I HAVE known the McEntee twins, Tony and John, since I was a young lad at Abbey Grammar School.
My father taught them biology at the Abbey and, indeed, that went for most of the 1993 Armagh minor side, who were beaten in the final that same year. They were the GAA darlings of the school. At a time when most pupils obviously did not have cars, Tony and John used to swing through the gates of the school in a Peugeot 406.
Later, with both Crossmaglen and Armagh, they carried a level of confidence and swagger onto the field that was quite the opposite to the quiet, reserved and approachable nature they held off it. Both Tony and John retired too young from respective county duty in my view - though better to quit a year too early than a year too late, I suppose. Indeed, I have stated in the past how they voluntarily helped me develop my own game without prompting and reached out to me in a telephone call to join them for some one-to-one training.
Was I surprised Tony got involved with Mayo? Yes. I had tried my best to have Tony and Gareth O’Neill take the Down job when it was available, but it wasn’t to be. Stephen Rochford is a dynamic, young Mayo manager, having won an All-Ireland club title as a manager in his own right.
Tony McEntee has won not just All-Ireland titles as a player, but also a manager, with a long established inter-county career part of his armour to boot. Tony carries an innate confidence and the ability to make people feel important about themselves.
I knew Tony did not need a Jim McGuinness or any other ‘guru’ to connect with players when there is no-one more qualified than him to get into players’ heads. Mayo have clearly benefited with his appointment to their backroom. What Rochford and McEntee and the rest of the management have done to date has certainly impressed.
Now, one swallow does not make a summer, much like last Sunday’s glorious draw does not make Mayo any less of a ‘Celebrity Loser’ - a muddy tag that has been thrown at them and stuck, considering all seven All-Ireland final defeats since 1989.
I have been quite critical of Mayo all year in terms of their tactics and general identity. While I will come to the positives, I think it is worth highlighting that, to beat this Dublin team, a ‘perfect storm’ would be required.
Dublin needed to be really poor and Mayo needed to be brilliant. This actually happened, added to the fact the conditions favoured a more westerly team such as Mayo, who are well used to those driving winds from the Atlantic and the incessant rain to boot. It evens up such contests from a playing perspective. But good players also turn up on big occasions.
Picture by Seamus Loughran Mayo's Cillian O'Connor kicks the last point of the game during last Sunday's All-Ireland final at Croke Park
Picture by Seamus Loughran
Cillian O’Connor, while quiet at times, stood up among others and kicked a huge score. In fact, he saved Aiden O’Shea’s bacon and Aiden should consider pledging whatever earthly possessions he has to Cillian.
O’Shea’s wild attempt on 75 minutes was the clearest definition of him as a player, Mayo as a team and, unfortunately, Mayo as a county since 1951. On 75 minutes, it was time to hold the ball, play it through the hands and find the space to kick a point. It was a downright selfish act when he had played his own part in probably the best defensive display of any team in years in the 74 minutes beforehand.
From one to 15, Mayo tackled, blocked and generally caused Dublin to misfire spectacularly. While most of the Mayo players, especially the less glamorous figures like Donal Vaughan and Tom Parsons, can take huge credit from their displays, there is a huge part of me that felt Mayo blew it.
They wasted possession repeatedly, giving the ball away when one more pass would have meant a certain score. It was hugely frustrating from a neutral perspective. You almost felt Mayo were afraid to win. Yes, they showed character to come back from two (own) goals down. But don’t forget these two Dublin chances, on another day, would have been finished to the net by Dublin without the need for
Mayo help. While David Clarke in the Mayo net made some brilliant saves, he was guilty of some terrible restarts, gifting Dublin easy scores.
Will the Dubs’ first touch, shooting and decision-making be as bad October 1? Certainly not. I heard people saying Jim Gavin’s team maybe lacked depth. This is the same Dublin team who have won four National Leagues titles and three out of the last five All-Irelands.
Overall, Connolly, Brogan, McManamon, Flynn and Rock will be taking all this negative chatter and channelling it for the next day. When you try to study Gavin, you understand it is all about ‘the performance’. The guilt of playing so badly will be reaffirmed to the players and a significant improvement demanded. Wholesale changes is not a Jim Gavin process. Andrews may replace McManamon. However, Flynn and Brogan carry enough in the bank to warrant a second chance.
What worried me the most from a neutral perspective was that, when the long whistle was blown last Sunday, at least two Mayo players were interviewed by Sky and RTÉ. Aiden O’Shea and Tom Parsons immediately came on. Not one Dublin player was interviewed on the field.
For me, you get into the changing room, get showered and, only when you can gather your thoughts, do you talk to the media. It seemed a little bit like relief, surprise and pride from O’Shea that they had another day to do it.
If I was Tony McEntee, I would be making sure my first chat at training this week was to Aiden O’Shea. Reminding him that ‘great’ players do not hit shots like that on 75 minutes... or do interviews at ‘half-time’
on the biggest occasion of their lives.
