Kevin Moran, Ryan O'Donoghue, Ógie Moran, Italia 90 and a round of golf

When sporting greats collide on a golf course in Erris.

A picture that captures it all – three men with shared admiration and eleven All-Ireland medals between them.

After a round of golf in Carne golf links in Belmullet, Kerry great Ógie Moran and Manchester United and Ireland legend Kevin Moran, who also has two All Ireland medals with Dublin, met the all conquering Mayo star Ryan O'Donoghue.

For 75 long years, Mayo's search for All-Ireland glory became one of the great sagas of Gaelic football — a story of near-misses, heartbreak, and unshakeable loyalty from a county that refused to stop believing.

This year, that story finally found its ending with the Belmullet Bullet Ryan O'Donoghue putting in a man of the match performance in the final.

'A moment in time'

Ógie was in Croke Park for the final and tells The Mayo News that "it was a marvelous occasion."

"Even after the game, everyone just hung around. It was a moment in time — even to be there for it. Obviously it was disappointing for us to lose, but you couldn't help being happy for them (Mayo). Seeing the excitement and the magic of it — it was marvelous to witness, and full credit to them for a marvelous achievement."

It's a generous sentiment from a man who has stood on the winning side of that occasion eight times himself, but one that speaks to how deeply the Mayo story has resonated across the wider GAA community.

The respect shown by both the Kerry team and supporters was one of the many talking points after the historic Mayo win.

Player of the year?

Ryan O'Donoghue is a keen golfer as well as star forward.

He is now the clear favourite to be crowned Footballer of the Year, O'Donoghue's performance capped several years of quiet, steady excellence finally being rewarded on the biggest stage.

"It was so, so good for him," Ógie Moran said. "He's been playing so well for the last four or five years, and it's marvelous that he gets to win the All-Ireland and get man of the match — and I think probably Player of the Year now too. A fantastic occasion for him. A great one."

A week of Italia 90 celebrations

Few counties have waited as long, or as painfully, for this moment as Mayo. Kevin Moran — who knows a thing or two about long-awaited celebrations, having been part of Ireland's famous Italia '90 homecoming — put the scale of Mayo's celebrations into perspective.

"You look back — they've had a whole week of it. We had some great celebrations going back to Italia '90, which was incredible, but that was just one day, really. Going through O'Connell Street from the airport all the way in was amazing, but from talking to Ryan, what the Mayo players have experienced is different — they've had to go to so many towns and villages all over the county. They've been pulled left, right and centre. Fair play to them, they've lapped it up and enjoyed every bit of it, and rightly so."

He added a small, human detail from his conversation with O'Donoghue about finally getting some rest. "I asked him, 'Are you finished now?' He said, 'Yeah, it's finished now — at the end of this week we can take a bit of a break and have time with our families.'"

Fearless Mayo

What stood out most about for Kevin Moran about this Mayo side was their fearlessness — particularly their willingness to embrace the new two-point scoring rules that have reshaped the modern game.

"They were superb — they really were," Kevin Moran said. "The game has changed a little bit with the new rules, but they brought it to another level. I loved the way they were able to take on the two-pointers. They weren't afraid to do it. By all accounts they missed more than they landed, but they were willing to try. I think a lot more counties are going to have to look at that and say, 'This is the way forward — let's go for the two-pointers.' It'll make the game even more interesting."

Ógie Moran drew a striking comparison to another famously relentless team he'd watched in a different code entirely.

"They reminded me of the Limerick hurlers, in a way — the intensity they showed. I was watching them press up on Galway in the hurling, and they were suffocating them the whole time. Mayo were very similar in their approach. Huge hunger. Young teams don't have any fear at that age — they don't see any trouble, any danger. They just pushed up, and they showed huge work rate and intensity throughout."

Ógie Moran sees Kobe McDonald as part of a lineage of players who seem to find something extra when it matters most — a rare gift shared by only a handful of greats in every generation.

"There's always a player who has that touch of magic — Gooch had it for a while with Kerry, Mikey Sheehy had it in our time. And Kobe is the man now, isn't he? He seems to just grab the magic, particularly with younger people. There's always one of those. It's fantastic for him."

What next for Mayo?

With the celebrations winding down, attention will inevitably turn to whether this Mayo team can build on the achievement rather than treat it as a peak.

Mayo manager Andy Moran told the raptourous crowd at the Ballaghaderreen homecoming that Mayo should “keep dreaming and let's get a tiny bit greedy now."

Ógie Moran believes the calm, grounded leadership of manager Andy Moran gives them every chance of doing exactly that.

"The first one is always special. I'm sure they'll enjoy the winter, and I think Andy Moran is a very impressive manager — solid, sensible, practical. I think they'll have a good two or three months, and then come January they'll take the circus off the road, knuckle down, and they'll be around for a while."