TUESDAY, 02 AUGUST 2011 19:47

TV View ... No one saw that coming
TUESDAY, 02 AUGUST 2011 19:47
APART from the satisfaction of witnessing a Mayo performance of passion, commitment and no little skill, it was heartening to see Joe Brolly get some comeuppance.

While waiting for the TV3 game coverage to start, I flicked over to see if the RTÉ boys had anything to say on the Cork v Mayo game at the end of their coverage of Sunday’s other quarterfinal clash between Kerry and Limerick.



Brolly had something to say alright – but only on the question of if Cork would be able to beat Kerry on the big stage in Croke Park.

“It’s the most interesting debate out there,” he said to RTÉ anchor Michael Lyster.

In fairness to Brolly, most people had Mayo written off before this game. And to further put a feather in the Derry man’s cap, he had raised some questions about the potency of Cork – without, it must be said, ever countenancing the possibility that it would be Mayo to test the All-Ireland champions’ mettle.

Back in TV3 land, analysts Senan Connell, David Brady and Peter Canavan weren’t too concerned at half time that Mayo – just two points down at that stage – might cause an upset.

That said, the way Cork conceded the goal to Kevin McLoughlin did raise eyebrows. “You don’t associate poor defending with Cork but that was poor,” said Canavan.

As the second half commenced, match commentator Mike Finnerty pointed out how good Mayo’s second half record has been in matches of late – they conceded just one second-half point against Galway in the Connaught semi-final and two points in the second half against Roscommon in the final. “I’m sure it’s a point James Horan was making at half time,” he said.

Around the hour mark, with Mayo pushing clear thanks to a Cillian O’Connor point, Finnerty gushed about the corner forward: “He’s just 19 years of age, he’s Mayo’s leading scorer in the championship, that’s his fifth point of the game, his first from play…he looks like he’s been doing it all his life.”

Co-commentator Paul Earley said Mayo deserved ‘enormous credit’ for what they had done in beating Cork, especially given that everyone had written them off. The Connaught kingpins had, added Finnerty, ‘blown the championship wide open’ with their first win over Cork in the championship since 1916.

And Cork could have few complaints, observed Peter Canavan – especially since they were outscored by seven points to one in the second half. Connell chimed in that the ‘malaise and lethargy’ evident in Cork against Kerry in the Munster final was evident again on Sunday in Croke Park.

“Mayo looked like All-Ireland champions,” said an enthusiastic David Brady. “Steady on now David,” said anchor Matt Cooper, a Cork man reeling in the former Mayo and Ballina Stephenites star.

Later, on The Sunday Game on RTÉ, commentator Ger Canning wondered what kind of training Mayo had been doing since the Connaught final. “Maybe they’ve been up Croagh Patrick; maybe they’ve been saying their prayers.” Whatever it was, it worked.

Analyst Pat Spillane said Mayo has shown signs in their Connaught championship games, particularly in the second halves, that they were improving. And where they had really improved was in the defending – simple, man-to-man defending and not the ‘blanket’ style favoured by some, notably Donegal. “It still works,” said the Kerry man. “It was superb.”

It all added up to one thing, said Kevin McStay: “A great victory, thoroughly deserved.”