From the Catskills to Croker, the Mayo machine motors on

FORMER Mayo star turned television pundit, Kevin McStay, had reason to take particular pride in the victory over Tyrone in Saturday’s Bank of Ireland All-Ireland SFC quarter-final in Croke Park.

McStay was U21 manager three years ago when the county lost narrowly to the men from Ulster in an All-Ireland decider. Twelve of John Maughan's senior squad were on that team.

"That particular group felt that they weren't that far off them, at the time," he commented.

"Two years later they turn around and see a lot of the Tyrone lads have All-Ireland medals. There was never a big gap, only in terms of how much more Tyrone had achieved," he added. "But, you would have to give John Maughan credit for being a very good manager. I have said that for years. One of his strong points is that he always presents physically perfect teams."

Meanwhile, Fr Gerard McAleer, Tyrone's assistant manager, believes that Mayo can go on and win the county's first All-Ireland title in over half a century.

"They can be successful if they continue with that disciplined approach," he said. "And I don't say that lightly. I said last week Mayo was the one team I worried about."

With Mickey Harte stating after the game that losing Cormac McAnallen had been the most important thing in their lives this year - and would be for a long time to come - Fr McAleer admitted that emotionally, the All-Ireland champions were drained.

"We lost Cormac and I don't think anyone has an understanding of what he meant," he added.

Other factors had come into play, he pointed out. Peter Canavan was out for most of the season, Enda McGinley was ruled out in mid-season and Brian McGuigan was unable to start Saturday's game.

"Maybe the authorities have to be a bit more flexible," he said. "The two teams playing the previous week had to go out and play eight days later. I'm not offering it as an excuse. Mayo were a better team and they had a far greater appetite."

It was a sentiment Maughan agreed with, saying it was largely based on the fact that they had been so well prepared and because of the "character and resilience" in the squad.

"We brought in some new lads and there's a nice mix with the older players. We have depth this year, guys on the bench are equally as good. And that has been a comfort to me as a manager, knowing that if something doesn't happen, we have a Plan B. Maybe in the past we didn't have the depth of resources we have now.

"Maybe Mayo did not perform in the past, but, we have always worked hard. We mightn't have had that bit of luck. In '96 (in the final against Meath) we never showed the white feather. We were caught at the death, but it wasn't for lack of effort. It was the same in '97 and in '99. We weren't good enough maybe a few years ago. These boys are talented. We have more flair, more talent than we had back then. That's the reality."

The turning point in this voyage of self-discovery came in the most unlikely of venues - a training camp in the Catskill mountains in upstate New York before their game against New York in Gaelic Park.

"We worked hard for a week up there. That was the catalyst for a lot of things that happened this year," he commented. "It brought lads together. We had young lads who hadn't met David Brady who had been out of the country for a year. And Kieran McDonald coming back was the final piece in the jigsaw."