Come into my web.
Chris Barrett summed up how ready Mayo were on Sunday.
He was strong, he was cruel, he was downright relentless.
Paddy Andrews didn’t even touch the ball a handful of times in the All-Ireland final and the one time he actually tried to do anything with it, Barrett viciously stripped it from his hands, sidestepped him and strolled out of defence with the man who has slayed Mayo more times than enough lying helplessly on his arse.
The tone was set.
35 minutes was all that Andrews got in the end and, for the entirety of it, he was glued to the stifling hold of Chris Barrett.
When he was done with that Dub, after cruelly casting him aside, he scaled even more heights in the second period.
On five different occasions after the game had opened up into a mad, up and down 14 v 14 battle, Christ Barrett won the ball back cleanly from the opposition.
When do you ever see Dublin lads dispossessed, never mind five times in the one half? Six times overall.
Barrett was tackling, harrying, and he was out in front too.
Only once did a player get by him, Dean Rock powering through Barrett’s secondary challenge when he came in to help. The rest of the time, he was winning ball back like it was going out of fashion.
How Barrett dispossessed Dublin
- 4 tackles
- 1 shoulder
- 1 interception
The interception was just a classic case of being out in front. One of the tackles on Dean Rock, he was with him stride for stride and, even though Connolly popped a lovely pass in front of his team mate, the Mayo defender was able to pinch the ball from his clutches.
Who Barrett dispossessed
- Dean Rock (2)
- Paddy Andrews (1)
- Con O’Callaghan (1)
- John Small (1)
- Michael Fitzsimons
The man was wired to the high heavens. It was the personification of the words ‘you shall not pass’. It was a performance of the highest quality and the biggest heart and one which was worthy of winning an All-Ireland.
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