London v Mayo: Exiles looking at the bigger picture, says captain Dave McGreevy

 

IT’S a grey summer's afternoon at the Connacht GAA Centre in the rural outpost of Bekan in County Mayo, far removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in London.

Dave McGreevy has travelled to the launch of the Connacht Senior Football Championship and while 'home' county managers and captains are all within a leisurely hour's drive of the €8m facility, it's a case of trains, planes and automobiles for the London captain to be here.

The affable Down native, now into his sixth season as a London footballer, takes it all in his stride though as he looks back on an inter-county career that has been nothing short of eventful.

His London debut nearly produced one of the great Championship upsets as Mayo, in James Horan's first Championship match in charge, scraped a draw before prevailing after extra-time.

More recently was their epic journey to the 2013 Connacht final and wins over Sligo and Leitrim preceded a 5-11 to 0-10 defeat to Sunday's opponents.

While each new Championship season brings fresh hope, McGreevy admits that London's ambitions are far more modest these days, with development and the integration of home-grown talent the name of the game.

"We should have won that game (in 2011)," reflected the 30-year-old. "Back then, there was only one English-born guy in the whole panel, Liam Gavaghan. And he's still there now, he's only 24. But it's great now there's eight of them. And they are there not because they are English born, they are there because they are big players for us."

"Lloyd Colfer is head of underage development here. He started up the development squads in 2013 and it's really coming into bloom now. Ciaran Healy would be a really good example of this. This time last year he was on the bench for London minors. In our last game he was centre half-back.

"That's great to see. Every year I've been playing since 2011, it has been a new team every year. There's no way around it. Guys are only over in London to work. If they get a job somewhere else, they're gone. But having those young guys coming through will be a massive help. They're a talented bunch."

While London will benefit from that investment in youth in the years to come, Sunday’s assignment could hardly be more difficult. Mayo are short odds to deliver a sixth Connacht Senior Football Championship title in a row and McGreevy admits that their task is a tough one, coming after a League campaign that brought one win from seven for Ciaran Deely’s men as they maintained their Indian sign over Waterford.

"The big thing will be that we've been playing against Division 4 teams all season. Even the teams at the top of the table – Louth and Antrim who went up – they are still a good few stages below the likes of Mayo. They're a Division 1 team, a solid Division 1 team. They've been playing against the top guys for so many seasons and we haven't. That's the big thing. So to lift the game for that is going to be tough."

"I was lucky enough to be in such a talented team back in 2013 and that's why we done so well. For a team like that to be smashed together at the right time, we were so lucky. A guy asked me what would you hope for London this year. I want to see those guys do well, put in a good foundation and at some point – I've been to a Connacht final – I'd like to see those guys go to a Connacht final and win one."