Mayo defied the trends on goals and two-pointers on way to lifting the Sam Maguire

Last Sunday, Mayo showed the way forward for modern Gaelic football, and that method is commitment all over the field.High pressing and dogged tackling in defence. Pace, bravery and taking on shots from outside the arc in attack. All the values Andy Moran has espoused came together brilliantly in one of the most emotional sporting occasions in GAA history.There weren’t too many clues that this final performance was on its way; after all, it seemed like anyone with a platform was tipping against them in advance of last Sunday’s final. Maybe part of the reason for that was how Mayo bucked a few statistical trends on their way to the All-Ireland.The most obvious aspect of Mayo’s attacking performance was their determination to kick from distance. The final would have finished level if there were no two-point arc in play and all scores over the bar were worth just a single point. READ MOREObviously, that change would create a huge amount of tactical knock-on effects, but the statistic gives us a good insight into the value of being able to kick two-pointers more often than an opponent. The number of matches where the final result would have been changed by the removal of two-point shooting is surprisingly low under the new rules; just nine out of 110 games in the last two years. The team most involved in those nine games? Mayo.Perhaps they took lessons from 2025, where they were knocked out in the All-Ireland group stages with a one-point defeat to Donegal, having shot zero two-pointers in the decider compared to their opponent’s two.Mayo manager Andy Moran celebrates with Bob Tuohy after the All-Ireland final in Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho This year, Mayo were involved in three games where two-pointers dictated the outcome, and they were on the right side of all three results, including the All-Ireland final. Their one-point victory over Monaghan in Round 1 came thanks to outshooting their hosts six to four from outside the arc, and they survived Round 3 when they defeated Meath, winning by three points after having shot three more two-pointers than the Royals.Bizarrely, though, scoring from outside the arc was not a large difference maker for other counties throughout the rest of the season. In fact, the team with the lower two-point tally was more likely to win games in the championship. Some 23 out of 56 games this year were won by the team with fewer two-pointers, compared to just 20 for teams with more (the tallies were level in the other 13 games).So, while most teams have failed to gain an advantage over their opponents from two-pointers, Mayo have accomplished that consistently when it mattered most. Even with a poor return of four out of 14 efforts from distance in the final, Kerry raised just one orange flag, and those three extra scores proved to be the difference maker.Mayo’s Ryan O'Donoghue shoots the ball past Louth goalkeeper Niall McDonnell. Mayo only hit three scores from outside the arc in 2025’s championship, while they’re now hitting 3.9 a game. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Goals were a key theme of this year’s championship, with nearly a goal more per game than during last season, rising from 2.1 to 2.8. They were also a much more accurate predictor of winners than two-pointers throughout the season.Thirty one games this year were won by teams with more goals than their opponent, compared to just 13 wins for teams facing a deficit in green flags. The top goalscorers of the Sam Maguire qualifiers were Leinster champions Westmeath, who accounted for nearly the full standard of goals per game themselves, averaging 2.6 across their seven matches.Weirdly, this was not an area where Mayo excelled, failing to hit an average of a goal per game, and holding a season tally equal to David Clifford on his own, with seven goals. This was made up for with nearly four two-pointers per game, the second-most - behind Monaghan - out of the top tier sides.That is probably the single biggest change from last year for Andy Moran’s side since he took over. Mayo only hit three scores from outside the arc in 2025’s championship, while they’re now hitting 3.9 a game. Mayo's Darragh Beirne scores his sides first goal of the All-Ireland final against Kerry. Mayo held a season tally equal to David Clifford on his own, with seven goals. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho There’s a clip doing the rounds on social media of Moran at a coaching workshop last winter, where he is teaching club coaches and imploring them to allow players to make mistakes without punishing them. You could see it on Sunday; none of those forwards looked inhibited in the least, despite the dodgy shot accuracy.Moran joins an elite, but surprisingly lengthy, list of managers who have lifted Sam Maguire in their first year managing a team. Out of the 15 managers who have won the All-Ireland this century, nine won the All-Ireland in their debut season with that side: John O’Mahony, Joe Kernan, Mickey Harte, Jack O’Connor, Pat O’Shea, Jim Gavin, Dessie Farrell, Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan, and now Andy Moran.Meanwhile, six (Páidí Ó Sé, Conor Counihan, Pat Gilroy, Jim McGuinness, Éamonn Fitzmaurice and Kieran McGeeney) had to wait beyond their first year to achieve All-Ireland glory.