Mayo's energetic online GAA supporting community are getting very energised by what they regard as the targeting of Lee Keegan by ex-Dublin players in the media.
Since keeping the shackles on Diarmuid Connolly for the fourth time in a row - Connolly has scored a total of 0-3 in the last four championship matches against Mayo - Keegan has been portrayed as the high priest of pulling and dragging by aggrieved ex-Dublin players.
Ciaran Whelan zeroed in on Keegan during his analysis on the Sunday Game evening show. Yesterday, Alan Brogan referenced Keegan in 'Point 1' in his '5 Things Dublin need to do to beat Mayo' column for the Herald yesterday.
As Lee Keegan himself admits, some of this is right on the edge of legal, and at times, he crosses that mark. Twice I saw his drag Diarmuid Connolly to the ground.
From his perch in Hill 16, Paul Clarke said there was a lot of "cynical, off the ball stuff" going on the last day. And Lee Keegan's name cropped up. He told the Indo that, "I don't see footballer versus footballer out there. I actually think Lee is conceding his footballing ability by pulling and dragging rather than pitching himself against him as a footballer."
Okay, by my count that's Whelan, Brogan, Caffrey and Clarke all sent out to spread the same anti-Keegan message. Have I missed anyone?
— Mayo GAA Blog (@MayoGAABlog) September 27, 2016
The supporters group 'Mayo Club '51' have accused ex-Dublin players of deliberately targeting Lee Keegan. They say the media have "forgotten it takes two to tango" and have ignored other fouls committed elsewhere in the "rush to demonise one player".
Our two cents on the targeting of Lee Keegan. It's not all media, however and that should be acknowledged too. #MayoGAA pic.twitter.com/KSEwLbDdAU
— Mayo Club '51 (@MayoClub51) September 27, 2016
Looking forward to see which @DubGAAOfficial "star" will be rolled out by the media next to tell us about Lee's bad boy status! 🙈🤔 https://t.co/qLjQ9XzLWR
— PeadarG (@peadar_gardiner) September 27, 2016
The Dubs must be hoping Maurice Deegan reads the papers... ANOTHER article on Lee Keegan!!!
— Killian Whelan (@Killian_Whelan) September 27, 2016
How did Keegan become the poster boy for cynical defending? Is it simply partisan Dubs attempting to blacken a rival player's name? Or is he particularly notorious for it?
Joe Brolly seems to incline towards the latter. In his post-match analysis, he joked about the amount of bookings doled out to Lee Keegan's opponents following wrestling matches.
"It's unbelievable how many of Lee Keegan's opponents get yellow cards for wrestling with him. It's one of the amazing coincidences of Gaelic Football (laughs)."
And Keegan himself has been surprisingly open about his defensive approach in the past. With the scores tied and time running out in last year's drawn semi-final, he opted to haul down Diarmuid Connolly off the ball. It was a disarmingly frank bit of cynical play and couldn't be interpreted any other way. His opponent lashed out and got the line.
He explained his approach on RTE podcast 'The Long Grass' last year.
I’m going to try to stop him any way I can to win the game for Mayo...
All the top teams have their black arts, that’s what you’re looking at I suppose. Even Kerry have it, they did last year with us, so you need to have a bit of a streetwise mentality about yourself.
Keegan was also criticised by Galway full forward Damien Comer, who expressed sympathy for Connolly after the red card was flashed and suggested it wasn't the first time Keegan had done something cynical on the pitch. This was probably a reference to the closing stages of the Galway-Mayo Connacht semi-final last year when Keegan picked up the ball and wouldn't relinquish it after Galway were awarded a free.
Feel sorry for @dermoc123 hes constantly targeted and against Mayo it was no different!Keegan instigated that row and its not his first time
— Damien Comer (@DamoComer) September 3, 2015
However, others argue the focus on Keegan is simply down to the fact that he's got under Connolly's skin.
On Mid West Radio today, Mickey Conroy addressed the Dublin footballers complaining about Keegan's marking of Connolly.
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