THE MAYO FOOTBALLERS were priced at 33–1 odds for the All-Ireland in 2004. The bookies had them at 9-2 for the Connacht title, and measured them at 9-4 to defeat Galway in the semi-final.
Their low ranking can be partially explained by the fact Mayo had not conquered the province since 1999. Championship results from the previous year probably didn’t help either. They lost the 2003 Connacht final to Galway before the old-style qualifier route brought them to Round 4, where they bowed out to Fermanagh.
Still though, then-Mayo manager John Maughan felt his team didn’t get a fair reading from the bookies. Those numbers didn’t reflect their true ability.
“Those were thundering odds,” he said at the time. He was speaking to the press in 2004 after Mayo had ended that five-year gap since their last Connacht crown.
Maughan also mentioned that some of the Mayo players pooled their money together to back their team for provincial success. They took the bet ahead of their Connacht semi-final showdown with Galway which ended in a 0-18 to 1-9 victory.
Trevor Mortimer, the full-forward on that team, scored a point in that game, and added 1-1 in the final where they defeated Roscommon. He won’t say if he was part of that betting group in the team, nor will he divulge the amount in those winnings.
But he can expand on a season where Mayo didn’t quite topple the All-Ireland odds, but did manage to dethrone the reigning champions.
Trevor Mortimer playing in the 2004 Connacht final against Roscommon. INPHO
INPHO
“We were all very fit and raring to go,” Mortimer begins. “We were quite a young team as well.
“It was kind of similar to the current set-up in that there were a few older lads still playing, and a lot of younger fellas coming in. Maughan just brought a great buzz on the pitch. He had us well-trained and well-drilled and things took off for us.”
Mortimer was part of a full-forward line that also included his brother Conor. The blonde-haired speedster finished the championship as the second-highest scorer with 1-42. Number one on the charts went to Wexford star Matty Forde and his 3-38.
That Mayo team boasted other stars of that generation including David Heaney at full-back while James Nallen occupied the six role to great effect. David Brady was a towering force at midfield along with Ronan McGarrity. Mayo’s current manager Andy Moran was involved too as a young cub on that panel.
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The No 11 jersey was reserved for the conductor of the show. He could be quickly spotted by the red socks that were rolled up to his knees, and the Adidas predator boots.
Distinctive hairstyles were also a big identifier. In the Connacht semi-final, Ciarán McDonald was pulling his blonde hair back into a ponytail. He entered his corn rows era for the Connacht final and kept that look intact for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Sam Maguire holders Tyrone.
Ciarán McDonald during the 2004 All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone. INPHO
INPHO
“You’d have to have a big chest to go out with a haircut like that,” Mortimer says, recalling his former teammate’s colourful appearance.
“There was always a good bit of slagging going on. We gave him plenty of abuse but in fairness to him, [it's] water off a duck’s back.”
There was a lot of mystery surrounding the aura of McDonald. He rarely gave an interview and never gave himself away in any other forum that was available in the pre social media age.
Mortimer confirms what we already assumed about McDonald – that he’s a quiet guy who moves in silence.
“You’d never hear or see him. He’s very much to his own buzz. And still is today.”
It’s an interesting contrast to how McDonald presented himself to the world.
He dressed loud and played even louder with a dominant attacking style that was characterised by his preference for kicking the ball off the outside of the boot. He sprayed passes using that technique, and could slice the ball over the bar from huge distances. Equal parts style and precision.
It was a pass from McDonald which orchestrated the move that allowed Mortimer to bang in a goal against Roscommon in the Connacht final. McDonald dropped the ball into James Nallen at the edge of the square who popped it on to Mortimer for the final touch.
And Mortimer was often on the receiving end of those brilliant passes from McDonald many times too.
“He had a great eye for a pass, and it’s one thing seeing a pass, it’s another thing being able to execute it. And you could always check your run with Ciarán.
“You could time him. We had a really good understanding between us. You could always check back, and he’d put the ball where you wanted it.
“It made things easier for you and I suppose vice versa. If you made the runs for him, it gave him options too. He had a great left peg on him and he could execute, which is important because it’s not that simple when you’re up in Croke Park, but he was talented and he was great to play with.”
McDonald and Mortimer tackling Galway's Joe Bergin in the 2004 Connacht semi-final. INPHO
INPHO
McDonald also had a skill for mining scores that could bring the Mayo crowd to life. His famous point in the closing minutes of the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin is a classic example.
