COLUMN: A Tralee trip that put Mayo fans to the test

We are lucky enough to have an organiser in our group.

The minute the league fixtures are confirmed, she quietly gets to work booking accommodation months in advance and whips us into putting aside a few pennies every week to fund our away weekend extravagances.

That person is not me. I am simply the Eternally Grateful one who turns up and reaps the benefits of her labour, and when departing, manages to leave a substantial amount of my belongings behind.

When we convened to head for Tralee on Saturday morning, most of the boot space was taken up with the coats and hats and scarves I had managed to leave in other people’s houses and cars over the past month.

Spirits were high as we turned onto the N17. We were celebrating. One of us had just started a new job.

Another had just gotten the keys to a new house while another was celebrating the anniversary of meeting the love of her life. And the driver? Well, his dog died during the week. You can’t win ‘em all, I suppose.

GRAND EGGS

These long car trips are a good chance for our crew to catch up and share the big life events that have happened since we last met.

“I got my eyebrows laminated during the week”, said the Organiser. “What do ye think?” In fairness, they did look very groomed.

“Laminated?” says the Driver. “Isn’t that what you’re getting on the new floors, Anne-Marie?”

The Organiser has a little brusheen she needs to use regularly to keep the new brows in check. Maybe I will need to get one for the floors as well.

We stopped in Sheridan’s of Milltown for the breakfast. Just like in those old western films, the place fell silent and the heads at the bar swivelled around to stare as four people bedecked in green and red strolled in. 

We came in peace, simply hoping for a nice Eggs Benedict. We might have had to dine under a Galway flag, but the eggs were grand. The feed set us up nicely for the trip ahead.

We have never before made it to Austin Stack Park early enough to get into the stand, but there is a first time for everything, and we got to experience the pre-match entertainment in all its musical glory for all of 90 minutes.

The Kerry welcome to visitors is legendary and world-renowned. As we parked up beforehand, a man crossing the road cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. 

“Are ye down for a beating?”

We were too indignant to come up with a smart response. Little did we know what was ahead of us. His wife emerged from inside the house. “Well, I’m from Tyrone”, she said. “I hope ye win!”

The driver tried to get three programmes for a tenner. The Kerry lads were only too happy to oblige. The programmes were only €3 each, a far cry from the fiver we have been forced to shell out elsewhere all year. Great value altogether.

RED CARPET TREATMENT

However, the game itself was not great value. During the first quarter, we thought we might be in contention for a result, and then it fell apart.

To be honest, the less said about it the better.

In the grand scheme of things, the result didn’t matter, and perhaps this was a game management had not earmarked for a win, so despite the deficiencies that were laid bare (lack of physicality, dreadful shot selection, the lack of a clear spine) we still didn’t feel any real cause for alarm. 

God only knows why they stood so far off the best attacking force in the country and practically laid down the red carpet for them, but this Mayo team is absolutely capable of putting up a better fight against this opposition. 

We were missing several of our better performers, and it showed. One management decision really puzzled us, however: the persisting with Darragh Beirne, who has a big championship game this week with the U20s, while leaving Cian McHale on the bench.

In Andy we trust and all that, but you’d wonder. 

Writing purely from a supporter’s point of view, the manner of defeat was irritating more than anything else.

You don’t put yourself to considerable expense and give up most of your weekend to drive down the country only to see your team playing like they can’t really be bothered. 

There was a mixed reaction in the stand to the news that Kobe would start.

This writer had no problem; he may not get a chance to experience this level of opposition at any other point in the season and if he is ever to play for us in the future, he needs to know what he’ll be facing.

He was one of our better performers on a below-par day, and it was telling that the biggest roar of the day from the Kerry crowd came when Kobe was denied not once, but twice, by a brilliant double save by Shane Murphy.

There is only one undisputed golden boy in their eyes. And he wears green and gold.

“What happened to ye today?” asked a couple of auld bucks as we were away out the gate. Eager to rub salt in the wound.

“Fair play to ye”, we said. “Ye hung in there and ground it out in the end.”

They are looking at us yet.

ONLY THE LEAGUE

There was no sign of our welcoming committee back at the car. but the wife nearly broke her ankle running out of the house to commiserate.

“Too many wides”, she yelled, as we leapt into the car and did a 180 to try and get out of the place. “Too many wides!” Quite right!

Deflated, we made our way to Vendricks in Killarney for the dinner. The feast that appeared wasn’t long re-inflating us.

Back in 2019, when Mayo beat Kerry in the league final, and everyone was going buck-ape celebrating in the Cusack Stand, an auld lad in a maroon jumper couldn’t resist a dig as he was leaving. “It’s only the leeeeeeague,” he spat, to much hilarity. “It’s only the leeeeague!”

Those words have been oft-quoted since, especially on bad days.

As we enjoyed the Killarney hospitality on Saturday night, we had the good fortune to bump into RTÉ’s Barry Linehan, a face we have encountered at many a Mayo game both at home and abroad.

“It didn’t go your way today,” consoled Barry. “But it’s only the league!”

My biggest win of the weekend?

Bringing all my belongings home with me. Truly, you can’t win ‘em all. But the little victories matter.