Keith Higgins expects high intensity from Sligo

Last Christmas is unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon by Mayo footballer Keith Higgins.

He had been looking forward to winding down after a breathless 2014 season, where he won an historic football and hurling championship double with his club, Ballyhaunis; became the first Mayo footballer in history to win three All Star awards; and franked his reputation as one of the best defenders in the modern game.

So Higgins was looking forward to putting his feet up and enjoying some downtime with friends and family in his hometown. Switching off from the outside world.

Everything was going fine until St Stephen’s Day when a tweet from Higgins’ account announced that he was hanging up his boots and retiring from inter-county football.

In the hours that followed the grapevine, rumour mill and social media streams went into overdrive as Mayo fans mourned his departure, paid their dues, begged him to reconsider, and questioned the veracity of the tweet.

Long story short, it turned out that Higgins had been out and about with his Ballyhaunis hurling colleagues and his ‘punishment’ for not putting away his phone for the day was to tell the world he was walking away from Mayo.

It was only when the missed calls list started to mount (including names like his parents and Mayo joint manager Pat Holmes) that Higgins realised he needed to set the record straight.

The sigh of relief all around the county was almost audible. Within days of his brief ‘retirement’, whether by accident or design, Holmes and Noel Connelly announced that Keith Higgins would captain Mayo for the 2015 season.

Judging by the timing, the Mayo management obviously felt they had no decision to make.

Higgins had been the right man for the under 21 captaincy nine years earlier when Holmes and Connelly masterminded an All-Ireland title success.

And they believed he was the only man for this job now.

Higgins may not enjoy the same high profile as the likes of Aidan O’Shea or Cillian O’Connor, but he is a big character in the Mayo dressing room and somebody that commands huge respect from his comrades and is extremely popular with the backroom team.

He also exudes supreme confidence.

“No, not that I feel anyway,” he replies when asked if he feels under pressure ahead of a Connacht final, where Mayo are 1/10 favourites to beat Sligo and win their 46th title.

“Some days when you go out you feel that little bit of expectation, that bit of extra pressure from the fans or the public, but I don’t think that’s there at the moment.

“Maybe Mayo supporters are a bit more cautious now at this stage.

“It’s up to us to go out and perform now, and I know people are probably sick of hearing that at this stage but there’s no point in us looking down the road to a quarter-final.

“We just have to get over Sligo and get the clearest route back to Croke Park.”

A victory on Sunday would send Mayo into the last eight of the All-Ireland series and keep their masterplan intact.

But at this stage of this group’s lifecycle, do they need to produce an impressive performance to go with the result? Do Mayo need to make a statement of intent tomorrow? “That’s a tough one, actually,” muses the 30-year-old bank official.

“99% of the games you play in, you’ll take a one-point win, no matter how well you play.

“Coming into a final, it’s probably going to be the same way but you’d like to get a performance as well as the win.

“It can be hard to get the balance right sometimes but we’ll take a one-point win any day of the week.

“A good performance would be a bonus.”

This is Higgins’ ninth Connacht Senior final appearance and he was won six of the previous eight.

He knows exactly what’s required from Mayo, and what to expect from the opposition.

“Sligo are going to bring the enthusiasm that comes from having no pressure on them.

“They’ll be throwing themselves into tackles and flying about the place. It’s up to us to match it, and bring it to another level.”