All-Ireland Senior Football Final 2006
What the papers say...
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Hearts leap free in happy Kingdom as drink goes undrunk in doleful Mayo |
19 Sep - Independent - A Religious icon would scarcely have elicited more veneration than the Sam Maguire last night as it arrived back in Kerry for a record 34th time. With up to 15,000 fans thronging the streets, it took an hour for the open-top bus to move to the stage in front of the Ashe Memorial Hall in the heart of Tralee. An estimated 10,000 fans had gathered in Killarney where the team were due to arrive around 10pm. |
| 19 Sep - Mayo News - Jack O’Connor said a startling thing in the Croke Park dressing room on Sunday night, while all around him joy burst off the walls. He said Kerry’s wait for an All-Ireland title after losing to Tyrone last year was more painful than the 55 years Mayo had waited. And you believed him, because he and his team had proven it just minutes before. Kerry did not believe anything was going to stop them collecting the Sam Maguire for a 34th time, and they ached for it. Perhaps it’s as cold and mundane as that: their pain was greater than ours, which stoked their desire to a temperature we simply could not withstand. |
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| 19 Sep - Examiner - “Myself and Colm have played football from under-16 upwards and I have always been a close friend of his and the family. We were room-mates as well. It was only fitting. He stepped into the breach when I lost my place and did a great job as captain. It was the right thing for the two of us to go up and accept it.’’ Cooper said O’Sullivan had approached him at the final whistle. “He said ‘I want you to come up and do this with me.’ I said no, but he insisted. It was a very special moment for myself and Declan — something we will always cherish." |
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| 19 Sep - Examiner - “It’s easier to counteract a running game than it is to counteract a kicking game in my book. I’m just delighted, he was a great outlet for us. There is more to him than people realise. He is agile and is not slow for a big fellow — and he has a great feel for the ball.” | |
| 19 Sep - Examiner - Any sports fan must hail Kerry today, must hail Kilkenny, the All-Ireland senior hurling champions also. Doesn’t matter a damn how many titles they’ve won in the past, who can begrudge them their wins this year? They’re the best teams in the land in hurling and football; Seamus Moynihan and Darragh Ó Sé with Kerry, Noel Hickey and Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny, they each deserve their fourth All-Ireland senior medals as much as David Heaney would have merited his first. | |
| 19 Sep - Mayo News -Brady was then met with the question enquiring had the occasion got the better of Mayo. He was unequivocal in response. “No, no, that’s bullshit to put it mildly,” he retorted. “It didn’t get to us. Every guy in there is used to playing in All-Ireland finals and winning them. We were unlucky and you have to give Kerry credit. All ye guys will be writing stories about Mayo flopping again and all that crap but there is a bunch of guys in there who gave their heart and soul for Mayo this year. Guys broke bones and spilt blood, nobody meant to go there and lose the game. It just happened and fair play to Kerry. |
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| 18 Sep - BBC - No team, no individual, could have stood up to this onslaught on this day. Kerry have picked up four All Ireland titles in this decade and must allow themselves a wry smile at those of us who think we somehow should be let into the Pantheon of the Greats just because we have won one or two. Other teams might pop up every so often and snap one out of their grasp, but in reality, the Kerry psyche plays around with the other thirty one counties in the same manner that their team messed about with Mayo on Sunday. |
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| 18 Sep - Irish Times - This summer has been quintessential Kerry. Everyone else talking about them and their sufferings and strife while Kerry quietly keep their eye on the prize. There was indeed trouble between two Kerry players last weekend, club rivals in north Kerry, they had to be torn apart. It was in the course of a full-scale practice match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, though, and everyone walked away grinning. The hunger was just at the right pitch. Meanwhile, outside, the rumour factory was still issuing grey smoke from its tall chimneys. | |
| 18 Sep - Examiner -“Above everyone, I was delighted today for Seamus, because he left Croke Park last year with his heart broken,” said coach Jack O’Connor. “There is no limit to what that man does for a team. He has the heart of a lion and has to go down as one of the all-time greats of Kerry football.” "We seriously wanted Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Moynihan to win a fourth All-Ireland title. People don't realise that 'Gooch' has only one medal so we had loads of reasons to be motivated." “Dreams have come true,” Moynihan said. “My son in one arm, the Sam Maguire, nothing else will cap that.” It begged the obvious question. “Yeah, possibly going out on top would be the wise thing to do.” |
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| 18 Sep - Examiner - "Mayo might have been waiting 55 years but we were waiting 12 months after the defeat to Tyrone last year and that felt every bit as long to us. That’s long enough for Kerry.” said Griffin. Seamus Moynihan agreed. The man must have medals spilling out of drawers at home — three senior Celtic Crosses among them — but this one was very special. “I never came off a field as bitterly disappointed as I did last year (after losing to Tyrone). It took us a long time to get over last year. In fairness, there’s only one way you can bounce back. You can win the National League and the All-Ireland and that’s what the guys did this year. "It was a great team performance and you saw that even with the lads coming on like Eoin Brosnan and Bryan Sheehan. You could never afford to have a bad game, even in training, or you’d be dropped. We had a bunch of fighters on this team.” |
