Mayo manager Kevin McStay felt his side’s performance was patchy after they were edged out by Galway at the death in a dramatic Connacht decider in Pearse Stadium.
Seeking a first Connacht title of his reign, McStay’s team led by two points entering five minutes of injury-time, however a trio of frees, the last of them converted into the wind from beyond the 45 metre line by goalkeeper Connor Gleeson saw them pipped at the post.
Afterwards, McStay admitted that he felt the visitors were largely in control for much of the contest but regretted that they were unable to push their lead out beyond three points at any stage.
We felt we nearly had it under control, McStay told RTÉ Sport. I wouldn’t say we had total control, but we were in a good position, three points up… we’d expected to hold it and see it out, and it didn’t happen for us.
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.
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.
Mayo had the better of the possession stakes – including hoarding the ball for a whopping 66% of the first half, but struggled to engineer enough high-percentage scoring chances against a densely packed Galway defence.
That’s the modern game. We practice religiously for these 13 man defences, McStay said. It did well for Galway, why wouldn’t they?
And then up front, Comer and Finnerty were fairly tasty. So well done to them. They deserved it in the end.
