“It breaks my heart.”
Rob Hennelly has thanked all his friends, family and Mayo fans for their support since Saturday night’s All-Ireland final, which saw him shown a black card and conceded a penalty early in the second half of a performance that quickly went from dream to nightmare.
Drafted in by manager Stephen Rochford to replace David Clarke, goalkeeper Hennelly endured a tough evening as Mayo lost by a single point.
"Being a goalkeeper is a bastard" – @me_stafford would know https://t.co/C8VVqZlF3v
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 2, 2016
Selected ahead of Clarke because of his lengthy kick-outs, Dublin pressured his restarts from the start and three of Dublin’s points came directly from his kick-outs. Mayo also lost the influential Lee Keegan to a black card for a tackle on Diarmuid Connolly after he was caught unawares by an intercepted Hennelly kick-out.
However, after settling into the game and finding his range with his kick-outs, Hennelly was shown the line early in the second half. He dropped a high ball from Paul Flynn and pulled Paddy Andrews to the ground. Hennelly was shown a black card and Connolly converted the penalty past Clarke.
Saturday was tough but it won't define this goalkeeper's career. It won't define him as a man https://t.co/LrsLnZIkB3
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 2, 2016
In his statement the Breaffy clubman said he would be offering himself the same advice he have to Cork Under-21 keeper Anthony Casey earlier this year and declared that he would be back.
“I’ll never be able to fully describe what was going through my head at this moment. What I was expecting to be one of my best days turned out to be the opposite, and it breaks my heart that I didn’t come through for my team and county.
“I told a brilliant young man Anthony Casey that that one game wouldn’t define him, and today, and probably for a while to come, I’ll be telling myself the same thing. It is not a good place to be, but I know I have to come back from it, I still believe I have something to offer this team and my county, so now is not the time to relent.
“I have to say that the support I’ve received has been incredible and the messages from friends, family, former team mates, players from other counties, and of course the Mayo supporters, has helped me immensely.
“I don’t know where I’ll be in a years time, but I do know that I’m not going to give up. I love Mayo and this team too much to do that.
“Mhaigh Eo Abú”
