‘Our day will come’, vows Mayo star

OPTIMISTIC One of Mayo’s star performers in the All-Ireland, Paddy Durcan, is pictured shortly after the final whistle on Saturday. He is very hopeful he and his teammates can still win Sam Maguire in the near future. Pic: David Maher/Sportsfile

Edwin McGreal and Daniel Carey

One of the stars of Mayo’s heroic but ultimately unsuccessful All-Ireland bid last Saturday has vowed that Mayo’s day as All-Ireland champions will come.
Paddy Durcan excelled in defence on Saturday, and in the drawn game, kicking three points across both matches. The 22-year-old Castlebar Mitchels star has been touted as one of the reasons for an optimistic future for this Mayo team after his first full season.
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), Durcan is chomping at the bit for 2017 and told the Mayo supporters to keep the faith after a heartbreaking defeat.
“I know that they come back all the time and they always will. And look, our day will eventually come. Next year they’ll (fans) be out in force straight away for the FBD (League), I’ve no doubt about that. So I can’t wait. It’s going to come around quick again, and I’m really looking forward to hopefully getting in a jersey again and trying to improve.”
Durcan admits that Saturday’s one point defeat in the All-Ireland Final Replay against Dublin is hard to take.
“It’s still very, very raw, to be honest with you. It’s my first final with Mayo, and it’s really hard to take. It’s hard to get the chance to contemplate it really fully. There’s a bit of sense of shock, and you’re just kinda going with the flow and getting on with things as best you can, but it’s … an awful disappointment.”
While it cannot have been easy for the Mayo players to face into a homecoming at MacHale Park on Sunday evening, Durcan felt duty bound to do so.
“I definitely feel an obligation to do it. It’s hard for us [the players and management] but look, it’s equally hard for supporters too. I’ve watched games, [and] it’s nearly worse watching the games than being involved in it yourself, because you don’t have that element whereby you can control it. Certainly, I’d feel an obligation to be there. It was the least we could do. They’re as disappointed as we are. Obviously, we were hoping we were gonna be coming back to a celebration, but … it was the least we could do for people travelling from all over Mayo, [after] the support they’ve given over the last few years.”
Meanwhile Mayo goalkeeper Rob Hennelly has expressed his thanks to those who have rallied around him. The Breaffy clubman was a surprise late change for David Clarke and had a day to forget. It ended with a black card on 40 minutes after he conceded a penalty seconds after spilling a routine ball through his hands.
In a post on the social media site Instagram, Hennelly shows a picture of the moment he is black carded with a statement underneath.
“I’ll never be able to fully describe what was going through my head at this moment. What I was expecting to be one of my best days turned out to be the opposite, and it breaks my heart that I didn’t come through for my team and county,” he said.
Last May he tweeted support for the Cork U21 goalkeeper Anthony Casey after his mistakes helped Mayo to All-Ireland U21 victory.
“I told a brilliant young man Anthony Casey that that one game wouldn’t define him, and today, and probably for a while to come, I’ll be telling myself the same thing. It is not a good place to be, but I know I have to come back from it, I still believe I have something to offer this team and my county, so now is not the time to relent.
“I have to say that the support I’ve received has been incredible and the messages from friends, family, former team mates, players from other counties, and of course the Mayo supporters, has helped me immensely. I don’t know where I’ll be in a years time, but I do know that I’m not going to give up. I love Mayo and this team too much to do that.”
Hennelly and his Mayo teammates must return to their clubs for championship games this weekend.