Twenty years ago he was in the Nally Stand with a bus load of team-mates from Ballyhaunis when Colm Coyle's shot hopped over the bar and Meath pulled level at the death. Last Sunday week, he was on the field watching Diarmuid Connolly's effort from a sideline sail wide and drop over his head deep in injury time giving Mayo one last chance at drawing level. And thanks to Cillian O'Connor's effort seconds later, he will be back in Croke Park tomorrow evening again with it all to gain.
For the past decade Keith Higgins has been the rock at the back for Mayo, the go to man to shut down their opponents' best attacker for most of those years, on his way picking up two All Stars to go with his seven Connacht senior medals and All Ireland U21 medal from 2006 on the football field. The latest addition to his personal haul of medals was a Nicky Rackard Cup winners medal with the Mayo senior hurlers this year, where he lined out at centre back in the final in Croke Park in June. Tomorrow evening he will be facing into his 13th championship game across both codes since late April and he is hoping it will be a lucky 13 for him and his team-mates.
Two decades ago there was the famous row that broke out between Mayo and Meath players under the Hill in the replay, last Sunday week there was plenty of shoving and pushing as both sides entered the field at the same time, but it was no big deal really according to the Ballyhaunis man. "It seemed to be the big talking point all right, what I understand, and I don't know the whole mechanics of the timing of the thing, I understand they were late going on to the pitch, we were going through our final routine in the warm up area and opened the door and you know a game like that you're that psyched up and motivated, you come tearing out of the dressing room and they're there at the same time. It's not the biggest or widest of tunnels in Croke Park and there's going to be a bit of coming together. Anyone who was around or looking at it there was nothing too major, a bit of pushing and shoving and I don't see where the talking is coming from to be honest." And as for the row in the replay 20 years ago, even though he was there he does not remember too much of it. "No, I was in the far side of the Cusack, as a 12-year-old you're just thinking the whole thing is great the big row and the crowd going wild, but I actually don't remember much from it really."
Leaders being born this year
Being around for a decade and captaining Mayo for a few of those years, Higgins is one of Mayo's go to men when it comes to leadership, but he was mightly impressed by the stand out performances of some of the lads facing into the their first final last time around. "Paddy [Durcan] and Brendan Harrison in the backs, they were two of our best performers in their first All Ireland final. Sometimes a bit can be made out of experience, sometimes you need a fella who hasn't been there and has no fear to just go and deliver a performance like that, you just have to hope the next day he'll do the exact same thing. Talking before the likes of Diarmuid and Stephen have the U21 experience, but it's a completely different kettle of fish, sometimes you don't know how players will react to All Ireland final day. You can plan and prepare, but hope for the best sometimes."
The conditions in the drawn game led to it not being as free flowing and open as people would have hoped and it did not make it easy to play, Higgins told us. "It was a bit different to be honest to other Dublin games, the conditions didn't allow it to be up and down at 100 miles an hour as other Dublin games were. It probably slowed it down a small bit, a bit more physical than other games as well with the weather and all that, but any time you play Dublin you know it will come down to the 70 minutes. But I suppose you get used to it." You have to learn to adapt to Croke Park on days like that, he added. "It's a funny surface, when it's dry it's the best in the country, and when it's wet it's such a hard surface the top does get very greasy, that's not going to change the next day, it's one of the things you have to adapt to. You talk about things that happen on game day, like the way two goals went in the last day, or the weather, you just have to figure out a way around it and adapt to it."
Coming back and pushing on
Mayo came back from five down at the break and then three behind late on after pulling back the five point gap early in the second half, some observers felt that Mayo missed their chance by not pushing ahead when they closed the initial gap back in the middle of the second half, but the Mayo number four does not full agree with those sentiments, saying: "There were definitely chances there that I don't think we'd use the terms we let it slip. I think when Alan got the point to draw level that yeah, we can go on and win this. It might sound boring but you almost have to get yourself out of that, because if you start thinking of that they'll be down the pitch and could have a goal out of that. You've to start thinking we've to get the ball here, obviously both teams are thinking the same thing and it's not as easy as it seems, you just have to keep thinking next ball, get the next score. They got the next one and you just have to think, let's go again." It's all about making the right decisions in those moments when the game is there for the taking, but hanging on a knife-edge that's where the game is won and lost, but you've got to stick to your plan or it can all go wrong he believes. "I don't know are you caught between trying to go all out to get the winning score and are you leaving yourself exposed by trying to do that, it could be a bit of both. But I think there's no point in trying to change what you're doing that got you that score to level it, it can get you the score to win it and the next step. You have to keep doing the same thing, if you go balls out for it you can end up with the ball in the back of the net."
As for the way Mayo stayed composed when chasing the three point gap, knowing that there were seven minutes additional time to play on top of the 70 helped them, Higgins said. "Yeah, maybe the seven minutes thing had an impact, when you see the seven minutes go up you think that there's plenty of time to claw back that lead. You look at Donnie's [Vaughan] point, another day now he might have been 21 yards out and taken the chance and put the head down and gone for goal from that situation, but he tapped it over the bar, probably at the back of the boys' minds there was plenty of time to get on it and get a couple of points." Knowing that games are going to push on well past the 70 minutes is something sides have become used to this year, it means sides have to work harder on their conditioning and preparation for that final push, but Mayo have that work done. "In fairness, you'd hope that you're that well conditioned you're used to it, but I don't think it changes your mindset a huge amount, in an All Ireland final if you're not able to go for another two minutes on that day of the year there's something wrong."
Lucky thirteen
As for the man who is facing into his 13th championship game in five months there is no fear the body is not in tip top shape for Sunday, "I'm not too bad, I guess the fact I only played two league games, the injury probably helped, came back in April or May a good bit fresher not having had to do all the training the boys did now. I think in fairness to Barry Solan and the boys they have us in good shape and you have to take the advice they offer at stages like this. As long as it holds out it'll be good."
