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Billy Joe Padden shares an intriguing theory about Mayo's loss to Galway

Former Mayo footballer Billy Joe Padden feels the lingering effects of close calls over the years...



Billy Joe Padden shares an int...
Football

Billy Joe Padden shares an intriguing theory about Mayo's loss to Galway

Former Mayo footballer Billy Joe Padden feels the lingering effects of close calls over the years may have been a factor as last year's All Ireland football finalists lost to Galway in the Connacht Championship for the second year in a row.

Mayo must go through the qualifiers again in their quest to end the 66 year wait to bring Sam Maguire home and speaking to Off The Ball, Padden noted something about the team in terms of a theory behind the performance - or lack thereof against Galway.

"The Mayo that we saw yesterday, we saw them make a big mistake early on and then really, really struggle to create anything in the latter stages of the game," he said.

"If you compare year to year, you probably would have got the feeling last year that Mayo would have been able to dig out and manufacture a score from somewhere and I think that's probably somewhere inside the players' heads.

"There's things maybe lingering in there and it's just maybe we were just finally seeing the collateral damage of all those years of getting so close and not being able to get over the line and maybe yesterday was the day we saw it affect them just in terms of the belief in their footballing ability, not in anything to do with their commitment or their effort because that was a constant throughout and admirable."

Ex-Kerry footballer Mike Quirke also joined Off The Ball and is mystified at Aidan O'Shea's absence from the starting XV given how he would rank among Mayo's leading forwards.

"I can't understand how you don't start him in the game," said Quirke.

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