Incredible scenes as Sam return home to Mayo

"They sneered at us, they laughed at us. But they won't laugh at us any more,” Mayo manager Andy Moran told the thousands who packed into MacHale Park this evening.

“We said you can go a little bit nuts and you didn't let us down,” Mayo’s managerial maestro told the enraptured crowd at the team's homecoming.

“ I knew the crowd would turn out, but from the bottom of our hearts just thank you for everything," beamed Mayo captain Jack Coyne.

Mayo’s man of the match Ryan O’Donoghue said the homecoming was “everything you’re dreamed of and more.” “It's very emotional. I'm not much of an emotional man, but I have cried non stop over the last 24 hours," said the Belmullet star.

Queues began forming before lunchtime outside MacHale Park with fans anxious to secure a prime vantage point for their returning heroes.

The wait was worth it with goalkeeper Rob Hennelly belting out ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ before Breaffy teammate Aidan O’Shea took the mic and delivered a version of ‘The River’ by Garth Brooks.

There was unbridled joy in the air in Croke Park as Andy’s men ended the county’s long wait.