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| 18 Sep - Examiner - In the seventh minute, a quick-fire Kerry move, team captain Declan O’Sullivan comes storming through, lays off to the big man. He could have taken a chance on goaling himself, but no; using his basketball instincts, he gave an instant return to O’Sullivan for a slam dunk. Two minutes later, an even more emphatic finish. The high ball grabbed, full back David Heaney shrugged off and WHAM!, the net almost torn from the rigging. Nine minutes old, the game already over and Donaghy’s mark all over this final. | |
| 18 Sep - Independent - Winning teams keep their privacy, though, so we will never know now if the threads binding them together were in any way frayed yesterday morning. What matters is they didn't snap. Truth to tell, they were never remotely tested. O'Sullivan scored Kerry's first goal; 'Gooch' knifed their third and Brosnancame on to filch an ornamental fourth. Move along folks, nothing to see here. Perhaps the kill-shot was Kerry's second. It arrived in the eighth minute, Donaghy out-fielding Heaney and wheeling away to fire emphatically past David Clarke. Eight minutes. History chuckles. |
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| 18 Sep - Independent - Moynihan and Ó Sé are legends of the game and, although I wouldn't be surprised to see them back next year, no-one would begrudge them walking away with four All-Ireland medals in their back pockets. They're giants amongst men and, if they do decide to retire, this was a fitting swangsong. |
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Pat Spillane - It wasn't a match, as such, it was more a mismatch on the day |
18 Sep - RTE.ie - It's hard to know if it was an absolutely brilliant Kerry performance or if it was a woeful Mayo performance. My belief is that it was somewhere in between, it was a very good Kerry display against a team who simply didn't turn up. The game was basically over as a contest after eight minutes when Kerry went 2-02 up without reply. I wrote down 'game over' at that point and from then on there was realistically no way back for Mickey Moran's shell-shocked side. |
| 18 Sep - Examiner - Jack O’Connor’s superbly prepared team set themselves up for victory by stunning the Connacht champions with a two-goal barrage which put them 10 points clear after only 12 minutes and then controlling the game almost at will. While Mayo goaled three times before the break, a second half revival never materialised. | |
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Report: Merciless display leaves Mayo washed up in the theatre of dreams |
18 Sep - Belfast Telegraph - Ulster may have dominated the All Ireland series to some extent since the dawn of the new millennium but it has been clearly demonstrated that, for matters of grace and efficacy, it is Kerry who are the real masters. While Mayo's unpretentious architecture of snap tackles, laboured passes and unconvincing motion was far from a precise science, Kerry simply played a game from another galaxy. Fluid, cunning, sassy and garnished, sporadically, by breathtaking arrogance, it might well have been offensive had not the traffic for the greater part been so resolutely one way. |
| 18 Sep - Independent - If O'Mahony's high work rate was crucial in restricting McDonald's influence, Seamus Moynihan's all-round solidity was even more important. He had a fine game, marking, covering and anticipating in a manner than was reminiscent of his very best days. Paul Galvin's industry, Declan O'Sullivan's strong running, Kieran Donaghy's giant presence and Colm Cooper's constant nuisance value were all hugely significant too on a day when Kerry joined Galway (2001) and Tyrone (2005) as teams who entered the All-Ireland castle via the back door. Nobody could deny Kerry's right to be there. They scored a total of 11-57 in their last four championship games and waited until the most important day of all to land their highest return. |
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| 17 Sep - RTE.ie - 74 mins: The final whistle blows on a game that was finished a long time ago. Kerry pick up their 34th All-Ireland, and they will hardly have won an easier one. |
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| 17 Sep - Sunday Independent - How are All-Irelands won? The obvious principle is surplus talent, but when there appears to be no clear polarity, as with this pairing, what differentiates? It will come down to the most primal of imperatives, all other aspects being relatively equal. To whose bellies contain the greatest fire. | |
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If Mayo offer goal chances, there will be no comeback this time |
17 Sep - Sunday Independent - They call themselves Kerry and have become the smash and grab experts in Dublin in September. To them there is nothing and at the same time everything special about finals. The routine operation is Veni, Vidi, Vici, come, see and conquer. |
| 17 Sep - Sunday Tribune - This afternoon, he'll face the flag for his fourth final. Five seasons, four finals and three All Stars is some haul for a 23-year-old. But even if today brings a repeat of the man-of-thematch performance of two years ago, it will hardly be enough for him to add to the third of those totals this year. Not that it matters even a little bit. This has been a year for keeping himself to himself. All the awards in the world won't change what he'll remember it for. | |
| 17 Sep - Sunday Independent - But while most of today's focus will be on Kieran Donaghy, Galvin's role cannot be overstated. Those who see him as just a ball of muscle and aggression are sorely mistaken; he is as important to Kerry as the Gooch. Like the Hollywood mogul with his villain, Jack O'Connor knew his casting of Galvin in the game-breaker role, even as anti-hero, was essential to success. | |
| 17 Sep - Sunday Tribune - Twelve Angry Men - the Key Players in the six key areas | |
