'Dust down and go again'

As the dust begins to settle on Sunday’s excitement, it’s fair to say that Mayo's display was their best performance in a long time. The way they held possession, the way they showed resilience, the way they clung in there mentally when Dublin were putting them under pressure, and the way they responded every time to Dublin punches by countering strongly and getting  back into the game.

Mayo's performance showed how good you have to be to beat Dublin. And we saw the undeniable quality of Dublin and probably their greatest attribute in many ways over the last 15 years is their mentality in the late stages of games, because the way they finished the game on Sunday in terms of winning that last kick-out and creating a score was absolutely phenomenal.

It's disappointing for Mayo because in many respects they had the opportunity to win that game. They probably played well enough to win, but at the same time if you were neutral you might say well a draw was a fair result when you consider that Mayo got a bit lucky with that last ‘45 and Dublin hit the crossbar at a key stage in the game.

Mayo just have to dust themselves down and go again and play to the top of their game against Derry this Saturday. There's a whole lot of players who will come away from Sunday's game totally disappointed and annoyed that they didn't win, but when they look back at their own performances they'll see a whole lot of positive things.

PERFORMANCES

What Donnacha McHugh did on Brian Fenton was huge. It shows the attributes that he has. I think as well as that, the response by Ryan O'Donoghue in the second half was absolutely phenomenal. He didn't have his greatest first half, but an impressive second half.

Aidan O'Shea, after a quiet opening, was absolutely outstanding, and I think you saw his real qualities in terms of being a playmaker, being able to draw defenders and using those great handling skills to release people with hand passes. It's age-defying stuff really what he was able to do, to play such a big game against Dublin and be able to see it through for the full 73 minutes.

And there is Conor Loftus coming on from the bench doing some positive things. Jordan Flynn got involved in the second half, Jack Carney got involved positively too.

Tommy Conroy arguably had his best 70-minute performance in a long time, made some decisions where maybe he should have offloaded the ball earlier, but I never question him for that when you consider that at five or six times in the game he really had a go at his defender in a one-on-one situation.

Obviously the final passage of play was frustrating. Cluxton knew he had to go with a long kick out. He knew if they were going to get something out of the game with just 30 seconds left they had to be direct. Ciarán Kilkenny wins that ball, and not only does he win it, he helps create the scoring opportunity. If a Mayo player could have got close to him they might have fouled him and it might have been a different outcome. Mayo will watch that last kick out a lot. Maybe there were opportunities to be cynical and stop Dublin's attack.

Mayo will also rue the goal chance created in the first half. Stephen Coen drove through and probably has to turn that one pointer into a three pointer and that's the harsh reality of it. 

MENTALITY

If I were Kevin McStay this week, I would focus on the huge positives Mayo got out of the game from a mental perspective. There was a period in the first half when Dublin went two points ahead, Aidan O'Shea kind of dragged Mayo back into the game at that stage.

And there was a period in the second half when Dublin went up by three points. In other times Mayo would have wilted in those situations but not on Sunday.

I'd be reinforcing the fact that a lot of the players, younger players included, can hold their head up really high. They way they handled Sunday’s challenge  should have added some confidence into the bank and they’ll be able to draw from that next weekend.

On Sunday, both goalkeepers were ultra-confident, ultra-decisive and their execution was phenomenal. That's something that's really good. When Mayo were going really short with the kick-outs in the first half, the full-back line seemed comfortable on the ball, and didn't take any chances. In the second half, it was a bit more difficult to get the ball out. So Colm Reape showed patience and worked it really well.

Offensively, Mayo showed confidence and bravery to take their chances on, or to risk it. Brickenden for example was brave in possession and he had contributions to three key scores in a very important part of the second half for Mayo.

However, to draw the match is hugely disappointed considering we know how challenging the next couple of days are going to be, and considering how well Mayo played. Things would be much easier if Mayo would have been able to hold out for the win. They’d have next weekend to work on things for the following week, but now they have to face into Derry and the challenge they will bring.

Can these young players back last weekend’s game up with another top performance? How difficult will it be for somebody like Aidan O'Shea? He is bound to be so sore after the effort he put in. Maybe it is a classic case that you use your panel, maybe Cillian gets the start against Derry.

Dublin were the measuring stick, and Mayo are now that bit closer to the top than they were before. So now it's about using next weekend to prove that again and show that they can build on Sunday’s performance, continue to get better and win the next day.

It promises to be another thriller.