Horan hails Mayo spirit
James Horan’s faith in the courage and self-belief of his players was vindicated in a momentous second half at Croke Park.
Fourteen-man Mayo looked dead and buried, but searched deep within themselves for serious levels of intensity to turn a five points deficit into a five points lead.
The loss of wing back Lee Keegan to a straight red card just before half-time appeared to ignite the Connacht champions into action, after they had failed to fire in the opening half.
“We completely dominated the second half. We were excellent, we were aggressive,” said manager Hogan.
“We’ll take a huge amount from it – a man down, five points down a couple of minutes into the second half.
“We were positive in everything that we did, and when we do that, we’re a serious team.”
Horan was puzzled by his side’s lack of urgency in a first half that saw the Kingdom take control on their way to a 0-9 to 0-5 interval lead.
“In the first half, we were tentative, holding off a little, and didn’t really go for it, and that cost us a little bit.
“We’re delighted to have another crack at it. We probably should have won the game, but we could have lost it. We’re looking forward to next weekend.”
