GAA set for €1.5m replay jackpot
Three years on from their Limerick epic, Croker will house the 2017 repeat encounter at 3pm ahead of Sunday’s clash of Dublin and Tyrone, meaning the GAA will expect around 130,000 people through the Croke Park turnstiles next weekend.
Ticket details have yet to be confirmed for Saturday’s replay, although prices were reduced for Mayo and Roscommon’s quarter-final replay by €5 (from €35 to €30 stand tickets and from €25 to €20 terrace tickets).
A crowd of 66,195 attended yesterday’s enthralling draw, with both counties hoping for their supporters to turn up in strong numbers again next weekend.
The Mayo County Board announced after the game that they will postpone all Junior championship games scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday as they appealed to supporters, saying “We’ll need everyone there to go again”.
It will be Mayo’s fourth visit to Dublin in four weeks after two games against Roscommon and, now, two more against the Kingdom.
Both sides will be seeking to come up with new ploys to catch out their familiar rivals, after Stephen Rochford selected Aidan O’Shea at full-back on Kieran Donaghy.
The move surprised many watching on, but not the Kerryman involved.
“I was ready for anything,” Donaghy told the Marty Squad on RTÉ Radio One.
“I had about five or six scenarios in my head for the start of the game, so no, I wasn’t (surprised).”
Kerry hadn’t been truly tested yet this summer and Donaghy admitted that Mayo were quicker to carry the game to the Kingdom early on.
“It was one of those epic games again. It ebbed and flowed. We were ahead, they were ahead.
“We were hanging in there. It was strange, we thought we were doing okay, but I thought they brought more of a fight in the first 15, 20 minutes.
“We were reacting to it rather than taking it at them early on. You have to give them credit for that.
“Nobody got a big enough lead at a crucial time in the game (to think they had it won). We’d go up one, they’d get two in a row and they’d go up one, then we’d get two in a row and go back up one.
“We never got much momentum in the second half. It was tit-for-tat really. Both (sets of) players wanted it badly and it showed out there.
“The conditions were tough for football, so credit must be given to both teams for putting out a game like that on a slick surface with a slick ball.”
It sets up a mouth-watering repeat clash, which Donaghy is looking forward to as keenly as anyone.
“This is what all the training is for, big days like this, so we can’t wait.”
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