No complacency in Kingdom
Specifically, he is dismissive of talk that the westerners’ didn’t give themselves much of a chance after finding it so difficult to beat Cavan last weekend. “We have heard all that stuff before,’’ says O’Connor. “The object of the exercise for them was to get a win - and it did not matter what kind of a win it was. Any ‘soft’ talk after the game we will take with a pinch of salt.”
Nevertheless, he stresses the importance of having his team mentally geared up for the game, that with the preparations having gone well and the injuries cleared up, it’s just now matter of travelling to Croke Park “in the right frame of mind.”
While both teams came in for a lot of criticism for the poor standard of play in Hyde Park - and Mayo were particularly faulted for their poor finishing - O’Connor believes that some of it might not have been justified. What would not have been known to the television audience was the effect of “a diagonal wind across the pitch.” That accounted for a lot of the Mayo wides, he maintained.
“As regards possession, they virtually dominated the game around the middle of the field. I’d say they won about 80% of the ball and wiped out Cavan on breaks. If they tidied up their shooting, it would have been a very decent display.”
His assessment of Mayo is that they are “a kind of confidence team.” “If they get on a bit of a roll, they are capable of playing very well. That is the danger, that they could get a run like that and grow in confidence. We hope to put a lot of pressure on them and not to allow them as many chances as the last day.’’
While Kerry have not had a competitive outing since the Munster final on July 10, their manager isn’t overly concerned that Mayo had a game as recently as last weekend. Having a big panel in training allows them to play practice games at will and he is satisfied that the football they play in Fitzgerald Stadium is of a quality “almost as good” as any challenge game. If Mayo are to gain from their current involvement, it would only be “early in the game”, he believes.
“I think we are in good shape, the physical training has gone well also. We are all looking forward to going back to Croke Park. We had a couple of great days last year and it’s just very exciting for the lads getting back up there.”
O’Connor emphasises the importance of Kerry being psychologically prepared, commenting: “there’s no question or doubt about that. A lot of games nowadays come down to mental preparation. On any given day you can have an upset. How could you follow the form line where Cavan drew with Tyrone and Cavan beat Donegal who drew with Armagh?
“If you are not right mentally, on any given day you can be turned over - and we are well aware of that.’’
Reacting to questions concerning his team’s display in the Munster final, in what he agreed was “a very tight game”, he says it has been heartening to see Cork progress in the qualifiers and beat Sligo, whom he rated a good side. “That reflects very well on us as well,’’ he commented.
Against the background of what happened in last year’s final, O’Connor says that Mayo have a “ferocious” incentive to turn the tables on the Kingdom this time. They knew that they did not play to their true potential, whereas everything went right for Kerry.
He accepts that so far this season the champions have not reached the standard they produced in the concluding stages of last year’s competition. At the same time, he points out that there were times last year when they were “patchy” and only really improved as the year went on.
“We are hoping we are on the same curve again this year. There was an improvement from the Limerick game to the Cork game and we would hope for another slight improvement. It’s an open secret that a few payers are not playing to the standard they had last year, but on the other hand a few have come on from last year - so the thing evens out. On any given day if you can get ten or twelve players playing very well, you have a great chance.”
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