The second time around is never as good as the first, while John O'Mahony's first tenure in charge of Mayo ended in 1992 contentious conclusions, his second term ended at the lowest possible ebb for a side who were considered by most to within the top ten sides in the country. Longford came into the game on the back of a defeat at the hands of Louth in the championship, and two wins in the national league against the minnows of London and Kilkenny. Cannon fodder they should have been for a team which reached the division one league final, while the defeat is hard to take, there is only one way from here for Mayo and that is up.
John O'Mahony ended his tenure in charge of Mayo outside of the dressing room in Pearse Park, Longford with a defeated Mayo team licking their wounds from the most humbling of defeats. The midlands venue's concrete catacomb of walls under the terrace on the Dublin road side of the ground was a long way away from the hoped for ending deep in the bowls of GAA headquarters at the tail end of September. This was never part of the plan, never part of the grand scheme to bring Mayo to the promised land which was what a vast majority of people had hoped for when O'Mahony was unveiled as the successor to the deposed pairing of Mickey Moran and John Morrison, one winters evening in the Welcome Inn Hotel in Castlebar amid a blur of flashlights and hopeful questions.
But it just wasn't to be, Mayo and O'Mahony's attempt to rekindle the romance didn't work apart from a few fleeting moments in the league, and one last big push to make the thing work between the pair for the sake of the kids resulting in last years Connacht championship win, before the facade came crumbling down around them a few weeks later and the inevitable parting of ways on Saturday evening.
So where have Mayo gone under O'Mahony since he was given the bainisteoir tshirt, the cold hard facts lay it out, backwards is the only conclusion that can be drawn. Championship football is the meat and drink of the business and from 2007 to 2010, four championship seasons Mayo have beaten, New York, Sligo, Roscommon, Cavan and Galway. Five wins in four years and the only win of substance in those four years was last years Connacht final win over Galway. The defeat against Sligo was seen one of the lowest points in Mayo football, but defeat to Longford was a bridge to far. It was time to go and he wasted no time in walking through the door.
While it's easy to lay the criticism at O'Mahony's door he has been a great servant to Mayo football winning an u21 All Ireland back to back Connacht titles in the 1980s, a first All Ireland final appearance since 1951 and his achievements with Galway and probably more so Leitrim mark him out as one of the great managers of the last 25 years, but the past four years in Mayo will have thrown some darkness on that legend.
The only way is up for Mayo from now on, and the big question that will occupy Mayo supporters minds when the dust has finally settled from this season, who is that man to start the rebuilding?
