Andy Moran excited about emerging Mayo talent

Click here to listen to the full interview with Mayo senior football team manager Andy Moran.

By Cian O'Connell

Manager Andy Moran is excited about the combination of youth and experience in the Mayo panel.

The promising Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald have enjoyed productive campaigns for Mayo, who face Louth in an eagerly anticipated All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final at Croke Park on Saturday.

Moran is delighted that a new wave of talent is emerging in Mayo. "It's great," Moran says.

"Probably, we'd have preferred to have them sooner in the year, to try to get them through sooner in the year. Young Eoin McGreal got injured in the first league game and the two boys were playing U20 for the rest of the season.

"It's a nice mix and it gives the dressing room a lovely feel to it, in terms of you can see the older players trying to bring through the younger players. I think when you have that in a set-up, it's really positive."

So, Moran and his management set-up were eager not to overburden the young players. "One hundred per cent and the fellas with the Sigerson, and Tommy Conroy, who isn't one of the younger fellas, but as I said about him last week, we may have minded them too much, if I'm being honest," Moran replies.

"The UL guys, the lads that won the Sigerson have struggled to get into the (matchday) squad, even though they're fantastic players - Conal (Dawson), Cian (McHale), Seán Morahan, and Hugh O'Loughlin, Frank Irwin - all these guys they've struggled to break into the 26 because we weren't playing them through the league, and they've struggled to break in. Hopefully in the next few weeks they can do that."

When Mayo suffered a heavy loss to Roscommon in the Connacht SFC it was a particularly tough time according to Moran. "The only thing you can really describe it like - and it's not as bad - is like a death," Moran says.

"You just have to then shake yourself off and get moving. I've mentioned about the players, so many times over the last couple of weeks, we played two challenge games.

"We played against Kildare in Longford, but we brought them up to Ashbourne on a Thursday night. So, taking into account Ryan O'Donoghue lives in Belmullet and works in Belmullet. He'd to get up for work the next morning, it took him four and a half hours to travel, but there was no complaints.

"They knew this was a good challenge to get. So, they went to play it. Just little efforts, little moments like that have made a big difference to us over the last couple of weeks."

Now another trip to GAA headquarters beckons. For Louth and Mayo, a much coveted place in an All-Ireland SFC decider is the significant prize on offer.