"To a man, everyone who wore the jersey discovered moments of brilliance that inspired others"

Leading GAA columnist Martin Carney reflects on a match that changed Mayo forever

MISSING for 75 years. Found at last. So let’s no longer holler the slogan ‘Mayo for Sam’.

At long last let the refrain be: 'Mayo has Sam'.

What a day. What an occasion to be alive. Witnessing the outpouring of emotion when the hooter sounded with Mayo three points to the good was one of the greatest moments of our lives.

Time stood still. The mind and soul struggled to grasp the enormity of the achievement.

We had just seen a heroic performance from a band of heroes who defied the odds by winning the title for the fourth time and, in doing so, bringing to an end Kerry’s chance of retaining their All-Ireland crown.

This was a win rooted in the depths of self-belief that Andy Moran managed to instil in his squad. The formula was straightforward.

Pressurise Kerry in every sector of the field, allow them as little time as possible to weave their rhythms, and make every contest one where they felt the energy and unremitting pressure of the men from the west.

That energy, that venomous and relentless tackling, never flagged from start to finish.

What made it so much more telling was that it was underpinned by the highest levels of discipline imaginable. Few scorable frees were conceded to Kerry throughout.

That a defence that looked so porous and uncertain about itself as recently as the Meath game could fashion the rate of improvement witnessed in such a short time speaks volumes for the remedial work carried out by Andy and his management team.

Though Kerry opened with the opening three scores, there were reasons to feel confident. Mayo were matching or getting the better of them in general play and those scores came twice as a result of Mayo turnovers.

The alarm bells, however, began to toll a little later when Sean O’Shea’s point was followed by David Clifford’s goal after an assist from O’Shea.

It marked one of the few occasions when Clifford shook off the attention of Donnacha McHugh. The Castlebar Mitchels man made Clifford’s afternoon way less bountiful than the Fossa man would have anticipated.

Fair enough, he ended the day with one goal and six points to his credit but McHugh’s concentrated defending late in the game in particular deprived his opponent of the openings he and his team so badly craved.

After their goal, Kerry must have thought it was going to be a matter of not if but by how much they would emerge victorious.

However, Mayo’s Jack Carney had other ideas and his ability to notch two-pointers was well flagged. With 29 orange flags from 17 different scorers, the Green and Red were market leaders in this department.

Carney was second best in this facet of play with six. Once he added his seventh to the list, that was soon followed by a similar score from Ryan O’Donoghue.

Noticeably, from here on the balance of play began to tilt in Mayo’s favour. Kerry betrayed a look of shock and bewilderment in response to the scores: this wasn’t supposed to be.

Between then and the half-time whistle, Sam Callinan, Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne added points so that at the break, having played into the wind, Mayo found themselves just one in arrears.

Some of the noteworthy features worth recalling from the half had to do with restarts. Mayo may have had a return of seven from 13 of their own, whereas Kerry had a 66% success rate here.

Yet Livingstone had a greater range and variation to his Kerry counterpart, Shane Murphy, who struggled to find the erstwhile fluency and accuracy that had been a feature of his game all season.

And then there was the issue of the Mayo forward line.

For decades, Mayo people lamented the absence of a match-winning attacking unit that would enrich their play and take them to the promised land. Andy Moran, after scrutinising the wreckage of the Roscommon defeat, saw that radical change was required and decided to give Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald the opportunity to flank Ryan O’Donoghue in the inside line.

In retrospect, this more than anything provided the blueprint that landed Sam.

A pair of young tyros flanking a master in his prime opened the gates to a whole new range of possibilities.

That investment in youth gave a whole new energy and impetus. Their fearlessness, sense of adventure, and moments of instinctive improvisation and daring became the norm.

O’Donoghue himself assumed levels of leadership that had lain undiscovered. His freedom to roam at will, call the shots, rattle over scores, execute tackles and provide direction were there for all to see.

Beirne and McDonald opened the scoring in the third quarter to gave Mayo a lead that they were never to relinquish.

Once Beirne’s shot found the net and moved his team four clear, Mayo people began to believe.

The lad's poise and composure in finishing the move was a tribute to one so young and inexperienced.

That it came from a player who seemed to be carrying a knock for most of the second period makes the achievement more noteworthy.

From there to the finish the exchanges were frenetic. Kerry, mainly due to the efforts of the Cliffords, kept within touching distance.

Aside from substitute Keith Evans and Graham O’Sullivan, the Clifford brothers accounted for all of Kerry’s return in the second period.

Inspired by O’Donoghue and Jordan Flynn, Mayo managed to remain in the lead. Indeed, had a Kobe effort found the net instead of going over the bar and a Flynn attempt not hit the crossbar, Mayo could well have won this game by a double-digit margin.

A few bad wides when they were in the ascendancy created moments of tension but in truth, Mayo were much the better team in nearly every facet of play.

Fitness-wise they looked superior. Their defensive tactical plan bore the desired dividend. They played with a fearlessness and purpose Kerry were unable to match.

To a man, everyone who wore the jersey discovered moments of brilliance that inspired others. Their press on the Kerry restart was something the Kingdom struggled to deal with.

But it was that collective hunger, that desire to bring an end to decades of hurt and disappointment, that set them apart.

No longer were they prepared to be classed as losers, nor as a group unworthy of the respect they felt they and their county deserved.

The rage to set the record straight burned fiercely. It was this attitude, this desire to satisfy the cravings of the tribe they represented, that set them apart.

They have joined the ranks of the immortals in the county and will be forever remembered with pride.