Maughan's Mayo see off Kerry

JOHN MAUGHAN may not be all that comfortable with all this messiah stuff but his actions do little to discourage it.

It's not just that within the space of 11 months he has coaxed Mayo football off a trolley heading for the morgue and into an All Ireland final, but the manner of yesterday's victory over Kerry in the All Ireland football semi final had Maughan's fingerprints all over it.

Improved discipline, self belief and the ability to deliver a performance commensurate with the big day all contributed to the county's first advance to a final since 1989.

"This is not about John Maughan," the manager asserted in vain in the dressingroom after the match. "This is about the team. Our skill level is fairly high apart from Pat Holmes (standing beside his manager and pal) and in the first half (John) Casey and (David) Nestor were terrific. The conditions clearing suited us today because we went out to play football.

"I wasn't surprised to win but I didn't expect to win by six points. One or two, maybe.

He was asked: did you ever dream of this?

"I've had all sorts of dreams in the last week but the main thing today was to maximise our potential."

For Liam McHale, a veteran of 89, the result opens an old door again. "It's a great bonus to have got a second bite. I didn't play as well as I'd like but as a team we did it. I was told at half time not to let Seamus Moynihan get up the field so I wasn't in it as much. At the end, we might have lost if we'd cracked but that was never going to happen. We showed character.

None of the plaudits inevitably about to be shuttled in Maughan's direction should detract from a splendid team performance. Mayo's players functioned effectively and as a cohesive unit but the essence of their manager's gift is the manner in which he appears able to maximise the performance of his teams.

Before an attendance of 33,165, Mayo did just that and belatedly gave the football championship exactly the shot in the arm that has so benefited the hurling seasons of late.

Having led Clare, in 1992, to a first Munster title in 75 years, Maughan didn't have to look far to find another improbable task. With his own county in freefall, Maughan was always likely to be handed the challenge of helping them back to respectability. That he should have done so within a year and organised Connacht's first place at the top table since Mayo reached the All Ireland final seven years ago and the first defeat of Munster champions by western counterparts in 30 years is remarkable.

It gives football in the west a huge lift. Having apparently missed out on the democratisation of the game in the wake of Ulster's re emergence, there had been signs in recent years that Connacht was hopelessly adrift of the national standard. Reaching an All Ireland final isn't an end in itself as Maughan stressed - but it's a great beginning.

Holmes, who played well in restricting Kerry captain Billy O'Shea, reflected on a career that has brought some late surprises. "I was around on the panel in 89, I played in 93 when we were hammered by Cork and the next year when Leitrim beat us. I just gave up last year. To be back and going to an All Ireland final is some feeling."

For Kerry, the outcome is dreadfully disappointing. There had been much confidence that this young team and the new management of Paidi O Se and Seamus Mac Gearailt would make a substantial impact on the All Ireland after breaking through for their first Munster title in five years.

O Se was philosophical in defeat: "No matter how you look at it they were the better team. We were poor n the opening stages and were lucky to be in touch at half time. If they had taken their chances we wouldn't have been in with a chance.

"When we struck back for a goal after they scored their goal, I thought we might have a chance and they might fold up. We didn't manage to close their forwards down. Two great saves by Decian O'Keeffe kept us in the match."

Ironically, the Kerry team that emerged in 1991 lost its All Ireland semi final to Down - the first time a Munster or Leinster county had lost to an Ulster team in the championship for 23 years. Yesterday, Kerry obligingly laid on the facilities for another milestone: the first time a Connacht team has defeated a Munster side since 1966, when Galway beat Cork.

Can Mayo follow on in Down's footsteps? Anything is possible. Certainly it wouldn't surprise people any more than Mayo's progress from Division Three to an All Ireland final in under a year.