Horan: Dublin deserved it

Mayo manager James Horan conceded that his players 'just didn't do enough as a unit' to overcome Dublin in today's closely-fought All-Ireland SFC decider at Croke Park.

The Connacht champions finished as All-Ireland runners-up for the second successive year, going down by a point to the Dubs - 2-12 to 1-14 - with Bernard Brogan scoring two goals and three points for the victors.

Horan admitted that Mayo contributed to their own downfall in coughing up possession at crucial times and not making enough use of the ball they did hold onto.

"We had enough ball to win the game. We just made too many basic mistakes. We turned over the ball too often and the ball didn't stick inside for us and Dublin were launching counter attacks," he told RTÉ's 'The Sunday Game Live'.

"That was basically it, nothing more than that...some simple mistakes let us down and in the second half Dublin came on the surge and got ahead. We were chasing then and our composure just left us a little bit.

"But we kept plugging away and kept trying as hard as we could, but we just couldn't get there."

The westerners were far too reliant on Cillian O'Connor for scores, the Ballintubber clubman bravely playing despite concerns over his shoulder injury. He converted eight points from frees and captain Andy Moran finished with 1-2, the pair being haled by Horan as 'great leaders who really stood up today'.

The Mayo boss felt Keith Higgins' performance was 'outstanding' but it was collectively that his side failed to deliver, the scores really drying up for them in the second half save for Moran's 50th-minute goal.

Asked to expand on the mistakes he mentioned, Horan replied: "Sometimes our hand-passing let us down and some of the basics that you need to do right. We were in good positions and maybe just gave away the ball at times, so that's killer in an All-Ireland final.

"We kept trying and kept working as hard as we could and I'm very proud of the guys and all the work they put in. It's just very disappointing. It's a game that we were right in there but just couldn't get the scores."

With Mayo the All-Ireland bridesmaids once again, this was their seventh fall at the final hurdle since 1989, some will wonder whether Horan and his charges have the resolve to mount another challenge for the Sam Maguire Cup next season.

When questioned about his own future in the managerial role, he admitted that he and the Mayo management team will 'go away and think about it for a while'.

But Horan did accept that the better team had won on the day. "Dublin deservedly won today. We have to look at what went wrong, what we could do better.

"It's fairly obvious, I suppose, from the type of game like that. We'll look at it in the cold light of day and see where we are."