James Horan cannot have enjoyed the first half of Sunday’s All-Ireland final.
On the one hand he saw Mayo race out of the blocks and rattle their Dublin opponents (on the pitch and down the tunnel), however their good work was undone by a couple of own goals from Kevin McLoughlin and Colm Boyle.
They rallied again but still went in at half-time trailing by five points.
In his Irish Times column, Jim McGuinness describes the scenes inside the Sky Sports studio when those two goals went in. The former Donegal manager was sitting alongside fellow pundit James Horan, who could not conceal his disappointment with what was occurring to his former charges.
Couple more goals into Canal End now Mayo #DUBvMAYO
https://t.co/Wg3gpJsiB8— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) September 18, 2016
Mayo were beaten in All-Ireland finals by McGuinness’s Donegal in 2012 and Jim Gavin’s Dublin a year later under Horan’s management and it was understandably difficult for the Mayo man to witness.
“Then came those two bizarre, unforgettable goals,” writes McGuinness. “I was sitting beside James Horan for the first one. We were both in the Sky studio. The first goal happened and James’s head went down. I just said something about it being really bad luck. James said: ‘That’s an understatement.’
“When the second one went in, we were all stunned and I said: ‘James, I know you’re not going to like this but you do have to question the concept of this curse.’ It was said in jest, but I had this sense that James never, ever stopped believing, which is indicative of the spirit within the squad.”
Luckily for Horan and Mayo fans, their teams showed typical resilience and fortitude to battle back and earn a replay, outscoring Dublin 10 points to five in the second half.
After the final whistle, on Sky Sports, Horan was still not quite over those two OGs.
“The two first half goals were sickeners. To go in five points down was hard to believe,” he said. “It is one Mayo could have won and could have lost and the same for Dublin.”
We review a crazy All-Ireland final and chat to Lee Keegan about his special relationship with Diarmuid Connolly. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
