I never liked having to play in New York but I've totally changed my mind now

I had the pleasure of being in New York last weekend for Mayo’s Championship opener. Gaelic Park is a surreal setting for a Championship game, which was played in blistering sunshine with a big crowd in the Bronx and trains passing along the adjacent number one subway line as frequently as Ryan O’Donoghue scores.

My stay was shorter than most. I arrived on the Friday and headed to an ‘Up for the Match’ in Joyce’s Bar on 39th Street. The event was organised by the Mayo Gaelic Football Club in New York which an old Mayo under-21 teammate of mine, Marcus Hannick, is chairman of. I got to Gaelic Park three hours before throw-in and, already, there was a queue to enter the ground. Inside, the curtain raiser involving the New York Feile under-14 team, who are travelling back to Ireland for the finals, and St Barnaba’s club was underway.

I wrote here a few weeks ago that football needs its big traditional rivalries and Dublin and Meath is certainly one of them. But, the reality is, we are quite a distance from the heyday of this fixture. Success tomorrow for Meath is realistically staying in the game as long as possible and keeping the score respectable. Whether they have the mentality, conditioning and quality to do this is another matter.

GAA

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