Kieran Shannon: Lee Keegan was the standard-bearer, the best Mayo produced

It goes without saying that he’s the best footballer to have retired without winning an All Ireland; never has a team gone so close so often as that fine team he was part of

STANDARD-BEARER: Lee Keegan of Mayo celebrates after scoring a goal against Dublin in the 2017 All-Ireland final. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Minutes before the Mayo team bus headed to Croke Park for a 2012 All Ireland quarter-final against Down, James Horan addressed his players and backroom in a circle in a hotel room in the then Regency Hotel on the Swords Road.

It’s hard to believe now in light of where the respective teams diverged after that game, but a high degree of anxiety would have been swirling around that Mayo circle when it initially sat down. A season, even a management, was potentially on the line. After a promising first season under Horan in 2011 and the high-profile recruitment of Cian O’Neill as coach that autumn, the minimum expected of the group was to reach another All Ireland semi-final.