Solan in 'dreamland'

May 02, 2016

Mayo manager Michael Solan celebrates.
©INPHO/Donall Farmer.

Michael Solan was euphoric after Mayo's dramatic All-Ireland U21 football final victory over Cork on Saturday.

The manager was delighted with the never-say-die attitude displayed by his team as they pounced for two late goals to break the Rebels' hearts.

"It's not a bad feeling, we are just in dreamland with the last couple of minutes having got over the line," he is quoted in the Irish Daily Star.

"It took a massive effort from all of the lads, but we were able to get it done. We felt there were goals in us alright, but did we see five before the game? Probably not, but the chances presented themselves and the boys were able to take them."

Solan never felt at any stage that Mayo were going to lose, adding: "We felt the game was going to ebb and flow and that if we got our few minutes, if we got a steady supply of ball from the middle of the field, we felt we could do a bit of damage up front.

"At half-time, we felt there were various avenues through the middle of the defence that we weren't exploiting as much as we should have done. Thankfully, we were able to exploit them in the second half.

"Sometimes people commit to attacking and the ball gets turns over unexpectedly when two or three guys have gone. There just turns out to be a bit of space.

"It happened to us a few times where we had a little too much space in front of our full back line. You can make a plan, sometimes it can be hard to follow everything to the letter when the game is going."


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