Out comes a strand from 1983, a wisp that seemed of little importance at the time. Mayo had drawn the All Ireland under-21 final when a member of the panel announced he had already booked a holiday. His manager told him he'd be bringing his boots but that still wasn't enough. On his return he was kept back for 40 minutes after a tough training session and subjected to the most gruelling workout of his young life. Whether he had drank or not while away, no chances were being taken.

A few days later John O'Mahony guided that Mayo side past Derry and already had his eye on conducting an out-of-tune orchestra. John Maughan played a key role in the backs that afternoon and no matter what he had been put through, still reckons both holiday and overtime were worth it.

Completing the spine of that defence was Peter Ford, a classy, masterful defender who had watched closely as his good friend from UCG had been taken to the limit. The tone looked to be set for a decade in Mayo. Instead the tone was set for a generation in Connacht.

Hard to remember now just how bad western football was at that stage, so here's a quick reminder. The last time a side from the province had won an All Ireland senior title was 1966 when Galway completed the three-in-a-row and in the intervening years only once had the Connacht champions beaten Leinster or Munster opposition. All that was about to change. "I'd say John O'Mahony would have had his eye on that team maturing and him passing into senior fairly fast, " says Kevin McStay who played on that under-21 side.

"It would have been 1988 when he got his first opening and it was an immediate impact and that's what he normally does. When you talk about John O'Mahony you think of impact. He's not a guy that waits around for long.

Look what he did in '88."

It was that season they took Connacht by storm and might have won an All Ireland semifinal against Meath. It only took a year for the side to learn from their mistakes and in 1989 they were in an All Ireland final, their first since 1951 while picking up their first back-to-back provincial crowns since that same year.

"I think it's just that his allround people skills are very impressive and you want to do your very best for any team John O'Mahony is involved with, " continues McStay. "Sounds simple and in theory it is. But how many have done it? He gets that kind of feel-good factor very early. You can say he was lucky with the bunch he had coming through in Mayo but other events have shown that was never it. Look at what he did with Galway when he took them to their first All Ireland in 35 years. That was probably his greatest achievement.

That and taking Leitrim to a Connacht title in 1994 which was unprecedented and still is."

It was around that time Mayo were again sinking into a trough. With an aging team and time running short for many, they turned on their manager and the Brian McDonald affair began and ended. Ford was nominated as a leader of that bloodless coup and it may have been that incident which drew him into county management and that has kept him from managing the one side he really desires. "I had known Peter as a player and had been in UCG with him, " says Maughan. "I had great time for him as a footballer. He starred on Sigerson teams and from a boxing background he has tremendous self-discipline and is very fit, very strong and a very capable operator.

Maybe it was hard to recognise any management skills back then but the way he had grown by the time I got involved with Mayo in 1995, he was one of the guys I really went after because I respected his knowledge of the game and his ability and he was part of my team for two years.

It was great to have him on board."

Just like O'Mahony had done, the combination of Maughan and Ford quickly pulled the county from the bog water. In 1995, a few months before they would be taken apart by Galway in the Connacht final, the side travelled to Tyrone for a league game. John Casey came across a programme that day and remembers looking at it and feeling small. Maughan had named the team earlier in the week but in front of him, under the banner of Maigh Eo read An Other times 15.

Tyrone people didn't care who these guys were. After all, they were nobodies. Yet within a year-and-a-half, the side were in an All Ireland final. It would be eight years before named opponents could say the same.

"I always saw John O'Mahony as a very deep thinker and I believe Peter Ford has taken a lot of that with him from years under him as a player, " says Martin Carney.

"He may even be deeper than his old mentor. I think both he and John Maughan were a very good combination but Peter had his own ideas. He wasn't as well known when Mayo were going well but I remember listening in awe to him in 2002 when he was in charge of Sligo. They had already stunned football by beating Tyrone but listening to the plans and strategies he was using to counteract the threat of Armagh it was easy to see why. Particularly the way he used Ciaran Quinn and John McPartland that day, the way he employed those nearly brought about Armagh's downfall."

That day Kieran McGeeney was continually forced onto his left foot. Sligo tried to pressure Armagh from afar, preventing their forwards from scoring at a distance.

Had Kerry done the same Armagh would not have won that All Ireland. Had Ford better raw materials, Sligo would have been in an All Ireland semi-final for the first time since 1975 and only their fourth ever and they would have done it by swatting Armagh and Tyrone from a perch too.

"I look at the three of them and it's amazing the drive and energy they have put in, " says McStay. "Be it in Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo or Galway, they have given those counties some amazing times and brought success where there was none and that is not easy when in charge in the west.

And they all still have huge ambitions. I suppose Peter is completely committed to Galway and is so competitive and focused he is desperate to win today. But at some stage I'm sure he would love to take charge of Mayo but people always look back to that incident as a player when McDonald was in charge. He stood up and a lot of people would not have agreed, but he had the moral courage to go through.

He was up front. He didn't do it in a Machiavellian way, instead a letter was signed and that was before teams would have done that sort of thing. He'd have very strong ideas about what he wants to do and where he wants to go.

And because of that and his background I'm sure Mayo has hurt, he was sure he was going to get the job when it changed from John Maughan and Pat Holmes got it. I guess John O'Mahony of course, having won his All Ireland with Galway would love to do it with Mayo and all that adds to it today."

And as for John Maughan?

He's in Roscommon, waiting to upstage the both of them.

CONNACHT
SFC FIRST ROUND PREVIEW GALWAY v MAYO

Pearse Park, 4.00 Referee J McQuillan (Cavan) Live, RTE Two, 3.40 Here we go. Again. Usual fare in Connacht as Mayo and Galway go at it not long after they've managed to find themselves paired together in the league.

Today's game carries more weight than recent years though.

The winners, of course, can expect to find themselves in an All Ireland quarter-final without too many knocks, the losers however fall straight into the most dangerous qualifiers there has ever been and will find it a chore to make Croker.

Up until Diarmuid Blake failed to have his name inked on the teamsheet, we were guessing a home win. Behind him Finian Hanley still looks the best young full-back in the country while Padraic Joyce (right) and Nicky Joyce have been ticking along.

But such is the similarity, one exclusion and favouritism shifts.

Billy Joe Padden won't start at three, instead that role will be filled by David Heaney with Padden likely to play in front of him while James Nallen moves midfield. The latter is the one area where Mayo look to have a disadvantage but their halfforward line, including the returning Trevor Mortimer, looks one of the best around while inside provides plenty of threat as well. One other factor.

Weather hasn't been good this weekend and Salthill is renowned as hurricane alley so expect a dogfight. The last five times these have met in the league, the winner that day ended up losing the championship return. Expect that trend to be broken today.

Verdict Mayo by three GALWAY P Doherty; C Fitzgerald, F Hanley, D Burke; D Meehan, N Coyne, M Comer; N Coleman, J Bergin; D Savage, J Fallon, N Joyce; M Meehan, P Joyce, C Bane MAYO K O'Malley; L O'Malley, BJ Padden, K Higgins; E Devanney, J Nallen, P Gardiner; D Heaney, P Harte; G Brady, T Mortimer, A Dillon; C Mortimer, K O'Neill, A Moran