Moran: Ref told O’Connor there was more time left

Joe McQuillan told Cillian O’Connor there was still 30 seconds left when he popped over the final score of the game, according to Mayo captain Andy Moran.

O’Connor spoke to the Cavan whistler before deciding to put the ball over the bar, but Stephen Cluxton’s subsequent kick-out was the last action of the final and Moran believes it robbed his side of a chance to win the game.

“At the end, Cillian had a free, the ref tells him there’s 30 seconds left, and then he blows it out from the kick-out,” said Moran.

“It’s a bit of a pain in the arse, to be honest with you, but hey, these things happen.

“Cillian is an intelligent guy, a very intelligent footballer. He asked the ref how long was left, he (the ref) said 30 seconds and (then) he blew it up.

“It’s a one out of 10 chance anyway, but it’s still a chance — to get a goal and have a chance of winning an All-Ireland.”

James Horan was equally miffed with the decision but said Mayo would not be doing anything about it.

“When you ask the ref how long is left, when you ask him twice, you know... he tells you there’s at least 30 seconds left after the score,” said Horan.

“That’s a little disappointing. But, look, that’s neither here nor there. The game is over, we were beaten and we’re very disappointed.

“You guys can write about that. There was a lot of hullabaloo when we played them before but we won’t make a hullabaloo about it. It’s disappointing, is there anything I can do about it? Not a friggin thing. It’s pointless.”