Tompkins questions Mayo’s ‘stomach’ for big occasion

Two-time All-Ireland winning Cork footballer Larry Tompkins has launched a withering attack on the Mayo players, claiming James Horan’s troops "need to grow up" if they are to bridge the county’s 63-year wait for Sam Maguire glory.

Tensions between the two counties boiled over in the build-up to last month’s quarter-final with the Cork management hitting out at the “tactical fouling” of the Mayo forwards. Horan blasted the comments of Brian Cuthbert and coach Ronan McCarthy as “disgraceful” and “a new low”.

Stoking the embers of that flame, Tompkins believes Mayo “lack the stomach” to reach the promised land on September’s third Sunday.