Losers are locked into a lonely state of limbo
For the winners over the weekend, there was the euphoria, Ger Brennan’s word, the sense of anticipation of listening to yesterday’s draw, the first training session of the week (Saturday’s winners may have met on Sunday) as everyone gets together again and just the general satisfaction of being part of the biggest football weekend in a few days’ time.
Whatever other goal has been set, being one of the last eight always ticks a box.
For the losers, ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’ will linger longer after this round more than any other, the sense that a team is neither here nor there. Mayo, Tyrone and Cork will all be feeling that this week, Monaghan less so, though they had put themselves in a decent position going into the second half against Galway. They too will feel some regret.
Failure
All four made the quarter-finals 12 months ago. Does failure to do so now represent a step back? Each case is taken on its own merits but for Mayo and Tyrone especially, and to a lesser degree Cork after they had beaten Donegal in an earlier round, the expectation had to be advancement.
Where do they go from here? The Cork manager John Cleary has already said not to count on him for 2025 after three championship campaigns in charge but progress under him has been incremental. Last weekend was a step back, however; their failure to capitalise on greater possession, marked by a conservative approach to deny Louth counter-attacking opportunities, appeared to cost them.
There is still a strong core group there but they need to have their best inside forwards offering more threat than they have been.
Tyrone can draw something from their recovery from a very poor first half against Roscommon and reference the debut of Eoin McElholm, allied to the latest involvement of Shea O’Hare as evidence of how deep their period of transition is. But since their 2021 All-Ireland triumph championship wins have been fewer (five) than defeats (nine) with one draw from 15 games.
Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan have completed the first year of a three-year extension, having completed three years. They’ll ask questions of themselves now as to whether they are best placed to bring this team forward.
The dwindling support for Tyrone’ s inter-countyteams, evident in the All-Ireland U-20 final against Kerry and again last Saturday when an estimated 6,000 were in Healy Park, is another issue for one of the most successful football counties.
There was more than double that in MacHale Park – hence Mayo post-mortems tend to be more forensic than those of most other counties. How do you weigh up a season where they have been so close in three games against opponents of the calibre of Galway, Dublin and Derry – and without their most dynamic ball-carrier Paddy Dur can–yet seem so far away now?
Durcan’s return will improve them, time is still on his side to have that impact, but how much more improvement is there in them?
What is their ceiling? It may seem strange to say it, especially with their extensive list of ‘what ifs’ they can draw upon from this summer alone, but they may be close to their ceiling. If they are better than what they showed over the last two weekends especially, then it’s not by much.
Kevin McStay has two years of four completed as manager and it would be a surprise if he didn’t press on for a third but having made backroom changes after his first year in Roscommon, is there scope for that now?
The absence of a genuine left-footed freetaker has hurt them, not just this year.
From much the same patch of MacHale Park turf, maybe a little further out, that Kevin McLoughlin hooked a kick to level their Connacht SFC game against Roscommon at the death in 2019, Ryan O’Donoghue had too much hook the other way as his right-footed kick from a difficult angle tracked back across the goalmouth near the end of extra-time. They still levelled through Jordan Flynn to force the penalty shoot-out but had that free – one for a left-footed player – gone over would Derry have felt extra heat down the home straight?
Dexterity
All the top teams are covered from left and right in these situations. Seán O’Shea and David Clifford, Cormac Costello and Paul Mannion, Oisín Gallen and Paddy McBrearty, Shane Walsh and Rob Finnerty though Walsh’s dexterity allows him to kick off his left when the occasion demands too. Even Rory Grugan provides balance to Conor Turbitt and Rian O’Neill further out for Armagh.
Mayo don’t have such luxury. They’ve got by through Cillian O’Connor in the past and O’Donoghue while Aidan O’Shea has stepped up in recent years. But he is not a regular free-taker. They can’ t conjure up one of course but it is a deficit nonetheless that, at this level, costs.
Unlike Tyrone new personnel has dropped in rather than flowed. Donnacha McHugh has been an improbable success as a tracker for some of the most dynamic midfielders and Colm Reape has improved as a goalkeeper. But notwithstanding O’Donoghue’s audacious flick last Saturday night they’ve become quite a readable team for opponents who more often than not know what’s coming next.
They’ll get back up as they’ve always done but how tall can they stand when they straighten?
There’s a long winter for all those teams knocked down over the weekend as a state of limbo prevails.
‘If Mayo are better than they showed over the last two weekends, then it’s not by much’