Five things we missed during Mayo v Dublin

Edwin McGreal

THE huge amount of talking points in the drawn All-Ireland final has made journalists’ jobs somewhat easier ahead of the replay.
In fact, the first clash was so full of action that some very interesting incidents have gone unnoticed.
While there has been plenty of talk (too much, in fact) about Keegan/Connolly Act V, we examine five things which went under the radar.  

1) Hennelly almost introduced
THE eagle-eyed among you might have spotted Mayo substitute goalkeeper Rob Hennelly preparing to be introduced near the end. While some felt Hennelly might just have been warming up as any substitute might, his proximity to the Mayo management and the fact that he had his gloves on caught this reporter’s eye.
Damian Lawlor was working as the touchline reporter for Sky Sports and confirmed as much during their live coverage – Hennelly had been summoned by management. Obviously he did not come on, which makes you think either management did a U-turn or had a particular purpose in mind. Was he there ready to be brought on if Mayo were awarded a late, long-range free or had a 45-metre kick?
It would have been an interesting gambit, but one which would stand to reason given Hennelly has scored 0-22 for Mayo from long-range frees or 45s since he started in 2011. What it did show was how the Mayo managed were preparing for every eventuality.  

2) Bernard Brogan’s movement
THERE’S been plenty written about how much pressure Bernard Brogan is under to keep his place for the replay. The 2010 Footballer of the Year is the biggest name in this Dublin team, and was held scoreless for the first time in an All-Ireland final by Aghamore’s Brendan Harrison.
Harrison was superb, but it does not mean Brogan did not impact on the game. Think of Dublin’s three first-half goal chances. Two of them led to own goals, and the third was superbly saved by David Clarke. But look back at the tape and watch Brogan’s movement.
In each of them, the left corner forward position is left gloriously isolated as Brogan runs away from it, leaving a prairie of space. Brian Fenton ran into it twice and, the third time, Dean Rock slipped in behind Colm Boyle.
It’s hard to be certain how deliberate these runs are. For the first goal, Brogan simply was at the number 14 position, but his decoy movement is very clear for the second goal. Diarmuid Connolly stands over a free 55 metres out and seems to signal for a particular play. Brogan runs straight out but has no intention of taking a short ball – he’s simply vacating space. It left Colm Boyle isolated on Dean Rock, and it was compounded by Boyle letting Rock a couple of yards goalside of him.
Mayo will also be disappointed, looking back at the three goal chances, that a covering player did not identify the danger and cover the right-hand side of David Clarke’s goal.
These three clips show how, in the modern game, a good forward can really influence the game without getting his hands on the ball.

3) Between a Rock and a hard place
DEAN Rock had a nearly imperious conversion rate coming into the game, having only missed three frees in championship 2016. Last Sunday week, he missed four and scored three.
It was not a nice day for free-taking off the ground. The surface on Croke Park can be particularly slippy when wet. The footballs, all new balls, can be heavier and harder to get off the ground than a worn-in ball, and Rock’s kicking technique is more prone to slipping in such wet conditions.
With that in mind, he placed divots for some of his frees. In truth there should be nothing wrong with this. Before kicking tees, every goalkeeper needed to kick a divot if he hoped to get range on his kick-outs. However, the rules state kicking a divot is not allowed and the penalty is a hop ball. The Dublin free-taker was not pulled for this and two points accrued from frees where he placed divots.
Perhaps it ought not to be a rule and referees may choose to interpret it the same way as a free having to travel 13 metres and use what they feel is common sense. Still, it is a talking point.

4) Drama at the death
THERE was so much drama at the death that it is easy to see how so much slipped under the radar. Yet when Mayo physio Martin McIntyre ran on after Evan Regan went down with a head injury, Philly McMahon’s aggressive shoving of McIntyre should not have escaped comment in the manner it has. Interfering with an opposition official, especially a medical person, is not something the GAA tends to tolerate.
In the ensuing mini-melee that followed, Cillian O’Connor appeared to indicate he was struck in the face by a Dublin player. However, footage of this is inconclusive.   

5) Mayo’s middle seven
THE question has been asked repeatedly as to who was marking Brian Fenton in the first half of Sunday’s game. The reality is there is no simple answer. Seamie O’Shea was on him for the first goal and made the fatal error of following the ball and not the man.
At other stages in the first half, Donie Vaughan and Tom Parsons both had turns on Fenton.
Mayo appeared to employ a zonal/rotating around the middle third. Four defenders (Brendan Harrison, Keith Higgins, Paddy Durcan and Lee Keegan) had direct man-marking responsibilities for Bernard Brogan, Dean Rock, Kevin McManamon and Diarmuid Connolly respectively.
>From there up, Colm Boyle, Donie Vaughan, midfielders Seamie O’Shea and Tom Parsons, and half-forwards Diarmuid O’Connor, Jason Doherty and Kevin McLoughlin were the men in rotational roles.
McLoughlin was the most regular sweeper, though Boyle and O’Shea also filled in there. What they were doing required a lot of communication to ensure runs were tracked and no one ghosted in behind. As seen with Fenton’s two goal chances, things did not always go to plan, and Stephen Rochford will hope it works more seamlessly in the replay, if he maintains the strategy.
It did give Mayo huge flexibility in what they could do and meant they could alternate who made forward runs. It’s no surprise that Donie Vaughan found himself in very good attacking positions at the other end of the field. Keith Higgins got forward too, knowing he had cover in behind, although Dublin’s second goal came from when Colm Boyle was covering for him. Higgins’ misplaced hand-pass inside the Dublin 45’ initiated the move which led to Boyle’s own goal.
Interestingly, Doherty tracked the runs of Philly McMahon if he tried to make a burst forward. It ensured Aidan O’Shea was not being forced to spend his game tracking his opponent to the opposite end of the field. McMahon’s forward bursts were a momentum-shifter in last year’s semi-final replay and the in final against Kerry, forcing O’Shea and Colm Cooper onto the back foot.
The big question for the replay is whether Mayo assign a man-marker to Fenton and risk taking a player away from the workload of the rotating middle seven. If they do, Vaughan and Parsons appear the best placed athletically and strategically to do so.