Dillon not thinking of past Kerry crucifixions

IN their attire alone, the Kerry team Alan Dillon faces on Sunday will be different but there are some things that don’t change.

Navy jerseys or not, the Mayo captain anticipates the Munsterchampions will attempt to do what they did in 2004 and ’06 All-Ireland finals. What they have done to teams already this year — blow them out of the water by the interval.

“Everyone knows the quality of footballers that they have,” said the Ballintubber man. “Them lads can flick a switch and all of a sudden the game could be over after 15 or 20 minutes. That’s what we’re dealing with and that’s the style they play. They’ll try and overpower teams in the first 15 minutes and try and have the game won by half-time.

“You saw that against Limerick and Cork and it was devastating to watch. It doesn’t matter, we have to concentrate on our own stuff andimpose our own game on Kerry and attack them from the throw-in.”

If Kerry are being tagged as a first-half team, Mayo are certainly a side who have played their best football after the interval this year.

In all four of their SFC games, they have “won” the second-half, their 0-7 to 0-1 display against Cork last day the most clinical of acts.

Moving away from what might have been perceived as naive almost cavalier-like football, Mayo have been painted as a more of a destructive than creative force but Dillon believesKerry could fall into the same bracket.

“Not divulging too much but the brand we’re playing at the minute suits the style of player we have in Mayo. I don’t think we’re playing as negative as other counties in terms of defensive, zonal positions.

“We’re playing a system that is good for what we have and it’s always effective when you’re winning. You’ll always be slated if things don’t go right.

“At the minute, we’ve had a big win over Cork but the big test is the Kerry one.

“The free-flowing football that Mayo teams used to play against Kerry, we’ve seen the lessons and we’ve learned the hard way.

“I’m sure Jack O’Connor will have it in the back of his mind where Mayo are and where their weaknesses are. We’ll try and counteract that and try and impose ourselves on their style of play.

“Kerry aren’t the most free-flowing of footballers either. They’ve adapted in the last few years if you look at the northern style so it’s going to be an interesting game.”

That quarter-final display against Cork has Kerry on high alert. Figures close to the Kerry camp were stunned at the incredible work-rate of the Mayo players.

But there was plenty of skill shown too — even if it wasn’t so evident on those dreary provincial days against Galway and Roscommon.

“There are some quality footballers in the group and we never expressed ourselves in Connacht,” admitted the 27-year-old.

“Connacht football was getting slated for the two or three performances and we really wanted to put on a good show and a lot of lads dug deep.

“It was a dry day, conditions were a bit different and a lot of the lads are good footballers.”

Dillon feels Kerry are a stronger outfit than Cork “in terms of their scoring power up-front” but the idea that the green and gold still haunt him and the players who tasted those three defeats (including the 2005 quarter-final) doesn’t wash with him.

“Not really, we played Kerry in the National League and the championship but the two finals were probably a different stage altogether from a semi-final without the side-shows and whatever.

“We played them in a quarter-final in ‘05 as well and we can definitely compete with them.”

Dillon knows the 2004 and 2006 defeats will loom large over Mayo until they beat Kerry in championship football.

“It’s always there, it’s in black and white. But as a player, I always think about the next game. I never really go back into the past because it drags you down. Any hurler or footballer, it’salways about the next game. What happens in the past, happens in the past. There are two different teams playing this Sunday and a lot ofdifferent personnel and a lot of changes. It’s a different year and adifferent level altogether.”