Stephen Rochford: ‘When you don’t win, you take a shelling’

Stephen Rochford gives the impression of a guy who doesn’t pay much heed to the noise beyond the dressing-room walls.

That’s no bad thing, given the volume of excited chatter that is likely to trail Mayo from this 22-point defeat of the Connacht champions all the way through to their All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Kerry later in the month.

The soundings until this had been largely negative, or concerned, at least. The last week had been awash with debate about tactics and substitutions in the drawn game, as well as rumours of Lee Keegan’s illness, which would see him sidelined yesterday.