Horan confident of better days ahead

Learn the lessons and come back stronger - that is the task that Mayo manager James Horan has given his players as they reflect on yesterday's heartbreaking All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Donegal.

The concession of two early goals left Mayo chasing the Ulster champions' tails at Croke Park, but they will take some heart from their failure to fold after going 2-1 to 0-0 down.

Indeed, over the remaining 59 minutes Mayo outscored the eventual winners by 0-13 to 0-10 and Horan feels that they can build on a performance full of character and resolve.

"It's the first thing we did when we sat down in that dressing room, we went through what we could improve on, what worked today and what didn't work," he said.

"And that's been our approach all year, and is still the same. Yeah, our disappointment is greater but we'll learn from today. The team showed though, as they have all year, the character they have.

"They kept plugging away to the final whistle. We just couldn't get there but we kept trying.

"We'll have to take it on the chin, learn from it and away they'll go. They'll come back better players, and better people."

Mayo football has been unable to shake off that bridesmaids' tag, suffering six All-Ireland final reversals in the last 23 years - including those devastating losses to Kerry in the mid-2000s.

There were signs yesterday afternoon that they are closer to breaking their Sam Maguire hoodoo than ever before, with Lee Keegan, Cillian O'Connor and Kevin McLoughlin among the players to step up when the chips were down.

"I think there are positives, a lot of positives. Because we'd quite a few chances at the start of the second half. Some of then rushed and some of them were snapped at. A little bit of composure there would have helped."

The Connacht champions did snatch at some scorable chances and their lack of a goal-scoring threat until right at the death - substitute Seamus O'Shea had a scrappy effort - meant that Donegal were always at least three points to the good.

Had that pressure come there were signs that the Donegal defence was vunerable, but Mayo were either missing the killer final pass or turning over ball in promising situations.

"All during the game, as regards our play, some of the fundamentals weren't as strong as they needed to be. Our first touch inside let us down," added Horan.

"The ball was hopping off us quite a bit and Donegal were sweeping up and coming out in waves, which is very difficult to deal with. Some of our own decision-making and basic skills let us down."

Commenting on those costly goals - only the third and fourth three-pointers that Mayo leaked in this year's Championship - Horan agreed that better defending was required in both cases.

"The two of them should have been defended better. The first goal, Michael Murphy won one of the first balls in and got a yard and then produced a very good shot.

"It's not like us though. The second goal came from a ball hitting off a post. We had it again but then dropped it. That was hard to take.

"The goals that went in were just from basic mistakes we made high up the pitch that gave them opportunities.

"I don't think it had anything to do with how Donegal set up or moved their play. It was just a case of our skills letting us down," he admitted.