3 September 1997
Aiden Henry on the post-match reactions
An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, leaving Croke park on Sunday evening last following the Mayo/Offaly semi-final was loud in his praise for Mayo midfielder, Pat Fallon. He was also highly impressed with the Mayo backs but thought the forwards shooting was very poor to say the least. When asked did he think that Mayo would beat Kerry in the final, he declined to comment - in case he would offend Jackie Healy-Rae, I suppose.
Despite the large number of wides by his forwards Mayo team manager, John Maughan was a very happy man leaving Croke park on Sunday evening. With a big smile, he said that it was great to back in another All-Ireland final. He continued " After losing out narrowly last year the team has shown great character and commitment to bounce back again this year. It is also very nice to win an All-Ireland semi-final when your forwards are having an off day. I thought the backs and midfielders were outstanding but we will need a big improvement up front to beat the Kingdom".
Man of the match, Pat Fallon who must have covered every inch of Croke park was already looking forward to the All-Ireland final in the Mayo dressing room afterwards. He said: " We came up to Croke park today with a job to do and now that we have carried our mission we can look forward to the last Sunday in September and hopefully have Sam home with us this time".
Pat, when asked about his own great performance would only say that he was pleased with his game. However, he was quick to praise all his teammates: " Our backs were tremendous and never gave their forwards an inch of space while our forwards tackled and kept the Offaly backs from moving the ball with any fluency throughout" he said.
Although expressing delight at his side's win you could sense that team captain, Noel Connelly will not be happy man unless he walk up the steps to receive the Sam Maguire on Sunday September 28th. Nevertheless he was extremely happy with the effort his team put in against Offaly." We knew coming here to-day that we had to knuckle down straight away and contest every ball from beginning to end in order to beat Offaly. Despite the fact that we had a lot of wides it was a good team performance. Its now between Kerry and ourselves for Sam and it should be a cracker of a final" he said.
David Heaney was another Mayo player who was more than pleased with Sunday's performance. Said David: " This was my first start for the Mayo senior team and I enjoyed every second of it. I was surprised at how relaxed I was before the game and it was great to be involved from the start. It was a very fast game and we knew we couldn't take our foot off the pedal for one minute. The conditions made it difficult but it was the same for both teams".
Liam McHale was disappointed at the number of wides the forwards had on Sunday last. " We will have to do something about out shooting. I think at times we take snap shots from very difficult angles. At times we should be looking for players in better positions instead of taking on difficult shots. Our passing up front will also have to improve" he said.
Kevin O'Neill who came on as a substitute was pleased with his own performance and said that he was hoping to make the starting fifteen for the final. " It was nice to be brought on in the second-half but my aim now is to win place for the game against Kerry. If we can improve in the forwards we must stand a great chance of winning on the fourth Sunday in September" he said.
R.T.E.'s sports commentator, Marty Morrissey said after the game on Sunday evening that he still fancies Mayo to win the All-Ireland. Said Marty:" When I spoke to you after Mayo's game against Leitrim I said that Mayo had improved a lot on last year. Despite the wastefulness of their forward line to-day I still think that they will beat Kerry in the final. All the backs were outstanding to-day and Pat Fallon's display at midfield was as good as I have seen for a long time. Between now and the final the forwards will certainly have to brush up on their shooting. I expect it will be a great final with Mayo just coming out on top at the final whistle".
U.T.V. sports commentator, Jimmy Magee, while praising the Mayo backs and centre-field was very critical of the forwards. Said Jimmy: " Mayo were by far the better team with all six backs outstanding. Pat Fallon gave a masterful display at midfield and was well assisted by young David Heaney. However, the winning margin should have been at least doubled as the forwards got enough possession to run up a cricket score. For the final to-day shooting performance from the forwards will not be good enough".
Sligo captain Brendan Kilcoyne said that he was as thrilled as any Mayo person to see the county back in the All-Ireland final. He continued: " Going up to Dublin for this match I was very confident of Mayo winning. We played Offaly two weeks before the Connaught final and I felt they weren't in the same league as Mayo. The Mayo six backs were magnificent throughout. Pat Fallon gave a five star performance at midfield and he got great assistance from young David Heaney. If the Mayo forwards were on song to-day the winning margin would easily have been in double figures".
Tyrone star, Enda Gormally was very impressed with the Mayo performance despite the large number of wides by the forwards. "In the Leinster final Offaly looked very impressive but out there to-day they were no match for Mayo. The Mayo backs were like tigers and I was particularly impressed by Mortimer and Costello. Pat Fallon at midfield was the star of the show. The Mayo attack will certainly have to improve on to-days performance for the final against Kerry and if they do I can see Sam crossing the Shannon again" he said.
Brian McEniff the former Donegal and Ulster team manager said after watching Mayo defeat Offaly that he still fancied Kerry to win the all-Ireland. He went on: " At the beginning of the year I picked Kerry to win the All-Ireland and I am not changing my mind now. For the amount of possession that Mayo got to-day they should have had enough of scores on the scoreboard at half-time to end the game as a contest. I know the conditions weren't that good but they had the same in the minor game and they dealt with them a lot better than the seniors. Having said that the Mayo backs were magnificent and Pat Fallon's display at midfield was as good as you would see in any game. However, if the Mayo forwards have eighteen wides in the final against Kerry I think they will be going home without Sam for the second year running".
Finally, Mayo team medic, Dr. Frank Davey after checking all the Mayo players after the match reported that there was no serious injury. " Pat Fallon got a bad kick on the leg in the first-half and although it was very sore it was not a serious injury. All the other players including Maurice Sheridan came through unscratched" said Dr. Frank.
