MAYO WHIP THE CREAM OF KERRY

Connaught Telegraph

GAA News 14 August 1996


Mayo 2-13 ------------- Kerry 1-10

By John Melvin

Seeing is believing. And what we saw in Croke Park on Sunday, this Mayo team believes they can win the Sam Maguire Cup. To back up that belief they have a few things going for them.

First of all they have a shrewd manager. John Maughan won the chess game against Paidi O'Se in a number of tactical switches in Sunday's semi-final, not least being the successful deployment of Colm McManamon, who roamed between the two fourteen yard lines. Sean Walsh didn't know whether to follow or stay at home. In the end he was caught between two stools.

Maughan had obviously studied Kerry and had gained immeasurably from leading Clare to a victory over the Munster champions only a few years ago. But above all, Maughan has instilled in this Mayo team a strong belief in their own ability, and this came across forcefully when Kerry came back to get, what was in all fairness, a flukey goal, immediately after James Nallen had started and finish a brilliant goal for Mayo.

That Kerry goal was asking Mayo if they really believed they could win this game and the response was swift. They went down and scored two points. That's how you answer a goal like that.

Paidi O'Se must have known then, if he hadn't before, that this Mayo team was not going to buckle under pressure. That came across in many sectors. From the defence, which played so solidly as a unit to the midfield where Liam McHale dominated the first half and Pat Fallon and Colm McMenamon shared lot of work to the forward line, where John Casey and David Nestor sent panic throughout the Kerry defence everytime they got the right kind of ball in front of them, while Ray Dempsey and James Horan worked tirelessly and Maurice Sheridan never flinched his job under pressure.

Chances

However, before we lose the run of ourselves, and start planning for Sam's return, it has to be said that Mayo should have won this game a lot more convincingly given the chances they had. Their performance was not without it's flaws which will be exposed by opponents in an All Ireland Final. At times they put pressure on themselves by not releasing the ball earlier and there were a few balls kicked aimlessly.

We have come a long way, but without trying to take anything from a win over Kerry a few weaknesses and problems will have to be sorted out. Knowing John Maughan, this team will not want to leave a legacy of just being remembered for beating Kerry. Only the gold winners are really enshrined in the football folklore end and while it is no insult to Mayo football should they fail to win gold, one senses they are now unwilling to settle for anything less.

Sanity

Had someone told me Mayo would win by six points I would seriously have to question their sanity but I always felt if they were in this game with ten minutes to go they would win.

However, they had much more play than Kerry and certainly deserved to be more than four points up at halftime 1-8 t to 1-4.

The Kerry goal, was of course, an accident. Sean Walsh's long ball completely deceived the advancing John Madden.

And it has to be said that Declan O'Keefe produced a couple of greats saves, notably from John Casey after David Nestor had drawn the cover.

But it was Mayo who put a marker from the start with Maurice Sheridan posting the first of his six frees after a sideline ball from Holmes found Casey and the Charlestown man won the first of three frees which were to be pointed.

By the 6th minute Mayo were two points clear, Casey cutting through to score a lovely point with the outside of the boot.

It was the 8th minute before Maurice Fitzgerald got Kerry of the mark with a good point from play and by the 15th minute Kerry were on level terms, Fitzgerald with a free after Flanagan was unlucky to have been called for a foul.

Kerry took the lead for the first and only time in the game when Fitzgerald pointed a free, Flanagan again somewhat unlucky to be charged for holding. But that lead was wipe out int eh 20th minute when Noel Connelly made a deep incursion to score a gem of a point, and a minute later Mayo were in front when Nestor was fouled on the edge of the square and Sheridan again obliged. Mayo went two points clear in the 25th minute when Casey scored another beauty and Liam McHale beat all before him, only to shoot wide in front of the posts. At this stage, Mayo were keeping Kerry in the game.

Fitzgerald kept Kerry hanging in with a pointed fifty and then came the move which produced a stunning goal.

Nallen was involved in clearing his own lines and Mohole timed his pas perfectly into the path of the Crossmolina man who buried it in the roof of the net.

Celebrations had hardly died down when John Madden was forced to take the ball from his own net immediately after the kick-out and Kerry was back in thanks to Sean Walsh's long lob which ended in the net. That was the first real test for Mayo.

They responded with a brilliant point from the Nestor on his left foot and order had been restored when Nestor, McHale and Casey combined once more, with Casey winning the free.

Sheridan tapped it over and the same player added another free just before the break. That free showed just how frustrated Kerry were getting. Seamus Moynihan knocked the ball from the hands of Sheridan as he attempted an effort from the hands. It cost Kerry ten yard, but more significantly , it cost them a score. 1-8 to 1-4 at the break.

Second half

The first five minutes of the second half were vital for Mayo. Dermot Flanagan made a vital interception to deny John Crowley but Fitzgerald had reeled back two points and one wondered were we about to see a Kerry take-over. Mayo said No. Sheridan once again delivered from the free as Casey took his man on, and again won with a free.

Fitzgerald kept Kerry there and the lead was down again to just two, but Horan scored a marvellous point from play after Fallon and Casey had provided the back-up.

Again Fitzgerald had it back to two, but Casey with support from Connelly and Nallen, sent over a critical point in the 65th minute- 1-11 ro 1-8. Kerry were not at their most dangerous as the game entered the critical final fifteen minutes phase nd still within striking distance. Breen came forward to score a good point and Cahill had to defend feverishly to keep the Kerrymen at bay.

But it was Casey who lifted the siege, and again Connelly was the man who proved the service and Mayo were leading by three with five minutes to go. But Dara O'Cinneide, with his first score of the game with five minutes to go kept Kerry hopes alive.

Mayo had worked too hard and too long for victory to slip by them now. They fought for everything and won a vital free which Sheridan landed with three minutes remaining. And then came that moment of magic from Horan and a great stop by Madden which will comfort him for his one mistake. Yes, seeing is believing

Mayo scorers: M. Sheridan (0-6 all frees); J. Casey (0-4); J. Horan 1-1; D. Nestor and N. Connelly (0-1 each). For Kerry M. Fitzgerald 0-8- 6 frees); S. Burke 1-0; E. Breen and D O'Cinneide 0-1 each.

Mayo :John Madden, Kenneth Mortimer, Kevin Cahill, Dermot Flanagan, Pat Holmes, James Nallen, Noel Connelly (captain), Liam McHale, Pat Fallon, James Horan, Colm McManamon, Maurice Sheridan, David Nestor, John Casey, Raymond Dempsey. Subs: K. O'Neill for Horan 69 mts; A. Finnerty for Nestor 70 mts.

Kerry: D. O'Keefe, S. Stack, M. Hassett, C. McCarthy, K. Burns, S. Burke, E. Breen, D. O'Se, S. Moynihan, J. Crowley, M. Fitzgerald, B. O'Shea, G. Farrell, L. Hassett, D. O'Cinneide. Subs: J. O'Driscoll for C. McCarthy (half-time), B. Clarke for L. Hassett (49mts), D. Dwyer for J. Crowley (64mts).

Ref: P. Casserly (Westmeath).

ATTENDANCE: 33,165.



Connaught Telegraph - News - August 1996

Connaught Telegraph - Sport - August 1996