'Relief' the overriding emotion for Kevin McStay

Nobody told Kevin McStay it was going to be easy, but this had to have been one of his most draining days on the emotional rollercoaster that is managing Mayo

Mon, 05 Jun, 2023 - 07:05

Mike Finnerty, Castlebar

All-Ireland SFC Group 1

Mayo 0-14 Louth 1-10

Nobody told Kevin McStay it was going to be easy, but this had to have been one of his most draining days on the emotional rollercoaster that is managing Mayo.

Between walking the line all afternoon under a scorching sun, and seeing his team almost blow a five point lead in additional time, before escaping to a narrow victory, McStay would have been forgiven for heading for a lie-down in a dark room afterwards.

Instead he put his thoughts into words and reminded all and sundry of the importance of the result that keeps Mayo on track for the All-Ireland quarter-finals as group winners.

Although he did admit that ‘relief’ was probably the best word to sum up how he was feeling.

“We went after the two points hard because that’s all that was on offer for us,” he began.

“I thought we got ourselves into a good position, five [points] up in injury-time, and I thought we’d manage it out better. But the [Louth] goal put it back in the melting pot.

“Ultimately the focus we had, and this is being absolutely truthful, was the two points that were on offer here. Everything else was surplus.

“If it was a great performance then, fantastic.

“But the two points were the key part of it, and we got them.

“We got them the hard way but, thankfully, we got them.”

It wasn’t exactly a relaxing day at the office for Mickey Harte either.

He set up his Louth team to deny Mayo the sort of time and space that they revel in, and played the sort of counter-attacking football that saw them qualify for their first Leinster Final in 13 years.

They may have been rank outsiders (12/1 in most quarters) and trailed from the opening minute when Colm Reape nailed a free from 45 metres, but they stayed on Mayo’s coat-tails all the way through a game that won’t live long in the memories of the 11,347 who paid in.

Still, the outcome looked cut and dry when scores from impact subs Paddy Durcan and Fionn McDonagh, along with Aidan O’Shea’s fourth free of the day, left Mayo five points up in added time.

But nobody had legislated for Conall McKeever’s 75th minute goal which got the Louth fans up on their feet, and they were still standing when Conor Grimes landed a point seconds later to cut the gap to the bare minimum.

A draw looked on the cards at that stage, but referee Noel Mooney blew the full-time whistle moments later to dash Louth’s dreams of getting something from the first meeting of the counties in the championship since the 1950 All-Ireland Final.

“It’s a good day for our county,” Harte declared afterwards.

“This was a very big ask of them, coming here to the team that’s being promoted very much as being the next All-Ireland champions.

“This was a level that we didn’t know if we could come close to or not.

“But on this day we did come close to it, which is good for the confidence of our players.

“It doesn’t mean to say that any day we go out that we would do that, but this day we had a chance to go out to see how close we could come to a team of that stature.

“And we’re very happy about that.”

In the end, Mayo held on for a workmanlike win after a performance that was much more solid than spectacular.

It was certainly a far cry from the champagne football served up against Kerry a fortnight earlier.

But that won’t unduly concern the Mayo camp as they analyse this hard-earned win on home ground after two successive defeats at the same venue.

The homeside had led at the end of an uneventful first half by 0-7 to 0-4 and an inspirational score from Matthew Ruane just after the restart extended their advantage.

But Louth always stayed in touch and it took a top-class save from Mayo shot-stopper Colm Reape to push Leonard Grey’s goalbound effort just over the bar.

Mayo were still three points ahead (0-11 to 0-8) after 55 minutes, and the arrival of Paddy Durcan, Enda Hession, Tommy Conroy and Fionn McDonagh off the bench was a clear signal that they were keen to kick on.

When the gap went out to five points, that looked to be that.

But Louth had other ideas.

Scorers for Mayo: A O’Shea (0-4, 4fs), R O’Donoghue (0-3, 2fs), C Reape (0-1, 1f), S Coen (0-1), M Ruane (0-1), J Flynn (0-1), J Carney (0-1), P Durcan (0-1), F McDonagh (0-1).

Scorers for Louth: C McKeever (1-0), S Mulroy (0-3, 3fs), C Downey (0-2, 1m), C Grimes (0-2), L Grey (0-1), N Sharkey (0-1), C Early (0-1).

Mayo: C Reape; P O’Hora, D McBrien, D McHugh; J Coyne, S Callinan, S Coen; M Ruane, J Flynn; C Loftus, J Carney, J Doherty; A O’Shea, J Carr, R O’Donoghue.

Subs: P Durcan for Doherty (50); T Conroy for Carr (50); E Hession for Callinan (60); F McDonagh for Flynn (63);

Louth: J Califf; B Duffy, P Lynch, D McKenny; L Grey, N Sharkey, C Murphy; T Durnin, C Early; C McKeever, C Downey, C Grimes; C McCaul, S Mulroy, A Williams.

Subs: L Jackson for Williams (HT); C Lennon for McCaul (HT); R Burns for Lynch (50); P Matthews for Murphy (70).

Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).