The key issues requiring answers in aftermath of Mayo's championship exit

by Martin Carney, GAA's foremost columnist

FOR some reason, Mayo's All0Ireland SFC quarterfinal defeat to Dublin in Croke Park has taken longer than normal to clear the system.

Whether it has to do with dealing with the after-effects of a record beating at the hands of the Dubs itself, trying to make sense of the near-total collapse after half-time or the realisation that we seem further away than ever from the coveted prize I cannot say, but the hurt has lingered.

It's another year that promised so much and yet realised so little in the end. Winning a league crown was commendable, beating Kerry in Killarney and following this up with grinding Galway into the Salthill salt were achievements of note but, not for the first time, coming up short when it mattered most, in the quarterfinal joust with Dublin, has provoked much reflection and debate.

Before I get to some of the issues that still gnaw at me, I again feel compelled to state that competing for a third weekend in a row against a team that had an extra week’s rest tilted matters in Dublin’s favour before ever a ball was thrown in.

Yes, the circumstances were self-inflicted; failing to top the group after the game with Cork having done so much of the hard work in Killarney was in hindsight a disaster.

By the time the second half resumed against Dublin, legs that thought they were fresh were beginning to resemble leaden traffic cones.

Whether or not equity in preparatory time would have changed matters is open to conjecture but nonetheless, this time anomaly is something that authorities should look at into the future if they insist on persisting with the new format.

As regards the game itself, a number of issues require answers.

At the start of the year Kevin McStay sprang a surprise by naming Conor Loftus at centre half-back for the opening game against Galway.

Loftus, a veteran of many seasons and best noted for his time as a half-forward, seemed one of the least likely suited to the role.

Not a noted tackler nor one with defensive acumen, it was seen as an imaginative move and in keeping with management’s fresh ideas.

For the next 12 games, with the exception of the Monaghan match and up to and including the Cork game, Loftus played a role as a sweeper of sorts where accurate foot passing to his forwards became his calling card.

Aside from the one occasion when he was substituted against Tyrone, he was an ever-present fixture in a defence that conceded nine goals in total on his watch.

To see him dropped then for the Galway game and remain unused for that match and the quarterfinal against Dublin was strange.

What had one in whom so much faith been invested and who had become part of the defensive fabric done to merit such an irreversible demotion?

While not a great believer in his defensive skills, I still think that the loss of cover he had provided allied to the familiarity he had built with those around him wasn’t compensated for in the last two games.

Furthermore, jettisoning – or at least appearing to do so – a defensive system late in the season in which much hope had been invested didn’t work. Where it will leave Loftus next season will be worth watching.

A second point that I have become fixated with has to do with the team’s inability to score goals in senior championship football.

A sum total of three in this year’s championship alone is a huge indictment of the attacking sector and one that unless improvement is immediate, will continue to hamper the team’s progress.

For the record, the three scored were notched by substitutes and a full-back. Eoghan McLaughlin and Tommy Conroy, subs against Kerry and Cork respectively, found the net when introduced during these games, while David McBrien, from the number three position, hit that memorable strike against Galway.

Having a forward six redundant in this department over the course of a championship is not something one associates with champions.

Stretching the net further back, one notes that not since the demolition of Leitrim in championship 2021 has a starting Mayo forward scored a goal from open play. Among the many areas requiring improvement, this stands close to the top of the list.

Another sobering thought from this particular locker, and in conjunction with the defeat to Dublin, is that in the 12 championship games with the Metropolitans since 2006, they have outscored Mayo on a scoreline of 20 goals to seven!

Over the course of the championship, 26 different players got game time in one form or another. Of those, Colm Reape, Jack Coyne (who had an impressive debut season), Conor McStay (a used sub against Roscommon), Sam Callinan, David McBrien and Bob Tuohy saw action for the first time.

Four of these formed the bulk of the defensive wall against Dublin. For each of them, the second half in particular proved a chastening experience and one, hopefully, that won’t leave lasting damage.

Indeed, harnessed correctly, the lessons learned can be put to good use into the future.

The dearth of leadership in the sector became a real problem with the passing minutes as wave after wave of the Blue Tornado rolled relentlessly onwards.

It took until last Sunday week for many of us to see the void left on the team by the departure of Oisin Mullin and the retirement of Lee Keegan.

On the subject of experience, little good was served in calling Aidan O’Shea, our most experienced player, ashore with roughly 20 minutes still left on the clock against Dublin.

Some of his handling at times was suspect, an occasional turnover occurred on his watch and perhaps management had a problem with where he competed from on the pitch.

Yet much of what was coherent and threatening stemmed from his input over the course of the game, particularly in the opening half.

On the day, no-one on the team displayed better ball-winning prowess around the middle; his presence alone occupied special attention from the Dublin defence and his inside facility of winning long deliveries had the potential to worry the opposition.

Was O'Shea really the poorest performing player on the Mayo team at the point when he was called ashore? The significance of his removal in the eyes of the Dublin support base was best summed-up by the contemptuous jeer that greeted his departure.

At the start of the year my plea for patience towards the new management from the Mayo public was clear.

I felt it was going to take time to mould a new outfit.

Recent evidence has suggested that more time than originally thought may be required overall.