Life in the Mayo bubble

They’ve been pilloried by their own for Croke Park failures — often against Kerry — but turbo-charged wing back Lee Keegan feels this is a quiet, determined Mayo group who won’t get caught up in the past when there’s something so big in the present — like qualification for their third successive All-Ireland final appearance.

Odds are there will only be one player left in either All-Ireland semi-final thinking his club’s under 14s could beat their senior side. When Lee Keegan says it the nervous laugh that follows indicates he’s only half joking. Westport’s seniors find themselves in a relegation semi-final this year in Mayo while their U14s have become the poster boys of the county’s underage development programme. The third largest town in the county is a Gaelic footballing minnow. The Covies, as Westport people are known, have never won a senior county title, soccer and rugby are the traditional sports powers. There’s a shift though. The club’s future lies with teams that have become the envy of all Connacht Bord na nÓg football. But if you’re obsessed by living in the present like Keegan, there’s no point waiting for them to flourish. For Mayo football, the future is now.

Here’s a player who couldn’t make the county minor championship squad in 2007, was dropped off John O’Mahony’s panel after the league in 2010 and largely regarded as a luxury athlete within the club game.