No strangers to heartbreak, Mayo's fourth All-Ireland final defeat in six years leaves many outsiders wondering how their fans and players alike retain the motivation to go again.
Having lost three of those finals to Dublin by a solitary point, the awareness of how different things could have been must be palpable.
Speaking last night during their post-match function in Dublin's City West Hotel, Mayo's Cillian O'Connor demonstrated something of the incessant approach this team takes to such regular set-backs:
There is very little that I can say that can soften or reduce the sadness in all of us.
Defeat has visited us once again. In this very position last year, I spoke about fighting the good fight and hanging in there.
Today, we did that. All year long, we've done that. For years, we've done that.
But what's more, moving forward into the future, we're going to continue to fight the good fight.
O'Connor more than most will be acutely aware of how different things could have been. For the second year in succession, a missed free from the Ballintubber man proved decisive.
Hitting the post with his injury-time effort, had the free-kick gone over it would have given Mayo a one-point advantage over Dublin.
However, it was not meant to be. Dublin's Dean Rock would shortly hit a free of his own and Mayo's dream of a first All-Ireland in 66 years would have to wait.
Urging the gathered crowd to restrain from giving O'Connor or his teammates any pity, the Mayo captain insisted that 'every day we get to pull that crest onto our crests, we're privileged.'
You can watch O'Connor's speech in full below, courtesy of the Mayo GAA Banter Page.
Fantastic stuff. How could anyone doubt that this group of players will be back stronger again?
See Also: Watch: Stephen Rochford Pays Emotional Tribute To Mayo Support At Post-Game Function
