As a moment, it was as if the Connacht final was suddenly being directed by a producer of Masterchef, or a similar reality TV show.
The score was 0-15 each between Galway and Mayo, and once David Gough decided that Conor Loftus had overheld possession in the fifth minute of stoppage time, it was all going to hinge on goalkeeper Connor Gleeson’s long-range free – and the Dunmore man wasn’t in any rush to cover the 100 metres to get to the spot of the foul.
Many players might try and get there quickly, to minimise the amount of time spent contemplating the importance of this kick.
Gleeson took his time, ambled up slowly, heightening the drama for all 20,000 people in the stadium, building up to the moment of truth in a manner that would more normally be associated with Gordon Ramsay deciding which quiche he liked most.
But as he strolled up, Gleeson’s thoughts couldn’t have been more simple.
“I was just concentrating on my technique. I said that if I just said that if I strike through it and aim for the black spot, I’ll give myself a chance,” he said afterwards.
It didn’t quite traverse the black spot, instead it sailed a little bit too close to the far left post for comfort, but once the white flag sailed, Gleeson could start to think of the significance of what had just happened.
“I wasn’t running back until I knew it was over the bar. I only knew just at the end that it was staying on. Then it was a case of joy, and looking at the clock. I thought that whistle would go!”
Gleeson’s place in the Galway team has come under plenty of scrutiny in recent years, with some advocating for Bernard Power, others making a case for current sub goalkeeper Conor Flaherty, who plays outfield with his club, and even some rumours in the background of trying to bring about a transfer of current Roscommon goalkeeper Conor Carroll, who played underage football with the Tribesmen.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Pádraic Joyce sounded a passionate note of support for Gleeson, while the man himself was simply delighted for those around him – family members, who had a tough week following the death of Connor’s grandmother, and his fellow players.
“It’s nice, for my family especially, they’ll take all the plaudits, I probably won’t even look at it too much but they’ll be delighted – for a change,” he said.
“For me, I’m just delighted to get the medal, to get three in a row. It’s nice to be the hero for a change but I’d take that Connacht medal, that’s all I wanted.
“Galway had lost, I don’t know many finals against Mayo at this stage, so we wanted to put that one right. We always knew that once our so-called big players would come back and we’d get to full strength, we’d be a serious team.
“We were still disappointed with some of our performances considering the depth that’s in the squad and it just wasn’t going our way, for one reason or another, in the league.
“But we stayed up, got over the line two weeks ago (against Sligo) and I suppose that really woke us up to give this a right good crack”.
Gleeson said that there was still a lot more in the group, but that their patience has been a huge asset.
“It was like the Sligo game, we were just staying calm to the end, that’s just something you have to keep doing. Good teams grind it out when they’re not playing well.
“The way the game went now, for a neutral watching I’d say it was very exciting, there were a lot of mistakes. We were up and down the pitch a lot and I don’t know if overall I had the best of games, but they’ll only remember the last kick hopefully!”