| 16 Sep - Independent - A mix of high catches and the winning of the knock-ons will decide this game. Kerry jaws snap at the breaks like starving lions at fat antelopes. Mayo will need to file their tearing teeth to jagged if they are to win secondary possession. All over the field there will be one-on-ones for every ball. In an All-Ireland final, you earn every click in the possession stat box. It will all come down to desire, as the doctor explained to the man with the bad heart when he refused him a prescription for Viagra. Mayo are as hungry as the winner the day after the final of slimmer of the year. But in Kerry the sacred flame is eternal. . |
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| 16 Sep - Examiner - McDonald developed a back and hamstring injury at training on Wednesday, sparking fears that he will be ruled out for the repeat of the 2004 decider, but intensive treatment over the last two days has meant the he is certain to take his place in the Mayo full-forward line. | |
| 16 Sep - Examiner - Outside of Kerry, the whole country would love to see Mayo triumph and in different circumstances the Kingdom would be on their side too. However, it will take more than sentiment for that to happen. Mickey Moran’s team will have to show they know how to win, that they have the temperament to fulfil their potential, that they can avoid failing in the way previous teams have. From a Kerry perspective, there is a greater probability they will play up to form. And, if they do, they will win. It’s as simple as that. | |
| 16 Sep - Examiner - You ask yourself, are Mayo good enough to win this, do they have the players? The answer in both instances is yes. You ask yourself, have Kerry the players? Again the answer is yes. In my experience, when two teams are evenly matched, hunger will decide. At some stage, as with Munster in the European Cup, there comes the day when you say, enough, and no more. I’ve been watching the media coverage very carefully, there’s hardly a sound out of Mayo; there was an awful lot more hype there in 1997, but this year, the preparation seems to be going very, very well. The closer the game comes, the more nervous I’m getting. I’m just hoping that the likes of Seamus (Moynihan) and Darragh (Ó Sé), who have been absolutely unbelievable over the years for Kerry, have one more big game in them. They’ve been incredible lately, hard to believe they’re on the 60th and 61st championship games for Kerry. I’d give a cautious vote to Kerry, but I’m afraid of that hunger factor. | |
| 16 Sep - Examiner - Their stumbles at the last hurdle in 1996, ’97 and 2004 point to a faultline in the Mayo psyche that had permeated down to underage levels until the U-21s managed to capture a seminal All-Ireland title earlier this year. “There’s been a lot of criticism in recent years, that we’re not good enough and that we’ll mess up on the big day. That’s harsh and to hear that every year is pathetic. Sickening." | |
| 16 Sep - Examiner - He sets himself unrealistic targets, but they’re only unrealistic for other people. Gooch doesn’t set his watch by highlights of the wonder goal against Mayo two years ago. It’s not something he thinks about because he always did it. It’s an expectation he has of himself, so it’s not an extraordinary thing to do. For him. | |
| 16 Sep - Independent - But none of these games - none of them - will match the sheer one-sidedness of the 2004 All-Ireland final. After a reasonably balanced opening 15 minutes, the game turned into a rout; at times most neutrals would have preferred to watch rabid dogs tearing through a chicken coop. | |
| 16 Sep - Setanta.com - Sunday’s Bank of Ireland All-Ireland SFC final may be a repeat of the 2004 decider when a Mayo capitulation saw Kerry run out eight point winners, but this time round it is likely to be a far tighter contest. | |
| 15 Sep - Examiner - "We started very slowly against London and Leitrim, but we have gradually gotten better and better. You could see that against Galway and in the two Laois games. We peaked to a certain extent against Dublin, but I believe we still have a bit of gas in the tank. We can do better - and we will need to. Kerry showed in the second half of the quarter-final what they are capable of. I don't think any team has done that to Armagh in the last eight years. We'll have to be at the peak of our powers to beat them.". | |
| 15 Sep - Examiner - Unexpectedly Kieran Donaghy, the side's midfield sensation of the season, was directed into the full-forward line. O'Sullivan lay in wait expecting to teach the rookie a thing or two about the dark arts of defending. Things didn't go exactly as the Rathmore man planned. "I was marking him for five minutes and I jumped from behind him with about two or three steps of a run and he jumped from a standing position and caught the ball. I remember thinking: 'We could be onto something big here.'" |
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| 15 Sep - Examiner - Different times, different attitudes also, in the two counties. "I don't think people fully realise the intensity involved in Kerry football. There was a story I heard one time, about a Dingle man, to illustrate that. He had six daughters, and he was talking about football one day. 'Jaysus,' he said, 'If I had only one son, and I saw him parading around Croke Park just once, they could hang him afterwards!' I think that sums up how they feel about their football in Kerry. It's wonderful, and they've brought so much to football. I played against Kerry for many years, have lived here for many more, and I've seen them produce so many fantastic teams, so many fantastic footballers. And the thing about them is this: they are pure footballers - they're not interested in winning by any other means, just pure football.". |
