Horan urges Mayo to ‘go at it again’

 ‘Let’s get back up again’


Horan urges Mayo  to ‘go at it again’

Daniel Carey

DESPITE uncertainty over his own future plans, Mayo senior football manager James Horan has called on the players to ‘go at it again next year’ in the wake of Sunday’s All-Ireland Final defeat to Dublin.
“We tried as hard as we could, but we just didn’t get there,” he told Midwest Radio after arriving back at MacHale Park, Castlebar yesterday evening (Monday).
“The guys are extremely disappointed. Everyone associated with it is. We were very close, but just didn’t get there. Look it, there’s absolutely nothing you can do but take it on the chin and dust yourself down again and see what needs to be done and go at it again next year.”
Horan paid tribute to the ‘exemplary’ players, whom he described as ‘fantastic ambassadors’ for the county and ‘a privilege to work with’. Their diet, sleeping patterns and ‘what they do on a day-to-day basis’ are ‘all about how they can maximise their football’, he told Angelina Nugent.
Horan was granted a two-year extension last October which should see him remain at the helm until 2015. Asked about his own plans for the coming year, the Ballintubber man said: “I haven’t even thought of that to be honest. Everything was tied up in yesterday [Sunday] and trying to get as good a performance as we could and work with the players, so I haven’t thought any further ahead than that.”
Speaking at Citywest Hotel on Monday morning, Horan acknowledged that Mayo ‘should have got a higher return’ from their shots, and added: “Some of easy misses we missed, you don’t win All-Irelands missing in those ones. That will be one of the first things looked at, I’d say.”
Approximately 5,000 people turned up to welcome home the Mayo senior and minor teams to Castlebar on Monday evening. Minor captain Stephen Coen admitted their All-Ireland final victory was ‘a bittersweet feeling’ given the seniors’ defeat, but James Horan insisted it was ‘very important’ that the minors’ ‘fantastic’ victory is celebrated.
“We said at the start of the year we wanted to win it,” Hollymount/Carramore clubman Coen told Michael D McAndrew of Midwest Radio. “We just can’t thank the fans enough … They’ve helped us all the way through, and we’re just delighted with the win.”
Both teams have been invited to Ballinrobe Races today (Tuesday), where the first race begins at 2.45pm.