August 27, 2006
These colours don’t run
On the day of the Connacht GAA Football Final last month, it was more than a little provocative of the Mayo contingent to drape their county flag over the trig. point on top of Cnoc Mordain in the heart of Galway during a Galway Walking Club hike. It was even worse when word came through that Mayo had beaten Galway by a point in a match so bad that, really, both sides should have lost. Galway didn’t get much further via the back-door system, but Mayo battled on to meet Dublin on Croke Park this afternoon to fight for a place in the All-Ireland Final.
There isn’t much love lost between Galway and Mayo (ok, none) and I’m amazed at how little support there is in Galway for their neighbours. Of course, I’m not a native Galwegian, so I don’t possess that inbred hatred borne from years of lads chucking sods of turf each other across the border at Leenane. The way I see it, any Connacht team in the final should get the support of the province. Plus, if Dublin were playing the Taliban led by the resurrected ghost of Oliver Cromwell, I still wouldn’t cheer for them. Today, the massed ranks of Dublin supporters were in full voice on Hill 16 – while Dublin were ahead. But when the final whistle blew, and they were beaten, the silence of ten thousand Dubs on the Hill was the sweetest sound of the day.
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Posted by Monasette at August 27, 2006 10:28 PM