Maughan begins mind games for Galway battle
“Naturally, I’m very pleased with the win, it’s what we came here for, but we’ll need to up it considerably if we hope to beat Galway in a couple of weeks time in the final,” as the psychological teasing began in record time.
“We played as well as we were allowed. Mayo went into the game as underdogs which always is a help to a team’s management, and the lack of support for the team was very evident as our followers weren’t expecting a whole lot from this team.
“From that point of view I’m very pleased to have won. The team management were quietly confident of winning and we had the players in that frame of mind also.
" Playing a midfielder in behind our half backs worked extremely well as it allowed us to set up attacks.
“The backs looked extremely sharp and the way they were on to the breaking ball was very encouraging. I felt we won most of the breaking ball which ensured a plentiful supply into the forwards and they did the business.”
Added Maughan: “I thought Conor Mortimer showed marvellous composure for such a young player. He is certainly has the makings of a great player.
"I thought Fergal Kelly did a great job for us. He was given no chance of playing but we took the risk and he made a major contribution at midfield as did James Gill.
It was easy to empathise with Sligo manager Peter Forde’s disappointment at losing, but he offered no excuses.
“It’s a huge setback to us as we had great hopes of making this year’s final, but on the day we were well beaten,” he said.
“At half time we tried to re-organise a bit but it didn’t happen. We could never win our share of the breaking ball and that I feel is where we fell down.
"Mayo were very sharp and we can have no complaints. We were beaten by a better team.
“We have been in this position beforehand bounced back. We’ll take a few days away from evaluating the situation, but it’s going to be difficult. Right now everyone is gutted.”
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