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| 15 Sep - Examiner -Whether or not he realised it at the time, Jack O'Connor's decision to include the then 21 year-old Tralee man for the Dublin game had a profound effect on his decision to go in search of a place in the squad. Only for that, he says he "could have thrown his hat at it." "I could have said it's not for me. I was up in Croke Park and rooming with Dara Ó Cinnéide. I didn't know what to make of it, going into Croke Park to play the Dubs. A packed house and we came out the better of it. That was a great experience. That really showed me. I wanted to be back there." |
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No jumping Jack flash as O'Connor keeps his feet on the ground |
15 Sep - Independent - Donaghy's impact at full-forward has been the talk of the season and dominates the agenda going into Sunday's final. However, O'Connor is aware it's unrealistic to expect Donaghy to dominate every game. "We have a few ways of playing, but you have to. Throwing high balls down on top of Kieran won't always work. We were a bit one-dimensional against Cork so we'd be looking to stretch the play more against Mayo. They defend very well so you can't put all your eggs in one basket in an attacking sense when you take them on," he said. |
| 15 Sep - Independent - Doing it for Kenneth is the other great consideration. He was, for a period in the mid-1990s, the outstanding corner-back in the game but All-Ireland final defeats mounted up. At St Jarlath's, there was 1992 when St Brendan's of Killarney inflicted Hogan Cup defeat upon him. With Mayo, there was the 1991 All-Ireland minor final and three All-Ireland U-21 finals between 1994 and '95 (replay) that weren't nailed down. A draw and defeat to Meath in '96 and defeat to Kerry a year later put the icing on a bitter-tasting cake. Trevor has the All-Ireland 2001 under-21 and 2004 senior All-Ireland final defeats to ponder, Conor can add the 2000 All-Ireland minor final to the list of 13 (11 losses, two draws) that have got away from them. |
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| 15 Sep - RTE.ie - Mayo have more options as Kerry have only displayed one winning style of play this year. If the men from Connacht force them to change their ways then Sam could be heading for winter in the north-west. | |
| 15 Sep - RTE.ie - Looking to the match itself, I'm going to go for a Kerry win. I went for Cork to win the hurling and I'm tipping Kerry for the football. Like I've said before, I'm not impressed by the team, which has dampened my optimism a certain amount. But I still think there's a lot more ifs and buts about Mayo; can they put big games back-to-back together, will they be as good again? There's more if and buts about Mayo and Kerry have more consistency in the last couple of matches so I'll have to go for them to claim their 34th title. But I would say that, wouldn't I?. | |
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Mayo supporter paints Listowel road markings in Red and Green |
15 Sep - Radio Kerry - GAA Supporters in North Kerry are baffled by a mysterious Mayo supporter who has painted parts of the town in Listowel in the Mayo colours of red and green. The discovery was made in the town earlier this morning when residents there awoke to find the broken white road markings painted in red and green, including outside the local GAA pitch. Locals had just finished decorating the town in green and gold in support of the Kerry Senior and minor teams. Chairman of Listowel Emmetts GAA club Tom Walsh says if Kerry win on Sunday, then it will be punishment enough for the perpetrators. |
| 14 Sep - Independent - The difference is that whereas Moynihan and Ó Sé spent their rookie years aboard Kerry teams that were second in Munster and not in the top five nationally, today's teenage stars like Darren O'Sullivan (19), Padraig Reidy (19), Kieran O'Leary (19), Killian Young (19) and Paul O'Connor (19) are learning the trade in the successful environs of All-Ireland dressing-rooms. Only time will tell whether any of them emulate Moynihan and Ó Sé but even if they do, it's unlikely that they will ever have the breadth of experience of an enduring duo whose immense contributions to Kerry through good and bad days can never be fully quantified. They should watch closely because observing Moynihan, with his anticipation antennae on full alert, and Ó Sé, with his wide range of power and athleticism, is an invaluable part of the learning curve for the young cubs. |
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| 14 Sep - Independent - The majority are convinced that boots with six long screw-in studs are the best option. However, there are enough non-believers to cast doubt on that assertion. What is certain is the importance of the thought which will be prominent in players' minds when they step out on the hallowed (if slippy) sod at Croke Park: If you can keep your feet while all around are losing theirs... | |
| 14 Sep - Examiner - Just as O’Sullivan did when he was interviewed at the team’s press night a week ago, Brosnan admitted candidly that he hadn’t been pleased with his level of performance up to the Munster final. “There were players — myself included — who were not in great form. But, the team was sluggish as well,’’ he recalled. “Jack (O’Connor) has often said that when you’re not going well you try even harder and things don’t happen. What you have to do is ‘nearly let it happen’ and it will come right eventually. |
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| 14 Sep - Hogan Stand - This time last year, flying Kerry half forward Sean O’Sullivan watched the All-Ireland football final from a bar in Perth. Now he’s back in the thick of things, feeling totally refreshed and hoping to play his part in another Kerry All-Ireland success. “I can’t take anything for granted, especially with the likes of Darren O’Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan and Declan O’Sullivan breathing down my neck. Those guys are just as determined as me to play in the final. They’re keeping me on my toes. “I thought I did alright against Armagh before I was taken off, but then Darren O’Sullivan came in and scored a goal with nearly his first touch. That’s the sort of competition that’s in the squad. The training sessions lately have been every bit as tough as National League matches,” he says. |
