‘There’s no way of getting into the psychology of it’ - Stephen Rochford responds to Mayo’s win over Tyrone

All-Ireland SFC: Tyrone 1-13 Mayo 2-17

Mayo gonna Mayo. The vibes were terrible, the manager was laid up, the noise off the pitch was turned up to 11. And so of course they came to Omagh and beat Tyrone up a stick. “There’s no way of getting into the psychology of it,” said Stephen Rochford afterwards. Ain’t that the truth?

In the cold light of day, not that much has actually changed. After losing to Cavan, Mayo’s continued presence in the All-Ireland was always going to hinge on what happened against Donegal in the final game. So it was before Saturday night, so it is now. Lose again in a fortnight and they’re probably toast.

But the cold light of day is not what we talk about when we talk about Mayo. Saturday night was about playing the hits. That old-school Mayo tackling, just the right blend of aggression and precision, was back. That relentless running, gangs of them swarming down from the hills like the infected from The Last Of Us, that was back too.

Time and again in Healy Park, they turned Tyrone players into the one thing they didn’t want to be – hassled footballers having to make quick decisions with everything on the line. Mayo brought a version of themselves that most of us, in our innocence, presumed was gone for the year. It might not save their season but it did restore a sense of themselves.

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“We battled at a level that we obviously didn’t do two weeks ago,” Rochford said. “When it needed to be ugly and was on the ground, we put our body there. When the football needed to be played with pace, we did that. When we needed to slow it down, we tried to bring an element of control. So I think there was a lot a lot more consistency to our play. I think maybe in the first five attacks we had four turnovers.

“You talk about getting a response and all that. We were really frustrated. I mean that, as a collective group about the way we played two weeks ago. But we really had our heads down. We were really focused on what we needed to do and we went about delivering that.”

Tyrone’s Ciaran Daly and Mayo's Paddy Durcan. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

Tyrone looked like a team that had left their gallop behind them in Ballybofey. They played against a strong breeze in the first half but that didn’t look like reason enough for their troubles. It was more of a demeanour problem – too passive, too meh, too inclined to wait for the half-time turnaround.

By the time it came, they’d given themselves too much to do. A lucky Darren McHale goal on the stroke of half-time – Niall Morgan dropped a poor Bob Tuohy shot directly into McHale’s lap a couple of yards from goal – left the margin at eight points. They never got closer than one. And when they did, Mayo kicked the next 1-4 on the bounce.

“We got a good performance last week,” said Malachy O’Rourke. “We knew you had to go out and earn the next day. We just didn’t do that. Overall we were disappointed with our play. We were flat and hadn’t the energy we had last week. We thought we fought our way back into it. We thought we may be able to forge ahead. It wasn’t to be.”

Mayo led by 1-9 to 0-4 at the break. Even though the goal was jammier than lock-in at a Chivers factory, the eight-point cushion was probably just about deserved. They had been braver and more cohesive than the home side and got their reward in spurts. Rory Brickenden scored the first two points of his championship career, Conal Dawson curled a beauty in on the wind. Everybody threw into the kitty.

Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue scores a penalty. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

Tyrone were always going to have a swing at it though. Darragh Canavan planted a Darragh Canavan special into the top corner 10 minutes after the break. Morgan atoned for the goal by landing a couple of two-point frees. With 54 minutes on the clock, Mayo’s lead was down to a point – 1-11 to 1-10.

Here, surely, was the point at which all the swirling, whirligigging melodrama would take its toll. Mayo had come north, given it plenty and restored their good name. But now it was all going to catch up with them. Right?

Not right. Jack Carney came screaming out on the loop to kick the next score after the umpteenth intervention from Aidan O’Shea. Davitt Neary was off the bench now and scorching the turf, setting up the eternal Paddy Durcan for his third of the night and winning a free for Ryan O’Donoghue to tap over. And when Neary hurtled through the Tyrone defence to win a penalty on 63 minutes, O’Donoghue whipped it past Morgan to kill the game.

What does it all mean? Sure look, it could mean anything. Mayo might be revived and refreshed, ready to give Donegal a lash and about to set off on one of those timeless, senseless jamborees through the summer. Or, probably more likely, it could all be over in a fortnight.

Manic or mundane, with nothing in between.

You couldn’t be up to them.

TYRONE: N Morgan (0-2-0, 2tpf); C Quinn, P Teague, N Devlin; M McKernan (0-0-1), R Brennan, K McGeary (0-0-1); B McDonnell (0-0-2), C Kilpatrick; S O’Donnell, M Donnelly, C Daly; D McCurry (0-0-2, 1f), M Bradley, D Canavan (1-0-3, 2f).

Subs: S O’Hare for Brennan, L Gray for O’Donnell (both ht); P Harte for Bradley, R Canavan for Daly (both 47 mins); A Donaghy for McDonnell (62).

MAYO: C Reape (0-0-1, 1 ’45); J Coyne (0-0-1), S Morahan, R Brickenden (0-0-2); S Coen, D McBrien, E Hession; P Durcan (0-0-3), M Ruane; C Dawson (0-0-2), D McHale (1-0-0), B Tuohy; J Carney (0-0-1), A O’Shea (0-0-1), R O’Donoghue (1-0-6, 1-0 pen, 5f).

Subs: D Neary for McHale, J Flynn for Tuohy (both 52 mins); F Kelly for Dawson (55); F Boland for Ruane (64); S Callinan for Durcan (68).

Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).

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