THE GREATER THE contrast, the greater the potential.
If you want proof of that look no further than an All-Ireland football semi-final weekend, which offers two games that to the neutral eye could neither be of greater contrast nor of greater appeal.
If this was some kind of cinematic celebrity death match, up first on Saturday evening we would have Bambi shaping up to take on Simba with not a dry eye in a full house.
On Sunday, given how they have cast such a huge shadow over everyone else, it probably feels more like Darth Vader and Dracula in a fight to the end, but the weapons of choice are less likely to be lightsabres or wooden stakes, but moulded plastic kicking tees. We will get to that anon.
What we already know is both games have grabbed us hook, line and sinker, selling out in less than a few hours as football’s summer of love goes into overdrive.
Louth and Mayo’s lack of previous is in sharp contrast to Dublin and Kerry’s storied past, yet in many ways it is more instructive as to why football currently inhabits the land of milk and honey rather than languishing in the one of gruel and cod liver oil.
This will be just their third meeting – albeit their first was the even bigger stage of the 1950 All-Ireland final – but their last was only three years ago in Castlebar in a game that was one of many which amounted to an invitation for Jim Gavin’s FRC to take not a scalpel but a saw to the old game.
Louth's Tommy Durnin and Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue in action in 2023. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
Mayo won by a point in a 2023 group game in Castlebar, but the closeness of the scoring was a lie in itself; Louth locked into a defensive structure with 14 men behind the ball had just nine points scored by the end of 70 minutes, but a goal and a point in injury time made a bad game look like an intriguing one.
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In many ways, Louth were one of many who were used by some in the argument that smaller counties would perish if not allowed to be wrapped up in a defensive duvet for their own good.
Gloriously
The reality has gloriously been anything but. The team who managed nine points in 70 minutes with 14 behind the ball, kicked 27 points with just 14 on the pitch last time out.
By playing ball rather than playing percentages, Louth have taken flight. They are not alone. Others such as Cork, Meath, Roscommon, Monaghan, Armagh and, above all, Donegal have thrived in a game where self-expression is no longer deemed to be an act of self sabotage.
Mayo too. The great irony is that after a generational pining for a marquee forward, they have unearthed a marquee forward line in Ryan O’Donoghue, Darragh Beirne and, of course, Kobe, yet expectations have never been lower, inside or out.
Mayo manager Andy Moran celebrating their win over Cork. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The inside part is most likely bothering Andy Moran, who this summer has been desperate to rebuild the connection between the team and its one-time manic support base, a relationship frayed by serial disappointments and severed by the 2021 All-Ireland final no show.
The rush to snap up those semi-final tickets suggests that relationship has been rekindled and if that is so, irrespective of how this weekend rolls, then Mayo football even in its Kobe-less state will be the better for it.
As for Louth, following up a Leinster final win with a first visit to the last four in 69 years means that connectivity is not the issue for Gavin Devlin, but convincing his team that there is even more in them in this head-turning season could be.
Mayo will seek to play the occasion, Louth need to just play the game.
Oddly enough, it is the other semi-final that has put the talk into football this weekend.
Greatness
Ger Brennan was yerrahism on steroids as he hailed the greatness of Kerry’s management team – Cian O’Neill and Kieran Donaghy got the half treatment, while Jack O’Connor got the full, placed on the same pedestal as Mick O’Dwyer.
“Bleedin’ hell, we are only finding our feet,’ lamented Brennan.
“Bleedin’ hell,” was the only part of that sentence we made up (and you just know he was thinking it) but he most certainly has found his feet, since being freed from the GAA disciplinary chain gang.
Ger Brennan celebrates their win over Galway with his daughter Aoibheann. james lawlor photos
james lawlor photos
Jack was not the only one highlighted for praise by Brennan, as the Dublin manager picked out Shane Murphy as the Kerry player who impressed him most.
“His range of kicking, his option-taking, he’s quite calm and collected.
“He’s been a bridesmaid for a long, long time, but he’s stuck at it and now he’s at the altar making things happen,” suggested the Dublin manager.
Shane Murphy with his son Bowie after Kerry's win over Tyrone. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
In the aftermath of last year’s All-Ireland final having been lavished with soft words from Donegal tongues, David Clifford was moved to acknowledge that there were ulterior motives at play.
But it says much that the man who was substitute goalkeeper last year and scapegoated in some quarters back in March after the league final, is now the player who Dublin will seek to dial up the pressure on, and not just in praise.
The beauty about this is if Louth and Mayo are thriving in the new game, Dublin and Kerry are going back to an older game that went a long way to framing their rivalry.
Iconic
The 1977 All-Ireland semi-final was perhaps the most iconic game ever played between them and while it is ultimately remembered for Dublin’s barnstorming finish, it was rooted in their second half dominance in the middle of the field where the street smarts of Brian Mullins schooled the emerging rookie that was Jack O’Shea.
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Half a century on and the first and most critical point of engagement is what will happen out in the middle of the field.
Kerry’s game-plan is anchored on kick-outs, they retained 27 out of 32 against Tyrone and out of 2-25, they scored 2-20 off either the kick-outs they retained or the ones they turned over.
Dublin’s late blitz against Galway was decisive, but they would not have been in a position to strike if they had not won 10 of the latter’s 18 first half kick-outs.
The game has taken Louth and Mayo to a better future and taken Dublin and Kerry back to an even greater past.
