By John Harrington

Mayo defender Paddy Durcan says his evergreen team-mate Andy Moran still has a lot to offer the county team.

The 32-year-old Moran won back his place in the Mayo attack this summer after featuring largely as a sub the previous year, and was an effective ball-winner and finisher for the Connacht side.

He holds the record for most matches played for Mayo with 141 and would play his 15th season of inter-county football if he decides to commit next year.

Durcan will come up against Moran when Castlebar play Ballaghaderreen in the Mayo SFC Quarter-Final this weekend and is convinced he can still be an important cog in the Mayo machine next year.

“Yeah, absolutely. He’s hugely experienced and I’ve learned an awful lot from him in the two years I’ve been involved,” says Durcan.

“I have the height of respect for him and he’s certainly one to watch for us this weekend because he’s playing very well. We’ll have to put our full focus on him.

“From the two years I’ve been involved with Mayo, of any of the experienced guys like that who have been through it, he above anyone knows what it takes. The experience he has is brilliant.”

Mayo came up just short this year, but if they can hold on to experienced heads like Moran and promote one or two more players from this year’s All-Ireland U-21 winning team they might finally end their long wait for the Sam Maguire Cup in 2017.

Diarmuid O’Connor and Stephen Coen have already been successfully promoted from that U-21 team, while others like Conor Loftus, Michael Hall, and Brian Reape could be poised to make an impact next year.

“They have achieved success and they are not going to be waiting around, they will want a jersey,” says Durcan. “That's the way it should. The more competitive the environment with more people pushing for the jersey, can only lead to better things for us, I think.

“That is what you need. There are lads there who won All-Ireland medals this year who will definitely looking to push on and get a jersey. I am fully aware of that and I know that I will need to improve next year if I want to hold onto the jersey. There is a lot of work to be done. The more competition in the group, the better chance we have going forward.”

Durcan is still only 21 himself and seems to be getting better all the time. He excelled in the drawn and replayed All-Ireland Finals, a feat which earned him the GAA/Opel Footballer of the month award for September.

“I thought I was a bit slow to get going, to be honest with you,” he says. “Last year was the first year; I had a couple of sub appearances. I was hoping to push on this year.

“I’m new enough to the level so the more exposure I get to it, and learn more about the level, I’ll hopefully improve. Maybe that might have been the case a small bit.”

Mayo’s year once again ended in the ultimate heartache, but they must surely take some encouragement from the fact that for the third time in the last four years they pushed a Dublin team now regarded as one of the great sides of any era right to the wire.

“Look, you have to have confidence in your own team,” says Durcan. “You have you goals set and you want to reach them. You are not going to fear a team but I would have the height of respect for them.

“The margins are small and we have to close them, like I said, they are the benchmark.”