Walking to Croke Park from the south side, you’d be forgiven for wondering if there was any game on at all. As soon as you came near Mountjoy Square, however, you heard the noise.
40,000 men, women and children from the West came to Dublin for another serious contest. Mayo versus Roscommon, Part 2. The only quarter final worth shouting about.
I was heading to Croke Park with the sole intention of hanging out on The Hill with Roscommon fans and getting a sample of the passion they brought to the party last Sunday. Eight days on and their fans were confident they could go one step forward and knock off a Mayo side that, we were assured, were shagged.
The lower stands of Cusack and Hogan were sold out so it was to the terraces. As with the whole ground, Mayo fans were shoulder to shoulder with their Roscommon rivals. Kerry were waiting but this was the only game that mattered.
Roscommon flag flutters proud as @MayoGAA line up for Ámhran na bhFiann pic.twitter.com/Hyn6ex8bxH
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) August 7, 2017
Any sense of foreboding the Rossies may have felt exploded like a rash when referee Anthony Nolan missed an obvious foul, then got in the way of a Roscommon pass, stop them from playing on and awarded a hop ball that Aidan O’Shea was going to win all day.
O’Shea and his brother were winning everything. Roscommon were pumping balls into their forward line and getting brick-walled. Diarmuid O’Connor was playing like a dream. There were scores coming from all over the park.
“Stand up… if you hate Mayo!” That was the only riposte the Roscommon fans on the Hill could muster.
Roscommon were 0-6 to 0-1 down when, on one decent break, an arcing effort hit both posts and was cleared. “Oh Christ,” muttered a Roscommon voice nearby.
It took 19 minutes for the first “ROSSIES!” chant to break out and it took Aidan O’Shea conceding a free to coax it. Still, the Mayo scores kept coming. And when they came, they came like a flood. There was a lot of blasphemy up on the terraces.
This sums up the current Roscommon mood on Hill 16… pic.twitter.com/4ErW8AoxUr
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) August 7, 2017
No sooner had Sean Mullooly narrowed it to a four-point deficit, Kevin McLoughlin and Andy Moran had hammered the ball past Colm Lavin. The Mayo fans in the Hill suddenly stood taller, finally looking around them to size up their surroundings. Making eye contact with those dissenting, mocking voices from the opening few minutes. Enjoying it now.
Diarmuid Murtagh scored a point for Roscommon but by the time Kevin McStay’s men had their best goalscoring chance of the game, they were 3-7 to 0-3 down. Cathal Compton got a pass in over the top and only had to pin the ears back. Nothing but clear ground stood in his way but, by the time he finally got his act together, two Mayo men were on him and he was considering a point.
And exasperated Roscommon fan had enough:
“Will you go oonnnnnnnnn….. for f**k sake.”
Compton’s effort was so bad that it bounced and caught by David Clarke before it could even go wide. The same fan was utterly pissed off by now.
“You know what?” she said to her friend, “they deserve a right beating now. That’s what they deserve.”
She left when, on 46 minutes, Cillian O’Connor swatted home Mayo’s fourth goal. Red and green flags waved her off but the remarkable thing was the amount that stayed behind until the bitter end.
Both fans were a credit to their counties and it was heartening to see the passion and voice they always bring to these big days.
Roscommon’s kick-outs had been well and truly ransacked and, on more than one occasion, Lavin would ping one airborne that would be claimed by a soaring Mayo man. One pass, two passes, one drop of the shoulder later and another point would be added.
The Roscommon fans nearby clung onto cold comforts as betting slips were discarded and plans for post-match drinks were made – they were Connacht champions at least and Andy Moran was really from Roscommon anyway.
The final point of the game arrived courtesy of Shane Nally. 4-19 to 0-9 and bragging rights once again belonging to Mayo.
The sun had shone on Croke Park all the way through the game but specks of rain arrived just on the final whistle. Lifting a jacket from a terrace bar, one forlorn fan declared, “Last thing I f***ing need!”
You got the feeling that he had been here before but you know he’ll be here again.
Beaming Mayo fans were ushered off the Hill by stewards and gardaí, waving them off and cheerily telling them they’d be back in two weeks. Kerry are next but there is reason to believe again.
They travel from the West. They travel in numbers and hope. Always hope.
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