Horan lauds dead-eye O’Connor

SEVEN weeks ago, Mayo’s Connacht title ambitions were almost misplaced on a weekend away in the English capital.

Yesterday, they were declared provincial champions in their opponents’ back yard and that transformation from zeroes to heroes can be distilled into a cursory examination of their belated ability to find someone dependable enough to do a job from placed balls.

Back at the end of May, seven of James Horan’s squad stood up to have a pop at the posts in Ruislip. Against Galway in the semi-final, that number had diminished to a still alarming four but only one man was required yesterday.