Padraig O'Hora: You'd be lying to say All-Ireland title not the goal for Mayo

Padraig O'Hora doesn’t shy away from setting big goals.

While Kerry’s David Clifford was wary of proclaiming "lofty" targets in conversation with RTÉ Sport this week, his recent marker is open that ending Mayo’s now 71-year wait for Sam Maguire is the ambition once again.

"You'd be lying to say it's not an All-Ireland," said O’Hora.

"We are fully aware that Mayo are in the top tier and are up there competing to win an All-Ireland championship.

"For me personally I'm motivated and driven by being better tomorrow, having a better training session and improving and pushing the guys around me so that we're properly set for the qualifiers."

Ah yes, the qualifiers. Following their Connacht exit, Mayo will knock on the back door for the first time since 2018, a journey which notoriously ended in Newbridge.

"I think they were a little bit better than us on the day," defender O’Hora says of the recent one-point defeat to Galway.

"There's not a massive difference between a lot of the teams in the country; it's a couple of percent.

"Maybe Galway turned up with a little bit better attitude? Maybe they performed a little bit better on the day. We knocked them out in the last two years so maybe that can motivate a team. They got a deserved win on the day. That was that."

Could doubts be setting in for James Horan’s side, the result coming as it did in the wake of another All-Ireland final loss, to Tyrone this time, and defeat to Kerry in the league decider?

"We don't focus on it," he insists. "Football is a beautiful game in that you could be back at it a week after.

"We've had some fantastic performances and some less than fantastic performances in the last few years. You can pick your poison from any of those three games but it is irrelevant.

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