MAYO V DUBLIN – September 18th 2016
Opinion piece
This weekend will see the most anticipated All Ireland Final in decades, or at least since 2013! Reigning Champions, Dublin, take on Mayo for the Sam Maguire Cup.
Dublin are hot favourites, hoping that they can claim two in a row, while Mayo are fighting once again to “break the curse” and are hoping that after 65 years, “This will be their Year”.
If Mayo manager, Stephen Rochford, believes in superstition then he may well relish in the fact that he is unbeaten at Croke Park in his managerial career at both club and inter–county level.
Jim Gavin’s men are favourites to win the Cup. It was back in 2012 that Mayo last beat Dublin in the Championship and since then the Boys in Blue have gone down as one of the strongest football teams in history.
This is a final that some commentators had predicted, it’s also a final some (me!) dreaded, as Mam is from Dublin and Dad is from Mayo, making for some interesting conversations since Dublin’s win over Kerry.
Dublin’s confidence is at an all time high, so it is doubtful they will be changing their style of play anytime soon. This may come as an advantage to Mayo, as Kerry did provide some indication of how to exploit Dublin’s weakness’.
Taking the “scenic” or back door route to this final gave Mayo the opportunity to stretch their legs against teams who were not in division 1, with the exception of the exhilarating quarter final match against Tyrone.
This final is set to be intriguing, at the very least, much like this years hurling final between Tipperary and Kilkenny. Both Mayo and Dublin bring with them talent, ambition and fantastic fans! Croke Park will be awash with Blue, Green and Red, but the question is what colours will don each side of the Sam Maguire after 70+ minutes?
Being Irish in Britain means you either can head home and hope the family have sorted a ticket for you or you can watch the game in one of Britain’s many Irish pubs, after 15 minutes you’d nearly swear you were back at home with the atmosphere and the county colours!
I’m one of many, lucky enough to be flying into the Capital for the weekend (no ticket though!) to soak up the atmosphere and spend time with family – there will be a winner in my house for certain, but who, remains to be seen!
– Anonymous
My head says Dublin but my heart would love Mayo