GAELIC GAMES: Keith Dugganwas in Ballinode, Sligo, for a match that marked the beginning of John O'Mahony's period in charge of Mayo
All journeys begin somewhere. Four months after their All-Ireland adventure ended in painful circumstances against Kerry, the footballers of Mayo took the field again.
The circumstances could hardly have been much different. Instead of the towering vista of the Hogan Stand, the Connacht champions played with the twinkling windows of Sligo hospital for a backdrop. They were facing a tidy young student team for whom the chance to play one of the marquee counties and push on for a place on the FBD Connacht League final made an attractive double.
Although the GAA boasts astonishing crowd attendances at grounds on high summer Sunday afternoons, it is on nights like this you really have to marvel at the mass appeal of the association. They might well have handed out medals of valour along with the programmes in Ballinode for the loyal, the curious and the downright mad who showed up to watch a match that marked the beginning of John O'Mahony's period in charge.
Gaelic culture has changed considerably since the Ballaghaderreen man last roamed the sidelines with Mayo some 16 years ago and his shaman acts with Leitrim and Galway in that period meant his popular return was always going to elicit considerable interest.
On Tuesday night, TG4 featured O'Mahony in its Laochra Gael broadcast and the archive material was a salient reminder of just how many significant Connacht football moments bear his fingerprints. At one point in that documentary, O'Mahony produced a sturdy 1980s video camera he purchased himself for the purposes of video analysis. The old machine was not on the job last night and in any case, O'Mahony would probably choose to wipe this particular archive. In front of maybe 1,000 people, Mayo lost to Sligo IT by 1-10 to 0-9 points.
Those who showed up early wisely faced their cars towards the pitch and sat contentedly behind the wheels, planning on enjoying the game from behind the windscreens as if gazing out on the Atlantic at Rosses Point.
The students though, used to long warning walks in lashing rain, had different ideas and quickly formed an enthusiastic box around the edge of the pitch. Given the latest GAA furore on sideline rules, it made for an amusing spectacle. It was hard to gauge just how many people were on the sideline midway through the first half but it was definitely over 500 people, not all of whom were selectors.
As Mayo's David Brady, fresh out of retirement, pleaded with a linesman after skidding towards the crowd, "We need to move them back a small bit. For their own sake."
It was that kind of night. Brady was one of several familiar faces that O'Mahony and his selectors played from the beginning. Seven of the team that started last year's All-Ireland final were playing. Ballinode, a fine, floodlit facility on the outskirts of Sligo town, was just the place to let the Mayo boys know they were back from the Floridian cruise, with a bitter cold wind and a pitch glistening with damp.
For all that, the football was crisp. Mayo played Ballaghaderreen man James Kilcullen at full back and the imposing number three enjoyed a busy first half, with Sligo benefiting from a lively display by Barry Regan, also from O'Mahony's parish.
But it was the sight of Marty McNicholas knocking over frees under the bright floodlights that illuminated just how difficult and fleeting the chance to claim a place in a football county like Mayo can be. It does not seem too many years ago since the Breaffy man was being heralded as the chosen one among the generation of talented minor players that Mayo cultivated at the end of the last century. Through injury or bad luck or one crucial indifferent day, that senior promise has never fully materialised. You often hear of such prospects quitting, disillusioned or fed up or simply bored with waiting for their chance. At least McNicholas still has time enough to give it another push.
"Yeah, Marty had a long period there recuperating from a cruciate injury and he started back training with Breaffy and has come in with us," said O'Mahony afterwards. The new boss will hardly have spent the midnight hours poring over his notes on this match. There was little to say other than there are no soft touches in elite Gaelic football anymore.
Sligo IT, one of the new forces in the college game, lined out full of running and a glittering full-back line containing Leitrim's Barry McWeeney, Roscommon corner back Seán McDermott and Donegal All Star Karl Lacey.
On a tight field, the match had the feel of a competitive training work-out and the students got the decisive break, a lovely, sweeping move that began in the arms of goalkeeper Paul Durcan and finished with a planted shot to the Mayo net by Tomás Costello.
"I think it was clear we were fairly rusty out there, that it is a while since we have played football together," said O'Mahony afterwards.
"There are players coming back from holidays and the rest of it and that was reflected in what we saw out there tonight."
The largely young crowd enjoyed it though and - as ever - the biggest support seemed to come from Mayo. A few drifted away in the second half, Big Brother fanatics perhaps or maybe off for Wednesday night pints. Student priorities are different. Those who hung around applauded a good victory from the college.
"If Sligo win on Sunday, that means they are through regardless of how we do," confirmed O'Mahony. "So that's the first competition down the swanee," he concluded with a beam.
Fifteen minutes after the final whistle, Ballinode was deserted and two amorous dogs had the playing field to themselves. Someone considerately switched off the floodlights shortly afterwards.
The Mayo players weren't long heading south from the Yeats county. The road back started here.
