ALL-IRELAND MFC FINAL: HERE FOLLOWS the usual obituary for a Mayo team after losing yet another All-Ireland final.
It would take a cold heart not to feel sympathy towards the young men from the west on watching, at close quarters, as they straggled, red-faced, back to the loneliest of dressingrooms.
That said, Armagh were the superior force, so neutrals need not shed a tear. However, it took a burst of scores from Robbie Tasker, Thomas McAlinden and Peter Carragher for their quality to shine through late on.
Mayo have long forgotten how to win finals in Croke Park. These are the cold facts: since capturing the All-Ireland minor title in 1985 they have lost five finals at this age grade. Then there are the 1996, 1997, 2004 and 2006 senior deciders. A solitary under-21 All-Ireland in 2006 is all the record books show despite a wealth of underage talent.
Ray Dempsey was also the manager after defeat to Tyrone in an epic minor final replay last year. This time he witnessed a team, devoid of the previous group’s scoring ability, suffocated by a typically impregnable Armagh force-field.
Mayo goal chances came, one in each half, but Stephen O’Reilly proved an excellent shot-stopper. Dempsey’s charges hesitated to shoot on sight, opting instead to the hand pass laterally across the 45. Armagh simply drifted, isolated and enveloped.
“Some of our lads will be disappointed because they didn’t play to their potential, but I’m still proud of that bunch of lads. We’ll keep fighting away,” said Dempsey, pre-emptying obvious questions about repeated failure.
“At the end of the day we competed. A draw last year, extra-time. We competed in the last three or four minutes there. They deserved their scores there and pushed on, and we didn’t.”
Granted, Armagh were a better team, but their appetite was unmistakable from the outset. They also shaded the borders of legitimacy: midfielder James Donnelly was yellow-carded approaching half-time for a frontal shoulder charge on opposite number Andrew Farrell. It was the third time he made such a challenge.
The collision meant Farrell survived only nine minutes of the second half before groggily coming ashore. Alex Corduff, in his second All-Ireland final, was forced out from the full forward line to midfield were he made an improved impact.
Up to that juncture the sides shared eight points. Other flashpoints in the opening exchanges included a miscued free in front of the posts by Mayo’s Aidan Walsh, another second final man, in the opening minute. Moments later Shane McDermott took an extra stride, allowing a spread-eagled O’Reilly to deny a certain goal.
Gavin McParland had a chance down the other end but was denied by a tidy David Gavin tackle. Despite carrying an injury into the game, Eugene McVerry was racking up scores before being replaced by McAlinden.
A fairly muted second half was enlivened by Andrew Murnin’s presence, combined with Tasker and McVerry scores before Armagh posted seven successive wides to leave the door ajar.
Ciarán Charlton levelled matters, and with 11 minutes remaining Walsh put Mayo in front, before O’Reilly’s second crucial intervention, this time denying substitute Jack O’Donnell at point-blank range.
Tasker levelled matters again at 0-7 apiece with six minutes remaining. The son of Brian McAlinden, Thomas, then came in for McVerry and gathered a pass off Conor King to force a good block from Michael Schlingermann. Seconds later he took a deep breath before pointing from distance to put Armagh back in the ascendancy.
Mayo nerves led to Mayo errors. The big screen flashed on one of their loyal followers, his face a picture of familiar anguish painted in green and red.
The mortal blows were not long coming. Carragher sneaked out to the right wing, alone, and when possession found him he made it a two-point game. Then Tasker touched the clouds with a 40-metre effort that landed snugly on top of the net.
In victory Armagh manager Paul McShane noted modern problems in Ireland as the main hindrance to sustaining this success.
“Well, the future is there, but I can’t sit here and say they are going to be playing senior football in a number of years with the way things are going in Ireland. God knows where these fellows will be in a number of years. They could be the other side of the world.
“But, you know, hopefully they can stay at home.”
ARMAGH: S O’Reilly; K Downey, R Finnegan, K Nugent; D McKenna, N Rowland, J Morgan; P Carragher (0-1), J Donnelly; R Grugan (0-1, f), A Murnin (0-1), C King; R Tasker (0-3), E McVerry (0-3, 1f), G McParland. Subs: C McCafferty for R Flanagan (53 mins), T McAlinden (0-1) for E McVerry (54 mins).
MAYO: M Schlingermann; M Walsh, K Rogers, D Gavin; C Charlton (0-1), S McDermott, C Crowe; D Kirby (0-1), A Farrell; B Ruttledge (0-2, 1f), D Coen, F Durkan (0-1); A Corduff, A Walsh (0-1, f), C O’Connor (0-1). Subs: J Carney for A Farrell (30 temp and 39 mins), J McDonnell for D Coen (43 mins).
Referee: E Kinsella (Laois).
