Short-term gain for Mayo and Galway ahead of last eight

Derry coming out of the draw for Mayo was probably both the best and worst case scenario from Kevin McStay's point of view.

My former team-mates received a lot of praise for their performance against Dublin, but it’s no good to them now. They had the chance to send the All-Ireland champions into the preliminaries as well as laying down a marker, but failed to take it.

Still, there was much to build on. They swatted away whatever nonsense was around them, something McStay referenced afterwards.

They put all their eggs in the basket against the Dubs, but couldn't see it through. Hopefully that won’t count against them this weekend, but to come down from that monster performance will be a challenge.

You don’t know how much energy has been expended. If they get through this weekend, it's only a week until the next challenge, though it would be a welcome problem.

Special mention has to go to Aidan O’Shea on his 90th championship appearance, an incredible feat.

The scrutiny around his scoring misses the point. He’s not a scoring full-forward, he’s a creator and causes havoc.

Tommy Conroy kicked three points from play and Ryan O’Donoghue finished with 0-07 in total last Sunday. They flourish with Aidan there beside them, particularly Tommy against the Dubs. There may have been some question marks over him coming into the game, but Aidan laid it on a plate for him, creating pockets of space and holding up defenders.

I played with him for 12 years, so I know full well the importance of his role to the team.

All those years of high-intensity training and sheer amount of games, it speaks volumes that not only is he still playing, but he remains integral to Mayo’s game plan.

He really had the bit between his teeth on Sunday, but Derry will be