COLUMN: Mayo's trip across pond to London a success on all fronts

ON a weekend when the country was quite literally brought to a standstill, across the pond in London Mayo navigated their way peacefully through protests of their own.

Thankfully for them and Andy Moran, the scenes in Ruislip never threatened to turn violent.

They got in and got out without any major fanfare or issue. That’s what they demanded and their conditions were met. 

Truth be told there was little to nothing to be gained for Mayo in this game other than to do the job in front of them as professionally as they could. And they did it without fuss. 

Yes, they’ll take positives from seven two-pointers and getting championship debuts for Hugh O’Loughlin and Cian McHale.

While London gave a good account of themselves given they are a Division 4 team, and were accurate with the orange flags themselves, Mayo won without ever leaving third gear. 

A clean bill of health to report home was probably as high up Moran’s wish list as anything else. So it’s a job well done on that end. 

MORE THAN FOOTBALL

However, the London trip has always been about more than football. 

Because it’s really more festival than fixture and carnival than championship. The game is often a sideshow to the real business of the weekend: meeting friends, catching up with the diaspora, having the craic.

And that is not a bad thing.

There is a huge cohort of Mayo people based in London. Successful, well connected, and largely untapped from a GAA perspective.

The Mayo-London relationship is worth something and a day like Saturday was a day for incoming CEO Ruairi Conroy and Co to be there shaking hands, building bridges, playing politics if you like. 

Likewise it’s just as important for the players and management to mingle and show their appreciation in the hours afterwards. 

More often than not, it’s how the team performed off the field for which the exiled support talk about most and remember. Small tokens all add up. 

Those few days pressing the flesh with the Mayo diaspora is worth its weight in gold for a county board trying to fund a Centre of Excellence, for example. 

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

It was entertaining to hear Lee Keegan recount his travel difficulties getting to the game for his commentary duties on Midwest Radio.

The Westport man had to contend with a flight almost cancelled and a car crash on the  motorway, which meant he was late getting on air , around 30 minutes in.

Stories like that really add to the occasion. 

Needless to say, it brought back memories of the infamous 2011 trip under James Horan, when some of the Mayo players’ route to Ruislip took them nine hours of travel for a game that nearly ended Horan's reign before it started.

Kevin McLoughlin was on Off The Ball during the week reminiscing about that particular afternoon. The man whose equaliser sent the game to extra time. A carnival atmosphere at the start, pandemonium at the end.

Well-known Mayo GAA referee and adopted Balla man Walter Doherty fell foul of the travel woes this year after Ryanair (allegedly) left without him from Ireland West Airport.

The story grew legs on WhatsApp and turned the man affectionately known as ‘Doc’ into a local celebrity for the weekend. 

But like any true die-hard, he slogged it out and made it to Ruislip. All for the cause.

SELECTION HEADACHES

THE conversation between now and the Connacht semi-final very quickly moves to who is nailed on and who is not for a starting jersey.

This columnist feels maybe nine or ten of the starting team on Saturday have done enough for their jersey, against Roscommon on Sunday week. 

But there are still question marks. 

Fenton Kelly started at corner back and was beaten way too easily for London’s goal. Hugh O'Loughlin showed plenty on his debut and Moran rates him highly, but is he ready to start a Connacht semi-final in two weeks? It’s a big ask. While the full-back position still hasn’t got a solution. 

Paul Towey wore the 15 jersey on Saturday and while he didn’t do much wrong, it’s hard to say he put his hand up for a start either. While the number six position really depends on Conor Loftus’ fitness – which will be a concern. 

It will be fascinating to see how Andy Moran handles the Cian McHale versus Conor Beirne decision. Beirne was really impressive throughout the league and, really, looks more than capable of starting. 

On league form he would be there on merit. 

Mayo have been starved of that type of left footer really since the Conor Mortimer era. Now there’s two new kids on the block with all the attributes to kick on for a serious inter-county career.

But while the under-20s are still in action, McHale may get the nod, and merits it too. And then there’s the White Elephant of Kobe McDonald – do you start or do you hold him back? Probably the latter, but there’s a really strong case to be made for the former too.  

Getting Beirne and McDonald back into the senior conversation down the line is a positive headache for Moran, though. 

A headache he’ll have to try and settle more than once over the next couple of weeks. 

With the limited knowledge we have, competition for places looks as hot as it ever was.

A melting pot Moran won’t mind dealing with.