All-Ireland SFC Quarter-final/Laois 0-15 Mayo 0-15: Heaven can wait. The quarter-final that was supposed to be an audition for a place in the sky-blue carnival of Dublin All-Ireland ambitions proved such entertainment that neither Laois nor Mayo are in any rush ahead. After a match that did much to elevate the quality of the championship, the counties will almost certainly meet here again next Saturday at Croke Park at 4pm (sharp, for any Metropolitans thinking of heading along to sample the next course).
This was nerve-racking stuff for two hardcore football counties whose supporters have been given more reasons than most to visit the psychiatrist's couch. Laois, producing the all-out-adventure style of game that has been customary under Mick O'Dwyer, came tantalisingly close to rewarding the great Kerryman's faith in them with a place in the glamour semi-final.
Perhaps they drew breath 90 seconds too early. And Mayo endured the usual litany of staggering wides and fatal mistakes and pure bad luck but, crucially and commendably, their boys refused to be jilted at the dancehall this time around.
Trailing by 0-15 to 0-13 after Noel Garvan walloped a morale-sapping point with six minutes left, Mayo had performed creditably enough to fade out and make polite noises afterwards before heading home to wails of woe in the heartland. But they fought back, substitute Aidan Kilcoyne angling a beautiful point on the run on 67 minutes before Conor Mortimer claimed a ball to which he had no right and was instantly hauled down for a free.
A 14-yard kick, the Croke Park masses baying and Mayo's future on the line is grist to the mill of Shrule's most famous peroxide. He duly nailed it and that was that.
Mortimer's battle with Joe Higgins was one of the many fascinating localised duels all over the Croke Park turf. Every ball sent in made for a great race of speed and wit between two clean and swift players. An early slip by Mortimer and two discouraging wides must have provoked flashes of earlier nightmares in Mayo minds. But in a hugely brave display, Mortimer kept showing for every ball, finished the afternoon with 0-6 and banged three wides in the process, one of those a free. His 56th-minute point, coming just after his only miss of the second half and tightly cutting the Canal End posts, was divine. It levelled the scores at 0-12 but arrived during a period when the Westerners were devoid of inspiration and was arguably the most important score by any Mayoman in the past five years. After that, Mayo refused to go away.
At the other end, Chris Conway, Garvan and, in a spellbinding second half, Donie Brennan lit things up for Laois. The experiment (from O'Dwyer's 1970s Book of Tricks) of placing Garvan at full forward worked well; the converted midfielder kicked three good points and saw plenty of ball in a wonderfully open match of such attacking zeal that midfield was largely bypassed, with Mayo's Pat Harte arguably the most prominent of the four central men.
In the helter-skelter, it was a day for forwards but there were lion-hearted defensive displays, Dermot Geraghty, Keith Higgins and Peadar Gardiner covering acres for Mayo while Darren Rooney and Tom Kelly were resolute for Laois.
Both defences had to cope with a lot, with plenty of dropping ball and runners overlapping with impunity.
Laois are so comfortable in possession they have mastered a slow-fast attacking game, constantly changing the direction of attack. The one disappointment for them was that their wing and corner forwards did not put more on the board. Conway was smart and economical in open play and finished with a glittering 0-6, three from play. But though he gave James Nallen a tough hour, the Crossmolina man was prominent in the first 10 minutes, when Mayo were nervous, and was trying to cover Clancy and his own man for Conway's point just before half-time.
Brendan Quigley struck a beautifully masked shot off the post for Laois in that first half, and then Aidan Higgins turned hero for Mayo, diving to push Ross Munnelly's piledriver off the line in the 48th minute. Laois were in rampant mood at that stage. They had speed and cleverness in Munnelly and Brennan and strong, surging direction in Billy Sheehan and were rock solid down the centre. It seemed as if Mayo would, in traditional fashion, rue a series of first-half wides when they twice ignored the gaping Laois goalmouth for points.
Ciarán McDonald did things with the football in that half that only McDonald can do and his sensational passing conjured good things for the initial front-two pairing of Kevin O'Neill and Mortimer. But with McDonald tracking deep in the second half, Mayo were forced to go elsewhere for answers. And they found ways - a typically spirited point from David Heaney and then a huge score from Andy Moran.
The pace never dropped and both Mickey Moran and O'Dwyer showed great faith in their reserves as their teams charged on looking for the victory. Laois seemed to take the definitive lead, Conway clipping a free before Garvan stepped into a Gary Kavanagh feed to boldly nail Laois's 15th point.
That was Mayo's cue to ponder the mythical championship curse. But they stepped up to the plate and it was appropriate that young Mortimer, often maligned for his flamboyance, saved the day.
And in a way, this game has saved the championship. Although it could not possess the fin-de-siècle importance of Kerry versus Mayo, it was full of imagination and sporting spirit. The Dublin backroom boys will fill notebooks watching the replay - because the winners here will feel ready to take on the world, let alone The City.
LAOIS: F Byron; A Fennelly, D Rooney, J Higgins; P McDonald, T Kelly, P McMahon; P Clancy, B Quigley; R Munnelly (0-2, one free), C Conway (0-6, three frees), B McCormack; B McDonald (0-1), N Garvan (0-3), B Sheehan. Subs: D Brennan (0-3) for B McCormack (half-time), P O'Leary for P McDonald (59 mins), G Kavanagh for B McDonald (61 mins).
MAYO: J Healy; D Geraghty, D Heaney (0-1), K Higgins; A Higgins, J Nallen, P Gardiner; R McGarrity, P Harte; BJ Padden (0-1), G Brady, A Dillon (0-2); K O'Neill (0-1), C Mortimer (0-6, two frees), C McDonald (0-1, 45). Subs: B Moran for O'Neill (44 mins), A Kilcoyne (0-2) for Brady (44 mins), A Moran (0-1) for McGarrity (52 mins inj), T Howley for Higgins (59 mins), P Kelly for Nallen (62 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
