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Kevin McStay and Cillian O'Connor after today's match. Ryan Byrne/INPHO
no complaints

Kevin McStay - 'One team got their stuff together and the other team fell off a cliff'

The Roscommon manager saw his team wiped out today.

EIGHT DAYS ON and it was a tougher place to be for Kevin McStay.

He’d watched his young Roscommon team push Mayo to the wire with an admirable and courageous performance last Sunday week as they salvaged a draw.

But when the teams convened for round two today at Croke Park, there was a vast gulf between the Connacht rivals.

McStay watched his team wiped out by a powerful Mayo display that was considerably enhanced from the drawn game.

“One team got their stuff together and the other team fell off a cliff, I suppose,” reflected McStay.

“(The) pace and power we knew Mayo had, we thought was maybe waning a bit but they brought it to the table from throw-in.

“A young team got steamrolled by an experienced team – it was one way traffic and they were miles ahead of us.”

Roscommon’s race was run in the first half as Mayo plundered three goals. They had cause for complaint about the first one as Kevin McLoughlin hopped the ball twice in the build-up to the strike.

“I was screaming at the linesman and I was a good bit away from the play, but that’s a small thing,” reflected McStay.

“Momentum is a big thing around here and after that they were looking for goals every second chance they got – they were looking to kill it off.

“We can have no complaints and if they continue to play like that they’ll test their next opponent.

“Colm Boyle and Keith Higgins made huge impacts from the sweeper position, or six position.

“They’d take a gamble that they’d win the ball, run off the shoulder and we could cope. They pulled us apart.

“They had energy we hadn’t seen from Mayo in a while and we couldn’t cope. They will be very competitive the next day.”

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