Christy O’Connor: James Horan’s youthful Mayo project is purpose-built for Croke Park

In the last three years, Horan has introduced 38 new players to league football, with 23 making their championship debuts. Some may have only got minimal game-time but most have formed the central planks of the reconstruction

Tommy Conroy, among the new cohort in Mayo colours, battles with Dublin’s David Byrne in the All-Ireland semi-final. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

The day when Dublin were finally beaten was always going to be a seminal moment, a seismic event, but the manner of Mayo’s victory five weeks ago added to the history of the occasion and the purity of the sensation.

The atmosphere was incredible. Ecstasy and elation were soaking and drenching the ground like the incessant rain falling from the sky. The emotional pitch had risen to a crescendo by the time Lee Keegan was being interviewed on the sideline by Shane Dawson for Sky Sports. But Keegan was still measured and composed above the din and delirium raging all around him.