STEPHEN ROCHFORD REFUSED to bemoan his side’s bad luck after seeing Mayo draw with Dublin in an enthralling All-Ireland SFC final today.
An incredible opening saw Mayo concede two own goals in the opening half, before rescuing a draw in the dying stages, after Cillian O’Connor registered a dramatic last-gasp point.
Reflecting on the game, the Mayo coach said: “You don’t feel sorry for yourself… We said we weren’t going to have regrets about certain things that would happen during the course of the year and during the course of the game.
“Some days you get a decision or you don’t get a decision; you get a lucky goal, you get unlucky. Things happen. It’s 70 minutes, it’s not a defining moment so for us it’s half-time.”
While Mayo showed tremendous heart and mental strength to get back into the game despite finding themselves trailing by three points in the dying stages, Rochford felt there was room for improvement in certain respects.
We’d be fairly disappointed with a number of aspects of the game. We contributed enough to the concession of the two goals, some people may feel they were unlucky but you make your own luck.
“And, you know, there’s still serious scope for us to improve on and we looking forward to being back here in 13 days.”
Rochford also played down suggestions that Mayo had missed a glorious chance to end their 65-year wait for an All-Ireland SFC title, with Dublin at times looking below their best.
That may be a story that will run in two weeks’ time but at this moment in time we’re still in the fight so it really doesn’t change our thought process.
“We had 12 or 13 turnovers in the first half, so I don’t think that’s a particularly good game. Have we got things to improve on? Yeah, and that’s what we’ll be doing, simple as that.”
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