Moran says Mayo fans should enjoy the All-Ireland dream: ‘If they go a bit nuts, let them’

Andy Moran’s press conference was almost six minutes old when the convivial tenor of proceedings took a turn.

The question was coming eventually. The hype factory. The neverending dream. Mayo’s quest. On the verge, again. Could it be this time? Whatever way it was going to be phrased, Moran would have known it was coming.

He has seen the same hype factory open its doors many times, he has seen it ramp up its output only to promptly close again, he has seen it reopen, close, reopen, close. He knows the rhythm of these things.

So, we can only assume he had already decided how he was going to play that particular ball when it was tossed at him: “Andy, In terms of the build-up, do you think the county will go crazy again or have they been burnt too many times?”

“You laugh at that, lads. I don’t laugh at that,” fired back Moran.

“I find it very actually dismissive, if I’m being honest. I think it’s a bulls**t question, if I’m being honest. I don’t mean that in any disrespect, but I think it’s a disrespectful question.

“Our county have been starved the last four or five years. If they go a bit nuts, let them. You’re (media) going to go to a game tomorrow. Every single one of ye, you’re going to write to Kerry or Dublin are going to win the All-Ireland final. Right? Right?

“Does anyone here think Mayo are going to win the All-Ireland final?”

Silence for a moment. Then one single whispered voice offered a no.

“No. Thank you. So that question is nonsense. If our supporters want to enjoy it, let them enjoy it.”

And that, we can take it, is going to be Mayo’s mantra for the next fortnight, a reimagining of that timeless classic, ‘Nobody believes we have a chance, they’re all writing us off.’ It’s as good a motivating tool as any, to be fair.

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Perhaps Moran’s experience has taught him that following a 17-point semi-final win, completely burying the expectation won’t float.

Plus, they have a sprinkling of stardust in 18-year-old Kobe McDonald, who brings something very different to Mayo’s game.

“Oisin (Mullin) is a tiny bit different - he’s a defender and he’d take you out of the game and he has that burst going forward,” said Moran when asked about what McDonald offers.

“The two that I’ve seen like that are Pearce Hanley and Kobe. Let’s be honest, they’re generational talents.

“Ciarán Kilkenny, who went over [to Australia] for a month or two and came back a couple of months later and played against us in 2012 in an All-Ireland semi-final. Of course these boys bring something different. The Aussies aren’t after them because they’re average players, they’re after them because they’re the best.”

McDonald was part of a lethal full-forward line on Saturday that combined for a total of 2-17 against Louth – Ryan O’Donoghue with 1-11, Darragh Beirne with 1-2 and McDonald with 0-4.

“He went through on goal in the last minute against Cork, I tried to tell him to hit it over the bar, but there was no chance, he’s just his own guy,” added Moran.

“You wouldn’t even know he’s around the place until he puts on the pink boots and starts playing a bit of football. I swear to God, he’s quiet. He’s just quite a humble young man. He plays with that kind of 18-year-old freedom.

“We have a few of them in terms of Eoin [McGreal] would have the same sort of, I suppose, quietness, but when he plays, he plays differently.

“When these guys come along, they absolutely elevate everyone around the place.”

Stephen Coen is one of Mayo’s more experienced players. He has seen the hype factory go in and out of business too, but he doesn’t go along with the storyline that Mayo’s presence in the final is a surprise.

“I don’t think we would have entered the competition if we didn’t think we could be here,” said Coen.

“16 teams, Division 1 and Division 2. There’s no difference between anyone, but you have to go and do it. And now in the next two weeks, we have to go and do that.

“I’d say we’ve just grown as a team. We fight for each other, back each other up, cover, defend, play the ball, into space for guys with speed and talent.

“And we’re always supporting each other, so I think we’ve just been very connected over the last seven or eight weeks.”

Louth manager Gavin Devlin has challenged his players to treat Saturday’s semi-final loss as a bump in the road.

“I just spoke to them (the players) there inside and it’s disappointing but it’s not a day to drop your shoulders. It’s a day to get your shoulders up. What they did for Louth (this season) is amazing,”

“There was a gap out there today. There was a gap physically, speed-wise. When we were coming out with the ball we were getting turned back. That’s the first thing I felt, all year we’ve been able to break lines and make impacts.

“Today we were getting turned back. You can see that visibly early on in the game. We’ve got to close that gap.”

But Devlin has nailed his colours to the mast as regards the All-Ireland final. Ultimately, there’s no escaping Mayo’s search for Sam Maguire.

“The noise and the fever that they bring as well, they’re mammoth. Honestly, for me, I’d love to see them go over the line now.

“They’ve been there just enough times now. It’s time to go and break that glass ceiling. I’d love to see them go and do it now.”

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