Type the words ‘Mayo fans’ into the Inpho Photography site and you’ll start to see the same thing pop up over and over.
A crowd draped in green and red sitting anxiously looking on to a football field as if they can’t watch anymore. At the same time though, they’re unable to take their eyes off it.
Every bit of their bodies is laden with some nod to their county or clubs. Any piece of material they could find that had colours to suit the occasion, they’ve made use of it.
But then you notice something else about those classic shots of Mayo supporters and it stuns you. Amongst the crowd, amongst the angst, someone stands up on their own and lets out a roar. They pluck their heads from beneath the numbers and raise two fists into the air, overcome with passion for their county. It’s like they’re physically putting their shoulders to the wheel, willing the players to do better, forcing the rest of the fans to join them.
If we’ve seen that picture once, we’ve seen it a hundred times.
You see it in their eyes, how much it means to them. They’ve had their fingers burnt more times than any of them but, in that moment, they’re fearless. It’s all put on the line once more and they’ll risk another aching heartbreak to hold onto the hope that this one might be the one.
This year might be the year.
The sad paradox, of course, is that it is the hope that’s inevitably killing Mayo fans. They’re getting so close, they’re being teased with so much and, every single time they step one foot into the promised land, they’re kicked in the stones and thrown thousands of feet to their deaths.
And still they come back unbowed and dare to go at again. They dare to believe and when it hits this time of the summer, they dare to forget the pain of failure because the promise of success is tantalising.
But maybe it is this year.
That pride and resilience in the stands illuminates onto the field where every man in a Mayo jersey plays as if he has just been plucked from a group of supporters and given one game to impress. It’s like every one of them were just fans saying how they’d do better, and how they’d show more passion if they got the chance, and each of the Mayo team just seem to play like any supporter would given half an opportunity.
Since January, Mayo have been utterly intriguing. They’ve been gearing towards the end of August from the first night they welcomed Dublin to Castlebar in the league and every month since they have discovered something new about themselves.
This month though, they have discovered they’ve got what it takes.
In the backroom, Mayo have what it takes. In the stands, they have what it takes. On the field, Mayo have what it takes.
The idea that they don’t have the forwards is a nonsense now. No-one in the country can boast a full forward line like Andy Moran, Aidan O’Shea and Cillian O’Connor at any one time. It is the complete threesome that offers absolutely everything. It offers the rest of the team the luxury of kicking them any bloody ball they want to because that trio will make something of nothing and they’ll work off each other in deadly fashion.
Diarmuid O’Connor is becoming one of the best players in the country and Seamus O’Shea, Lee Keggan and Colm Boyle are coming good just when Mayo need them. Not back in June in a Connacht final – at the height of the summer – and they’re carrying themselves now like they believe they can beat anyone.
Because they can.
They came into the Tyrone game, given no respect, and they rammed the dismissive comments down every one of their critics’ throats.
They stood tall and they stood stronger than the Ulster champions – the All-Ireland contenders that were going to frighten Dublin – and they simply refused to lose. They took it personally, all those words that were and weren’t said about Mayo in the build-up to the quarter-final and they harnessed it into a performance of pure spirit and aggression in a restless, end-to-end battle.
It had Tony McEntee written all over it. The bite, the hunger, the respect only for themselves. They treated Tyrone with the contempt an enemy deserves and they’ve earned the right to be instilled as favourites for the All-Ireland, given the challenge – the ambush – that lies in wait for the Dubs.
Logically, it’s hard to look at cold, hard facts and win the argument. It’s hard to deny that Dublin have the best defence in the country. It’s hard to dispute that they possess the most potent midfield and you definitely can’t make a case for the capital’s forward line not being the finest in the land.
The gap isn’t that big though. Inches are what has separated Mayo from glory for over half a decade now but, under Rochford, they’ve seemingly found those inches.
Sure, we all forgot they were so close before but, now, Mayo are looking like they’re about to take everyone to task for that ignorance.
They have ammunition. They have the fire.
They have the fearless supporter standing tall alone, representing Mayo and all of its stubborn belief. Unshaken. Unbowed.
Massive Mayo v Tipperary preview plus a big interview with Eamon McGee in the latest GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes.
