Jack O’Connor: 'They had more energy than us, more legs, more hunger'

"It is very disappointing,” said O’Connor in his post-match press conference.

“Obviously it wasn't the ending we envisaged after a tough enough year. But you have to take your hat off to Mayo. I thought they had more energy than us, more legs, more hunger, even though we fought to the end and could have snatched maybe a draw and taken it to extra-time. One or two passes went astray there near the end. I just thought that on balance, Mayo were better than us on the day.

“I felt we started well. What did we go up – five, six? Seven? I just thought there were a couple of bad shot selections then.

“We shelled a little bit then for maybe a five-minute period. I think we had four attacks where we didn’t register a score and I thought that was significant. It just kept Mayo within touching distance.

“Obviously, they kicked a couple of two-pointers then from out on the right-hand side towards the Hill, which was the sweet spot. That just got them back in the game.

“While we responded well just before half-time to get that score and go in a point up, it just gave Mayo the belief that they were within touching distance. And that was enough.”

David Clifford scored 1-6 of their 1-20 total. He was immense. The post-mortem will now begin to determine why other players struggled to reach the required pitch.

"Sure, that is the 50 million dollar question. I just thought on breaking ball and stuff that it showed at times. It possibly goes back to some of the stuff I was talking about in the last few weeks, that we have had men that have had long periods out of football this year.

“Gavin White was out of football for six months. Seánie (O’Shea) was out of football for ten weeks. Joe, eight weeks. Brian Ó Beaglaioch had a stop-start kind of a season. Paudie Clifford, the same – he missed a good chunk of the league. On All-Ireland final day, coming up against a hungry, energetic Mayo team, I feel myself that was a factor."

Diarmuid O’Connor was removed from the panel before throw-in due to a hamstring injury suffered earlier in the week.

“Diarmuid was obviously a loss. He was a big part of our game-plan on kick-outs and stuff like that, with his size out in the 12 pocket. But that is why we have a panel. We had to deal with it. It upset us a bit, to be frank about it. It upset us a bit. But not making excuses now."

Ultimately, they were beaten by an awesome outfit. Like Armagh or Tyrone against the same county previously, Mayo arrived in Croke Park with pure grit.

“They appeared to have more energy on the field. That maybe hunger, it might be the fact that we had a few men who were slightly under-cooked from maybe the length of time they were out with injuries. Hunger is a great driver.

“But there was no reason why our men shouldn't have been hungry. We have an ambitious team that want to win more All-Irelands. We felt we were hungry as well. There was nothing wrong with our hunger against Tyrone and Dublin out here. But no qualms, no excuses, Mayo were better than us today.

"We only hit our straps, I’d say two or three times this year. I mean, the second-half below in Killarney against Armagh, that was us at our best. We played great football in a league game above in Armagh as well, in the first half. But we just weren’t consistent enough. We just weren’t consistent enough.

“And, you know, possibly got a bit of luck against maybe Tyrone and possibly a bit of luck against Dublin and sometimes your luck runs out. Mayo might have got one or two breaks today.

“It balances itself out, but overall it was a year where I thought we played in fits and starts.

“Sure, if you were a neutral you’d absolutely be delighted for them. And it’s great for the game. I’m long enough around the place to know this is fantastic for the game of football.

“But from our point of view we’re bitterly disappointed because, you know, we’re in the business of trying to win it for ourselves. I’m long enough around the place to know that this is a great day for Mayo, it’s great for the game and it gives a lot of other counties hope."