Search Results for 'Oisin Mullin'

After doing the heavy lifting in the opening three quarters last Saturday, like an experienced heavyweight working themselves back towards another title tilt somewhere down the track - Mayo will get some more rounds into their legs and lungs tomorrow afternoon in Mullingar.

It’s going to be something very different for Mayo on Saturday for a number of reasons.

After 147 long days, Gaelic football is finally back. It's difficult to get your head around the fact that the last time we watched our Mayo team was in the All-Ireland final the week before Christmas - a lot has happened since, both on and off the field.

Mayo forward Diarmuid O’Connor believes the defending Connacht champions have the depth of talent in the squad to thrive, despite the retirement of some of their most experienced players in the off-season.

Mayo went looking to create their own Fairytale of Croke Park the week before Christmas, but unlike those children’s fables there was no happy ending.

Mayo have had some rotten luck in All Ireland finals in recent years. They’ve pushed Dublin to the pin of their collar on numerous occasions and seen things just tilt against them.

It's Christmas week. In normal circumstances we would be thinking about Santa Claus and Christmas parties. But these are not normal circumstances and we have the not so small matter of an All-Ireland senior football final to occupy ourselves. We will think about Christmas from around 7pm on Saturday evening.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It was a day for grit and determination in a city more known for the flair and flavour of the arts and when it came to the crunch Mayo had that bit more of battle hardness than their hosts on the shore of Galway Bay.

It is five years since Mayo competed for the Nestor Cup while playing on the day it was to be handed out - the 2015 Connacht Final win over Sligo was Mayo's fifth in succession as they made Connacht their play-thing for half a decade.