Poker face Mortimer keeps focus on the bigger prize

LORD knows what it takes to get Conor Mortimer excited.

Half an hour after a key role in one of the best games in living memory, he was wearing the kind of poker face that would be the envy of many a Las Vegas card shark.

“There’s no point running and jumping around the place,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“We haven’t won anything. You can’t just say anything just because you’ve beaten Dublin. Dublin are just like Laois, Offaly, Galway. They’re just another team. Unless you win a cup at the end of the game you can celebrate, but we’ve nothing to celebrate now.”

Given Mayo’s recent past with national finals, his lack of exuberance is understandable. September has promised Mayo much and delivered little; the fact it is their tormentors from 2004 awaiting them next month puts everything in perspective.

“Look it, there’s a 50/50 chance we can win the final. There’s no point saying any different, regardless of who we’re playing in the final. We’ll be hoping we don’t lose it as we have in 2004, ‘97 and ‘96. None of those Mayo teams wanted to lose either but that happens on the day.

“God isn’t going to come down and win you an All-Ireland. You have to do it yourself. Things have to go right for you on the day. They went right for us today. We got a goal when we needed it. David Clarke got up and punched a ‘50’ that was going over the bar. These things are just the bit of luck you can get.”

Any luck that came their way yesterday was earned with sweat. With 25 minutes to play and seven points down, they never threw in the towel.

With Mickey Moran and John Morrison holding the reins this year, the temptation is to say that some northern grit is the difference. Morrison says it’s Connacht grit that turned the tide. Either way, this must surely rank as the best Mayo performance for donkey’s years.

Said Mortimer: “We showed great character to come back. We showed great belief in each other to come back. Maybe a couple of years ago, when we would have gone five or six points down, even myself — I would have said: ‘F**k this, we’re gone. The same thing is happening to us.’ This team is different.

“We’re all capable footballers. We wouldn’t be there if we weren’t. I think personally we’ve cemented together more than in the last few years. Everyone has been pulling together in the one direction — management and players. I wouldn’t say it’s down to Mickey (Moran) alone, it’s the goal.

“Once you make the quarter-finals and all the Ulster teams are gone, you think you have a great chance because that’s the first year that the Ulster teams are gone early. But saying that, one of the greats are there in the final still.

“I just think we played well when we needed to. They went six points up and we just kept the heads down, kept plugging away. We got the points and got ourselves back into the game. That’s what won it.”