McDonald was sporting a different hairstyle at that stage, letting his luscious blonde locks flow in the wind as he knocked over two important points. But it was his second that sealed a 1-16 to 2-12 victory, squeezing his shot between the posts from a narrow angle.
He turned and waved his finger at the crowd in the Hogan Stand, reassuring the Green and Red supporters that victory would be theirs. An iconic image from that era of Gaelic football.
McDonald scored just one point in that 2004 All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone. It was from a free in the 24th minute, but it had a similar rousing effect on the Mayo fans. McDonald was about 45 minutes out from goal on the Hill 16 end of Croke Park, but he stroked it over and even had some distance to spare with the kick.
Again, it was that familiar angular kicking motion, and it gave Mayo a 0-7 0-3 lead to inspire their fans to believe even at that early stage in the game. Tyrone would go on to win two more All-Ireland titles during that decade (2005 and 2008) but their first attempt at back-to-back success ended that day on a scoreline of 0-16 to 1-9.
“When you go into Croke Park against the All-Ireland champions, you need to get off to a good start,” Mortimer recalls of that win for Mayo. Their semi-final that followed was against Fermanagh where they avenged the previous year’s defeat after a replay.
However, Kerry had too much for them in the final, running out comfortable 1-20 to 2-9 winners to lift the Sam Maguire.
McDonald was capable of creating moments that brought the crowd to life. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“A couple of big points, around the 15-20 minute mark just keeps you moving, keeps the momentum going,” Mortimer says, explaining how they got the better of Tyrone. “And those things are all very important when you’re the underdog.
“From the off, we did control the whole game. I think we were just focused. We were on it, and Tyrone might have been slightly off it and listening to the newspapers a bit. That can happen when you’re the All-Ireland champions sometimes.”
That McDonald swagger is thankfully back in the sport, as Kobe continues to bring the thrills for a new audience. He scored 1-4 against Monaghan in his league debut off the bench back in February. And another helping of 1-4 in Clones last month brings his current championship tally to 1-10 (1tpf, 1tp) from two outings.
At just 18, McDonald is making this breakthrough with Mayo while also preparing for a move to the AFL where he will join the St Kilda club later in the summer. He’s also in the middle of completing his Leaving Cert exams which must surely compound the sense of pressure that surrounds him.
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“Sometimes when you’re a young fella, you don’t put any pressure on yourself because you don’t feel it,” Mortimer says.
“I suppose now that it’s out the open that he’s going to Australia, that takes the pressure off too because it is what it is. ‘I’ve been having a bit of fun, at the end of the year I’m off.’ Everybody realises he’s got a lifestyle choice to make, and he can make a decent life for himself out there.”
Kobe McDonald wheels away in celebration after scoring a goal against Monaghan. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
There were shades of Ciarán’s style of play in Kobe’s performance against Monaghan. His jump to claim a kick-out with time almost up was a vital possession. His team was protecting a one-point lead and Monaghan were roaring back into the game after being 11 points down at half-time. Kobe’s catch prompted a mighty roar as the Mayo fans celebrated a 1-24 to 2-20 victory.
And his two-pointer in the first half was executed with that sliced technique that served his father so well in the past.
“You can see the outside of the boot, the angle of the body, the angle of shape and all that,” Mortimer notes. “They’re very similar. But that’s pretty much a given when they’re father and son. He’s a talented young fella. If he turns out to be half as good as his ould fella, he’ll be doing alright.”
22 years on from that All-Ireland quarter-final, Mayo and Tyrone meet once again in a high-stakes game. Of course, there have been other meetings in the interim, including the 2021 All-Ireland final where Tyrone prevailed. And last year’s round-robin clash resulted in a seven-point win for Mayo, although they failed to reach the knockout stages while Tyrone topped their group.
A place in the quarter-finals is the prize on offer in Healy Park this weekend. After a disappointing Connacht championship, reaching that stage would be a successful season according to Mortimer.
But then again, they were also underrated in 2004. Defying the odds is something of a birthright in Mayo.
Much will be expected again of Kobe on Sunday, something which he also inherited from his father. But from what we have seen of him so far, he appears to be shouldering that burden with ease.
“If he keeps going the way he’s going this year, there’ll be a lot of pressure from him going forward. It’s hard enough being from Mayo as a young fella, besides having that kind of pressure on them.
