RESULTS rather than performances are what matter at this stage of the Championship.
Nonetheless, the Mayo fans in Croke Park will have been slightly concerned by their side’s display - particularly in the second-half - as they stuttered to a flattering five-point win over Liam Kearns’ brave Tipperary team.
I don’t think many outside of the Tipperary camp would have genuinely felt they could make it to the All-Ireland final, which meant we were all looking to last Sunday’s game to see if Mayo could produce a performance to instil hope that they are genuine contenders.
Unfortunately, we didn’t witness anything that is going to cause Dublin and Kerry many sleepless nights in the weeks ahead as Tipp were just about kept at arm’s length throughout, like a plucky contender being schooled by the jab of a more experienced opponent.
But to their credit, without setting the world alight at any stage, this Mayo team have made it back to their third All-Ireland final in five years. When they’ve been good, they’ve been very good this year, but those spells have been few and far between. There’s no doubt a more consistent improvement in their overall play is needed, but the ability is there.
The 11 minutes before half-time when Mayo hit 1-7 to Tipperary’s solitary point was a superb indication of what they are capable of when they hit their groove, but an 11-minute burst won’t be sufficient to see off their next opponents. They’ll need to produce this for a full 70 minutes.
Their inside-forwards’ movement, in particular that of Andy Moran, and the final pass was most impressive from Mayo during this spell. It reminded me of Kerry’s forward movement against Dublin in the 2012 All Ireland semi-final.
It’s an area of their game they’ve really improved this season and could go a long way to getting them over the line the next day because it allows them to generate simple points to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
With eight minutes remaining against Fermanagh, the possibility of Mayo reaching an All-Ireland final seemed a million miles away. They hung on by their finger tips in a contest where they looked to be severely lacking in self-belief, understanding of their new defensive formation and, most alarmingly, they seemed to display a lack of unity which we’ve become used to seeing from this group.
I have spoken with Tony McEntee on a number of occasions throughout the season. Tony’s not one to mince his words, but he has always felt they would come good. He felt they were slowly starting to get up to speed with the new vision laid out for them.
I never said it, but I feared for them and I just couldn’t share his optimism. However, it is easy for me to have a negative outlook on them, given I am not privy to the ins and outs of their sessions each night and the morale inside the camp.
I should have known better though, as I had a similar experience with Tony when he took over the reins at Cross in 2010. In the previous season, we had lost in the Armagh championship for the first time in 14 years.
Tony and Gareth O’Neill set about making subtle changes to our style of play and tried to implement their own style of management, which was different from what we’d seen before.
Mayo’s progress this year was similar to ours in 2010 in that we were progressing along, but at no stage doing so in emphatic fashion. We went all the way and won the All-Ireland in 2011 and backed it up by retaining our title in 2012 - but our levels of skill, link play and understanding was at a different level in 2012 from anything we’d shown the previous year.
The surprising thing was we’d actually done nothing different in our second year under their management, it had just taken us the full season before their message actually sunk in. Yes, we were more confident because of our success the year previous, but the main difference was that, as a group, we had begun to completely understand exactly what our management requested and expected from us.
When I texted Tony following Mayo's quarter-final victory over Tyrone, I was honest and said I didn’t expect it - that I’d seen nothing to suggest they had shown the levels of improvement necessary to beat Tyrone. His reply was that, with new management and new ideas, it was always going to take time for all parties to adapt and trust each other.
By booking their place in the All-Ireland final, it’s clear that, after a slow start to the season, Mayo are slowly starting to show the right blend just when it’s needed most.
Looking back on their Connacht Championship loss to Galway, it may have proved a blessing in disguise as it afforded them the opportunity to atone for their mistakes in the same season - something which hadn’t happened in the previous five seasons.
In each of those five seasons, each of their losses signalled the end of their year. The problem with that is that, no matter how hurtful a defeat is at the time, the pain always gets diluted as the months pass.
The fact they’d also taken a huge stand by removing their management last year just added extra pressure on them, pressure that, for long periods this year, looked like getting the better of them.
However, they’ve regrouped well and they’ll be delighted to have the opportunity to sit back and look at this weekend’s game knowing they’ve already made it to the third Sunday in September.
For the Mayo players, they now need to remain in the present and solely focused on getting themselves into the best condition possible to produce a performance when it matters most.
Their recent history of final defeats is in the past and can’t be changed. They have had more than enough practice in these conditions. Now is the time to deliver the ultimate joy to their long suffering supporters.
