Points more important than performance, says Horan

James Horan underlined the importance of picking up two points yesterday after Mayo’s opening two defeats.

Going into round four with nothing to show for their endeavours would have been difficult but he said: “Kerry had four [defeats in a row] last year. You want to get a couple of points on the board because it impacts on what you do at training the following week or what you need to work on and that kind of stuff.

“It was just about getting two points today. I didn’t care how we did it in a way, to be honest, but we got the two points. We were poor at times, the scores Kerry got in the first half were way too easy. Every time we looked like we were getting momentum we let them back with an easy score. But we kept at it and kept plugging away and the game was still in the balance with 10 minutes to go and we finished very strongly, which is encouraging.”

Horan acknowledged the contribution of Donal Vaughan, Seamus O’Shea and Enda Varley coming off the bench, the first two making their first appearances of 2014.

“You saw the immediate impact they had when they came on. Seamie gave some great ball in and you saw the difference Enda Varley made when he came on, he won pretty much every ball that was kicked in. The subs made a huge impact for us today.”

Horan confirmed Cillian O’Connor is close to returning to action after his shoulder operation in the off-season. Having stood at 20 after the Tyrone game last month, Mayo’s long term injury list is now down to two — Alan Dillon and Chris Barrett.