It’s different in this part of the world.
On the drive into Castlebar along that final stretch of the N5, you just sense something in the air. Come high summer, there’ll be boards and flags and messages of support on every second telegraph pole but even today, even for a second round qualifier match against a now Division Three team, you have to park up early because Mayo fans are littering the place.
It would’ve been the easiest thing on this earth for MacHale Park to turn on the All-Ireland finalists.
24 scoring chances they watched their men miss over the initial 70 minutes. They groaned and buried their heads and sat bemused at times but you were never far away from a chant of ‘Mayo, Mayo’ as they constantly tried to lift the wounded outfit that represents this county with such distinction.
The fanfare in this place is like no other pic.twitter.com/Bd9xTZdvRB
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) July 1, 2017
It’s more than passion in Mayo. It’s not even an obsession. It’s just life out here.
Football, for Mayo fans, is everything and the way the youngsters absolutely storm the pitch when one of the best sides in the country has been taken to extra time by Derry, the way they hang over the terraces trying to touch the hand of one of their heroes or pester the stewards for a good 40 or 50 minutes after full time to let them into the tunnel all shows you that it’s different around here than it is anywhere else.
It’s an unconditional love for your county that you’re simply reared with in Mayo, no matter how much it hurts you.
But through it all, as hostile as they can be towards opposing teams during battle and as much pressure as they can berate the officials with – like any good fortress would – they don’t lose sight of what the GAA is all about.
Two old college buddies ask about one another's families after the game pic.twitter.com/fM9mo4HCN7
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) July 1, 2017
And Saturday in Castlebar was a touching experience for anyone looking enough to enjoy the aftermath in the bosom of these ultra Gaels.
You’d have seen players standing for photos, writing autographs, taking a good 10 minutes to get off the pitch, some of them.
You’d have seen Derry player Neil Forester give up his Oak Leaf jumper to a youngster from Mayo he was exchanging high fives with afterwards.
You’d have seen a group of about 10 dedicated volunteers – not one of them would’ve been under 65 – walking around every inch of the stadium throwing rubbish into bags and doing it with a smile on their faces because Mayo won.
And Derry manager Damian Barton felt that warmth from the home support too.
“The boys were brilliant in terms of their effort,” he reflected after an exhausting game.
“Our support was magnificent down here today and I have to say, on behalf of the players, the Mayo support… the consolation – the genuine consolation – after the game [towards Derry] for what they saw as a really good football spectacle and the fact that they appreciated it was a nice touch.
“We’ll take positives from today and I hope the boys can reflect upon that but it’s devastating whenever you lose.”
They went down fighting though in a battle that won them respect, not just in their own county, but in Mayo too.
“Mayo do play a little bit loose and there are slight vulnerabilities down the middle,” Barton explained.
“We were getting people through that critical middle third. We knew we would get opportunities but that’s the way Mayo play.
“We played respectively well. I think it was good for football because you saw two teams who wanted to go at it. You saw a certain amount of slackness, openness, call it what you like, but I think neither team parked the bus behind the ball.
“We got people behind the ball and so did they – we both worked really hard.
“Mayo needed today. They were under severe pressure as well as we were.”
