3 September 1997
Bank of Ireland championship Offaly forwards defused by magnificent backs
From John Melvin in Croke Park
Mayo 0-13-------------------- Offaly 0-7
Offaly supporters, many of them wet to the skin, trooped out of Croke Park cursing their luck and damming their team. When expectations are so high, the fall can be brutally painful. I felt like turning around and saying to them wait until you've been hurt as many times as Mayo have-then you might realise to win one, it is necessary to lose one, maybe two.
The mood from the Mayo supporters, as expected was restrained joy, tempered by the relief at having got there. Two All Ireland's teach you a few things about life, it's expectations and the bitter disappointments of losing.
The Offaly bomb had been defused before 56,000 supporters in difficult conditions in Croke Park. At times it was not a pretty sight, but John Maughan and his men got the job done, and a it was a job well done, well planned and well executed. As I have said elsewhere, and I think it is worth repeating, better to win by a point, six if you can, with seventeen wides, than lose by a point with not a wide in sight. Mayo are where they planned to be on September 28th. Thirty other teams are not. Kerry will also be there to ensure these two sides meet in the first All Ireland since 1932. It has the makings of a fascinating battle between two of Gaelic football's great stylists and traditionalists.
Wicked Wind
A wicked wind and rain of the very wet variety ensured that style would not be the greatest part of a team triumphing in Sunday's semi-final.
Strength and iron will allied to the bitter experience of losing twice last year, were the trump cards Mayo produced, along with a fortress of a defensive wall which was reenforced by playing Pat Fallon and Colm McMenamaon in deep defensive roles. The Offaly forwards were trying to get into Fort Knox with a pick axe. It didn't make a dint. The full forward line, which nailed 3-8 against Meath, produced one point between them. Need I say more.
Against Meath, Offaly had found acres of ground for the speedy legs of Claffey, Malone and Brady to run into. Suddenly the spaces seemed to be occupied by a red and green shirt. The old saying, 'no quarter asked or given' took on a new meaning, not an inch was given by Mayo. Offaly were heaved out of this All Ireland, not through brute force, but by a team who used their edge in strength and experience effectively, and while some will argue that Offaly were always in this game, the truth is, Mayo were really in control from trap to line.
It should really have been out of Offaly's reach at half time had even half of those ten first half wides by Mayo been on target.
Lead
After 22 minutes Mayo sat on a 0-6 cushion. During that first ten minutes Offaly never managed to get the ball past their own fifty yard line such was the influence of Pat Fallon and David Heaney, a midfield partnership that worked extremely hard and extremely well.
McHale, on the left peg inside three minutes, Sheridan providing the service, McDonald finishing a one-two with McHale (4 mts), Nestor with an excellent point from play (13 mts) James Horan providing the pass, Fallon bursting through the middle to score a fine point (15 mts), Sheridan with the first of his four frees and Costello making a great run to take a pass from Fallon, and scoring Mayo's 6th point. But there were those wides in between.
We did get a glimpse of the problems Offaly might cause when Claffey cut in behind Flanagan, but his fisted effort come off the post, while the only other troubled moment of that half was when Peter Brady rose above his man to fist towards the net only for Burke to stretch back, despite being off balance, and make a good save.
Off the mark
Colm Quinn finally got Offaly off the mark in the 23rd minute with a point from play but they managed just one further point for the half when Reynolds somehow manage to get the ball over a swarm of Mayo players in front of the posts.
Sheridan topped up the Mayo lead to five points 0-7 to 0-2- just on the break as a frustrated Offaly side were left wondering what they had to do to breakdown Mayo, while the Connacht champions prepared for a battle into the wind in the second half.
There was some early fire from Offaly. Roy Malone getting through with a great goal chance which he failed to take, Flanagan proving a distraction in the circumstances.
Brady managed to pull the lead back to four points with a point inside three minutes, but the game was taking on a familiar pattern as Mayo began to take control in many area, their defence again staying on top.
Sheridan kicked the best of his four for the day from forty yards and while Reynolds replied to keep it at four, the next two points were to prove crucial with McDonald picking off both, inevitably with Nestor involved, and the second, a gem of a point from a tight angle after a lovely chip-up with the left foot in full stride.
The introduction of Kevin O'Neill prior to those last two scores improved matters and he could have made a grand entrance if he had finished Mayo's best goal chance, Nestor putting him into space behind the cover.
O'Neill lost the moment but passed to McDonald, whose shot was blocked down, but it fell to McHale. A point would have been the answer at the time, but for some strange reason McHale tried for a goal and spurned the great chance of a fisted point and a lost opportunity.
At that stage my next door neighbour in the press box, Eugene McGee, a man who guided Offaly to their most famous of victories in 82, was finally convinced Offaly were never going to get back into this game, facing a six point lead with twelve minutes remaining. He must surely have felt a few pangs of pain for Offaly who, as some had suggested, had produced their biggest game since, that Darby' final which grinded Kerry's five-in-a-row seeking team to a halt, when they beat Meath in the Leinster Final.
They did keep plugging away, and players like Daly, Malone, Kenny, Grennan, Cullen, Brady and Reynolds gave it all they could. It was also to is to their credit that, while frustration crept in, they didn't lose their cool. Greenan with a fine point from play and Reynolds, with a free suggested that the door might be ajar again for Offally, but Mayo responded immediately, O'Neill finishing off one of the best moves of the game, while Nestor, with two minutes remaining, picked off a lovley point from play on the left foot and Sheirdan brought Mayo's winning margin to six with a free just before the final whistle.
A peformance that suited the day and given the subdued celebrations, an indication that minds are focused on greater things ahead.
