Mulholland: We paid for silly errors

Alan Mulholland always knew Galway had to play at their best to beat Mayo – but when they pressed the self-destruct button in defence any hope of challenging them evaporated.

“In the first half, the goals, I think a lot of them were down to us coughing up the ball. The Mayo dressing room will say that was down to the pressure they put on our defenders, and they definitely did, and maybe it was a level of pressure they weren’t accustomed to.

“We did make some mistakes. We were always going to have to be squeaky clean in this match and play to our best and that’s not what happened.

“We made some silly errors at the back. We were always going to have to play to our max to be competitive in that game and the errors we made didn’t help. However, that is not an excuse, there was a gap between us today and we were second best.”

But were Galway bullied by the physical strength of the opposition? Yes and no, according to the defeated manager.

“They are a physically strong side. Talk to a number of managers around the country who have commented on that, their physical development, in the last few years.

“It showed out there today. But when you get a lead on a team and you’re pushing forward sometimes that physicality can be exaggerated a bit too. The fact that we were on the backfoot for the game made it more obvious.”

Galway’s cause wasn’t helped by the straight red cards picked up Garreth Bradshaw and Niall Coleman in the second half.

“I thought they were a little harsh,” said Mulholland. “I think our lads were getting a little frustrated, I think the referee could have been cognisant of that.

“However, Mayo were physically dominant and intimidating us all over the pitch so it was ironic that we ended up with the two red cards. However, in saying that I don’t think we can be making any excuses really in that regard.”

Mulholland admitted keeping players in the country for the summer might be an issue, although the four U21s in the panel have committed themselves to the team for the entirety of their campaign.

“Galway haven’t done well in the qualifiers in the last number of years so this is going to be our goal now to try win one. It gives us a goal to aim for, who knows what draw we are going to get.”

Meanwhile, Alan Dillon echoed James Horan’s comments and rubbished the idea Mayo don’t have enough quality scoring forwards.

“It is a media-driven perception that is out there that we don’t punish teams as well as we should.

“We have some great footballers there, and a lot of our finishing has improved.

“We have a squad that can compete with anyone in the country and we will keep working at it.”