Time to bring it home.
They say being a Mayo fan is among the toughest things in the world, for all the highs that go along with it there is the inevitable low of a crushing defeat in the final or semi-final of the All-Ireland.
https://twitter.com/DarraghBerry/status/888910109987962881
The famous curse that was seemingly placed on Mayo all them years ago looks to be alive and well but there’s a sense that this is the year.
Stephen Rochford’s side are battle hardened, finding a will to win when all looks lost but they certainly haven’t done it the easy way, the All-Ireland final will be Mayo’s tenth game of the championship.
One man that epitomises Mayo is Andy Moran, he’s been there through it all, this is his fourteenth season playing for his county and looks to only be getting better.
Moran played a huge part in Mayo battling past Kerry at the weekend and if it weren’t for Colm Boyle he may well have secured back to back man of the match awards against Kerry.
As the man says, it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog and Moran proved that against Kerry.
Andy Moran scores Mayo's second goal – Can Kerry come back? Watch now on The Saturday Game Live @RTEOne #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/1SQWFYzcHJ
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) August 26, 2017
The 33-year-old showed everything that was good about him in that goal, beating Shane Enright to the ball, slick footwork and the composure and fight to finish the goal.
After his 1-1 against Kerry, Moran is now favourite to win Player of the Year ahead of Con O’Callaghan, Jack McCaffrey and Dean Rock.
(Image credit: Paddy Power)
And it is not hard to see why Moran is basically representing what this Mayo team is all about. The 33-year-old has become better every game he has played this year and has shown dogged determination to prove doubters wrong that say he isn’t a marquee forward.
On Saturday as the teams were being called out there was an eruption in Croke Park when Moran’s name was chimed out over the speakers at Croke Park, he is the most popular man in Mayo for a reason. He’s a cult hero, people just want to see him do well.
And he did just that on Saturday, winning every ball that came his way.
Mayo fans want him to win an All-Ireland more than anyone else after his years of hardship, and a Player of the Year trophy wouldn’t be the worst thing to go alongside a first All-Ireland medal.
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