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| 14 Sep - Hogan Stand - This duel is intriguing to say the least and could have a major bearing on the outcome. Dillon produced a man of the match display in Mayo’s All-Ireland semi-final victory over Dublin, but will do well to get the same latitude against the all-action Kerry wing back. | |
| 13 Sep - Irish Examiner - Arena - By Sunday night, Ó Sé may be a triple All-Ireland football champion, but Micheal isn’t fussed either way. Same as the night Ó Sé drove up from Killarney after being substituted against Longford; he didn’t need Micheal to tell him that walking straight to the dressing room was stupid. “There’s very few things that can instantly turn a bad situation into a good one, but a kid does that. It’s unconditional love, irrespective of whether you’ve had a good or bad day." | |
| 13 Sep - Hogan Stand - To date both Mayo and Kerry have produced their best performances against strong opposition. The manner in which the Kingdom dethroned Armagh was awesome. This was by far their best performance, not only this year but in the last three years. Kerry played with a ravenous hunger that Armagh could not contend with. Years of capitulating to northern teams had fuelled a passion that resulted in a famous victory. The previously lethargic Darragh O Se and Seamus Moynihan chose the Armagh game to spring to life with some vengeance. Mayo don't have particularly good memories of Kerry in All-Ireland finals and the re-ignition of these two giants in Kerry football has come at a bad time for the westerners. | |
| 13 Sep - Examiner - The team shows four changes in personnel from last year’s All-Ireland final — with Griffin, Sean O’Sullivan, Kieran Donaghy and Mike Frank Russell taking over from William Kirby, Liam Hassett (retired), Brosnan and Dara O Cinneide (also retired). | |
| 13 Sep - Examiner - "Sometimes a kick in the backside is better than winning. That has been the case. You can learn a lot from losing. It gives you a chance to look at yourself in the mirror rather than blaming the referee or the opposition. Everybody on the panel did that and thankfully it’s after working out for us. There have been a few positional changes since, but the most important thing was a change in attitude.” | |
| 13 Sep - Examiner - “It’s about playing football on the day, about minimising opportunities for the opposition. I would hope — I would expect — that we are in a position to do all those things. “On different days both sets of players have excelled. On other days, they haven’t done so well. It will be interesting to see what team shows up on Sunday.” |
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| 13 Sep - Hogan Stand - “I was kicking five or six points a game which is something that I don’t think you can do every day, but the important thing is to hang in there and it will come back to you. “It’s probably the first spell like this that I have had with Kerry, but I have had plenty of bad spells with the club. The big thing is learning how to deal with it and trying to get your form back.” |
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| 13 Sep - Mayo News - EVER wonder how the players while away All-Ireland football final week? Seventeen years later, I remember every detail of that day: keeping your head down on the parade so you don’t see family. Thinking this is my team’s best ever chance and we must not leave a stone unturned. Listening to the anthem but thinking only of the first ball that will come into my corner. Running and racing for every ball as if your life depended on it. And all against the soundtrack of a ticking clock. | |
| 13 Sep - Mayo News - "The mistakes we made in the past were allowing too many outside things get in the way of preparing for the 70 minutes and we didn’t realise that until the game had started and it was too late then. This (press night) isn’t important, the suits we wear, the hotel we stay in, the tickets … none of that matters. “The only thing that matters is the match and that’s all we’re thinking of now and until it starts. Look, I’m not married but I reckon an All-Ireland final is probably as close as you’ll get to a wedding day. It’s that big of an event in your life and you have to do everything you can to be right for it." |
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| 13 Sep - Mayo News - “I’m looking forward to it,” he adds. “I have nothing to lose. The pressure is on the Kerry midfielders. Who the hell am I? I’ve achieved nothing so far in Gaelic football compared to what Darragh Ó Sé has done so I’m going to relish the challenge, I’m going to look forward to it. At the end of the day if I get beaten then so what, nobody expected me to do any good. | |
| 13 Sep - Mayo News - I was reviewing my 2004 preview last night and found the following paragraph, which might help focus the minds of Mayo and Roscommon players as they prepare for the final. ‘You travel home, whether by plane or automobile, a loser. Let me type that last bit again. A loser. And for those slow achingly long winter months that is what you are. Your spirit will redeem and regenerate but the result will never change. And it leads to moments in your life, when in the company of winners, despite your own accomplishments, you know you cannot escape the reality of your plight’ |
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| 12 Sep - Hogan Stand - "You only have to look at Kerry’s record over the last five or six years. They have won two or three All-Irelands and been there or thereabouts every other year. They have footballers of tremendous ability and also have the experience of the big day which is always a help. "Kerry carry our respect naturally, but the important thing for us is that we concentrate on our game. There has been a great atmosphere in the camp all summer, and I think that’s been seen on the pitch. But this is another step up and we must make sure to get it right on the day." |
