GAA column: "Mayo have only themselves to blame"

This was a huge opportunity for Mayo. They didn't take it and have only themselves to blame, on and off the pitch. Mayo struggled under pressure in the full back line, didn't create enough opportunities in the full-forward line and suffered from a lack of physicality in the midfield. I'm really disappointed, as are the rest of the Mayo supporters all across the world.

They made a really good start to the game. Dominating possession and in control of their own kick-outs. They put pressure on Galway at the right times and created numerous turnovers. Aidan O'Shea won a great turnover from a kick-out, but then took a solo and a hop when really he should have made his decision before that. Passed it off instead of tapping it over the bar when the goal chance didn't open up.

In the first half Mayo played well in possession but they weren't really able to get Ryan O'Donoghue or Tommy Conroy into the game. Aidan O'Shea was really winning the ball well out in front, and laid it off well, but they weren't much of a threat on the scoreboard.

But you felt pretty good about the way the game was going. Mattie Ruane was doing what he does well - and he did it well throughout the game. Driving forward, striding on – he got three good points, but Mayo didn't threaten the Galway goal. In the past there's been a lot of talk about Mayo creating goal chances by dynamic runs coming out of the half-back line, but we didn't have that on Sunday.

The key thing that kept Galway in contention during that first half was Damien Comer and Rob Finnerty. Particularly Comer, who was a constant threat to the Mayo defence. David McBrien had to deal with him. So far McBrien had a really good start to his Mayo career, but on Sunday he learnt a couple of lessons and he had a very difficult customer to deal with. I think that the confidence in Galway grew from Comer giving them that sort of platform.

DISAPPOINTING

Mayo were going to go out in the second half with a breeze behind them, but they were disappointing. It looked like Galway obviously got a bit of a rollicking at half-time and probably deserved it. They then came out in much more aggressive fashion and Mayo didn't deal with that at any stage during the second half and it started from the get-go.

Mayo were under pressure physically, but Reape did really well with his kick-outs for the most part. He was really confident. Some of the kick-outs were close ones but he got them out. Not to forget Reape phenomenally saved Comer's shot at goal in the first half, and then again in the second half, Rory Brickenden saves one off the line. So Galway had those goalscoring opportunities while Mayo didn't create any.

And Mayo did nothing to quell the resurgence. Galway dominated possession at from the start of the second half. I think a graphic went up on the screen at one stage where Galway had 60-something percent of possession through the start of the second half, which was a direct mirror of what Mayo were doing in the first half.

In many ways, I feel that that period set the tone - and Mayo shouldn't have let that happen. Think about it – Mayo came out after half-time after management have had the opportunity to get their messages embedded. It's quite clear that the message delivered was stronger with the Galway players.

However, Mayo come back with three points from play of their own and had a half-chance of a goal when Ryan tried to chip Connor Gleeson, the Galway goalkeeper, but maybe he should have played it inside or taken the point. Mayo put themselves in a strong position to dominate, to be involved and, to be at the front foot in the final quarter.

QUESTIONABLE SUBSTITUTIONS

But then Mayo let Galway back into the game. I wonder would Kevin McStay, make the same decisions if he had Sunday back again? Mayo took off Jordan Flynn and Aidan O'Shea within minutes of each other. I know that Flynn was on a yellow card and O'Shea wasn't really that impactful in the second half. He was operating much too high up the field and I would much prefer to have seen him out being a physical presence around the middle. The effect of these substitution was huge. They took off two of their physically strongest players and after that Mayo were under pressure physically on their own kick-outs and general play around the middle of the field. Any breaking balls, you felt that Mayo were going to lose them because Galway had Paul Conroy and John Maher out there with Comer snatching two kick-outs in a row.

That's the sort of physicality that Galway still had left on the field. And it created the platform to win it. It was a huge mistake on Mayo's part and they were on the back foot completely in terms of physicality.

That left Colm Reape under pressure and he had to go long with three kickouts and Mayo didn't win them. Mayo were physically dominated in that area, through their own actions on the sideline, and through the way they have been for the last number of years. That was a big factor in costing them the game.

Mayo didn't play with any confidence at that stage and the big personalities in the team didn't take control of the game. They didn't take big responsibility and fight back. Instead, Galway's big personalities Walsh, Comer and Rob Finnerty, got stuck in and seized the moment.

It's obvious that there were some questionable frees awarded against them in the closing stages but Mayo have only themselves to blame for the defeat. They had opportunities to win the game, opportunities to play better. Mayo had opportunities in the first half when they were on top to be clinical, to be ruthless. They weren't!

They had opportunities in the second half to be clinical and ruthless. They weren't!

It's a missed opportunity because they had the momentum on a number of occasions and didn't see it out, which is hugely disappointing.