Aidan O Shea and Ciaran McDonald at Croke Park.
By Cian O'Connell
Mayo manager Stephen Rochford was ‘content’ with Sunday’s All Ireland SFC Semi-Final win over Tipperary.
Goals from Jason Doherty and Conor O’Shea proved to be the decisive scores for Mayo, who will face the winners of Dublin and Kerry on September 18.
“The group are quite ambitious, so are the management,” Rochford commented in the post match press briefing. “When we set out last December what we wanted to achieve out of the year it was about getting to an All Ireland Final. Not necessarily taking the long route to get there.
“Invariably All Ireland Semi-Finals are there to be won. I think as a county we have enough experience of playing in epic finals, we are just content getting to the final at this moment and time.
“We certainly will continue to have things to work on, but there were a number of pieces that were pleasing in today's game.”
Andy Moran was influential for Mayo.
Highly respectful of Tipperary’s stunning progress in 2016 Rochford acknowledged Barry Moran’s vital role as a sweeper during the contest.
“They have quite an obvious aerial threat in Michael Quinlivan and Conor Sweeney. It was an aspect that if we could not concede a goal it would place us in a really good position not to concede a goal. That is the way it played out.
“Tipperary was a tough, tough game. They had scored a goal in every game this year, that included two against Kerry. So there was no case of us saying we were going to come in to win this game at 80 per cent to save ourselves for a final. Absolutely no way.
“We had huge respect for Tipperary and the manner in which they had beaten Galway had our alterness up. That quarter at the end of the first half when we scored 1-7 to one point from them and showed a ruthlessness we want in the group.
“That was pleasing. Look we need the performance to be better in the All Ireland Final. Kerry or Dublin, I'm sure it will bring that out in us.”
Tipperary manager Liam Kearns speaks to his players following the game.
Now a demanding challenge awaits on the third Sunday in September. “What we need to be is to be more consistent,” is Rochford’s verdict. “We have to be better in front of goal with some of the opportunities we created. We put the ball in their goalie's hands three times in the first half and twice in the second half.”
Liam Kearns was ‘proud’ of Tipperary's display. “I thought the second half was bordering on heroic," the Tipperary boss remarked. "I thought they were outstanding in the second half.
“I think ultimately we didn’t get the breaks today. We had two injuries, and the depth in our squad probably told against us in the end, we had a black card, and we had a red card of the finish. The second Mayo goal was a killer.”
