McStay upbeat despite defeat in the Kingdom
Mayo manager Kevin McStay ponders the game ahead as his players pose for the pre-match photograph in advance of their clash with in Austin Stack Park, Tralee, last Saturday night. Pictures: INPHO/James Crombie
Pointless but positive.
That was Mayo’s reality and mood after their visit to Tralee on Saturday.
There was an irony to Mayo’s best display of the league campaign so far resulting in their first defeat, but no irony in how they lost. As Mayo boss Kevin McStay observed afterwards, “The one man you don’t want to get the ball gets it and he does his thing.”
Footballer of the Year David Clifford’s sixth point of an entertaining Round 3 contest at Austin Stack Park came so late that there was time only for Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape to kick out the ball. Kerry had won 0-16 to 0-15 against a Mayo side that played almost the final fifteen minutes with only fourteen players.
“The sending-off, the yellow, black, red, seemed a little bit harsh I thought, but I’d have to see it again,” offered Kevin McStay on Sam Callinan’s 59th minute dismissal.
“That put us under pressure straightaway because we’re down a man and you have to concede a kickout and take your chances from thereon, but we managed it very well and there was some very good play to get us back level.”
Callinan, who together with Mayo teammate Rory Brickenden had played and lost a Sigerson Cup final with UCD last Wednesday, scored two of Mayo’s points in what had been a below-par first-half display by the visitors who were fortunate that some of Kerry’s shooting had been askew.
The latter improved after half-time, but so too Mayo. The reigning Division 1 champions scored five times in the first-half but ten times in the second, trailed by two at the interval but by one at the long whistle.
“The pity was that we didn’t put in the same first-half as we did the second, but you don’t plan for that. But we’re still in the game at half-time and there were a couple of small things we had to correct and we pretty much did that in the second-half,” said McStay.
“The opposition kickout, we weren’t putting a hand on them. And obviously we were giving the ball away very cheaply, we had a lot of turnovers in that first-half and nearly minimalised them in the second-half. That’s what brought us back into it. We valued the ball and minded it, we got some great scores off it and that gives me great encouragement. When we do things right we know what we’re about.
“I think we have a lot of good footballers, our accuracy was very good [in the second-half]. That was very pleasing as well. And we’ll build on that, it’s only round three.
“I thought our scrambled defence tonight was really, really good. Great effort. You don’t scramble well unless you are really into the game,” added the manager whose team led only once, when Fergal Boland scored the opening point inside 30 seconds. And yet at no stage before full-time did Mayo ever look beaten.
“I said that after the Dublin game, that we just hung around until we got the win out of it and I said the same on the sideline here, that ‘lads, we are just not going away’. And we got it level and sure anything can happen then. I think [the referee] was going to blow it exactly on time if we could have held out for another thirty seconds, but it wasn’t to be.”
McStay’s opposite number, Kerry boss Jack O’Connor afterwards rated his team’s performance as “six out of ten”.
“You wouldn’t be clapping yourself on the back too hard. I thought we missed a lot of chances, particularly in the first-half. The lads were very enthusiastic and mad for work but they were just lacking a bit of composure,” he said, reckoning that his side should have been at least five or six points in front at the break instead of two.
“We turned over a bit of ball in the second-half. Mayo are a counter-attacking team and they’re a kind of team where you have to mind the ball and be good on the ball and kill it, and put a bit of heat on their kick-out then.
“I thought we kept them in the game near the end, we should have been a bit more comfortable. We were a man up with ten minutes to go and yet we’re not getting our kickouts off as easy as we should have been.
“Maybe that was down to pressure from Mayo, but we’ve a bit of improving to do now,” said O’Connor who nonetheless was complimentary of Mayo’s second-half display.
“I thought Mayo got some great scores. The goalie kicked a screamer from out on the right-hand side, Diarmuid O’Connor kicked one with the outside of the foot from outside the ’45, Fergal Boland got one from way out.
“Ryan O’Donoghue had a good second-half, so they came well into it. They’ve a lot of good players, they’re in great physical shape,” offered the Kerry manager who while frustrated at his side’s failure to make better use of their extra man, took delight in the very last play of the game.
“We showed that we learned a bit from the Derry game.
“We showed that bit of composure, and we got the ball into the hands of our main men, like Seanie (O’Shea) and David (Clifford). Obviously it was a great score in the end by David,” said O’Connor.
For Mayo, it was the third game running in this defence of the National Football League Division 1 crown where they didn’t concede a goal. According to Kevin McStay, clean sheets are not something his team has been “absolutely chasing” but that it’s “nice to see” and “keeps you in the game”.
He said the team had travelled to Kerry primarily chasing a good performance and that he was satisfied they had delivered upon that, regardless of the defeat.
“We can’t be too annoyed when you look at the three matches. We might have stolen a few points against Dublin and maybe we left one behind us here tonight, but that’s the swings and roundabouts.
“We wanted to try and get a few fellas back in the frame as well in terms of minutes.
“I think we’re going to leave Tralee happy enough that we performed quite well, learned a lot about ourselves, and we go to Tyrone now and swing it around in a week; that’s the challenge now, review and preview and it’s just bang, bang, bang. The immediate focus goes to Tyrone because we need another two points,” admitted McStay.
He added: “We’re hopefully going to have a long, entertaining season. We’re going to build on this, from week to week.”
Mayo will travel to Omagh for next Saturday’s Round 4 clash against the Red Hands with injury doubts surrounding David McBrien, who limped off in the second-half on Saturday, and team captain Paddy Durcan who did not feature at all. McStay afterwards said his captain had picked up a calf injury but insisted it was “just a niggle”.
“There was no requirement to chance him in round three of the league. We’ll get a look at him this week and see where he’s at,” said McStay.
