What a Gaelic football season we are having. One week Donegal are favorites to lift the Sam Maguire, the next week it’s Armagh -- now they are both gone and on Saturday we have a very rare semi-final pairing between Mayo and Louth, while old rivals Dublin and Kerry meet on Sunday in Croke Park.
I have yet to meet anybody who likes the idea of All-Ireland finals being played in the month of July, but supporters are voting with their feet. Last Wednesday when tickets went on sale for the semi-finals, both games were sold out in a few hours. You don’t see that very often for semi-finals in hurling or football.
Back in 1957 when Louth beat Cork to win the last of their three All-Ireland football titles, they were captained by Dermot O’Brien. Dermot, who would later become a successful showband leader, lined out at centre half forward as Louth beat Cork by two points. On Saturday next the Louth number 11 jersey will be worn by current star Sam Mulroy. Sam, a brilliant free-taker, has been Louth’s match-winner in several big games in recent years Can Sam emulate O’Brien on Sunday and lead the Wee County to their first All-Ireland final in 69 years?
In Louth’s way stand Mayo, who are waiting even longer for the Sam Maguire Cup. It’s now 75 years since Sam visited Mayo and the team supposedly upset a local priest, who was conducting a funeral when he claimed the players didn’t show enough respect on the Monday after the final. The priest was reported to have put a curse on the team and said that they would not win another All-Ireland final until all of the 1951 team had died. Several members of that Mayo team deny any such incident occurred, but the way Mayo have performed in finals in finals in recent years, you would be entitled to believe that it was true. Former GAA president Mick Loftus, who was a sub in 1951, was the last to pass away three years ago.
Some of the credit for Louth’s huge improvement in recent years must go to Mickey Harte. The former Tyrone manager took Louth from Division 4 to Division 2 before he left to manage Derry, saying he wanted to win one more All-Ireland. Maybe he should have stayed with the Wee County. Gavin Devlin was Harte’s assistant manager with Louth and now he is their manager.
Then on Sunday at 4pm we have yet another meeting between those great rivals Dublin and Kerry. Dublin, who lost the Leinster final to Louth, has really improved in recent games, especially since manager Ger Brennan completed his 12-week suspension, beating Donegal and Galway, but can Dublin cope with the magic of David Clifford?. Louth played 64 minutes with 10 men against Monaghan and won, but there is no doubt the Farney county missed their top class goalkeeper Rory Beggan, so I am going for a Mayo-Kerry final.
