McStay: We've got to be better with crucial decisions

Mayo boss Kevin McStay was left to lament a familiar failing at the end of a pulsating league encounter in the Box-IT Athletic Grounds which saw Mayo draw a game they should have won - yet perhaps could have lost.

Leading by five points after 67 minutes of play, Mayo saw that advantage whittled down to the minimum as the clock entered its 76th minute. Having turned over what appeared to be Armagh's last desperate attack, Mayo broke forward and looked certain to kill the game.

However, rather than hold possession, substitute Eoghan McLaughlin decided to take on a pot-shot from distance. The effort drifted let and wide, gifting Armagh a kick-out and one final chance at an equaliser.

From Ethan Rafferty's restart, the wily Rian O'Neill won a free which he himself converted to leave the final scoreline of 0-17 0-17 after a game that looked like February, but felt more like June.

McStay was full or praise for his side and, although visibly buoyed by their performance, the former Roscommon manager conceded that Mayo's tendency to shoot themselves in the foot is something they need to eradicate if they are going to finally reach the mountain top.

"This is where we have to be better. Make better decisions," McStay told Des Cahill on Sunday Sport. "We would've wanted him to get it to a shooter or recycle because that was the critical play at that stage.

"But some of the stuff we did today was terrific. Our attitude, our hunger for it, we really brought the game to Armagh in that second half.

"Some of the things we're working on are beginning to fall into place. It's only a game, too!"

"It'll do great for our young guys. We're very pleased with their effort. They're not shying away from what was a tough, tough game. They're doing all the