Kevin McStay: No hiding Mayo’s many mistakes against Dublin
Mayo went into the first half with all guns blazing, but failed to exploit their advantage
Dublin’s Brian Fenton with Aidan O’Shea and Seamus O’Shea of Mayo at their All-Ireland SFC semi-final match at Croke Park on Saturday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
I found myself in Dublin early on Saturday morning. It was a hectic week for Mayo supporters. The Super 8s did their job in the sense that the four best teams on the island progressed to the All-Ireland semi-finals. Furthermore, the only unbeaten teams have gone on to the final. But among the Mayo supporters, there was considerable disquiet at the fact that their team was playing its seventh game in eight weeks.
Obviously, Dublin also played last week but had the luxury of resting a host of starting players for what was a glorified challenge game against Tyrone. It’s true that Mayo’s path has been extremely tough. But you make your own bed, to some extent. If you lose your championship opener to Roscommon and also a match in Killarney, then that it is your issue.