Just when you think you have him, he’s already gone.
And you’ll never make that mistake again because it’s always worth Paul Mannion’s while.
He took seven shots on Monday night, scored 1-6. If you let that stat sink in for a second it’s the only one you need to know from the Dublin senior football final where Paul Mannion must have given one of the best full forward performances Parnell Park has been lucky enough to witness and where the Jude’s defenders must have been wondering what in the name of God they had done to deserve this.
He was that good.
Each one of their full back line tried their hands at sticking into him at different stages on the Bank Holiday Monday night. They knew what they were up against too and they tried all the obvious things to stop him.
Like facing him and not the ball. Like pulling and dragging him when he tried to move. Like standing on his heels and like standing five yards in front of him but none of that type of stuff even dreamed about mattering because Paul Mannion was in the mood and when he’s in this kind of mood there’s nothing a defender is going to be able to do that can even come close to stopping him.
By the end of it all, you had to feel sorry for those Jude’s back men.
Cillian O’Reilly lasted about five minutes. Oisín Manning came over to double-mark him at one stage and poor Ciaran Fitzpatrick had to go 55 full minutes without really knowing where he was or how he could possibly stop Paul Mannion from getting on the ball and scoring whenever he got on the ball.
No defender in the country would have been able for him.
St Jude’s lined them up and Paul Mannion took them out. One by one and score by score.
The terrace was fairly packed by the time we got in. Young and old, all wooly hats and club scarves. The green grass was glowing under the bright lights, the national anthem was belted out of it and Donnycarney was ready.
It was Paul Mannion’s time.
Kilmacud Crokes’ first attack was a meaningful one. Craig Dias hared through the middle and Shane Cunningham ran off him. Paul Mannion was stood still at full forward right then, and just for a minute, Cillian O’Reilly looked fairly comfortable in himself. He wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to feel so free again.
Right at that moment, Mannion went from hands on hips, to the right wing in an instant. He’d put acres between himself and O’Reilly and he had the freedom of north Dublin to stand up and swing that golden gun of a left foot by the time he’d reached where he wanted to be.
You already know what happens next.
Watch the full #GAANOW highlights from the SFC Final! #DSFC1 pic.twitter.com/eyWN2qp21N
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) October 29, 2018
The St Jude’s backline were terrified by this stage and Paul Mannion smelled blood.
An inside back man hates a forward just lurking in behind them and Mannion became his marker’s worst nightmare for the next hour.
His second point came from a similar kind of move. Crokes were making headway from deep and this time Mannion was just jinking all over and all around the 14 yard line. Fitzpatrick decided to face him down but he looked dizzy rather than safe after a few seconds of that.
And then Mannion was gone again. This time it was corner back Liam Flatman who marauded up the pitch with the ball and just as he was running out of ideas, on the verge of turning around because he had no real options in front of him, Paul Mannion showed up and he was pointing exactly where he wanted the ball to land and he was begging Flatman to land it there.
He did exactly that and the rest as they say, is Paul Mannion stuff. He gathered the ball in his stride and without even needing to narrow the angle down even a small bit, he spun around – somehow keeping his balance before curling another beauty over from the right wing and on the turn.
“How does he move so fast dad,” a youngster no older than five asked his father, as astonished as his young son in the terrace.
Paul Mannion getting @KCrokesGAAClub off to a good start in the Dublin SFC final! pic.twitter.com/JVPLP5jPvS
— The GAA (@officialgaa) October 29, 2018
That was the type of torture he was inflicting on those Jude’s men all night long. A few nonchalant, relaxed and calm steps before going for the jugular and hitting them with the type of sprint speed that Usain Bolt would struggle to reach in such a blinding space of time.
Where most forwards tire themselves out by running all over the place, Mannion bides his time, he moves fast and he moves with purpose when the time is right.
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