Yin and yang, the one thing we know as we stand on the cliff edge is that the game has never been better.
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All-Ireland sellouts show that in football’s summer of love, the game has never been better
THE GREATER THE contrast, the greater the potential.
If you want proof of that look no further than an All-Ireland football semi-final weekend, which offers two games that to the neutral eye could neither be of greater contrast nor of greater appeal.
If this was some kind of cinematic celebrity death match, up first on Saturday evening we would have Bambi shaping up to take on Simba with not a dry eye in a full house.
On Sunday, given how they have cast such a huge shadow over everyone else, it probably feels more like Darth Vader and Dracula in a fight to the end, but the weapons of choice are less likely to be lightsabres or wooden stakes, but moulded plastic kicking tees. We will get to that anon.
What we already know is both games have grabbed us hook, line and sinker, selling out in less than a few hours as football’s summer of love goes into overdrive.
Louth and Mayo’s lack of previous is in sharp contrast to Dublin and Kerry’s storied past, yet in many ways it is more instructive as to why football currently inhabits the land of milk and honey rather than languishing in the one of gruel and cod liver oil.
This will be just their third meeting – albeit their first was the even bigger stage of the 1950 All-Ireland final – but their last was only three years ago in Castlebar in a game that was one of many which amounted to an invitation for Jim Gavin’s FRC to take not a scalpel but a saw to the old game.
Mayo won by a point in a 2023 group game in Castlebar, but the closeness of the scoring was a lie in itself; Louth locked into a defensive structure with 14 men behind the ball had just nine points scored by the end of 70 minutes, but a goal and a point in injury time made a bad game look like an intriguing one.
In many ways, Louth were one of many who were used by some in the argument that smaller counties would perish if not allowed to be wrapped up in a defensive duvet for their own good.
Gloriously
The reality has gloriously been anything but. The team who managed nine points in 70 minutes with 14 behind the ball, kicked 27 points with just 14 on the pitch last time out.
By playing ball rather than playing percentages, Louth have taken flight. They are not alone. Others such as Cork, Meath, Roscommon, Monaghan, Armagh and, above all, Donegal have thrived in a game where self-expression is no longer deemed to be an act of self sabotage.
Mayo too. The great irony is that after a generational pining for a marquee forward, they have unearthed a marquee forward line in Ryan O’Donoghue, Darragh Beirne and, of course, Kobe, yet expectations have never been lower, inside or out.
The inside part is most likely bothering Andy Moran, who this summer has been desperate to rebuild the connection between the team and its one-time manic support base, a relationship frayed by serial disappointments and severed by the 2021 All-Ireland final no show.
The rush to snap up those semi-final tickets suggests that relationship has been rekindled and if that is so, irrespective of how this weekend rolls, then Mayo football even in its Kobe-less state will be the better for it.
As for Louth, following up a Leinster final win with a first visit to the last four in 69 years means that connectivity is not the issue for Gavin Devlin, but convincing his team that there is even more in them in this head-turning season could be.
Mayo will seek to play the occasion, Louth need to just play the game.
Oddly enough, it is the other semi-final that has put the talk into football this weekend.
Greatness
Ger Brennan was yerrahism on steroids as he hailed the greatness of Kerry’s management team – Cian O’Neill and Kieran Donaghy got the half treatment, while Jack O’Connor got the full, placed on the same pedestal as Mick O’Dwyer.
“Bleedin’ hell, we are only finding our feet,’ lamented Brennan.
“Bleedin’ hell,” was the only part of that sentence we made up (and you just know he was thinking it) but he most certainly has found his feet, since being freed from the GAA disciplinary chain gang.
Jack was not the only one highlighted for praise by Brennan, as the Dublin manager picked out Shane Murphy as the Kerry player who impressed him most.
“His range of kicking, his option-taking, he’s quite calm and collected.
“He’s been a bridesmaid for a long, long time, but he’s stuck at it and now he’s at the altar making things happen,” suggested the Dublin manager.
In the aftermath of last year’s All-Ireland final having been lavished with soft words from Donegal tongues, David Clifford was moved to acknowledge that there were ulterior motives at play.
But it says much that the man who was substitute goalkeeper last year and scapegoated in some quarters back in March after the league final, is now the player who Dublin will seek to dial up the pressure on, and not just in praise.
The beauty about this is if Louth and Mayo are thriving in the new game, Dublin and Kerry are going back to an older game that went a long way to framing their rivalry.
Iconic
The 1977 All-Ireland semi-final was perhaps the most iconic game ever played between them and while it is ultimately remembered for Dublin’s barnstorming finish, it was rooted in their second half dominance in the middle of the field where the street smarts of Brian Mullins schooled the emerging rookie that was Jack O’Shea.
Half a century on and the first and most critical point of engagement is what will happen out in the middle of the field.
Kerry’s game-plan is anchored on kick-outs, they retained 27 out of 32 against Tyrone and out of 2-25, they scored 2-20 off either the kick-outs they retained or the ones they turned over.
Dublin’s late blitz against Galway was decisive, but they would not have been in a position to strike if they had not won 10 of the latter’s 18 first half kick-outs.
The game has taken Louth and Mayo to a better future and taken Dublin and Kerry back to an even greater past.
Yin and yang, the one thing we know as we stand on the cliff edge is that the game has never been better.
Bring it on.
*****
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Croker Clashes Dublin GAA Kerry Louth Mayo