We’ll be back, vows Moran

Mayo began their journey under James Horan with a talk about what it would take to become winners.

Three pictures were placed before them: LeBron James, Andy Murray and the Mayo team. All three were being portrayed as losers at the time but a prediction was made that, by the time they had finished their respective quests, they would be remembered as winners.

That vision remains a live one for Mayo.

“Ah, to be honest, we’re devastated. There was tears there. But we’re in the situation now where... the Andy Murray phrase comes out — he was very close for a long time, but he got over the line. We’re gonna keep fighting and we definitely will be back,” said captain Andy Moran.

“We’ve a very good team. The only problem was Donegal were a very good team last year and played a bit better on the day, and Dublin are a very good team and played very well today on the day, took their chances… you see Ger Brennan kicking a point with his right foot from 40 yards. Sometimes it’s just your day.

“Even when I was coming off, I thought we had a good chance. You always get a chance, and Cillian’s free at the end was the chance. If it goes in, more than likely it doesn’t go in, but it’s still a chance and you’d like to have just maybe went for it. But listen, that’s the way it is, the best team on the day probably won.”

As he was speaking, his team-mates threw their bags on the waiting bus.

Aidan O’Shea and physio Liam Moffat wept openly. Other carried tissues, their eyes still red 45 minutes after the final whistle.

This one seemed to hurt more than the previous six since the last victory in 1951. 62 years had seemed like long enough, now the wait will be at least 63.

Keith Higgins was devastated: “I don’t know what to say, to be honest with you. It’s different to last year alright. It’s a game we could have won. We probably had chances... didn’t take enough in the first half but look, that’s something to look at another day.

“Another All-Ireland gone,” he said laughing lightly. “To lose by a point is never easy but I suppose when we look back on it we’ll see a lot of chances that we could have taken that we didn’t but that’s for another day to look at.”

No excuses though. They had their chance to win it and didn’t take it.

Joe McQuillan’s decision to blow up the game was “just one of those things”.

Not taking their chances at the start was the root cause for their loss not nerves.

“We knew the minors had won, we knew it was a hot day out there. I think everyone was feeling good in the warm-up and like I said, we started off well, we just couldn’t get the scores on the board.

“Lads were feeling good before the game so I don’t think there were any nerves, to be honest with you. We were playing well in the first half, we just weren’t converting all them chances we had into scores. We probably felt we could have been more ahead at half-time.

“[In the] second half they probably got the start that we were looking for. Once we did get it back level the second goal was a bit of a killer, like, you know. We got it back to a two-point game with seven or eight minutes left, it just wasn’t to be. I suppose it is small margins that change games.”

So what now?

“We’ve no choice! We’re not going to pack it in. We’ll go back playing club football next week probably and take it from there. Come November, December we’ll have a meeting, think about it and there’s the FBD again in January.”