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| 12 Sep - Hogan Stand -Arguably the two top midfielders in the country come face to face on All-Ireland final day in what is a fascinating duel. Apart from being superb footballers and athletes, both men bring tremendous leadership to their respective teams. | |
| 12 Sep - Hogan Stand - The Tralee man explains how he owes a great deal to Seamus Moynihan for providing him with the inspiration to reach the heights he has this season. “The older lads have been inspirational, especially Seamus. The leadership he gives is unreal. He was an inspiration when I was a kid watching him and now it’s even more inspirational playing alongside him. He helped me to settle in the first day I played at full forward against Longford. Things went well for me at the start of that game and I gained a lot of confidence from that.” |
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Moran and Morrison clock up the mileage in pursuit of Mayo dream |
12 Sep - Independent - In the driver's seat there's Mickey Moran, soft-spoken, solemn, straight-laced, studious, not prone to any rash outbursts of humour. He speaks of faith, family and divinity. "Thy Kingdom Come," he declared after Mayo's miraculous defeat of Dublin in the recent All-Ireland semi-final. In the passenger's seat is one of the game's most gregarious, colourful characters. John Morrison's predilection for doing offbeat things is by now legendary. |
| 12 Sep - Independent - In fairness to Kerry, the statistics don't back up Cork's inference that there's a snide seam running through the team. Either that, or Kerry are very skilful at avoiding detection by referees. They have conceded 152 frees in their seven championship games this year while winning 150. That suggests they're as much sinned against as sinners. Mayo have a much wider differential, having won 91 frees in six games while conceding 126. |
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| 12 Sep - Hogan Stand - While thirty-one counties might wish to see Mayo finally win an All-Ireland, sporting life does not obey such corny sentiment. We will have to earn it, as Kerry men never seem to tire of winning. I am a great believer in every dog having his day and the great pride we have in our county, both as people and as footballers, has insisted we keep trying. That we keep going back for more - pain, disappointment, regrets - certainly. But each new season we rev up and go again. Always dreaming; knocking at the door. We are there again at the front door. This time we might just kick it in. | |
| 12 Sep - RTE.ie - The problem with standing up to the bully is that, if you're going to hit him, make it a good one. If you don't knock him to the ground, he's going to be one angry bully. Mayo had, unfortunately, only grazed Kerry's chin. The Kingdom stood, somewhat dazed, but generally amazed that the pipsqueak they had pushed around for years was showing a backbone. But, so close to the line, Kerry were not to be denied; they held the men in green and red at arm's length while they flailed wildly in the hope of landing that lucky haymaker. |
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| 12 Sep - Examiner - O’Connor admitted that he was more at ease within himself this time round and ‘enjoying’ the build-up along with the players. “It’s not about gritting your teeth for nine months and hoping you’ll enjoy the final,’’ he commented. “Everybody wrote us off this year after the replay against Cork, including a lot of our own gang in Kerry. In many ways everything we have done since has been a bonus. We just said we’d go out without any pressure and try and enjoy it — and see where it would take us. And it has taken us to an All-Ireland final." |
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| 12 Sep - Examiner - Billy Joe Padden is aware of the perception people have of Mayo football. And he doesn’t like it one bit. Their efforts to win that fourth All-Ireland have been cruelly thwarted at the last hurdle time and again. Always the bridesmaids, Mayo have been called gallant losers at best, chokers at worst and hard is the heart that hasn’t expressed sympathy for their long-suffering supporters. | |
| 12 Sep - Examiner - “There are 30 fellows inside there with each trying their best to get on the team. At some stage it happens a lot of fellows, who are dropped for various reasons. But, you have to accept it, and work twice as hard to try and get your place back. It’s how you react when you’re dropped is the key,’’ he said. “It boils down to yur own attitude. You go away, re-assess and try all the harder. And, it’s on the training ground that you get your form back.” - Declan O'Sullivan | |
| 12 Sep - Examiner - Mayo manager Mickey Moran insisted yesterday that his side did not peak in their thrilling All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin. And he admits that there is plenty of scope for improvement for the Connacht champions ahead of Sunday’s decider against Kerry. | |
| 12 Sep - Hogan Stand - Donaghy is undoubtedly Kerry’s most important player and the Mayo management will have spent a great deal of time trying to come up with a plan to stop him. They could attempt to cut off the supply, but that’s easier said than done. If Heaney can somehow contain the Kerry dangerman, then Mayo will stand a great chance of winning their first All-Ireland in 55 years. The Swinford man cannot allow Donaghy to win clean possession, otherwise his team will suffer the same fate as Longford, Armagh and Cork. |
| 11 Sep - GAA.ie - "It's like night and day. You couldn't compare the way we have gone through this year with last year. Last year, we went full steam ahead right through the championship. I think beating Cork by 13 points in the semi-final did us no favours. We might have peaked a month too early last year. We probably played our best football in the semi-final. It's been different this year. We started off very slowly. Our season didn't get going until probably about eight weeks ago with the Longford game." |
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| 11 Sep - Irish Examiner - "At the end of the day, our training sessions are not about stopping Kerry. You've got to believe in yourself and you have got to have a faith in your own principles on how it should be done. You're not going to have an All-Ireland handed to you." | |
