Reigning National Football League champion Mayo started their defence in an impressive manner this afternoon, securing a 2-11 to 0-10 victory away in Pearse stadium against old rivals Galway.
Speaking to the press after the game, manager Kevin McStay was delighted to get the win as his team try to be the top dogs in Connacht.
Mayo Senior manager Kevin McStay spoke to some of the media after today's game. pic.twitter.com/pzKdngPTZk
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) January 28, 2024
As I said on TV, these are key rivals in the province. Three to five teams are beginning to stir up in Connacht, and we would like to stay ahead if we can
We were delighted with the application but were more pleased that we have two points and a bit of a foundation to build on,
It was solid. It wasn’t our choice to play against it (the wind). I'm pretty sure Galway won the toss, but it was certainly our choice to get stuck into it. We were honing in on giving an excellent account of ourselves in the first half.
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Kevin McStay calls on Mayo young guns to step up
McStay, who is in his second season as Mayo boss, was happy with the league debut of Conor Reid and returning member to the panel Fergal Boland.
However, he also sent out a stern warning to players on the panel for the last two to three years about the need to drive it on things on for Mayo as they attempt to maximise the potential of their attacking brand of football.
There weren’t that many new guys. Fergal Boland isn’t a new guy; he's been around for a long time. Conor Reid was a new guy. I was extremely pleased with him.
What we have more of now is a load of lads in years two and three, and that’s where we have to tune them more into it. The lads have to move on and bring it to another level, and I feel they are going in that direction.
Obviously, we are not there yet, but we are moving in that direction. I was pleased with their contribution, and I'm watching them very carefully.
We have had a good preseason and are in good shape. That’s what we want to do. We want to play the way that suits Mayo best, which we feel is an attack-conscious game, but we also have to pay massive attention to our defence.
We were not too bad today in the balance of that.
Mayo will be hoping that those young players continue to progress over the course of the league campaign, with the Connacht side facing into a game against Dublin at MacHale Park next weekend.
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