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GAA

25th Jun 2023

Paddy Durcan reveals how Mayo were able to spark unlikely comeback

Lee Costello

“We definitely weren’t dejected.”

Paddy Durcan joined the RTE panelists after his Mayo team made an incredible comeback to knock Galway out of the championship.

Mayo were very poor in the first half, only kicking three points, while Galway, and Matthew Tierney in particular were running riot.

Colm Reape’s kick outs kept going to the opposition, they struggled to get out of their half, and the chances that they did have were wasted.

Kevin McStay opted to keep the players in for 20 minutes at half time, before they were finally brought out to come out of the dressing rooms, and they looked like a different team.

With the wind on their backs, they sparked a brilliant comeback, led by the likes of Ryan O’Donghoue, Diamuid O’Connor, Tommy Conroy, and the likes of Cillian O’Connor coming off the bench.

Peter Canavan asked the Mayo captain what was said or done at half time to spark such an improvement.

“We definitely weren’t dejected. We knew how strong the breeze was and we definitely let a few chances out there, but they did too.

“They goal was probably key in the second half Peter. It’s probably what settled us a small bit in the second half, but we just tried to stay at it.

“We try not to get too high or too low after games, but we had a lot of work to do this week, and some of that came to fruition, but more to do.”

The goal that Durcan was referring to came through David McBrein early in the second half, and it’s what flipped the match completely on its head.

Mayo will now enter the draw for the quarter finals where they will play either Dublin, Armagh or Derry.

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