‘We are building’ - Kevin McStay reacts to Mayo win over Kerry

WITH all the new variables and machinations, intercounty football has never provided as much food for analysis. 

While the stats nerds got ready to beaver their way through the stats into the small hours, Kevin McStay’s only concern after the Kerry game was the result. 

So much has changed since the chastening defeat to Galway. Indeed, much has changed since the awful first-half showing against Armagh. 

While there were some personnel changes for Kevin McStay insisted Mayo’s approach had changed quite little. 

“I keep saying that there is an opponent, every opponent throws some different curve at you, different defence, different attack, different way they want to work the overload, whatever it is they are doing, you have to settle down and see what those questions are, see can you match them or see can you do something better and I thought we did that very quickly. We got to grips with the game and the first half was very good, a bit of a wobble just before half-time, it was never anything that was going to knock us out,” McStay told reporters in the upstairs press area in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

“They had a purple period, obviously, after half-time, predicated on their ability to win break, we’ll certainly be looking at that. We might have had a little dip in the break, in the first half it was really really good on the break.”

Jack O’Connor also cited Mayo’s near total command of the breaking ball in his post-match interview. The Kingdom boss also credited their superior energy and work-rate. 

One point noted, but not overly emphasized, by O’Connor, was this being Kerry’s fifth game in as many weeks. 

With Seán O’Shea, Tadhg Morley and Tom O’Sullivan among their biggest absentees, Mayo had, in effect, slayed a wounded and slightly jaded animal on Saturday afternoon. 

And they made hard work of it, particularly in the second half.

“The Armagh game was closed out really well, a lad cuts in and kicks the ball wide and it’s the final play of the game, I’m not going to cut the head off him,” said McStay, referring to Colm Reape’s missed match-winning chance against Armagh.

“I’m just going to say we worked that position incredibly well. We worked the positions really well again today. We ended up with quite easy scores, they were nearly walk-ins, which is very gratifying, obviously. 

“I know there is an argument about finishing out yeer games, but the Dublin game [in last year’s championship] I always remember was just superhuman play,” he added, referring to Mayo’s epic drawn joust against the Leinster champions in the Hyde.

“Sometimes you have to just bow the knee to that and that’s just the way it goes. I think we’re getting better at it and we’re getting more experienced as a group, we’re beginning to understand what we want to do together, we’re a lot more cohesive. We are building and building, and building and we build again this week for the next day.”

All things considered, Mayo now have five points on the board and are in a far better position psychologically and mathematically than they were when Galway came to town. 

Kevin McStay knows that better than anyone. 

“I’m not going to get high, I wasn’t getting low when the other games were on, all I’m interested in is our attitude. Do we present to compete? Most of the time we do, sometimes we have a wobble and we don’t tog as strong as we want to, that happens every team. This is an outrageously difficult division… if you start looking ahead to other games and stop taking your opposition seriously you are going to get clipped. 

“We have no credits to be taking anybody easy. I’m not seeing anybody surprising us in management. We know we have a very honest group of men who work awful hard for Mayo and sometimes yee Mayo not view it the same way, but we know when we go training and we get ready to play a game, they put in a huge amount of effort. And I’m just very pleased and rewarded with the two points today.”