McStay confident that Mayo can mount All-Ireland tilt

Mayo manager Kevin McStay said his side were well placed to have a tilt at the All-Ireland after they edged out their provincial rivals Galway by a point in a tense preliminary quarter-final in Salthill.

Pitched into a do-or-die tussle with their neighbours after a disastrous final quarter against Cork in their last group game, Mayo played against a strong wind in the first half, trailing by a relatively modest margin of five points.

They wiped out the half-time deficit within 10 minutes, David McBrien surging forward to slip home the game's only goal. Cillian O'Connor, introduced early in the second half, pointed to nudge Mayo in front, with Paddy Durcan raiding up the left wing to notch 0-02 to push them three in front at one stage.

The 2022 All-Ireland finalists, badly hampered by the loss of Damien Comer at half-time, did rally late on but couldn't find enough scores in the face of that stiff breeze, falling one point short.

"It was a massive contest," a palpably relieved McStay told RTÉ Sport after the game.

"It could have swung either way in the end. We got the nudge.

"The goal was huge, a brilliant goal. Great pass by Aidan opens it up and David used to threaten to do this. I've said it to him all year, he's going to get one of these. Because he does that so well. And he stuck it.

"We played it out as well as best we could. Like, it was not easy. That's a quality Galway team. And they gave us a massive contest. Half a point would have been loads!"

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