“There’s no talk of All-Irelands in Mayo. If they get to a quarter-final, everybody would be happy enough in Mayo. A half decent run into the later stages of the All-Ireland series would be seen as a bit of progress.”
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Remembering Ciarán McDonald's 2004 battle with Tyrone as the torch passes to Kobe
THE MAYO FOOTBALLERS were priced at 33–1 odds for the All-Ireland in 2004. The bookies had them at 9-2 for the Connacht title, and measured them at 9-4 to defeat Galway in the semi-final.
Their low ranking can be partially explained by the fact Mayo had not conquered the province since 1999. Championship results from the previous year probably didn’t help either. They lost the 2003 Connacht final to Galway before the old-style qualifier route brought them to Round 4, where they bowed out to Fermanagh.
Still though, then-Mayo manager John Maughan felt his team didn’t get a fair reading from the bookies. Those numbers didn’t reflect their true ability.
“Those were thundering odds,” he said at the time. He was speaking to the press in 2004 after Mayo had ended that five-year gap since their last Connacht crown.
Maughan also mentioned that some of the Mayo players pooled their money together to back their team for provincial success. They took the bet ahead of their Connacht semi-final showdown with Galway which ended in a 0-18 to 1-9 victory.
Trevor Mortimer, the full-forward on that team, scored a point in that game, and added 1-1 in the final where they defeated Roscommon. He won’t say if he was part of that betting group in the team, nor will he divulge the amount in those winnings.
But he can expand on a season where Mayo didn’t quite topple the All-Ireland odds, but did manage to dethrone the reigning champions.
“We were all very fit and raring to go,” Mortimer begins. “We were quite a young team as well.
“It was kind of similar to the current set-up in that there were a few older lads still playing, and a lot of younger fellas coming in. Maughan just brought a great buzz on the pitch. He had us well-trained and well-drilled and things took off for us.”
Mortimer was part of a full-forward line that also included his brother Conor. The blonde-haired speedster finished the championship as the second-highest scorer with 1-42. Number one on the charts went to Wexford star Matty Forde and his 3-38.
That Mayo team boasted other stars of that generation including David Heaney at full-back while James Nallen occupied the six role to great effect. David Brady was a towering force at midfield along with Ronan McGarrity. Mayo’s current manager Andy Moran was involved too as a young cub on that panel.
The No 11 jersey was reserved for the conductor of the show. He could be quickly spotted by the red socks that were rolled up to his knees, and the Adidas predator boots.
Distinctive hairstyles were also a big identifier. In the Connacht semi-final, Ciarán McDonald was pulling his blonde hair back into a ponytail. He entered his corn rows era for the Connacht final and kept that look intact for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Sam Maguire holders Tyrone.
“You’d have to have a big chest to go out with a haircut like that,” Mortimer says, recalling his former teammate’s colourful appearance.
“There was always a good bit of slagging going on. We gave him plenty of abuse but in fairness to him, [it's] water off a duck’s back.”
There was a lot of mystery surrounding the aura of McDonald. He rarely gave an interview and never gave himself away in any other forum that was available in the pre social media age.
Mortimer confirms what we already assumed about McDonald – that he’s a quiet guy who moves in silence.
“You’d never hear or see him. He’s very much to his own buzz. And still is today.”
It’s an interesting contrast to how McDonald presented himself to the world.
He dressed loud and played even louder with a dominant attacking style that was characterised by his preference for kicking the ball off the outside of the boot. He sprayed passes using that technique, and could slice the ball over the bar from huge distances. Equal parts style and precision.
It was a pass from McDonald which orchestrated the move that allowed Mortimer to bang in a goal against Roscommon in the Connacht final. McDonald dropped the ball into James Nallen at the edge of the square who popped it on to Mortimer for the final touch.
And Mortimer was often on the receiving end of those brilliant passes from McDonald many times too.
“He had a great eye for a pass, and it’s one thing seeing a pass, it’s another thing being able to execute it. And you could always check your run with Ciarán.
“You could time him. We had a really good understanding between us. You could always check back, and he’d put the ball where you wanted it.
“It made things easier for you and I suppose vice versa. If you made the runs for him, it gave him options too. He had a great left peg on him and he could execute, which is important because it’s not that simple when you’re up in Croke Park, but he was talented and he was great to play with.”
McDonald also had a skill for mining scores that could bring the Mayo crowd to life. His famous point in the closing minutes of the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin is a classic example.
