Green and Red

The morning after

Posted: 03 Sep 2012 04:18 AM PDT

It's Monday, there's work to be done, the bleary-eyed kids have been packed off back to school and normal life is there to be lived. But the sun is shining – it feels like the summer we never had – and we're back in the All-Ireland final. (Thanks to Mayo Mick for the photo above).

I know I keep harping on about this but the feeling that Mayo supporters carry around with them this morning and will continue to do over the next three weeks is what gives the lie to the notion that we're a long-suffering, cursed caste. Outside the obvious counties, how many people will get to experience their county being involved in six All-Ireland finals? Sure, it'd have been nice to win one or two of the five we've been involved in since 1989 but the fact that we keep coming back, keep knocking on that door speaks volumes for the county. If this is what long-suffering and mental frailty is all about then I'm all for it.

So, what are they all saying about us this morning? Let's start with the nationals.

The Irish Times has Sean Moran's match report, Keith Duggan with some quotes and more on the story of the game, Keith again with more quotes from our lads and Ian O'Riordan with quotes from the Dublin side. John O'Keeffe, who like many of the national tipsters had predicted a Dublin win, provides the analysis and he reckons that the way we had to battle for the result will stand to us in the final.

The Irish Independent has a match report (a truncated one by the looks of it, the paper version is sure to be a good bit longer), a colour piece by Joe O'Shea, post-match quotes, a piece on James Horan (they don't say who wrote this) and Eugene McGee's analysis.

The Irish Examiner has John Fogarty's match report, Ewan McKenna with two lots of post-match quotes (here and here) and a piece by John Fogarty on that non-story (which also featured on The Sunday Game last night) about the number of replacements we brought on yesterday.

Colm Gannon is, as usual, the first of the locals out of the traps with his match report in the Mayo Advertiser.

Other match reports: GAA.ie, RTÉ, Setanta, Hogan Stand, Breaking News,

Emmet Ryan – who was pretty much on the money in his guest preview here on the site – provides his tactical analysis of the game on Action81.com.

If you're sick of all that wordy stuff, Sportsfile have some cracking photos, both of the game itself and of the fans. I couldn't find any pictures of our crowd there but you might.

Speaking of pictures, Dermot O'Malley sent me on the one below of the giant Mayo flag on the Hill and I think that it's appropriate to acknowledge – as others have already done here – the marvellous part that Dublin and their huge support played in yesterday's contest. On the field they fought back like demons to hold onto their All-Ireland crown while in the stands and on the streets outside afterwards they were gracious and dignified in defeat. Fair play to them, they'll be back again.

And in the meantime on we march, onto September 23rd and our decider against Donegal, the first Ulster/Connacht final since the Big Wind final of 1948. Will we do it? It's time to vote.

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