We are almost there.
It has been a long 13 days waiting for this All-Ireland final replay to roll around, but we have mere hours to wait until Dublin and Mayo go toe-to-toe once more under lights at Croke Park.
There is one dual, more than any other, that will draw the eyes of the 82,000 lucky enough to be watching in person, plus the other million or so watching at home and abroad.
Seriously, we are going to need a player camhttps://t.co/osYV4Mnl4m
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 30, 2016
The battle between Dublin half-forward Diarmuid Connolly and Mayo defender Lee Keegan has been the most captivating element of the three Championship meetings between these counties in the past two years.
Westport native Keegan’s willingness to sacrifice is own attacking game to curb the influence of Dublin’s most creative force, Connolly’s struggles to cope with the extra attention, the growing influence both men have on their teams’ fates and the outside forces trying to come between them.
Despite all the rancour, all the jersey-pulling and wrestling, these two have the utmost respect for each other.
“Diarmuid’s a top, top player, we all know that. We’ve had great tussles over the last couple of years,” Keegan told The GAA Hour.
“Listen, he is one of the best players out there. I’ll go back and look at what I did well and didn’t do well and I’m sure he’s the same and we’ll have another crack at each other in two weeks’ time. Another duel.”
Whatever the result today, these two will be bound by their past experiences. Which is, we think, what illustrator James O’Donovan was getting at with this…
The size difference is almost as terrifying as that which exists in real life between Connolly and Colm Cooper, but we think O’Donovan has captured something in this image.
An image that will not leave our minds any time soon.
Will it be Mayo (or the Dubs) 4 Sam? Wooly, Paul Galvin and Conán Doherty preview Saturday’s All-Ireland final replay.
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