Cillian O'Connor believes Mayo answered their critics with their magnificent second half comeback against Kerry.

Despite trailing by four points at half-time and being a man down following Lee Keegan's 33rd minute dismissal, James Horan's charges dominated much of the second period to come within a whisker of reaching their third All-Ireland SFC final on the trot.

The teams will renew their rivalry in next Saturday's replay at the Gaelic Grounds where O'Connor - who top-scored with 1-8 - hopes the Connacht champions can give a more consistent performance.

"We're proud of the way we fought back there. We'll look at the mistakes we made, ways we can improve. Roll on next Saturday," he told RTE immediately after the thrilling draw at Croke Park.

Insisting that Mayo are always capable of displaying the character they showed in the second half, the Ballintubber man added: "We can be proud of that - it was a hell of a fightback there in the second half and we just want to put that together for 75 minutes next Saturday.

"We're disappointed that we didn't play like that for the whole game. That's going to be the aim next Saturday. We know the supporters are going to be there all the way with us."

Asked if he thought Mayo would lose as Bryan Sheehan lined up to take his last-gasp 60-metre free, O'Connor replied: "I know it was far enough out. Bryan's a great kicker so I knew he had a chance. That's the way tight games are going to go.

"Things like that are going to happen. Thankfully we made a great catch and brought the ball out. We'll go again next Saturday."

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