As a newly diagnosed diabetic I can’t believe the above headline has had to be produced, but it was the first thing that came to mind having digested Kevin McStay’s remarks regarding David Clifford in the aftermath of last Sunday’s Allianz FL Div. 1 final. Where, for the umpteenth time and then some, the green and red failed to topple The Kingdom.
And if I were connected to or a devotee of Mayo football, first of all you have my envious admiration and genuine belief that anybody with a shred of decent fairness in them wouldn’t begrudge the faithful some joyous days in the big smoke. However, I am not convinced that if I was Mayo manager, David Coldrick’s refereeing ‘of’ David Clifford would be my first port of call if looking for reasons for your defeat.
Don’t get my wrong, I am a huge fan of Kevin, often wondered why it took him so long to get the job in his native county and, furthermore, why entities much closer to home didn’t even enquire as to his availability when vacancies emerged in the past. But sure then, the same question could be asked regarding Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Mickey Harte and Oisin McConville and, if you want to go back far enough, Luke Dempsey.
All of whom were shunned due to the phobia the Brains Trust here have – or at the very least had – pertaining to recruiting coaches from outside the county. For football at least. Those devoted to stewardship of the small ball code in the county have had no bother over the years enlisting the assistance of people such as Michael Duignan, Johnny Murray, Eoin Brislane (Player), Timmy Hammersley (Player), Nick Weir, Seoirse Bulfin and, currently, Johnny Greville.
Ironically, though, in my humble opinion, our hurlers have fared better under the guidance of some of our own – for example, John Davis and John Hunt and Martin Smith – than with any of the drafted in folk. And if one wanted to be coldly analytical in terms of the Mayo footballers, similar sentiments abide.
Personally, I think the late John O’Mahony is the first ‘homegrown’ boss of the green and red who can be recalled. Followed by, including but not limited to, Brian McDonald, John Maughan, Pat Holmes/Noel Connelly, Peter Forde and he who must be considered the unluckiest inter county manager of any team, James Horan.
Then, they had the their outside attempts too. Via Jack O’Shea and Mickey Moran and John Morrison, yet, similar to the Meath hurlers as referred to earlier, in terms of attaining silverware, Mayo’s last two accomplishments of same at National level were with two of their own at the helm – Kevin McStay a couple of years back and John Maughan in 2001.
However, as much as there would have been genuine happiness at seeing some great Mayo players garner silverware at national level – the likes of the Mortimer brothers and James Nallen and James Horan and Kieran McDonald and Lee Keegan and Colm Boyle and Cillian O’Connor – the majority of the reasoning for same can be found in the mirror.
Which is why Kevin might want to hibernate with a bag of sugar. Because, as much as I would say he absolutely did not mean it as such, his pinpointing of Clifford being “Well looked after” by the Blackhall Gaels whistler comes across as grapes that are so sour they’ve nearly disolved into vinegar immediately.
Though I would have absolutely no doubt that would not have been his intention. Then again, I suppose, if you’re the rabbit in the headlights you’re going to jump for the nearest ditch.
What I will say is that the Fossa phenom used every bit of cute hoorism, playing on the edge, dark arts, whatever you wish to call it, in his arsenal. That Mayo were unable to (a) deal with that and (b) replicate it at the other end of the field is hardly anybody else’s fault.
More fundamentally though, what are generally the differentials that determine the outcome of matches all broke in favour of Jack O’Connor’s team. With one notable exception.
Namely, the fact that Mayo full back Donnacha McHugh did as good a job at at least reducing David Clifford’s influence as has any defender since the game was blessed with the unleashing of the two-footed tornado.
That said, Joe O’Connor and Barry Dan O’Sullivan ruled the roost at midfield, whatever possession the Mayo duo did reel in was – to a detrimental extent – squandered.
And finally, if genuinely looking for indicators as to why McStay’s men didn’t win, you could also document that at no stage did Mayo manage to negate the input of The Kingdom’s not so secret weapon – Paudie Clifford.
Anybody who has been ingesting musings by yours truly for any length of time will know of my theory regarding the centre forward position on a GAA team. That is to say that there are two distinct ways of utilising the position.
If, for example, you have a big, imposing individual like a Colm O’Rourke or a PJ Gillic or a Larry Tompkins, the go-to plan of action was for the combatants to hover close to the 45m line and duke it out.
On the other hand, if your 40 yards operator is not as tall but more nimble, in the guise, say, of a Martin McHugh or a Brian McGuigan or a Larry Reilly, they generally go about their business in a more fluid sense. Often dropping back into their own half of the field to snaffle possession and facilitate transition up the pitch.
Which, given his dimensions, is exactly how Paudie Clifford plays it for Jack O’Connor’s side. That, in turn, left Mayo with a conundrum they were never able to solve – whether to have their centre back hold the middle and let the flighty Fossa man off, or whether to send the infantry to shadow him.
As often happens in such scenarios, they ended up doing neither. This, in turn, made PC look like a cross between peak Lionel Messi, Patrick Mahomes and Johnny Sexton. The latter likeness inculcated after the Robin to Kerry’s Batman displayed what – to this writer at least – was a surprising aptitude from dead balls off the ground.
So Kerry land what is only their 24th National Football League title. I say ‘only’ because, given their dominance at all levels of championship fare, I’d have thought their number of league titles would’ve been far greater. Ironically, though, if you were to ask me which of them will go further in the main event, I wouldn’t call it either way with any great confidence.
For all that Jack O’Connor is as wily as a fox stalking a chicken coup, yerra, there’s a bit of truth in what the great man from Dromid says in relation to their need to get bodies back. For it would difficult nigh impossible to see the green with gold hoop claiming Sam without some – or all – of Tom O’Sullivan, Tadhg Morley, Diarmuid O’Connor or Sean O’Shea restored to the trenches.
Ironically, Mayo, in contrast, do appear to have a very settled look about their lineup. That in itself is a great tribute to the Brains Trust in the county when placed against the backdrop of great servants like Rob Hennelly, Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor, Jason Doherty and Padraig O’Hora no longer being in situ. Not to mention Oisin Mullin still being far away from the green and red of Mayo at the bottom of the world.
Yet they endure and continue to be at the cutting edge of top level competition. Now, you might say they’re in the smallest province and therefore have less competition to usurp. But for one thing, neither Galway or Roscommon are exactly back numbers, and for another, regardless of the opposition, it serves as a glowing reference to the underage structures in the county that they continue to churn out good young players.
The latest ones of note coming off the production line being Sam Calanan and Davitt Neary and Frank Irwin who all did their bit to get McStay’s men to the final of the spring competition.
Add Paddy Durcan, Tommie Conroy, Diarmuid O’Connor and, potentially, Conor Loftus to the mix and you can be sure they’ll still be there or thereabouts at the business end of the main event. And you woildn’t even rule out the possibility of the great rivals meeting again.
Hopefully Kevin won’t lose too much sleep at the thought of having to deal with David again!
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