They go again.
They always go again, Mayo. They are Gaelic football’s equivalent of asbestos – they are always there or thereabouts.
Following their 2-13 to 0-14 win over Tipperary on Sunday, the Connacht men are looking forward to an EIGHTH All-Ireland final since 1989. They will play the winners of Kerry and Dublin on September 18th with one of three outcomes possible:
Firstly, a draw.
Secondly, they win the All-Ireland and end 65 years of pain and nonsense talk about a curse or,
Thirdly, they lose – meaning for the FIFTH year running Mayo will have been eliminated by the eventual All-Ireland winners.
These lads have serious pedigree and a track record for consistency that is the envy of 90% of counties. BUT…
Tipperary’s corpse was still twitching when RTÉ’s ‘Sunday Game’ panel unanimously predicted option 3.
What a jokehttps://t.co/rJYqBFpbPp #Tipperary #Maher #GAA
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) August 21, 2016
Mayo have recovered from a shock defeat to Galway in their Connacht SFC semi-final to pick up a head of steam through the qualifiers, beating Fermanagh, Kildare, Westmeath, Tyrone and now Tipperary to reach their third All-Ireland final in five years.
While their second half tally of 1-3 was poor, the damage had been done with a scoring flurry in the second quarter, but Colm O’Rourke insisted Tipp had been the better team for long periods and said that, on the evidence of that performance, Mayo have “gone back” under Stephen Rochford.
Pat Spillane said Mayo failed to “lay down a marker” against their Division 3 opposition and “staggered, stumbled and fell” over the line.
Joe Brolly reckons Mayo “do not look like they believe” they can win an All-Ireland.
They cut away for an interview with Aidan O’Shea before returning for some analysis, which carried on along the same theme.
Mayo star Aidan O'Shea isn't getting carried away by his side's All-Ireland SFC semi-final win over Tipperary. https://t.co/CCPKDgKczo
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 21, 2016
Spillane says they still lack leadership, a settled tactical plan and pace: “They are in a final, it is 70 minutes anything can happen, but holy christ, I would be going to Knock.”
Leadership: The O’Sheas, Andy Moran (just the four first half points), Lee Keegan, Keith Higgins, David Clarke, Cillian O’Connor.
Settled tactical plan: Is the point of tactics not to have several plans?
Pace: Lee Keegan, Jason Doherty, Keith Higgins.
Mayo are used to being written off, it seems that is not going to change in the next four weeks.
Big interview with Eamon McGee in the latest GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes.
