'It's bringing me back to my boxing days' - Ryan O'Donoghue

It is an age old adage in sport, that great players show greatness in adversity. And as if we all needed another reminder for his brilliance, Ryan O'Donoghue delivered another outstanding performance.​He had had a fantastic match already, when the game in Monaghan was nearing its end. He had scored 0-7 already, including two two-pointers.

For example, one of them was more borne out of desperation. As the first half neared its end, Mayo were racing against the impending hooter, to get a shot off. O'Donoghue was kind of stopped in his tracks, a defender in front of him. But the Belmullet man simply pulled the trigger from a good bit behind the two-point arc to boom it over. Granted, a bit of breeze, but to deliver the goods under such pressure is sheer class.

But defining moments came from his one-on-one tussles with Monaghan's Ryan O'Toole. There were no punches pulled between the two. Classic one-on-one stuff between an ace attacker and a tigerish, ferocious defender.

“That's the new rules. Previous to the new rules, you weren't getting many one-on-one battles,” O'Donoghue recounted after the match, speaking to the media post-match.

“Especially playing with the two bucks inside. When we were one-on-one in the first half, we were getting better. But Ryan O'Toole, yes, he's a great player. That's what you want to play football for. Especially as an inside forward, one v one battle, me versus you. It's bringing me back to my boxing days. I look forward to many one-on-one battles into the summer, hopefully.”

Particularly one incident stood out. As Mayo were defending a slim two-point lead with less than a minute to go, O'Donoghue won the battle of the wills. He was brought down, lost control of the ball, got up again, fiercely competing and scrambled for possession before being fouled for a certainly well-deserved free in, that would give Mayo a crucial three-point cushion, which proved to be just enough.

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But O'Donoghue humbly acknowledged the role of the whole team: “For three possessions in a row I lost the ball. But the boys dug me out in the back. Donnacha (McHugh), Enda (Hession), Jack (Livingstone), I think they didn't concede when I turned it over three times, maybe a point. It's a team effort. Boys coming off the bench as well, Paddy (Durcan) getting a score. I'm delighted.”

He also shone a light on the young guns: “Obviously, Jack (Livingstone) in goal. Five, six one-on-one saves in his debut. Diarmuid Duffy, Darragh Beirne, Andy giving them a chance. And they took it today and just delighted with the way they performed today.”

O'Donoghue acknowledged the fierce opposition they had to overcome in Clones: “When Monaghan do get the run on you, we all expect them to do it in that final quarter. They've done it in the Ulster final as well. You can prepare all you want for stuff like that. The kick-out battle nowadays in the new game, it's very important. And once you get your hands on the ball, you've got to put it dead and got to get a score on the board.”

O'Donoghue was already looking at what lies ahead for Mayo. Tasks will only get trickier down the line. Mayo are going to face one of the winners of Round 1.

“Every team's going to have their purple patch. Especially the two-pointers and quality of players that we'll be playing against now for the next couple of weeks. They're always going to get that. It's about managing around that. But you've got to pluck the one-pointers or whatever you can get up the end of the pitch.”