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Aidan O’Shea reacts after a missed advanced mark against Dublin. Tommy Dickson/INPHO
we go again

'It happens to all players at some stage where you just have a bad day and it doesn't go for you'

Seamie O’Shea believes brother Aidan will ‘have a big final’ against Tyrone.

LAST UPDATE | Sep 2nd 2021, 12:26 PM

AFTER THE FULL-TIME whistle sounded the death kneel for Dublin’s seven-in-a-row bid, Aidan O’Shea and James Horan embraced warmly on the Croke Park field.

O’Shea had been reintroduced for the final few extra-time minutes of the famous Mayo victory, having been withdrawn in the second-half.

Things did not go well for the Breaffy as he was snuffed out by the Dublin rearguard. It was a big call for Horan to remove his captain after 50 minutes and the pair did not share a handshake as the full-forward left the field.

All was forgotten by the end and Mayo have an All-Ireland final against Tyrone to look forward to on Saturday week.

Former Mayo midfielder Seamie O’Shea has backed his brother to put the Dublin game behind him.

“It’s like anything. As a player you want to play well and you want to contribute and be a part of it. And when you don’t play as well as you’d like or as well as you’re capable of you’re going to be disappointed in yourself.

“At the same time Aidan is captain of the team and has been around a long time so I think the over-riding emotion was that he was just thrilled for everybody and then disappointed that he wasn’t able to help out a bit more or play as well as he would have liked.

“But that happens and, to be fair, it probably hasn’t happened to Aidan too often in his career. It happens to all players at some stage where you just have a bad day, it doesn’t go for you, and you get taken off.

“It has happened to me and in some ways it’s good because it can focus the mind a little bit going forward where you have to go back to basics a little bit and look forward to the next game and try to redeem yourself.

“Look, he’ll be fine. It was a bad day at the office but he’ll move on. I’m sure he’ll have a big final and Mayo will need him to have a big game as well.”

Seamie, who retired at the end of the 2020 season, believes Aidan will have a point to prove in the decider.

“Like any player you just want to get back to playing well. It happened me back in ’16 where I had a poor second half and the whole country was probably thinking I was going to be dropped for the final but, in fairness to Rochy (Stephen Rochford), he stuck with me.

“It fairly focuses the mind. You want to put in a big performance and try to help the team as much as you can. It’s the same for any player that has been in that position and I’m sure he’ll be fine and there’s a big game coming in him.”

gaa-all-ireland-senior-football-championship-final-media-day Harry Murphy / SPORTSFILE Harry Murphy / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE

A third O’Shea brother Conor emerged from the game with real credit after make an important contribution, not least forcing Davy Byrne out for the 45 that Rob Hennelly slotted over to force extra-time.

“I was delighted for him. He’s had a tough couple of seasons. Conor’s been there since 2012 I think, so he’s been there a long time. In certain seasons, he’s been a really important player for us. In ‘16, he was a really important player for us.

“He was one of the first subs in. He was out of favour a little bit since. He made a couple of really important plays the last day. He was involved in the Evan Comerford one which ended up in a 45 that led to Robbie’s point.

“He’s put in a huge shift over the last few years to get back involved and yeah, as his brother, just thrilled for him to contribute like he did. Hopefully we’ll see him again in another couple of weeks with another good performance.”

O’Shea was among a cohort of Mayo players that made the journey from their base in Dublin out west for training and games. He feels the move towards remote working has greatly benefited the group as those taxing 500km round trips can be avoided.

“It’s been huge. It would have been great if it had happened five or six years ago – not Covid – but if working from home could have happened five or six years ago.

“I’d imagine it has been hugely beneficial. There are a few lads in Dublin, but at least they are able to tip away home on a Monday night for training on a Tuesday, and work from home on a Tuesday.

“It’s just the time on the pitch you get together is doubled, essentially. I can only imagine how much of a benefit that has been for the team, just to train three or four nights a week together as a group.

“Even for the lads that are living in Dublin, the travel is reduced as well. It’s certainly helped, and it makes life easier. It’s funny, you think, ‘Why didn’t we do it years ago?’

“There would have been no reason, but the culture wasn’t there to work from home. People would have thought you were taking it easy if you were doing it. It would have helped if we’d done something like that a long time ago. It’s work out well for them now.

“Hopefully, that’s something they’ll be able to do going forward, regardless of what the return to work looks like.”

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