Mayo Must Avoid Past Mistakes Against Kerry in All-Ireland Final

Conor Mortimer has warned that Mayo cannot afford to repeat the mistakes that scarred their All-Ireland final meetings with Kerry in 2004 and 2006 if they are to rip up the script at Croke Park on Sunday.

The former Mayo forward, who lived through those bruising defeats in green and red, believes the opening exchanges will decide whether Andy Moran’s side can drag the favourites into a dogfight or be swept aside like so many before them.

Old wounds, clear lessons

Mortimer knows exactly how quickly Kerry can turn an All-Ireland final into a procession. Under John Maughan in 2004, Mayo were eight points down by the 25th minute and never recovered, losing 1-20 to 2-09.

Two years later, the damage came even earlier and even more brutally. Kerry rattled in 2-04 inside 13 minutes and coasted to a 13-point win over a Mayo team then managed by Mickey Moran. Mortimer, top scorer in that year’s championship and later an All-Star, could do little to stem the tide.

Those memories still sting, and he sees the same pattern in Kerry’s dismantling of Donegal in last year’s final. The Kingdom exploded from the throw-in, leading 0-13 to 0-04 before the 20-minute mark. The contest, in truth, was gone.

“Ultimately if Mayo are to use anything for this, I mean they look at ’04, ’06, and what Kerry did to Donegal last year in the first 10 minutes of the All-Ireland, it was over,” Mortimer told RTÉ Radio 1’s Inside Sport.

Hit Kerry first, or pay the price

For Mortimer, talk of easing into the game or “settling” on the big day is a luxury Mayo simply do not have against this Kerry side.

“I know people are saying about settling things down and, you know, being cool in the first period of the game, but I think for Mayo to have a real chance in this game they’re going to have to take it to Kerry from the start.

“Don’t give Kerry any time to implement their control of the game or the way they play, because if you let them control the ball, you’re going to have a job to get it back.”

That means chaos, not calm. Contest after contest around the middle. Pressure on every Kerry kick-out. Quick, direct ball into the forwards.

“I think Mayo are probably going to try to implement their style early on, breaking around the midfield and getting ball to them guys inside and let them do the job after that.”

History, odds and a familiar underdog role

Kerry arrive at Croke Park as heavy favourites, chasing a 40th All-Ireland title. Mayo, chasing just their fourth Sam Maguire and a first since 1951, are again cast in the role that has followed them for generations: hopeful, dangerous, but doubted.

The record between the counties in championship football underlines why. Mayo have won only six of 30 previous meetings with Kerry. One of those, though, came most recently – a 1-19 to 0-17 victory in a round-robin clash in 2023. It is a sliver of evidence that this Mayo group can trouble the Kingdom when the match-up is right.

Mortimer believes they can do more than that if they drag Kerry deep into the contest.

Bring Kerry “down the stretch”

“I’d like to see Kerry tested in the last 10 minutes,” said the Shrule-Glencorrib man.

He sees two very different scripts.

“I would expect that Mayo would have enough if it’s tight going into the last [stages].

“Ultimately, it can go two ways: if it’s tight, I’m going for Mayo to obviously win it.

“If, on the other hand, Kerry kind of turn it on, up it a gear from the semi-final they played against Dublin, then Mayo will probably be in trouble.”

The semi-final offers another warning. Paudie Clifford ran the show against Dublin, taking man-of-the-match honours and dictating the tempo almost at will. Mortimer insists Mayo cannot allow the same freedom.

“You’d expect Mayo to be a lot, lot tighter on Paudie than Dublin were in the semi-final.”

Clamp Clifford, scrap for every break, stay in the fight. Then, he believes, Mayo’s younger players can grow into the occasion rather than be swallowed by it.

“So look, I’m going for a Mayo win. Very, very tight.

“If our young lads settle, we can certainly win the game by a point or two points.”

The scars of 2004 and 2006 still sit in the background. On Sunday, Mayo either repeat them – or finally turn those lessons into the performance that has eluded them for more than 70 years.