©Photograph: John Reidy
Newspapers in Mayo did deeply forensic reports on Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Semi final against Kerry.
The topic which raged most in the west was the placing of Aidan O’Shea on Kieran Donaghy and nearly as much on whether or not the tactic worked.
Amazingly, today’s replay will be Mayo’s ninth game so far in this year’s championship and the 27th championship meeting between Mayo and Kerry.
1996 Semi Final
Kerry has won 18 to Mayo’s four and they have drawn four games. Mayo’s last win over Kerry in a championship game was at the semi-final stage in 1996.
Writing in the Mayo Advertiser, former Mayo footballer, John Casey opened with:
“Dear Me, Not again. The winners of this year’s Sam Maguire will have their name etched on the famous trophy but there is absolutely no doubt Mayo’s 2017 championship campaign will command the most paragraphs in the championship 2017 yearbook. Bizarre does not even go close to explaining it.
“Mayo supporters again travelled in their tens of thousands clogging the N5 and N4 all the way to the capital from early morning.
“It is very obvious that football is more important than Christmas for the supporters of the green and red who now have to contend with a ninth championship game in 2017 after another heart stopping semi-final clash with Kerry in Croke Park. They will not have a cent left for the festive period.”
John Casey ends his extensive piece with:
“I cannot envisage as much space for Andy Moran and co. If Mayo want it bad enough, and they do, I feel Kerry are there for the taking. At least Cormac O’Reilly is not reffing,” – he said in reference to Mayo’s anger at O’Reilly for wrongs they perceived he did them in the replay against Kerry in the 2014 championship semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Well we’ll know one way or another by 4:30pm this afternoon.
The following is the Kerry team for this afternoon’s replay.
Kerry: Brian Kelly; Shane Enright, Mark Griffin, Killian Young; Peter Crowley, Tadhg Morley, Paul Murphy; David Moran, Anthony Maher; Stephen O’Brien, Johnny Buckley, captain; Donnchadh Walsh ; Paul Geaney, Kieran Donaghy, James O’Donoghue.
Subs: Shane Ryan, Jack Barry, Fionn Fitzgerald, Barry John Keane, Jonathan Lyne, Jack Savage, Darran O’Sullivan, Tom O’Sullivan, Sean O’Shea, Bryan Sheehan, Gavin Crowley.
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