IF DUBLIN WERE to defend the Sam Maguire, they were going to need big names like Diarmuid Connolly to step up.
And in this evening’s All-Ireland SFC final replay, he did just that to dispatch a penalty that was as good as you’ll see.
“‘Just take a breath, put it in the corner and put it away,” he told Marty Morrissey after the Dubs’ one-point win at Croke Park. “That’s all it is.”
Connolly saw Lee Keegan black-carded in a hard-fought championship decider, a decision from the referee that brought to an end the pair’s epic rivalry for another season. And the Dublin talisman was quick to praise Mayo’s efforts.
“After the replay there was still nothing in this game, absolutely nothing,” he said.
“They had the free at the end to draw it again, there was really nothing in it and that’s credit to them. It’s a credit to how good and well put together this Mayo side is. Commiserations to them, they put an absolutely massive fight together there for two games. We barely snuck it by just one point, that’s how close it was.”
He continued: “We’re not here to prove a point. Every game as it comes and every year as it comes. We weren’t going to defend this Sam Maguire, we were going to attack it and win it. I said that two months ago and that’s what we went after. ”
