Horan laments final-quarter fade as subs fail to turn back blue wave
WHEN James Horan walks up the steps of the Hogan Stand to conduct his press briefing, Dublin boss Dessie Farrell is still finishing off his own round of interviews. Metres apart and yet worlds apart in terms of emotion.
It’s hard to know what the Mayo manager can say that would capture a county’s All-Ireland final heartache as the long wait since 1951 continues in agonising fashion. Rather than engage in some soul-searching, he sticks to the practical mechanics of the game and where it was won and lost.
‘Disappointed obviously. We did a lot of things right. We were still in it with 12 or 13 minutes to go.
‘But we maybe ran out of juice a little bit and were a bit loose with some of the possession at times. And that cost us.
‘Dublin got stronger and stronger as the game went on. Some of their subs made a big difference.
‘I just think maybe we didn’t get the impact that we’d have liked from some of the guys coming on or whatever it was.
‘Some of the subs that came on – Brian Howard, Paul Mannion – they won a lot of primary possession on us. They were dangerous and that had a big impact in the end.’
Given that Dublin have looked untouchable in reaching the final on the back of double-digit margins of victory, the first half was all about Mayo standing in the middle of the ring and going toe-to-toe.
Being aggressive with their high press; daring to be brave and commit numbers to the tackle all around the field, and putting Stephen Cluxton under such pressure that the Dublin captain saw his kick-out turned over time and time again.
And yet still the champions found a way to find the net twice to lead at half-time, James McCarthy winning the throw-in and setting up Dean Rock for the quickest goal in final history and then Con O’Callaghan finishing off a one-two with the equivalent of a forearm smash to the net, such was the power of his punch.
‘Dublin are a goal threat from multiple fronts at any time,’ conceded Horan.
‘The first goal was obviously very early, but I thought our response and our composure in the first half was very good.
‘I thought on our own kick-outs and on the opposition kick-outs, we did very well. Got some good scores.
‘But missed a few that fell short into the goalie’s hands that were killers.
‘Overall our response to those goals was very good. Lots of good stuff there but I just felt we had a lot of possession and some of it we lost very cheaply. And that cost us.
‘But going into the last quarter… I don’t know, was there a point in it at that stage? We were looking in a strong position, but Dublin were very good in the last quarter and controlled it very well.’
The 2021 calendar is likely to look different with an earlier Championship start.
Horan is asked what Mayo can take from the year just gone and strikes an optimistic tone, citing the emergence of some of the Westerners’ rookie stars after a fiercely competitive club championship.
‘Ah, a huge amount from the season. The performances of Ryan O’Donoghue and Oisín Mullin today, the likes of Eoghan McLaughlin, Tommy Conroy – there’s an awful lot of guys who have done a huge amount in a short space of time.’