Even though Durcan, who was introduced in the second-half, had be carried off the pitch after the final whistle, Mayo team manager Kevin McStay said they were quite hopeful that he had only jarred his knee though he did add: “We are a little bit worried.”
“Paddy Durcan is up and walking around. It could be a jar when he crossed over his knee. That will be scanned. We will know more in 72 hours but the medical team are quite hopeful.”
Overall, McStay was pleased his side had got back to winning ways after their Connacht final loss.
“Yesterday I would have taken a half a point (win). The win is exactly what was on order. We needed two points to get back to where we thought we could be at this stage of the race. It sets us up brilliantly for the next round against Roscommon.
“I knew there was going to be a fairly decent reaction to losing the Connacht final. In fairness, it wasn’t top-top. (It was) pretty consistent, (we) kept the scoreboard ticking over and (I’m) really pleased with the two points which was the big thing.”
Asked whether the gamer lacked the cut and thrust normally associated with championship football he said: “I felt like a round robin match. You know there is a lot at stake and yet it is not maybe the heat we had up in Pearse Stadium perhaps. But I can assure you that the two points was still the big the focus at half-time.
“Even though we were in the lead we wanted to go out and pad it out. We never got it done quickly. It was still in the balance. But I can’t complaint with the performance.
“A lot of lads looking quite sharp out there today. Everybody took their chances pretty much and gave a good account of themselves.”
He acknowledged that Mayo conceded too many turn overs.
“The turnovers stopped the momentum so that is a bit of work on for us in the next fortnight. One day we might get the shooting and the turnovers to coincide and see where that gets us.”
“After the Connacht final (loss) his match was like the old Round 4 (when the beaten provincial finalists entered the All-Ireland qualifiers system). They were killers altogether. You couldn’t get any oxygen into the group. So for fellows like me there was always that fear we would be flat. But we had a good chat on Wednesday and the boys were well up for it,” said McStay.
Cavan boss Raymond Galligan declined to speak to the national print media afterwards saying he was rushing for the team bus.
He told RTE he was “very disappointed for the group.”
“They put in a huge shift over the past number of weeks. We thought we were in a really good place, but we left a huge amount of opportunities behind in the first half,” he added.
“To go in with a four-point deficit have played with a strong breeze was hugely deflating. Ultimately (we were) beaten by a better team. We didn’t do ourselves justice.”
