NOT MANY people took interest in Mayo playing Kerry in Croke Park a few weeks back. The reason is not many people trust the Mayo footballers anymore. A handful of loyalists travelled. They were handsomely rewarded.
Despite removing the defending All-Ireland champions Cork at the quarter-final stage of last summer’s championship and then Kerry in the recent league semi-final, with the aid of extra-time, that mistrust lingers.
Until they capture an All-Ireland it always will. James Horan knows this.
Not even the impressive obliteration of Dublin in the league campaign or winning the league final this Sunday will suffice.
But it would be a promising start on the road to removing those old demons.
Cork are in the way again, just like the 2010 final, when they overwhelmed them with eight points to spare at the finish. And this Cork side look more like the 2010 version then the depleted outfit that floundered in 2011.
But Horan knows this too.
“They have big, strong players with a lot of runners coming through the middle,” noted the second-year Mayo manager.
“They are a difficult team to play against and are playing particularly well again, particularly Paul Kerrigan and their free-taker Donncha O’Connor. They have so many players back, they seem to be getting stronger and stronger now.”
But at least Horan got a performance of substance in Croke Park against Kerry.
Not that Kerry’s manager Jack O’Connor seemed overly bothered to lose a league semi-final. Yet it may have tweaked the Mayo psyche ever so slightly.
“Getting a good performance in Croke Park was important,” Horan admitted. “To be honest, regardless of the opposition, we wanted to put a performance together that was hopefully good enough to win the game, and it was. We’re just happy to get another chance to give another similar performance.”
That’s the trick now for Mayo. They must prove they have got past the horror shows of previous meetings with the Munster superpowers on the main stage. No point beating Kerry then losing to Cork.
It has been noted that Mayo are a fitter football team under Horan. That allows them play their natural way; against Kerry they went man on man and won.
“Of course, it adds to anyone’s confidence if you put on a performance like that when you need to, especially in Croke Park.
“If you look at last year’s league performances we conceded 10 goals and fell behind in every game so we are happy with how we have changed that. We have a good idea where we are and what we need to do.”
There are some outstanding problems. The long-serving Trevor Mortimer has retired from intercounty football, due to employment opportunities abroad, but he wasn’t in the reckoning during the current league campaign while his brother Conor returned from reconstructive anterior cruciate knee ligament surgery to break Mayo’s all-time scoring record.
Mortimer returned to Kenya yesterday, where the 31-year-old is based on quarry-related business, having spent the previous two weeks at home.
During this time, he spoke with Horan and confirmed his departure after giving Mayo football over a decade of service.
“Trevor was a great servant for Mayo football and we wish him well,” said Horan.
“We are fortunate that we have a number of good young players coming through but Trevor was a top-class player and he has left some big boots to fill.”
A more pressing concern for Horan, however, is the troublesome hamstring of Mayo’s potentially great young midfielder Aidan O’Shea.
“We are just trying to get to the bottom of it, we’re working on it.”
GAA extend network of ticket sales outlets
The GAA have teamed up with Tickets.ieand the Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland to create a ticket sales network.
Over 130 SuperValu Centra stores will sell tickets for GAA fixtures throughout the remainder of the year.
No ticket fees will apply for any tickets purchased via the new network or online via Tickets.ieor www.gaa.ie.
The GAA said yesterday that €250,000 was saved in 2011 by ticket purchasers due to the removal of fees.
Supporters can now purchase tickets in advance of fixtures via a variety of channels: online at www.gaa.ieor tickets.ie; at over 150 SuperValu and Centra stores and Tickets.ieoutlets; at 32 county board offices, four provincial council offices and the GAA ticket office and any GAA club.
The GAA have confirmed the time and date of the Division One hurling league final and the All-Ireland Under-21 football final. Both games will take place on Sunday, May 6th, and will be shown live on TG4.
ALL-IRELAND UNDER-21 FOOTBALL FINAL: Dublin v Roscommon, Sunday, May 6th, O’Connor Park, 2pm.
NHL DIVISION ONE FINAL: Kilkenny v Cork, Sunday, May 6th, Semple Stadium, 4pm.
