Cian O’Sullivan was coaxed out of position. He was damn near yanked out of position at times. Still, Mayo failed to make it count.
It cost them on the day. It cost them just as much as the off-the-wall Rob Hennelly call and Cillian O’Connor’s crumpling in the injury-time vice.
In the end, we were told, it came down to ‘a belt of a ball’.
If only it was as simple.
For the next six months [years, decades…] every missed chance, black card, slung arm, substitution, run made and run not made will be uncomfortably digested out west. Why, why, why, why, why? How? How the f***?!
While certain players and coaches will have to live with the heartache – an unyielding seed in the pit of their being – there is hope. If this group of men can somehow steel themselves for another season of hard toil and bitter sacrifice, the ultimate prize awaits.
Going by Hennelly’s gutsy Instagram post, these men are not for quitting. ‘I don’t know where I’ll be in a years time, but I do know that I’m not going to give up,’ he wrote, ‘I love Mayo and this team too much to do that.’
That, in itself, is the perfect start. What Mayo need now is to unearth some frontline dynamism or find a player already in the squad that can be the missing ingredient needed to end that long, stubborn wait.
On Monday’s GAA Hour podcast, Colm Parkinson discussed that final step necessary to win Sam Maguire with Senan Connell and Conan Doherty. The subdued form of Diarmuid O’Connor, 2015 Young Player of the Year, definitely hurt Mayo, they argued.
Cillian O’Connor, his brother, barely bruised the Dubs from play. Parkinson said:
“Andy Moran will at least break, so he is leaving the space there and he brings Cian O’Sullivan with him… Now, with the second ball, Cillian O’Connor has a one-on-one inside. Cillian doesn’t show for those balls.
“He’s not fast so can’t beat his man and is under pressure. His man is marking him from the front, but he is too close to the goal. If Cillian moves out a little, at least the over the top ball is on. There is no ball on for him. There’s a man standing in front of him. The amount of times there are Mayo fellas are passing the ball around the ’45, looking up and there is no-one to pass to. Cillian won’t make that run to get out in front.”
“When Andy Moran makes that run and gives you that space,” he added, “Cillian, you have to make that break, you HAVE to make that hard run… I know it is hard but Cillian is not making that left-right run. He’s not making any run.”
All three are not writing this Mayo team off. Indeed, Parkinson feels an injection of pace up front could be all that Mayo need to break their All-Ireland hoodoo.
Shifting Kevin McLoughlin up the field is one option but Stephen Rochford’s Mayo needs wheels. Connell says:
“The only pace is coming from Andy Moran and he is on his last legs. All year, in any of the games I’ve watched, he is the only one that injects any life into [the attack], when he makes his early runs. What is happening then is that he doesn’t have the pace to go past a guy. So he’s soloing on the spot and hoping to get a shot off.
“I thought Diarmuid O’Connor was going to be the guy that would drive at defences, win frees, punch holes, but maybe it was a long season for him.”
So, where is that pacy inside forward that Mayo need? Connell continued:
“They nearly have it and now is the time to tap into that underage talent. Someone was telling me, ‘There’s 10 fellas waiting to get into that team’. Just find one for me, will ya?”
Parkinson believes there is a dearth of corner forward talent in the county and remarked that a James O’Donoghue-type player is the missing link between Mayo and that elusive All-Ireland victory.
An exciting, explosive forward? Answers on a stamped addressed envelope to the Mayo County Board.
The GAA Hour pays tribute to the unbeatable Dubs and ask where did it all go wrong for Mayo in the All-Ireland final replay. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
