Congrats to Kerry but very disappointing for neutrals that the game was over as a contest after 15 minutes. The psychology of top level sport baffles me sometimes. How a team can display the resolve, skill and strength of character like Mayo did in coming back from 7 points down against Dublin only 3 weeks ago and yet collapse without a whimper today is beyond me.
I thought Paul Galvin was superb for Kerry, won every break, set up loads of scores and took a few himself. Donaghy is the story of the season and played a huge role in transforming the team. All around the park they were just sharper, hungrier and had more quality. Brolly made an interesting point before the game saying that if Mayo hoped to beat Kerry in a shootout they were asking for trouble. He said the way to beat them is to play with a sweeper, an extra defender, like Armagh and Tyrone do.
He was spot on, Mayo were so open, yards off the pace and lacking intensity in the first half and from 5-12 Kerry were literally steamrollering them and coming through the centre almost unopposed. This put unbearable pressure on the full back line who couldn’t cope at all either. Fair play to Jack O’Connor too for having the balls to go with the side he thought was right for the day and the performance of the team dispelled all the rumours about rows in the camp.
As O’Rourke said Kerry have some of the best players of the last 25 years in Moynihan, the O’S?s and Cooper so maybe it was asking too much of Mayo to beat them all along. Still a very surreal match to watch - there was an eerie silence for much of the second half with people in disbelief at what was unfolding. Mayo will find it tough to shake off this perennial losers tag after today.
Says it all about the game when there’s fuck all you can write about it. Shocking performance from Mayo - did they do no homework at all on Kerry? Completely dominated from half forward on. Also hugely disappointing to see Mortimer kicking simple frees near the end - what was the point in that? Very hard to reconcile that performance with the side that beat Dublin.
Seemed to make a difference when they brought in Brady rather than the smaller Heaney on Donaghey; would seem kind of obvious. Although Donaghey had picked up a knock so that might have accounted for him quietening down a bit.
That was about 2 minutes from time, wasn’t it; guess there wasn’t much point in doing anything. Still, just typified how Mayo gave up near the end. Anyone else notice as well that Kerry had two men clean through on goal with no Mayo defenders even looking interested when the ref hastily blew up?
It was kind of obvious so why did they wait so long before doing it? The game was nearly over already by the time they changed. Also they made no effort to close guys down further up the park which gave them the time to pop balls in to Donaghey. There was a serious lack of intensity from Mayo which was crucial to them having any chance.
He did that at the end alright but he had also done it about 8 minutes previously (before Brosnan’s goal anyway). I’m not saying he would have scored but Christ it was worth a shot.
I saw that at the end as well - Kerry coasting through, Mayo lads not bothering and so the ref blows up. But Mayo gave up far too easily. Even for Gooch’s goal once the keeper made the save and Gooch got the ball back. Higgins came back to him but that was it. Donaghey was free in the centre as well if he wanted to square it.
Crazy fookin game hardly worth a post. Reminiscent of a club tourney final played on a Bank Holiday Monday when one team clearly went on the pish the night before. Noticed the incidents mentioned above, frequently saw the coonts not chasing back and being unconcerned.
As an aside, T Humpheries has got plenty of mention here in the past bawling about players not speaking to the “meeee-jia”. The Mayo boys were in every fookin paper for the last week saying how this time it was different and that they weren’t getting carried away by the hysteria. Kerry on the other hand were more reserved with a few interviews and most of them just usual cliched bull shit. Does it make a difference? Clearly Mayo minds were elsewhere yesterday.
Joe Brolly is a cooont, got his Armagh and Tyrone dig in as usual.
Kerry are an awesome operation all the same, they’re still the best at producing successful teams and genuinely awesome players. Even compared to Kilkenny and Cork in the stick ball, 34 All Irelands in the countrys most competitive sport. Quite and achievement.
`Glad to see the bogger bastards get hammered. like all people from “the coountry”; they are sore loosers (yer man Moran wouldny give a post match interview) and that Brady coont is a protestant scumbag farmer. Also what is the deal with all the albino’s on the mayo team.
I also think thatt the GAA pres is a fag, and Marty Morrissey and Caning are fookin huns.
When I had edited out the libellous part, I noticed the racist part Instead of continuing to edit it I got annoyed at that point and deleted it. Write it again minus the racism and libel and I won’t edit it.
Re appendage’s point about Mayo being in the media, I thought Kerry were equally so. Donaghy seems like a very open guy and a decent fellah and he was in every paper all week. I don’t know if anyone saw the piece he did with Marty Morrissey too - it was shown around 1pm yesterday - where they were playing basketball against each other, hilarious stuff. There was also all the media talk about the split in the camp that could have affected Kerry but didn’t.
I think Mayo simply blew it, they bottled it. Moran did come out and give an interview in the end too.
Today, around eleven o’clock
A post i left was read by the rock,
He got offended and decided to block…
…my post, to my horror and shock
It think that thats a fookin croc,
He’s upset cause his 'site’s in a jock
Im not trying to mock,
but its a load of cock
“Rock, i’ll knock yer block, ye fookin croc”
Hey Mr Ox no need to be on the defensive
I noticed your post was racially offensive
It also contained a scurrillous allegation
I couldn’t stand over in any court of the nation
Anyway I thought you were heading to F365
Or was that another idle threat you contrived?
Possibly but I felt some of the stuff coming from Mayo was pure scheidt. Building themselves up and talking a good game. Read any one of those Kerry lads being interviewed and you’d swear he was lucky just to be able to walk, let alone play in an All Ireland final. And the coont could have 2 or 3 All Ireland medals. It might make boring copy but fook it keeping it like that seems to be the way to go.
As for the trouble in the camp, I reckon there was something going on. Just because they won doesn’t mean that everything was ok, but the cooonts always seem to put the Kerry jersey before any thing else when the pressure. Then again, Mayo were that inept that the Kerry minors would’ve probably beaten them.