OPINION: Where to now for Mayo after collapse against Cavan?

It has been well documented that Mayo were not considered a serious threat in this year's race for Sam Maguire but everyone expected Kevin McStay's team to at least put themselves in a good position for a quarter-final berth with a comfortable victory against Cavan last Sunday.

However, that failed to materialise at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon as a resilient Cavan took the game to the favourites from the outset and deservedly won out comfortably with a scoreline that really failed to reflect their overall domination in front of a small crowd in Castlebar.

After putting it up to Galway in the Connacht Final, Mayo were expected to secure the valuable two points in their first Round Robin encounter but they never really got out of the blocks and their performance on Sunday can only be as lethargic and lacklustre.

Honest appraisal

There was no hiding place for McStay when he spoke to the media after the game, and he was honest in his appraisal of his team's performance.

“We weren’t good enough – simple as that. We were flat and it didn’t happen. We just weren’t at the pitch of it and that wasn’t us out there,” said McStay.

“Cavan were very energetic and got stuck in. They deserved their win and the scoreline in the end flatters us. The only positive we have is that we stuck at it. Aidan got the goal in the last play and if there had been another minute or two, who knows what would have happened.”

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The reality now for Mayo is that they have to up their game and go and beat two of the teams who are considered real contenders for the championship outright. They now have a weekend off and can sit back and watch Donegal and Tyrone go at it next Saturday evening at 7pm in Ballybofey.

Donegal are favourites for that game on the back of winning the Ulster title and if they do win, the Mayo game against Tyrone will be a real do-or-die battle in Omagh on Saturday, May 31.

There were very few positives to take from the defeat to Cavan but at least Mayo did get captain Paddy Durcan get on the pitch and he will be looking to start the game against Tyrone and try and drive his team on to victory.

Lack of scorers

The worry for this Mayo team in its current guise has been the over reliance on Ryan O'Donoghue for scores and with Cavan doing a good job on marking the Belmullet man, Mayo's other forwards only contributed a total of one goal and one point on Sunday, with the entire half forward line of Davitt Neary, Jack Carney and Jordan Flynn failing to raise one white flag between them.

So, it will be back to drawing the board for Mayo this week at training and McStay and his management team will be hoping that there is a kick left in their squad as they face into two huge games on two consecutive weekends.

A result like the one against Cavan can be a catalyst for a renewed effort and the reality for Mayo is that there is still time for them to rescue their season and prove the doubters wrong.

It will take a monumental effort but we have seen at times during the National Football League campaign, and in the third quarter against Galway in the Connacht Final, that this team can mix it with the best, and they will certainly have to bring their A game to have any chance of beating either Tyrone or Donegal.