THE full extent of John Maughan's miracle won't be apparent until tomorrow and whereas the suspicion here is that it mightn't yet be complete, it already looks astounding. A team that 12 months ago was facing a season in Division Three has reached the third Sunday in September with a 50-50 shot of lifting Connacht's first All Ireland in 30 years.
One obvious tribute to the achievement is that it has overshadowed Sean Boylan's remarkable reconstruction of Meath as a championship force, from beginnings that if not as lowly as Mayo's, were certainly humble.
Tomorrow's Bank of Ireland All Ireland football final is the least expected in a generation. When exactly was the last time two teams so far down the pecking order at the start of the year, actually made it as far as September? It is a match that brings together two managers whose attention to detail and minutiae is beyond doubt. With Maughan, this attention extends to a desire to control all circumstances relevant to preparation for an All Ireland.
He has succeeded to a far greater extent than would have been anticipated here. Requesting that there be no songs featuring players names and urging his panel to turn their back on the excitement until the match is over had the look of something easier said than done.
But he has achieved it.
The excitement has risen steeply in the last week, but it is partly fuelled by a genuine sense of expectation. The very distancing that might have alienated the public has instead convinced them that something momentous is happening. The players are so obviously serious about winning that the public realise the best part of All Ireland mania doesn't have to be the week before the match.
Maughan has the public in his grasp because of the performance of the team and he commands his players because they can see he knows what he's talking about. To paraphrase Brian Mullins, in relation to Kevin Heffernan and 1974, the Mayo players realise that everything Maughan tells them is coming true.
A meticulous planner, he used the Connacht draw to fine tune preparations. When Mayo went to London in the first round and looked abject, it was because their stamina training had been delayed by the team's progress to a League semi final.
There is some irony in headlines on match reports of Mayo's first two championship fixtures, published in The Irish Times: "Mayo look second rate" (London) and "Patchy Mayo display won't scare anyone" (Roscommon). But they do emphasise the gradation of the team's performances in early summer.
In the Roscommon match the most important aspect of Mayo's performance was hidden in the small print - they had dominated the last 10 minutes as they were to do in the two matches since.
The vibe around Maughan is obvious. On Wednesday night he strode into a remote community hall in Meelick in order to present some prizes at the bingo night which was raising £350 for the Mayo training fund. It wasn't strictly necessary. He could have told them he was busy preparing the team, but he didn't.
Adopting a line he frequently re visits, Maughan told his enthralled audience to come to Dublin with or without tickets, to enjoy and savour the weekend and then come home and celebrate. To a proud outpouring, he announced: "I can't guarantee you we'll win, but I guarantee you this, we won't be walked on".
At his house that evening a parcel was delivered. It came from a man in America whose nephew is a publican in Charlestown. The uncle had commissioned him to buy a big piece of crystal for Maughan and convey the message that although unable to come back to the match, the uncle wanted to thank Maughan for putting balls back into Mayo football".
It is this defiance, both of opposition and tradition, that most characterises the current Mayo team. Like Wexford, a fortnight ago, they have refused to learn the mean script written for them over the last three decades.
The popularity of a Mayo win might be unfair on Meath, but their circumstances are so plainly superior to Mayo's that it is inevitable. Some publicity has tried to suggest that Meath's unpopularity owes something to a couple of incidents in the Tyrone semi final.
Whereas those incidents were worthy of comment, despite what Meath have disingenuously claimed, they weren't decisive moments in the match and have nothing to do with public sentiment.
Meath are in their fifth All Ireland final in the last 10 years, a record equalled by only Cork. They have mopped up two minor and one under 21 All Irelands in the last six years. In other words, they are plutocrats in the modern game. Mayo are simply underdogs.
It has, nonetheless, been a great year for Meath. They have galloped through matches with an exuberance quite different from their more clinical predecessors. The rolling legend about how they were thought possible losers to Carlow in the first round in Leinster may be exaggerated, but Laois were fancied in reasonable quarters to beat them.
Similarly, Dublin might have been mismanaged, but it still took courage for a young Meath team to face down the All Ireland champions in the closing 10 minutes of an attritional Leinster final.
Almost certainly, Tyrone underestimated Meath and ended up rattled beyond repair at the ferocity of the onslaught. But the abiding image is of excellent performances from young players, Geraghty, Callaghan and, in particular, Giles.
Yes, both semi final victories can be ceconstructed into less impressive events than they appeared: Kerry were so loose that they played into Mayo's hands; too many frees were handed on a plate to Maurice Fitzgerald; Maurice Sheridan's dead ball kicking wasn't as flawless as it seemed to be; Meath's half backs were under terrible pressure during the first half; Tyrone's midfield was a disaster waiting to happen; Canavan was injured etc, etc.
The point is that both of tomorrow's finalists went into matches favourites to lose and came out to general acclaim.
The question at the heart of tomorrow's engagement is which team will more successfully be able to reproduce the achievement of their respective semi finals. I believe that Mayo will. There were five elements to the victory of either team.
Firstly, midfield: Meath's dominated Tyrone in a fashion that it is hard to imagine them repeating against Liam McHale and David Brady who have both the reach and the strength to match John McDermott and Jimmy McGuinness.
Secondly, full forward. Brendan Reilly will not be able to get out first to as much ball as was the case in either the Leinster final or the All Ireland semi final. Both Dermot Deasy and Chris Lawn struggled in a fashion that evidence suggests won't apply to the athletic Kevin Cahill.
John Casey, on the other hand, has processed a few full backs. Gary Fahy is well regarded, but suffered terribly at Casey's hands and if, against Kerry. Mike Hassett was a mistaken selection, he fared no worse than Sean Burke who would have been most people's choice as Kerry's best full back.
Thirdly, Graham Geraghty thrived on all the looseness against Tyrone, but significantly, wasn't as forceful during the more evenly contested first half hour. Pat Holmes may be able to contain him, but if not, Mayo have options and the likely claustrophobia of the match won't suit the Meathman.
On that line, in Mayo's favour, is the consideration that Tommy Dowd may be at sea covering James Nallen's breaks from centre back which are mainly an instrument of relief, but can also yield scores, as the goal against Kerry showed.
Fourthly, Meath's physical aggression against Tyrone cannot be effectively repeated tomorrow. Mayo are more robust, both because of their natural physiques and after a season of Maughan's training. In addition, the borderline stuff will be closely watched by referee Pat McEneaney (apart from a horror St Patrick's weekend last march, the best in the game).
That might affect Mayo as much as Meath, given that any crackdown will be evenly applied and that Mayo might be fired up on the physical considerations. Maughan's premium on discipline, however, makes lapses less likely and that is important. Meath's Trevor Giles mightn't kick as many frees as Maurice Sheridan, but it may be that he would kick more under extreme pressure.
Finally, in the matter of the roving half forwards, Colm McMenamon may be more limited than Giles, but he is less likely to be followed by Enda McManus who will want to shut up the centre of the defence.
In addition, Giles may bring Noel Connelly with him and he is happy enough within range of the opposition posts to create a nagging worry for Meath.
Like Liam Griffin and Wexford's hurlers, Maughan has a game plan which he has managed to inflict on the opposition to date. Unlike Griffin, he is more of a pragmatist and will settle for tomorrow being the Jury's Cabaret of sport rather than the Riverdance, as long as Mayo win.
Posterity beckons for both managers tomorrow: a first in a generation for the west or Boylan to become only the second manager, after Heffernan, of the modern age to bring two teams to an All Ireland. They may both do it yet, but I expect Maughan to do it first.
