Today, Roma,Vicki and I went to the All-Ireland Football semi-final between Mayo and Dublin. Not being from either county I naturally wore my Wicklow jersey for the day. Mayo certainly deserved their win, but they faded badly in the second half when a 10 point lead was reduced to just two by the Dubs. It meant for an exciting second half, with Roma cheering on the Mighty Mayo Men from the edge of her seat.
A huge crowd of over 81,000 created a wonderful atmosphere in Croke Park - there was a huge turn out from Mayo, with the Dubs occupying Hill 16 as usual. At time the football was both brilliant and awful. Fantastic scores, greatly fetching at mid-field, a great display of goalkeeping from David Clarke in the Mayo goal - all mixed in with some poor passing and a lot of dirty play.
Though Mayo were brilliant at times, they did not score for a long period in the second half as the Dubs dominated. But the Dub's comeback ran out of steam and time - they can have no complaints about the result.
So - this year's All-Ireland final will have a new look about it as Mayo and Donegal have never met in the decider before. Between them they have only one All-Ireland each during the last 60 years (Mayo in 1951, Donegal in 1992) - so is a chance for one of the lesser lights of Gaelic football to shine.
Now - if only I could get tickets for the final?
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