The art of losing isn’t hard to master. A team can get into a losing streak very easily and each and every loss chips away at a team’s confidence. Every subsequent game then heaps enormous pressure on all involved to put a stop to the losing streak.
As I listened to radio commentary of the first half of Mayo’s encounter with Donegal last Saturday I feared the worst. Two consecutive losses would chip away at the confidence of a team that is struggling a little at the moment. It sounded like Mayo were under pressure in practically every position on the field. It was all one way traffic in the first half and with Mayo’s forwards only managing a single point from play it looked like it was going to be one of Mayo’s worst performances in recent years. Donegal meanwhile were playing champagne football, with their forwards registering 2-5 from play in the first half. Their full-forward line in particular was wreaking havoc on our last line of defence and every time the ball came anywhere near Mayo’s goal I expected to hear Mike Finnerty call another score for the Donegal men. Billy Fitzpatrick’s analysis at half time suggested that there was “no fight, no urgency, or no determination in Mayo’s play.” He said the Mayo team lacked aggression and had all the appearance of a team playing without confidence. He couldn’t understand why Mayo “wouldn’t deliver a long ball” into Barry Moran, who at 6ft 5in could surely trouble his opposite number.
Ringing the changes in the second half
John O’Mahony must have been incensed with rage as he went in to deliver his half time speech and I am sure also that he would have been considering his position if he didn’t witness some sort of an improvement in the second half. As it transpired Mayo started off the second half as they had finished the first, lethargic that is, despite registering the first score through BJ Padden! Donegal were allowed to stroll through the Mayo defence within a few minutes of the resumption and had the ball in the back of the net putting themselves into a 12 point lead, albeit short-lived. Thankfully from a Mayo perspective John Bannon, the referee came to the rescue and disallowed the goal for some kind of infringement.
Donegal understandably didn’t protest too much as they were nine points up and presumably thought this was going to be a stroll in the park for the remaining 30 minutes. But if that is what they were thinking, they were much mistaken. Mayo at last came alive and from that moment on they really played with a huge determination and real conviction. With Pat Harte introduced at midfield and Mikey Sweeney and Mark Ronaldson introduced into the forward line Mayo were reinvigorated.
Andy Moran was switched to the half back line where he handled a lot of ball and the pendulum swung very forcibly towards Mayo. They literally tore into Donegal and chipped away at that lead that eventually saw them trailing by a single point as the game entered into the two minutes (or thereabouts! ) of injury time. Quite incredibly Mayo managed to score the equalising point with literally seconds to spare that surely heralded one of the great comebacks of recent times.
It was a fantastic result when you consider the position Mayo found themselves in just five minutes into the second half. If the Mayo team could continue to play with anything like the fire they displayed in the closing minutes then we should have nothing to worry about for the rest of the season. There can be no disputing the fact that the team that finished Saturday’s game appeared to be superior to the one that started. This is not the first time we have given opposing teams a dream start, then realised that better players were sitting on the bench and once introduced, chased the result to the finish.
For the Westmeath game, I believe that if the team selection is right from the start then we can look forward to the game in Charlestown in two weeks time with a huge degree of optimism. This division will be a right battle to the last Sunday of the league to see who stays up, so every point is crucial. Unfortunately after the last two Sundays it now looks like Mayo will be in there scrapping to survive at the end. That said, it is amazing what a confidence booster that point taken in Letterkenny could prove to be. It definitely feels now like a point gained rather than a point dropped.
Connacht derby sees Walsh lay down a marker
Elsewhere in the various divisions we had some interesting results. Markievicz Park was the venue for a meeting of Sligo and Leitrim. I had expected that home advantage might be the difference in what I thought would be a closely fought encounter between these two teams. Kevin Walsh’s Sligo had played an extra game in the league and with four points on the board, were coming into this encounter with real momentum. Leitrim on the other hand, have the wise old heads of the two Ms in charge (Moran and Morrison ) and I expected they would have their team in the right mental state for this crucial match. Consequently I was very surprised to see the result on Sunday evening. Sligo literally beat their near neighbours and great rivals out the gate, by registering a 15 point winning margin at the end. Sligo are looking good for promotion at this early stage in the league and with Kevin Walsh on the sideline they have a man that has been there and done that! Incidentally big Kevin will be picking up invaluable experience with Sligo that will inevitably see him as the odds- on favourite to lead the maroon and white of Galway whenever Liam Sammon decides to call it a day up there.
Speaking of Galway, I watched their game against Dublin on TV on Sunday last. They were simply magnificent, with their forwards, in particular, catching the eye with a brilliant display of score taking throughout. There is no doubt that Galway have a conveyor belt of talent at the moment and I honestly feel if the championship was to be played next week they would surely be contenders for the All Ireland. They look that good at the moment and with Padraig Joyce controlling matters from centre forward they have a fantastic mix of youthful exuberance with the few wise old heads among them to keep their feet on the ground.
