Connacht SFC Final/Mayo 0-12 Galway 1-08: When a county has won 40 provincial championships, it is inevitable that the details get blurred over the decades. But it seems certain that the closing moments of this latest deliverance for Mayo, the 41st Connacht title, will remain vivid and precious in this most inflamed of football heartlands.
As the game edged towards injury time, the flamboyant Conor Mortimer stood with the ball in his possession for a kick that would cap what was a gallant Mayo comeback. It didn't matter that most of the game had been poor or that the home team had made heavy weather of overcoming a disappointing Galway team on a scorching day in Castlebar.
The only concern was Mayo had the chance to fashion a famous win despite a fortnight of low expectations and grim predictions. A flash of peroxide in the sun, a nimble delivery and a huge roar, a release, really, confirmed Mortimer had made a great, left-footed score.
Galway attacked with new-found urgency and, with McHale Park on tenterhooks now, managed to win a last-gasp free through Michael Donnellan. Galway's favourite son has worked near-miraculous feats down the years and many people were banking on a draw. That free, the last kick of the game, was about 37 metres out but well within Donnellan's range. But all day his radar had been slightly off and this dramatic attempt at a reprieve fell left and short. Mayo celebrated as only Mayo can.
That was the breathtaking conclusion to a strange Connacht final between these two great rivals. Going into the last five minutes, it appeared Galway might well retain their championship simply by hanging around. They led 0-05 to 0-4 at half-time despite being overwhelmed by the men in red and green throughout the field over the first half hour.
It was apparent Galway would probably need a goal to secure the day and that fell beautifully for them. Damien Dunleavy's attempted point was half blocked down and when the ball bounced in the Mayo parallelogram, it spun horribly over Dermot Geraghty, who was in front of Galway's deepest-lying forward, Matthew Clancy. Mayo goalkeeper John Healy decided to force the situation and Clancy deftly beat him with a flick of his hand. With Mayo reeling, Pádraic Joyce added a free and suddenly Galway led 1-07 to 0-6 with 25 minutes remaining.
What followed was a rousing vindication of the kind of spirit and talent Mickey Moran has steadfastly insisted exists in this team.
Steadily, they went to work on shaping the match to their liking. Ger Brady led the way with one of his trademark no-nonsense attacks, clipping a point on the run. Alan Dillon's free restored the confidence of the local support and then Mayo delivered one of those gorgeous scores the county specialises in, with Ciarán McDonald and Conor Mortimer making two brilliant passes before Billy Joe Padden added the grace note. That score meant it was game on with 20 minutes left.
It was no more than Mayo deserved. From the beginning, they were flying, with the back six on top and with James Nallen, Keith Higgins and Gardiner dominant all through.
The midfield of Ronan McGarrity and Pat Harte were dominant too. McGarrity was immense all afternoon, the pick of the players on view. Padden and Peadar Gardiner took the game to Galway at speed and, after a slow beginning, McDonald began to exercise a powerful hold on the game, dictating affairs and orchestrating key Mayo attacks. Trevor Mortimer made a smart contribution when he came in and big Kevin O'Neill stepped up to deliver a massive point with four minutes left, bringing Mayo back to level terms and setting up Mortimer's moment.
This would have been a hateful game for Mayo to lose. They posted a worrying nine wides in the first half, several of them clear-cut chances, and were hit by a couple of wonderful Galway points before the break, with Michael Meehan briefly flaring to land a mighty point on 33 minutes. This was a pale version of the Galway team that played here in April, despite notable performances from Diarmuid Blake, Finian Hanley and Donnellan.
Yet with their canny survival instinct and Clancy's goal from the blue, the match seemed destined to end in frustration for Mayo. With five minutes to go, Galway still looked a smart bet to sneak home. Cormac Bane had just fired a brave point under pressure and then Paul Clancy went for broke with a screwing, left-foot shot that clipped the post.
That was the break Mayo needed and their late surge was tremendously exciting, Donnellan and Harte trading heart-stopping wides before Mortimer took a deep breath and delivered the silverware for the ecstatic faithful.
MAYO: J Healy; D Geraghty, L O'Malley, K Higgins; D Heaney, J Nallen, P Gardiner; R McGarrity, P Harte (0-1); BJ Padden (0-1), G Brady (0-1), A Dillon (0-2, one free); A Moran, C Mortimer (0-4, two frees), C McDonald (0-2, 45, free). Subs: K O'Neill (0-1) for A Moran (33 mins), T Mortimer for G Brady (56 mins). Yellow cards: D Heaney (44 mins), D Geraghty (53 mins), A Dillon (53 mins)
GALWAY: B O'Donoghue; A Burke, F Hanley, D Burke; D Meehan, D Blake, M Comer; N Coleman, M Donnellan; M Clancy (1-0), C Bane (0-1), J Bergin (0-1); M Meehan (0-2, 45), P Joyce (0-3, two frees), S Armstrong (0-1).Subs: D Dunleavy for S Armstrong inj (36 mins), B Cullinane for N Coleman (41 mins), K Fitzgerald for A Burke (52 mins), P Clancy for Dunleavy (63 mins). Yellow cards: D Burke (28 mins), M Donnellan (36 mins).
Referee: P Russell (Tipperary)
