Being a goalkeeper is a bastard.
Which is a shame, because goalkeepers tend to be sound old skins. David Clarke is a decent fella and
very honest when discussing his rivalry with Rob Hennelly in the run-up to the drawn All-Ireland final.
Hennelly is another nice guy. Funny and little off-beat, he seems to have the genuine affection and respect of his team-mates.
That much was obvious in the immediate aftermath of Mayo's gut-wrenching 1-15 to 1-14 replay defeat to Dublin.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/782276629523488768
They rallied around their goalkeeper in his darkest hour.
Shown a black card early in the second half, the 26-year-old Breaffy man could only watch from the sideline as Diarmuid Connolly blasted a penalty beyond his replacement, friend and rival Clarke.
Hennelly was sent to the line after what can only be described as monumental error. Paul Flynn played a diagonal ball that was dropping harmlessly into an unoccupied large parallelogram as the goalkeeper came out to claim it.
Unfortunately the ball slipped through his hands, bounced off his shoulder and into the path of Paddy Andrews. The Dublin forward had a glimpse at goal as Hennelly dragged him down.
You could argue a red card but the black card and a penalty brought small mercies. Hennelly could be replaced by Clarke and end a miserable day.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_GAA/status/782265808764493824
Even before the penalty incident, his kick-outs - the reason for which he was selected - were not working. Too many times he was leaving his target with too much to do. Some went straight to Dublin men.
Stephen Rochford gambled and lost. But the biggest loser was Hennelly.
The man will forever be haunted by that one mistake. Outfielders drop a ball and people throw their hands into the air, goalkeepers drop a ball and the same hands are reaching for pitchforks and torches.
But he should never have been there in the first place.
Clarke was a shoo-in for All-Star goalkeeper following the drawn game. Okay, his kick-outs went a bit haywire in the closing stages, but he was trying to outsmart the best football team of the decade. That can happen.
He is big, strong, commanding in the air, quick off his line and a wonderful shot-stopper. He did not deserve to be dropped for the replay, no more than Hennelly deserved to be parachuted in, having not played a competitive inter-county match since the Connacht SFC semi-final defeat to Galway.
It was a gamble by Rochford and the only winners were Dublin. The manager lost, Mayo lost, Clarke lost but most of all Hennelly lost.
It was hard not to feel sorry for him. Even Twitter was able to show a little sympathy.
https://twitter.com/ThePeterBoyle1/status/782277180214636544
https://twitter.com/billcagney/status/782277077772996608
https://twitter.com/ponyyelof/status/782276501161054208
https://twitter.com/patoc37/status/782276223825313792
https://twitter.com/dowlerznap/status/782275788360019968
https://twitter.com/olivercallan/status/782275552480755712
