GALWAY MANAGER ALAN Mulholland admitted that his team have a huge gap to bridge if they are to compete with All Ireland contenders such as Mayo.

The Green and Red wreaked havoc in Salthill yesterday leaving Galway dazed and confused.

Mulholland acknowledged that the maroons’ hesitancy was as much a factor as Mayo’s purpose.

“It was a bit of both. Definitely the intensity of the game we weren’t able to cope with. There were some silly errors at the back and we knew we would have to play to our max.

“The errors that we made didn’t help and we were second best. They put us under a level of pressure that we hadn’t been accustomed to before and we did make some mistakes.”

Discipline

Gareth Bradshaw and Niall Coleman were dismissed in the second half and Mulholland didn’t agree with referee Marty Duffy’s decisions.

“I thought the sending off;s were a little harsh. Mayo were physically dominant and intimidating us all over the pitch so it was a little bit ironic that we ended up with the two red cards. However in saying that I don’t think we can make too many excuses.”

Since winning the 2001 All Ireland Galway have struggled in the qualifiers, but Mulholland hopes his panel can respond following the Mayo massacre.

“Galway haven’t done well in the qualifiers for a number of years and our goal now is to try to win one of those. It gives us a goal to aim for, who knows what draw we are going to get. That will be our goal to win the first one.”

U21′s

Mulholland admitted that a portion of the All Ireland under 21 winning panel will play in the United States during the summer so a plethora of additions to the senior set up is unlikely.

“A lot of the U21 panel have already made plans to go away. The four guys that we have in there have committed to staying around, so it is an issue to the other guys.

“The guys eyes are open to the level they have got to get to. We have to bridge that gap and they must aspire to doing that.”

Mayo manager James Horan
Pic: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

Mayo

James Horan is adamant that Mayo have the confidence and class to make a significant summer impact.

With the Mayo forwards making crucial turnovers deep in Galway territory the Connacht champions led from start to finish yesterday and Horan was thrilled by Mayo's work rate.

“We were confident coming here, we are doing a lot of things right, and we were favourites. What set it up for us was the turnovers in the first half. Our forwards absolutely pinned them back and broke their spirit a little bit.

“Once Cathal Carolan got the goal we knew we were in the ascendancy and we drove on after that. When they had a couple of guys sent off in the second half the game petered out. Our application when it needed to be good was exemplary.”

“We have been trying to work on different things and the turnovers worked well for us. We won a lot of primary possession from kickouts and we are happy with how things went.”

Andy Moran

Horan is also satisfied with the depth of the Mayo panel highlighting the goalscoring contribution of Andy Moran, who made an impact on his return from injury.

“We have guys playing up front that are as good as anybody in the country. We did our stuff, if we can work like that and build on that we will be a force to be reckoned with.

“You couldn't have scripted it any better, Andy will be chirpy enough getting the goal which was great to see. It worked out very well for us.”

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