What was to be expected of the Mayo senior footballers at the dawn of 2012? Progress was what people wanted to see. But how much realistic progress could people expect from James Horan’s side in year two of his project. Knocking out the All Ireland champions at the quarter final stage was a pretty big thing to progress on 12 months later. But that they did and some more.
A run to the league final and then the emotional epic run to the All Ireland final gave Mayo a spring and summer to remember, if it saw that old familiar feeling of failing of coming up just short of the line, was the full stop that punctuated the end of the adventure.
But there was so much to take from this year’s performances by Mayo; getting over the loss of their captain and inspirational leader Andy Moran midway through their All Ireland quarter final against Down; taking the game to Dublin and running up a big lead against them in the semi-final, before withstanding a the fierce fight back in the closing stages that came from the then All Ireland champions.
Not falling to bits when Donegal hit them with two sucker punch early goals in the All Ireland final and clawing their way back into the game to ensure that went down swinging and fighting right to the bitter end, rather than just getting run over.
While the loss of Moran in the crucial run in to the final stages of the championship was a huge loss to Mayo, leaders put up their hands and weren’t found wanting all over the park for Mayo. Lee Keegan, Keith Higgins, Alan Dillon, Ger Cafferkey and Cillian O’Connor were all rewarded for their leadership with All Stars and a second young player of the year for O’Connor. While others like David Clarke who took on the role of captain following Moran’s injury, with the quiet composure he goes about all his work on the field, Kevin McLoughlin and Aidan O’Shea were passed over for individual honours but they put their hand up whenever Mayo needed a leader and showed the leadership and drive that will hopefully drive Mayo over that finish line in the near future.
Looking down the grades, it was another year to forget for the u21s. They limped over the line against Galway in the semi-final in Castlebar in early March. But Roscommon put them away in Kiltoom a week later by four points. Tony Duffy has stepped up from the minor job to take on this year’s crop of u21s and he will be looking to bring Mayo back to former glories in this grade.
As for the minors, it was a topsy turvey year of sorts. They saw off a fancied Sligo side in the provincial semi-final in Castlebar, before putting in a very poor performance the final against Roscommon, where none of the starting six forwards managed to score in total they managed only four points from play over the hour.
Then they hit to Croke Park for the All Ireland quarter final and tore shreds out of the defending All Ireland champions Tipperary in an exhilarating display of football where they ran out 0-19 to 1-8 winners. Come the semi-final, they built up a seven point lead but weren’t able to stay the course as Meath clawed back and ran out two point winners. The Meath fight back wasn’t without controversy with their first goal coming off a contentious sideline decision. Killala’s Enda Gilvarry is stepping up from his role as a coach under Tony Duffy for the next year with the minors. And a whole new adventure awaits in store at that grade.
If you’re thinking that sure it’s ages till it all starts again, the Mayo senior team will throw in on the start of their 2013 campaign on January 13 against Leitrim in Ballinamore, and that’s only 23 days away.
