Horan delighted with another victory over the Dubs
MAYO manager James Horan was a happy man after Mayo recorded back-to-back wins in the league, as well as over Dublin.
It was the first time the sides had met since Mayo ended Dublin’s six-year reign as All-Ireland champions and it was the Green and Red who were the victors once again, running out five-point winners in the end.
"I am pleased with the manner of the victory," Horan told reporters after the game.
"We said before the game that there would be a lot on the ground, a lot of skidding ball and that kind of stuff, and we won the majority of that tonight.
"There was good intent, I think, from the players and we got enough possession to score, we took our couple of goal chances and that gave us the blanket.
"We gave a lot away in the second half but overall, contests on the ground, I was very pleased in that regard."
The fresher faces among the panel, including Donnacha McHugh and Aiden Orme, came to the fore as Mayo’s wealth of talent caught the eye with some impressive performances.
"We did a lot right and a lot of the new guys that we tried out did very well.
"Aiden Orme showed what he can do, Donnacha McHugh kept plodding away. Paul Towey, after Sigerson during the week, did very well as well. I’m very happy with some of those."
The win marked Mayo’s first over Dublin in the league at Croke Park since 1971, but Horan expects Dublin to be a different animal later in the year.
He said: "Look, from our regard we are just trying to keep working. We improved a few things from the Donegal and Monaghan games and we were a bit better tonight. So we are happy to continue on with that.
"Dublin are missing a lot of players. We have banged into them long enough to know that they have an awful lot of players to come back into that.
"They won’t be happy with their performance and some of their shooting. So we have to factor that in as well. From what we could do and from where we are in the season, we will take that."
It’s worrying times for Dublin, however, who are undoubtedly in a scrap in avoid relegation to Division 2 for 2023.
Their manager, Dessie Farrell, admitted Dublin are in an ‘uncertain situation’.
"I thought we did a lot of things right in the first half, conceded two goals that you just can’t afford to be conceding at this level, but definitely the first half was much more positive from our perspective. Second half not so much," said Farrell.
"We’re in an uncertain situation at the minute and all we can do is keep working hard and keep trying to learn from previous performances and take it one game at a time.
"We’ll look at the tape again and figure out what we were doing wrong, what we were doing right and try and bring those learnings with us the next day."