IT wasn’t a classic game of football by any stretch of the imagination, but there was some real excitement at the very end of Sunday’s Connacht GAA Football Final in Salthill.
Mayo looked to have done enough as the game ticked into injury time, but credit to Galway, they really stuck to their task and three frees from Rob Finnerty, Shane Walsh and the winner from goalkeeper Conor Gleeson meant the Nestor Cup was once again going back to the City of the Tribes.
Some of the decisions by referee David Gough were questionable, but Kevin McStay was not looking for excuses when he spoke to the media after the game.
“It was a fantastic effort by Galway to get back into it. Playing against a bit of a breeze, you’d have to commend their efforts at the end,” said the Mayo manager.
“We’re very disappointed. We really set our stall out to win the championship this year, but we have to bow the knee to Galway on this occasion. [It was] patchy. There were periods when we looked quite good. We could never get it to four [points ahead], there was never a flow to our game, I felt.
“If we could have got it to four or five, I feel we maybe would have left a bit of a gap, but we never got it to that.”
Before the game, there was a school of thought that the team that lost on Sunday would have an easier route through the round-robin series and on to the All-Ireland quarter finals, but when they were on the pitch, both teams showed that they very much wanted to win the Connacht title.
There could only be one winner though, and Mayo now must dust themselves down and get ready for three big championship games in Group Two of the qualifiers.
Big games ahead
FIRST up is a must-win game against a Cavan team that will quietly fancy their chances against Mayo in MacHale Park on Sunday week.
New Cavan manager Raymond Galligan has got a good reaction from his players since taking the job, but Mayo will be warm favourites to put two points on the board in that first game.
Mayo’s second game is likely to be a rip-roaring encounter, when they take on neighbours Roscommon for the second time this season in the championship at Hyde Park.
Roscommon are likely going to play Dublin in their first game, and it will be very hard for Davy Burke’s men to get a win in Croke Park. This means they will likely be fighting for their championship lives when they take on Mayo in that second game.
Mayo’s final game will be against Dublin if Dessie Farrell’s team take care of business against Louth next Sunday.
The Dubs are strong favourites to win this year’s All-Ireland again, but if Mayo were to win both their games against Cavan and Roscommon, then a win over the Dubs would see them top the group and go straight into the quarter-final, avoiding a preliminary quarter-final.
The game is due to be played at a neutral venue, so there will be a great atmosphere guaranteed if Mayo and Dublin are to go head-to-head to see who will top the group.
That scenario will very much be at the back of the minds of the Mayo squad as they meet up this week to start back training ahead of what will be a very busy time.
Mayo definitely have room to improve, and they now must realise they will have to perform at their very best to secure those wins against both Cavan and Roscommon.
If they can do that, they should secure four points and then set themselves up for a right rattle at Dublin in that tantalising final game. The current championship format certainly has its critics, but there is no doubt Mayo GAA’s huge following is in for some interesting battles over the next month or so.
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