If Mayo do go on to end their 66 year wait for All Ireland honours in three weeks time, they'll have taken the scenic route.
Having missed out on automatic qualification for the All Ireland Series after falling short in the Connacht semi finals, Stephen Rochford's side navigated their way through three rounds of qualifier games, including an extra time thriller against Cork.
And then it took a replay to overcome Roscommon in the quarter finals, and at the weekend Mayo performed well to see off Kerry in another replay which was their ninth game of the Championship.
A sense of momentum is growing and ex-Mayo manager James Horan told Off The Ball that the win over Kerry shed light on Mayo's best qualities as he and former Tyrone footballer Enda McGinley joined us to review the weekend's action.
You can listen to the full interview on the podcast player or stream/download on iTunes:
"Mayo's attitude, their work-rate, their relentless running, their support play and aggression was of a top order on Saturday. They won by five points in the end but anyone looking at that game, it could have been and should have been a lot more than that. It was a very comprehensive performance," he said, explaining that in the replay, Aidan O'Shea's role saw Kieran Donaghy having to chase him more and also saw Mayo able to starve Donaghy of as much meaningful possession as in the original game the week before.
Mayo's Stephen Rochford celebrates after the game ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
McGinley pointed out that the point of excellent intra-team communication within the Dublin ranks can be applied to Mayo given their experience as a collective but also the sheer number of games they've had to play this year, benefiting their fluidity in the half back line runners and beyond.
"Mayo have that down to a T. They both use that brilliantly in terms of their defensive game but also it created free men the whole time to push forward. Mayo's defence essentially proved the launchpad for so many of their attacks. Colm Boyle and Lee Keegan, they were just incessant driving up and driving up. The way they alternated, Aidan O'Shea particularly in the first half - second half he pretty much stayed full back as Mayo realised they were in pole position," he said.
And overall, Horan felt Rochford, the management team and players "got so much right" especially after criticism from outside the camp in regards to certain tactical decisions.
"Stephen Rochford deserves huge praise," he said, highlighting how the likes of Jason Doherty and Tom Parsons for example have been getting better and better as the Championship goes on and how the benefit of working on core skills is shining through in some of the performances and key moments.
In contrast, he felt Kerry's approach was "way too emotional", leading to a "tetchy type of physicality".
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
