Conor Mortimer Warns Mayo Against Past Mistakes in All-Ireland Final

Conor Mortimer has warned Mayo that they cannot afford to repeat the mistakes that scarred their All-Ireland final losses to Kerry in 2004 and 2006 if they are to rip up the script at Croke Park on Sunday.

The former Mayo sharpshooter knows those days too well. He stood in the Green and Red forward line as Kerry dismantled Mayo in both deciders, games that were effectively over before half-time.

In 2004, under John Maughan, Mayo were eight points down by the 25th minute and never recovered, slipping to a 1-20 to 2-09 defeat. Two years later, it was even more brutal. Kerry rattled in 2-04 in the first 13 minutes, surged clear, and finished as 13-point winners against a Mayo side then led by Mickey Moran.

Those collapses still sting, and Mortimer believes the lessons are obvious.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport, the 2006 All-Star and that year’s championship top-scorer drew a straight line from those days to what Mayo face now – and to what Kerry did only last year.

He pointed to the 2023 final, when Kerry blew Donegal away before the game had even settled, racing into a 0-13 to 0-04 lead inside 20 minutes.

"Ultimately if Mayo are to use anything for this, I mean they look at '04, '06, and what Kerry did to Donegal last year in the first 10 minutes of the All-Ireland, it was over," Mortimer said.

The message is blunt: Mayo cannot tiptoe into this final. They must storm it.

"I know people are saying about settling things down and, you know, being cool in the first period of the game, but I think for Mayo to have a real chance in this game they're going to have to take it to Kerry from the start.

"Don't give Kerry any time to implement their control of the game or the way they play, because if you let them control the ball, you're going to have a job to get it back.

"I think Mayo are probably going to try to implement their style early on, breaking around the midfield and getting ball to them guys inside and let them do the job after that."

Kerry, chasing a 40th All-Ireland title, go in as clear favourites. The numbers back that up. Mayo have beaten Kerry only six times in 30 championship meetings. History leans heavily towards the Kingdom.

Yet there is a wrinkle. Mayo won their most recent championship clash, a 1-19 to 0-17 round-robin victory in 2023. It was not a final, not a September Sunday with Sam Maguire on the line, but it showed that Kerry can be rattled.

Mayo, under Andy Moran, are hunting just a fourth All-Ireland and a first since 1951. That drought hangs over every conversation, every preview, every prediction. Mortimer does not shy away from the scale of the task, but he sees a route.

For him, it comes down to the last stretch.

"I'd like to see Kerry tested in the last 10 minutes," said the Shrule-Glencorrib man. "I would expect that Mayo would have enough if it's tight going into the last [stages]."

That is the fork in the road as he sees it.

"Ultimately, it can go two ways: if it's tight, I'm going for Mayo to obviously win it.

If, on the other hand, Kerry kind of turn it on, up it a gear from the semi-final they played against Dublin, then Mayo will probably be in trouble."

One key battleground is already circled in red pen: Paudie Clifford. The Kerry playmaker ran Dublin ragged in the semi-final and took the man-of-the-match award. Mortimer insists Mayo cannot allow a repeat.

"You'd expect Mayo to be a lot, lot tighter on Paudie than Dublin were in the semi-final," he said.

Despite Kerry’s status and the scars of those past finals, Mortimer’s faith in his county is clear. He is not talking about a shock demolition, not a romantic runaway win. He is talking about a dogfight.

"So look, I'm going for a Mayo win. Very, very tight.

If our young lads settle, we can certainly win the game by a point or two points."

For Mayo, the challenge is as stark as it is familiar: stand up to Kerry from the first whistle, drag them deep into the contest, and see who blinks when Croke Park starts to tighten in the last 10 minutes.