Has your heart got back to normal yet?

Fri, Sep 23, 2016

And breathe. There is no word in the English dictionary to describe what went on last Sunday. Mayo produced their gutsiest performance ever to snatch a draw against raging hot favourites and current champions Dublin in Croke Park in the All-Ireland final. The tone was set long before throw-in as the teams entered the field. I happened to be on the sideline doing a piece with Radio 1 as I watched Stephen Cluxton lead his team out to a deafening roar. I was left stunned to see Cillian O'Connor burst out the tunnel through the Dublin players, followed closely by Aidan O'Shea and the rest of his team mates. Misinformed initially, I was told Mayo lay in wait for Dublin to ruffle their feathers. The reason for this coming together was the fact that Dublin were meant to enter the field at 2.56 and Mayo at 2.58. This clash occurred at 3.02.

O'Connor showed immense bravery to score the equaliser for Mayo

Fri, Sep 23, 2016

Anytime over the past few years that I have met, or spoken to Cillian O'Connor, I have found him to be in the vernacular of my home place, Belclare, which is a half-parish of Corofin, 100 per cent "spot-on". Or alternatively he might be described as “sound as a bell” or "sound as a pound" by a few of the older generation.

O'Connor holds his nerve to save the day

Sun, Sep 18, 2016

When Mayo needed a man to show the leadership in a clutch situation, their star man came good right at the death. Cillian O’Connor showed why he was picked by Stephen Rochford as his captain, when he created the space he needed to shimmy inside and drill the ball through the drizzle over the bar and electrify the Mayo faithful in Croke Park to haul his side level at the death.

Coppers and the GAA coffers the only winners from today

Sun, Sep 18, 2016

Sometimes when we are so focused on how to deal with the emotions of victory and loss, we are thrown aside by the void that appears when whatever we are watching denies us any of those options.

Rochford is looking for a big improvement in 13 days

Sun, Sep 18, 2016

“See yah in 13 days” Stephen Rochford said straight up after the full time whistle in Croke Park. While many a manager would be thrilled to see his side come from five behind at half time after conceding two first half own-goals, and then come from three behind with normal time up and live to fight another day, Rochford wanted more. The Crossmolina man wants and expects more from his team.

Time for the house special from Mayo

Sun, Sep 18, 2016

There is a great comfort about diving into some place for a bite of lunch and opting for the same bloody thing every day. The familiarity with which we go back to the tried and tested leaves one leaving the establishment, our appetite sated, but perhaps cursing ourselves for not having the neck to try something different.

Why didn’t we go for the house special, and then we tell ourselves that if the house special was so reckon’ special, it’d be on the menu all the time.

Mayo have the potential but Dublin should edge it

Sun, Sep 18, 2016

It is past midnight on Wednesday night, going into the small hours of Thursday morning. My wife and the four kids are all tucked up and gone to dreamland for the past few hours. Only Caesar our faithful dog is keeping me company, as I start to type this column on why Dublin should win the All-Ireland final in a few days time. However, I am having strong flashbacks to the second of September in 2012 and the All-Ireland semi-final.

Armagh's Oisín McConville and I sat high in the Press Box of Croke Park, live on Sunday Sport on Radio One before the game, telling those tuned in how we expected Dublin to beat Mayo narrowly. They were the current All-Ireland champions and the general consensus with many pundits was that they had the team to get back to another final.

Time for Mayo to find that winning formula

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

After Brendan Maher lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup high over his head in the Hogan Stand a fortnight ago, he mentioned in his speech that it had been "six long years" for Tipperary waiting for this day. Six years may be a long time in Tipperary, but it was 38 years for Mayo to reach an All Ireland final from the last time they won it in 1951 to their next dance with the girls at the end of the summer in 1989. That particular dance saw Cork go home with girls and since then Mayo have gone back to the same dance hall on six more occasions only to leave by themselves at the end of the night when the jackets were being collected from the cloakroom.

We travel more in hope than expectation

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

It’s game eight of Mayo’s 2016 championship campaign and the biggest one of all, the All-Ireland final against the reining champions and hot favourites Dublin. Mayo are priced at 3/1, the Dubs are 4/11 while the draw is available at 10/1. In layman’s terms the bookmakers don’t see Dublin been beaten. The handicap betting is set at -3 points meaning the expert odd makers feel Dublin will win by about three.

Rochford calls for one last push towards greatness

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

They've been with the team right from the start and on Sunday the Mayo fans will play an important role in getting their side over the line come 5pm. The boost that the side gets from the full-throated following in green and red isn't lost on Mayo manager Stephen Rochford who said he knows that there's no need to issue a call to arms for the supporters who've been with his side right from the off this year. "I'd like to thank the Mayo supporters for their great support throughout the year and over the years. They have stood by the team throughout the year from our first league game in Cork, there was a huge Mayo crowd there at that, and the other away league games, huge crowds attended the games.

From the last line of defence to getting back on the field

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

Two decades ago he was part of a brash young bunch of players who made their way into John Maughan's team that came from nowhere to almost claim an All Ireland title, but lost out to Meath after a replay. But he didn't hold a grudge against the Royal county as he ended up marrying a lady from there who "felt a bit of sympathy" for him. He broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in a game in 1999, and that more or less ended his serious playing career. But at the end of last month he tweeted "Playing Junior C Championship at 42 and at times trying to chase Colm Mcs nephew is a serious recipe for extreme stiffness on a Monday" Who is it you ask that's still playing football club football 20 years later chasing after the nephew of one of his team-mates from that All Ireland final? It's John Madden, the man who stood between the sticks for Mayo in those clashes against Meath.

Mayo’s immortal campaign of 1936

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

They ‘will rank in history amongst the greatest teams that have contested the Championship’, so read the report of a contemporary journalist after witnessing Mayo rout Laois in the 1936 All-Ireland Football Final and claim the county’s first senior football championship. Mayo senior football was peaking that year. The planets had begun their alignment four years earlier when Mayo contested only their third All-Ireland final. A narrow loss to Kerry in 1932 was crushing but oil had been struck and it did not just flow, it gushed throughout the 1930s and Mayo fans bathed in it. The 1932 final was the incendiary event that sparked an era of magnificence in Mayo football. The green and red would eventually see out the decade with a record six consecutive National Football League titles won between 1934 and 1939. With three of the six NFL crowns secured by the first game of Mayo’s championship campaign in May 1936, the aligning planets must have appeared as leather footballs to the success-spoiled county.

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