McDonald was sporting a different hairstyle at that stage, letting his luscious blonde locks flow in the wind as he knocked over two important points. But it was his second that sealed a 1-16 to 2-12 victory, squeezing his shot between the posts from a narrow angle.
He turned and waved his finger at the crowd in the Hogan Stand, reassuring the Green and Red supporters that victory would be theirs. An iconic image from that era of Gaelic football.
McDonald scored just one point in that 2004 All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone. It was from a free in the 24th minute, but it had a similar rousing effect on the Mayo fans. McDonald was about 45 minutes out from goal on the Hill 16 end of Croke Park, but he stroked it over and even had some distance to spare with the kick.
Again, it was that familiar angular kicking motion, and it gave Mayo a 0-7 0-3 lead to inspire their fans to believe even at that early stage in the game. Tyrone would go on to win two more All-Ireland titles during that decade (2005 and 2008) but their first attempt at back-to-back success ended that day on a scoreline of 0-16 to 1-9.
“When you go into Croke Park against the All-Ireland champions, you need to get off to a good start,” Mortimer recalls of that win for Mayo. Their semi-final that followed was against Fermanagh where they avenged the previous year’s defeat after a replay.
However, Kerry had too much for them in the final, running out comfortable 1-20 to 2-9 winners to lift the Sam Maguire.
“A couple of big points, around the 15-20 minute mark just keeps you moving, keeps the momentum going,” Mortimer says, explaining how they got the better of Tyrone. “And those things are all very important when you’re the underdog.
“From the off, we did control the whole game. I think we were just focused. We were on it, and Tyrone might have been slightly off it and listening to the newspapers a bit. That can happen when you’re the All-Ireland champions sometimes.”
That McDonald swagger is thankfully back in the sport, as Kobe continues to bring the thrills for a new audience. He scored 1-4 against Monaghan in his league debut off the bench back in February. And another helping of 1-4 in Clones last month brings his current championship tally to 1-10 (1tpf, 1tp) from two outings.
At just 18, McDonald is making this breakthrough with Mayo while also preparing for a move to the AFL where he will join the St Kilda club later in the summer. He’s also in the middle of completing his Leaving Cert exams which must surely compound the sense of pressure that surrounds him.
“Sometimes when you’re a young fella, you don’t put any pressure on yourself because you don’t feel it,” Mortimer says.
“I suppose now that it’s out the open that he’s going to Australia, that takes the pressure off too because it is what it is. ‘I’ve been having a bit of fun, at the end of the year I’m off.’ Everybody realises he’s got a lifestyle choice to make, and he can make a decent life for himself out there.”
There were shades of Ciarán’s style of play in Kobe’s performance against Monaghan. His jump to claim a kick-out with time almost up was a vital possession. His team was protecting a one-point lead and Monaghan were roaring back into the game after being 11 points down at half-time. Kobe’s catch prompted a mighty roar as the Mayo fans celebrated a 1-24 to 2-20 victory.
And his two-pointer in the first half was executed with that sliced technique that served his father so well in the past.
“You can see the outside of the boot, the angle of the body, the angle of shape and all that,” Mortimer notes. “They’re very similar. But that’s pretty much a given when they’re father and son. He’s a talented young fella. If he turns out to be half as good as his ould fella, he’ll be doing alright.”
22 years on from that All-Ireland quarter-final, Mayo and Tyrone meet once again in a high-stakes game. Of course, there have been other meetings in the interim, including the 2021 All-Ireland final where Tyrone prevailed. And last year’s round-robin clash resulted in a seven-point win for Mayo, although they failed to reach the knockout stages while Tyrone topped their group.
A place in the quarter-finals is the prize on offer in Healy Park this weekend. After a disappointing Connacht championship, reaching that stage would be a successful season according to Mortimer.
But then again, they were also underrated in 2004. Defying the odds is something of a birthright in Mayo.
Much will be expected again of Kobe on Sunday, something which he also inherited from his father. But from what we have seen of him so far, he appears to be shouldering that burden with ease.
“If he keeps going the way he’s going this year, there’ll be a lot of pressure from him going forward. It’s hard enough being from Mayo as a young fella, besides having that kind of pressure on them.
“There’s no talk of All-Irelands in Mayo. If they get to a quarter-final, everybody would be happy enough in Mayo. A half decent run into the later stages of the All-Ireland series would be seen as a bit of progress.”
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Ciaran McDonald Full Circle Gaelic Football Kobe McDonald Mayo GAA Trevor Mortimer