Dillon vows to try again

It’s meant to get a bit easier a few months after an All-Ireland final loss.

The pain should be dulled as life kicks back into gear and next season appears on the horizon.

But for Mayo’s Alan Dillon, after his third All-Ireland SFC loss in eight seasons, the affects of the defeat to Donegal still haunt him. The fact his club, Ballintubber, were beaten in the county final by Ballaghaderreen made it worse. Missing Young Player of the Year Cillian O’Connor and picking up a serious concussion made him ask the imponderable ‘what if’ questions all over again.

By next September he will be 31 and after being dedicated to the Mayo colours since his bright career as a minor in 1999, no one would blame him for calling it a day. That was never an option though.

“The optimism is there for next year,” he said at Dublin Airport yesterday before boarding the plane to New York for the All Stars trip.

“You don’t want to miss that boat. We’re close. That’s the reality and the goals never change. It’s about getting across the line and the gap is getting narrower between the top teams.

“There was never really a danger of me walking away at this stage.”

And one of the key things to emerge from that meeting is to add a ruthless streak to their attack to build on the strong defensive unit they have created.

“We need to get stronger in an attacking sense,” he said. “The six that start and the three or four that come on. There are different game plans and tactics we can use come big games that wasn’t there this year. Hopefully we can bring that to the table.”

With Donie Buckley coming in as football coach to replace the Kerry-bound Cian O’Neill, the two-time All Star is hopeful his side’s progression will not be hampered.

“If we can continue that progression in 2013 there’s no reason why we can’t get back to the latter end of the championship again next year. We have sat down an analysed the year as a group and we know what we have to do to get there.

“The input that Donie will bring will be very welcome. Hopefully he can enhance what’s already a pretty solid platform.

“Donie was anxious to get on board and that can only be good for Mayo football. He brings a huge wealth of experience so I don’t think we’ve been weakened.

“Peadar Gardiner would have worked with him in NUI Galway and he has good things to say about him. He knows his football. Marc Ó Sé was ringing me and asking about Cian O’Neill and I was asking about Donie, which was funny. It’s ironic that they’re going in opposite directions.

“It’s vital to have a good coach in there because he’s the person we’re listening to on the pitch. If we can bring an extra 5% or 10% to each of us that will have to be good for the team.”

James Horan’s decision to bring Buckley in so soon after O’Neill left helped whet the appetite of seasoned Mayo players like Dillon, but it could have been so different if the manager had walked away after a dispute with the county board.

Dillon backed his manager for taking the stance and called on the board to give Horan whatever he needs to help Mayo reach their ultimate goal of bridging a 62-year gap to Sam Maguire.

“I didn’t talk to him personally in terms of the whole situation, but there was a lot of stuff behind the scenes that he wasn’t impressed with, and I suppose it was kind of more or less threats more than real substance to it. But the county board need to fully back the team, and I suppose that’s what James was looking for.”