‘Distraught’ Mayo to bounce back again, says Regan

NOBODY was thinking of November as the sun beat down on Duggan Park, Ballinasloe, after last Saturday’s All-Ireland U-16 A final.

Except for Mayo U-16 manager Francis Regan, who is convinced that Mayo will not be waiting 28 years for another All-Ireland final appearance.

He also reckons his side were closer than the scoreline might have suggested at the weekend.

“Take the first ten, 15 minutes out of it, it was a different game. They pushed on, the fight they showed, I can’t fault their effort. Everything they’ve been asked for, they’ve done it,” the Mayo Gaels man told The Mayo News.

While their effort was unquestionable, the cause of Mayo’s first-quarter collapse was tough to pinpoint.

“I don’t know, because I thought we had them prepared as best we could. Cavan just got a run, once that first goal went in, if a goal goes in at any stage it’s going to be hard to bounce back from, a first goal, first kick of the game, that’s a sickener,” said Regan.

“A few mistakes, a few wayward kickouts, it took us about that, ten or 15 minutes to settle back into it, by then the damage was done unfortunately.”

Cavan were the only team to beat Mayo in 2024, first in a challenge match, and again on the biggest day of all.

That it took such a brilliant team to topple the Green and Red gave Regan every right to be an ‘extremely proud’ Mayo man on Saturday.

“Every single one of them - all 35 - they were unreal. Everything we asked of them, they done it, not a bother on them. They trained hard, they put in the effort. When we asked them to do anything, they done it,” he said.

“I’m proud of the fight they’ve shown, they never died there. Right there at the end they were still pushing, so what more can you want?”

Quite a lot more, in fact. Just ask the seven All-Ireland U-14 medallists who have experienced both extremes after Saturday’s defeat.

“All-Irelands can go either way so it’s a learning curve for everybody, it’s a learning curve for ourselves, the managers as well. That’s the first All-Ireland final I’ve managed in, so we’ve a lot to learn from it,” said Regan.

“The girls will learn from it. The girls are hurt in the dressing room. They are distraught in there. They will remember this feeling for a long, long time and that’s what’s going to make them come back training in November.”

If anything, the same squad who won the 2023 All-Ireland U-14 Platinum title might have an even better chance of going all the way again at U-16 level in 2025.

“The world is their oyster. They can reach whatever heights they want to reach. The effort that they want to put in, they will be back here again next year, I have no doubt about that,” said Regan.

“The group that’s coming through, the U-14s from last year, they’ll want to win another All-Ireland. They’ve tasted success, they want to win. They’ll be ready for November to want to come back to work and ready to take on a Connacht championship and hopefully we will be back here this time next year.”

Regan wasn’t even born when Mayo last contested an U-16 All-Ireland final. He doesn’t think he’ll be gone grey when the next one rolls around, given the current standard of underage football in Mayo.

“The underage in Mayo is very, very strong. You have two All-Ireland finals, U-14 and U-16 back-to-back, you have an All-Ireland semi-final last year at U-16, and you’ve an U-14 semi-final this year, so the football in Mayo is coming,” said Regan.

“There is seven, eight, nine, ten of them girls out there I see playing senior for Mayo in five-six years’ time.”