| 11 Sep - Irish Independent - So while the main focus of the 82,000 people in Croke Park on Sunday will be on Donaghy every time the ball is directed his way, the reality is that Kerry could still win the game if he never touched the ball because they have enough talented players elsewhere to do so if things go right for them. | |
| 11 Sep - Irish Independent - For a guy who yearns to be invisible, Ciaran McDonald glistens like a gold crown caught in a smear of sunlight. "To be honest, I've seen him do stuff in training that's just, I won't say out of this world, but he has a unique talent, no question about it." That talent is a floating kind of puppetry. He has the gift of endless time. His body strength is subtle but palpable and his ease with a ball is so natural and un-fussed, he could make Fred Astaire look wooden-footed . |
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| 11 Sep - Irish Examiner - "I'd be a fairly driven individual, whether it be underage or schools, or inter-county. I'd always try to win every competition I'd enter, and yes, being in a third successive final is great from a consistency point of view. But the bottom line is you don't get any medals for being in finals, the goal is to win. We'd consider the year a failure if we don't win the All-Ireland." | |
| 11 Sep - GAA.ie - There is a school of thought out there that Mayo may well have peaked during that epic semi-final win over Dublin and could be lame ducks come Sunday. Not a bit of it says Moran, having gone through the match video with a fine toothcomb. "You take every game on it's merits. It could be a whole different game on Sunday." |
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Fairy-tales abound, but Darragh's still making his own legend |
11 Sep - Irish Times - "People ask if beating Armagh this year was something special for me. It wasn't. You can read a lot into these things. It's about winning. It doesn't matter if you beat Kilkenny footballers in the All-Ireland final. It's about the winning. They'd say the same in Mayo." |
| 10 Sep - Sunday Tribune - A maker of memories, Seamus Moynihan is determined to add one more great image to the long list he's created. Like DJ with his nose to goal or Jackie Robinson stealing home for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Seamus Moynihan has bestowed on us one of the great images of sport. Gnarled in muscle and against the odds, he tears from a pack of players, the ball clasped in his hands. The sight is familiar and constant. |
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Geographical isolation helps Kerry in the battle to be kings |
10 Sep - Sunday Independent - They don't do sob stories in that part of the country. They will come out with all guns blazing and will attempt to crush Mayo early as they did in 2004. They will hope that, again, this time, they will have put football out of Mayo's head well before half-time. Kerry have a few ageing gunfighters who might be about to depart the scene and they want to go out with their boots on. So for Mayo playing well is not a winning option; they need to be great. Anything less and history will merely repeat itself. |
| 10 Sep - Sunday Times - Having helped Mayo win their last All-Ireland title in 1951, Eamonn Mongey has waited a lifetime to see their next. “I’ve had a triple bypass, two angioplasties, two stents, a new hip and all my veins re-aligned. I’ve got a defibrillator and a pacemaker and I’ve had asthma for about 25 years. I keep hoping that one of the reasons I’ve taken such precautions to stay alive is I’m waiting for Mayo to win the next All-Ireland.” |
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| 10 Sep - Sunday Independent - In one corner of the room a dozen journalists were mobbing Kieran Donaghy, while Séamus Moynihan was barely visible under a canopy of dictaphones. O'Mahony, on the other hand, was sitting unattended by the wall, like the girl nobody has asked to dance. It seemed appropriate; he might be quickly becoming one of the best defenders in the country, but the Rathmore man hasn't really figured on the media radar yet. Three years in, he's still the mystery man of the Kerry set-up. "I keep taking inspiration from the good players around me, keep the enthusiasm going because Jack has been fair with me. That's how he is. Whoever is doing it in training gets their chance, so you can't slacken off." He's taken his chance. Chances are he'll keep taking it. |
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| Date with their destiny | 10 Sep - Sunday Tribune - For all Mayo's flair, they do not have the ammo for a straight shootout with Kerry. In '04 they were particularly naive. Kerry were on the rampage yet the only stoppage in the first half came when David Brady was brought on for Fergal Kelly. Think Tyrone would have been that innocent? "On given days we probably weren't cynical enough . . . well, pragmatic enough, " accepts Nallen. "We kept trying to play ball when alternative routes might have been more fruitful, like breaking the play, breaking their momentum." |
| 08 Sep - Hogan Stand - The purpose of the weekend away is to ensure that the Mayo players are mentally and physically up to the task of playing Kerry on Sunday week. Moran has already appealed to Mayo supporters – who have a reputation for getting over-excited – to let the team prepare and concentrate on the task in hand without distraction. | |
| 08 Sep - Evening Herald - The Kerry players have "been there, done that" Moran concedes. The whole preparation for a final is "second nature to them". "Jack is an astute man. He has a footballing brain; he's a winner; he's totally, totally focussed on what he does. Look at their calibre of players - Donaghy has added a dimesion to them. And you know, they wrote off Seamus Moynihan last year ....sure he's playing like a ten-year-old again!" |
