The substitution of Andy Moran with around eight minutes of normal time to go in the All-Ireland final was lamented by many in the game's post-mortem. As Dublin brought big names off the bench, Mayo lost their top scorer from play in this year's Championship. Moran had 0-03 to his name at the time.
It was remarkable that he had lasted until the 62nd minute. Speaking on Tuesday, shortly after accepting the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month Award for August, Moran explained that he had suffered a Grade 1 hamstring tear 15 minutes earlier.
Incredibly, Moran said that he had never suffered a hamstring injury prior to that moment. It was an ailment he did not recognise.
Jason Doherty's goal chance, I hurt my hamstring. I've never hurt my hamstring before so I didn't realise it was a hamstring. I played on for about 15 minutes but it was probably time to get me off.
Initially, Moran thought the pain was due to an impact with Dublin corner-back Michael Fitzsimons. His game intelligence allowed him to still play a major part in the game - he provided the assist for Lee Keegan's 53rd minute goal while injured.
"It just felt like it was a slap against it. I never really had it before. So I didn't know what it was. I kept playing on and didn't feel too bad; I knew I couldn't go 40 yards down the pitch so I needed to just be a small bit smarter in how I was moving."
Moran believes the injury will keep him out for the remainder of the year. It means he will be unable to line out for Ballaghaderreen in this weekend's Mayo SFC game against Breaffy.
I don't think I'll play again for the rest of the year. I missed a club game last week and I'll miss Championship this week. It's a pity but it is what it is.
We're playing Breaffy at the weekend - we'd be massive underdogs. You'd like to get a crack at the O'Sheas. I think I was supposed to play midfield against Tayto - that would have been a tidy battle, you know.
Pictured is Andy Moran (Mayo) after being presented with his PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month Award at a reception in PwC Offices, Dublin.
