‘That’s not something we’re talking about in the dressing room’ – no sense of Mayo pressure for McStay

"There's nothing about the rules that are second nature," said Mayo manager Kevin McStay. Mayo were pinged for two three-up breaches on Sunday against Tyrone. 

Mayo manager Kevin McStay wrote in the match programme to assure supporters the team has been “well briefed” on the new rules. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

There was no sense of panic or pressure in the Mayo dressing room before their first victory of 2025, according to manager Kevin McStay.

Tyrone went down by two points at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park as Mayo bounced back from opening-round defeats to Dublin and Galway.

“It's round three of the league,” said McStay post-match. “The pressure of a result, that is not something we're talking about down in the dressing room.

“We're talking about the game on its merits. Every National League game is a building block towards the summer. We got three lads back today, Aidan (O’Shea) and Jordan (Flynn) and Jack Coyne. Eoin O’Donoghue got a great look in the corner and a few other lads that we've been looking at did really, really well. So that's all positive. But the result was needed today, results help the morale of everything we're doing.” 

Before the game, McStay wrote in the match programme to assure Mayo supporters they were “well briefed” on the new rules. It comes after they were penalised repeatedly against Galway. There were another two three-up breaches on Sunday.

“There's nothing about the rules that are second nature. We've all been reared doing things a certain way, for 40 years maybe. But these rules are well-intentioned, they're working pretty well.

“There are some technicalities that are very hard to understand. You know, the one where the shot went wide and the advantage was brought back for the free. I found that very unnatural. There was a very long advantage if I remember it.

“So, yeah, there is going to be a bit of confusion around them. I think as we go through the league, things will be tidied up.” 

Meanwhile, Tyrone expect to welcome back their Errigal Ciarán contingent ahead of their fixture with Kerry next Sunday. Malachy O’Rourke was not overly frustrated by their attacking strategy and failure to deliver long to Brian Kennedy when he positioned himself on the edge of the square, although he did take issue with how Mayo countered the midfielder on kickouts.

“I thought you were going to say that he was being mauled around the middle of the field. That is one consequence of the kickouts. There are so many of them going out there and there seems to be a lot of fouling going on before the ball comes at all.

“Look there were times we felt we could play the ball in more direct but there were times in the first half we felt we rushed, we should have controlled the ball better and built a score rather than take a potshot. There are lots of things we have to work at, but as I say it is early in the journey.”