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| 07 Sep - The Kerryman - Getting beaten, often under the most unfortunate of circumstances, has been a feature of Mayo teams for so long that the supporters must wonder if their luck will ever change. But here, there is an old saying that must give them some hope, i.e “it's a long road that has no turning”. That recent heroic display against Dublin will fuel the fires of optimism once more as the team prepares for the All Ireland final against Kerry. | |
| 07 Sep - Independent - He has welcomed the 'fresh approach' of Mickey Moran and John Morrison to Mayo. "I think they come into this without baggage. Really nobody knew them when they came in. We know them now. They bring freshness. I always look back on managers they've all won All-Irelands in their first years, Joe Kernan, Mickey Harte, Jack O'Connor, John O'Mahony. Maybe the two boys can do it too." | |
| 06 Sep - Examiner - If the defeat by Cork was Kerry’s wake-up call this summer then the subsequent victory over Armagh was the moment when the rest of the country woke up to the fact that O’Connor’s side were far from dead in the water. | |
| 06 Sep - Independent - "Kieran has done well for us in the three games he has been at full-forward, and, of course, it's a help that he's young, very tall and extremely enthusiastic," said Ó Sé. "But every game is different, and there's no guarantee that he will be as effective in the All-Ireland final as he has been so far. I'm sure that the Mayo will be doing their homework on the best way to counteract Kieran, and so it's very important that we vary our game when we're sending the ball into the forward line.". | |
| 06 Sep - Hogan Stand - “Kerry played Mayo two years ago, but it is history now and we are looking forward to this year’s final, we are not looking back to any past games or indeed the 2004 game. We are looking to Sunday week’s final only and treating it as a different game and as a different Mayo team." | |
| 03 Sep - Sunday Independent - Mayo will have all sorts of nice things written about them. Well deserved, but this is a road well travelled by Mayo and they have managed to lose the run of themselves every time. A massive performance has brought them to the final, an even greater one will be needed to win, because Kerry are, simply, better than Dublin. | |
| 03 Sep - Sunday Independent - He looks like he's enjoying himself and when football stops being fun he'll quit. But, while he's on the field, he's an affront to the apostles of grimness, percentage options and the fear factor. Their problem is that Ciarán McDonald is an entertainer. He goes for the 50-yard pass, the 60-yard point, that no one else would try and, more often than not, it works. Focussing on the times it doesn't work merely reveals the hole in your soul. After all, the man who never made a mistake never made anything. | |
| 31 Aug - GAA.ie - It started out with 33 contenders but almost four months and 64 games later the Bank of Ireland SFC is down to two with Kerry and Mayo set to contest the final in Croke Park on Sunday, September 17th. | |
| 31 Aug - The Kingdom - "“Watch out Kerry,” O’Dwyer warned. “Because I am sure the Kingdom would have preferred to meet Dublin in the decider, despite what is said. “(Mickey) Moran has put together a very serious that has answered every question put to them this season,” the former Laois boss added. | |
30 Aug - Western People - "I suppose the Mayo people will mention revenge seen as we’re meeting Kerry again but if we focus on revenge too much we’ll end up losing focus on the game --we just want to win the next game - win an All-Ireland and it doesn’t matter who it is - Kerry, Cork, Armagh, we just want to get over that line. We have been here 3 times in the last 9 years and its time now to cross that line so we’ll do our utmost to win it." |
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30 Aug - Mayo News - "Ronan was in tears at half-time when he couldn’t go back on because of concussion. That’s how much it meant to him, and the lads knew that. They want so much to win this All-Ireland for the people of Mayo. They don’t want to have any excuses after we play Kerry, and that will mean everybody working hard for the next three weeks." |
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Revenge not an issue as focused Mayo bid to learn lesson of final failures |
29 Aug - Examiner - "Mayo people will be thinking about revenge, but if you focus on that too much you lose focus on the actual game. We just want to win an All-Ireland. It wouldn’t matter if it was Cork, Tyrone or Armagh we were meeting. We have faltered before — three times in the last nine years." |
| 28 Aug - Examiner - September has promised Mayo much and delivered little; the fact it is their tormentors from 2004 awaiting them next month puts everything in perspective. “Look it, there’s a 50/50 chance we can win the final. There’s no point saying any different, regardless of who we’re playing in the final. We’ll be hoping we don’t lose it as we have in 2004, ‘97 and ‘96." | |
| 27 Aug - Independent - A Kerry win this year would be great for football because the players have been true to their best instincts in the big games. Labelling them as a cynical team is foolishness of the highest order and an attempt to stir up controversy where there is none. This year's championship has been mainly about the bright side of the game with a record low usage of the words, "manly", "grimly compelling," and "racheting up the physical intensity." For that let us be grateful. And grateful to Kerry above all. | |
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The sensation of this summer is an underdog making up for lost time |
27Aug - Sunday Times - His has been the story of the GAA summer. As Kerry turn towards an All-Ireland final, Donaghy has already been enshrined as their redeemer. His journey has been epic, from the depths of Austin Stacks junior C team through a reality television show and the sudden transformation from centre field to full-forward, making scores, patting down balls like a boy loosening apples from the highest branch on the tree. |
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