neary particularly impressive. The management picked a team to perform and they did exactly that.

They also came up with a game-plan which got the best out of the team and suited the occasion. We’d seen way too much side-to-side, way too much lateral play in previous matches.

That’s fine when the other team is set, but when the chance for the counter-attack arises or when the chance for the direct run off the shoulder is there, you have to go for it. It’s something that Mayo have excelled at for years and years, that was back on Saturday evening. 

They were urgent when they were on the ball. Tuohy drove forward when he had it. Same with Morahan, like a tiger in defence. He was always trying to rumble his way out or burrow his way out of defence.

Rory Brickenden had a measured performance and kicked two scores, which was very important because it gave Tyrone something new to think about. 

There was way more diversity in the way we were playing. You saw some patient build-ups, which we’d seen an awful lot of in the past.

However, you also saw direct off-the-shoulder moves which saw men explode out of the defence.

There was also variety in the way the ball was delivered inside. On three or four occasions, high balls into the danger-zone caused chaos for Tyrone, the most notable being when Tuohy’s shot for a point drops short and ends up being a goal for Darren McHale.

After half-time, the most evident tactic was the way Mayo isolated one-on-ones on the outside arc. They actually operated four or five forwards in so close to the goal that they were being man-marked there, which left space for  a lot of one-on-ones on the outer arc. Davitt Neary benefitted from that a couple of times because it isolated defenders and allowed them to be ran at.

DURCAN’S IMPACT

PADDY Durcan coming back into the team, even after such a long layout, is a real attacking asset and he proved that in no uncertain terms.

What he did was absolutely remarkable. His attacking ability is going to be such an asset because he’s so good in those situations.

If you’re creating one-on-ones out along the arc and there’s a bit more space out there, Durcan is so good at timing his run to come off the shoulder at an angle that suits him to clip the ball over the bar.

So to come away with three points was outstanding. At the other end he probably could have defended better for the Tyrone goal, but that will not happen again.

The fact that he stood off Darragh Canavan slightly is a small sign of the rustiness after so long on the sideline.  

O’SHEA MASTERCLASS

AIDAN O’Shea had a masterful game and I was delighted to see him score a spectacular point at the end, which was the icing on the cake.

He showed great variety in his game and brought so many other players into the game with smart and well-timed deliveries. The sheer workload and the amount of times he handled the ball was huge.

He operated between corner-forward and midfield and caused Tyrone all sorts of problems. In the first half he won two frees from long balls directed towards him and also saw a shot for a goal miss narrowly.

PROVEN WRONG

SO, to conclude - I’m absolutely happy to be proved incredibly wrong. Mayo came out in Omagh and showed us that their season is definitely not over.

They’ve given themselves a real opportunity going into that last weekend of this group and it should be a really exciting last day when Donegal are the opposition.

Let’s not forget to mention Kevin McStay. I would like to wish him the very best and hope he recovers well, quickly and soon I hope that he can get back to the team and everything’s all right for him health wise. That’s without doubt the most important thing of all.

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