Mayo just wanted it more

The hunger and determination of this Mayo side stood out, but as well as that their willingness to fight for everything they got made sure they ran out deserved and comprehensive winners over the All-Ireland champions.

Overall, I thought Mayo were able to stick the pace a lot better than Galway, not just in their fitness levels but in their competitive edge as well. Their work-rate and mobility around midfield was crucial. The performances of David Brady and James Nallen were pivotal, and so too was the major role of Maurice Sheridan and James Horan in the forwards.

Still, Galway did show their class early in the game with some excellent movement in the attack resulting in their ability to take their scores at will. All the time, though, Mayo were dogged, and you really sensed their determination and willingness to fight. Even though they lost a briefly-held lead when Galway responded to the goal, they never looked like panicking.

Galway started the second half with a quick point that left them leading 1-10 to 1-6, but they seemed to get stuck soon afterwards. The longer they went without a score, the more they were in trouble. Even though they got some easy opportunities, they didn't take them. Then there were other times when they were kicking from fairly impossible angles and as a result seemed unable to get away from Mayo.

When Mayo brought in Pat Fallon they lifted their game even more. To have a replacement of his the calibre says a lot: with his fresh legs and great engine his introduction proved vital. Mayo just kept tagging on the points and their confidence grew all the time. A lot of them were clever scores as well, something Galway were unable to engineer.

I always felt Galway were going to be vulnerable in the back line and that really showed up yesterday. Horan had a load of room to manoeuvre and Galway just couldn't keep their marking tight enough over the full 70 minutes. They just didn't have that tireless machine of last year, or at least it certainly wasn't functioning in all departments. It was obvious they couldn't match the pace until the end but there were other problems as well. For a start, we didn't see enough of those searing runs of Michael Donnellan. As the game progressed the Mayo forwards got more room and time to move on the ball: the Galway team were fading; the desire just wasn't there.

The strength of this Mayo bench was underlined when John Casey, who had a blinder against Roscommon, was taken off. It was Mayo's hunger, though, that proved the major force, especially since they didn't want to be deemed as failures after losing out on the two All-Irelands.

An All-Ireland defeat can really stand to a team. It's a test of character to come back again and I think Mayo have a great desire to get back into the final and prove they are not failures. Those defeats have probably made them a better team. With Galway, it took so long for them to win the championship that maybe the celebrations dragged on longer as well. It was always going to be hard to regroup in time, and they didn't seem to have the required strength-in-depth either, especially in the back line as it started to fade later in the game.

After being involved with the Kerry team beaten by Cork, I can safely say that it's going to be a very hard game between Mayo and Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final.