Rediscovering old Mayo spark

He missed one of the greatest moments of his career.

Lying in a Roscommon hospital room on a hot summer’s day in 1989, he heard the tannoy from Hyde Park down the road proclaiming Mayo as Connacht football champions.

Winning a provincial title was still a novel experience for Mayo after the bleak 1970s but that match had all the drama to entice a generation of supporters into a worship.