Paddy Durcan has Mayo back on the front foot ahead of their do-or-die All-Ireland group game against Donegal this afternoon.
All of 378 days after tearing his ACL against Cavan last year, the 2019 All-Star wing-back returned to the Mayo starting team to drive his team to a surprise victory over Tyrone.
Flattened by their Connacht final defeat to Galway and group stage loss to Cavan, Mayo recovered to see off the Ulster side 2-17 to 1-13 in Omagh with Durcan putting in a man of the match performance upon his return.
As well as scoring three points and assisting a fourth from left half-back, Durcan's performance could be summarised by 31 of his 34 in-play possessions taking place in the opposition half of the field. The other three possessions were all within 10 metres of halfway and beyond his own 65m line.
Almost half (47%) of his possessions resulted in him kicking or handpassing the ball forward, and that rose to 59% when you include his significant ball carries in which he then popped the ball to a runner off his shoulder or back out to a team-mate on the loop.
Paddy Durcan's impact was felt in their attacking half of the field
For a Mayo team who have struggled to apply their front-footed style to the new rules, and appeared to lack the personnel or will to play a more controlled or kicking game, the victory over Tyrone was a throwback to the high intensity tackling and direct transitions that they've hung their hat on for the past decade or more.
On eight occasions, the 30-year-old followed up a pass with a hard run - or a give and go - injecting pace and intent into Mayo's play.
Even given the consistent directness in his play and attacking intention, the only possession which Durcan lost was when he had a first-half shot blocked down, although even this was regathered and Mayo ended up with a score via a free.
All in all, Durcan made a significant ball carry on seven occasions (in true Mayo fashion only six of his total possessions were kickpasses), and when he was replaced with three minutes remaining, his and Mayo's performance had entirely reset expectations going into the final game of the group against Donegal.
From a ball winning and defensive standpoint, Durcan won two of his possessions via the breaks under the kickout - a key battleground in that win in Omagh - and he made two impressive turnovers, breaking the ball away through a strong tackle on each occasion.
On his first start in over a year, Mayo opted against handing Durcan any of the man-marking roles he has thrived in in recent seasons. Albeit he still demonstrated how he has nullified some of the best forwards in the country through smart and proactive positional play.
Picking up Seanie O'Donnell who had scored two goals in the previous game against Donegal, from the throw-in, the Tyrone half-forward was replaced at half-time after having two touches to Durcan's 17. Shea O'Hare replaced him and had five touches while Durcan enjoyed 17 more possessions.
Between the two Tyrone players, they only managed one possession inside the Mayo 45, whereas 19 of Durcan's 34 touches came inside the opposition's 45, with 11 inside the scoring arc.
Tyrone had no answer to Paddy Durcan's attacking charges
The Castlebar Mitchel's club man's capacity to put forwards on the back foot is half the battle in his defensive work, with the game then played in the opposing side's half of the field. Collectively the entire starting Mayo defence played with a similar mindset and together they accounted for 0-06 from play after scoring just 0-03 in the previous four matches.
Against Donegal however, it is expected Durcan will be asked to pick up a Donegal dangerman. In the 2019 matchup between the sides, he nullified Ryan McHugh although there's no shortage of scoring threats in Jim McGuinness' forward line that he could be asked to track.
In that 2019 encounter, he was named at wing-forward and scored 0-03, assisted two points and kicked a wide within 18 touches (15 in the Donegal half). McHugh kicked one wide within 11 touches, just four of which were in the Mayo 45. A similar task on McHugh or even Peadar Mogan may be required this afternoon.
Paddy Durcan is opted paired up with Donegal's Ryan McHugh
As well as being buoyed by the return of Durcan, Mayo will also take confidence from the venue - given they have not been beaten in their last 14 league or championship games (11 championship and three league) at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon - stretching back to a qualifier defeat to Westmeath in 2001.
If Durcan can keep his team driving forward and on the right side of the pitch, Mayo will have a great chance of progressing into the knockout stages and building momentum at a key point of the season.
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Monaghan v Down and Donegal v Mayo, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
