Mayo manager James Horan says that his side went through torture in the closing 20 minutes of this afternoon's All-Ireland SFC semi-final, before eventually securing a first final appearance since 2006 with a three-point win over Dublin.

The Connacht champions looked in cruise control holding a ten-point lead in the 50th minute, but squandered the bulk of this advantage to ensure a tense final few minutes.

"It was torture to be honest with you," Horan proclaimed afterwards.

"Dublin got a run on us in the second half, and we just could not get our hands on the ball for about 15 minutes. 

"They won every break and were winning everything in midfield. We just seemed to run out of juice a little bit, and they were coming at us in waves.

"It was last-ditch defending but we managed to keep it out, and we showed great character at the end."

Horan felt his side could have pushed the game beyond a comfort-zone for a Dublin come-back in the latter minutes.

"We had four or five chances in the last couple of minutes really to tap over points and put it outside the three-point range," he said.

"We didn't take those and it put a bit more pressure on us, but we showed great character to come through it and win the game. So we're delighted to come through that. But there's lots to do."

Many of the plaudits post-match have gone to Mayo's captain-for-the-day David Clarke who gave a super display between the posts.

Horan felt Clarke's 67th minute save from Bernard Brogan was a key moment in the game.

"Yeah, it's a fantastic save but isn't a surprise to anyone. David is a superb keeper. He is a big man coming out, getting down very quickly and it was a fantastic save, absolutely no doubt about it," Horan said.

Thoughts now turn to the All-Ireland decider and a first final not involving a team from Connacht or Ulster since the 1940's.

"The excitement in Donegal might be a bit different to the excitement in Mayo but, we will be ok, we'll just go and train, and try and improve and keep working at it and we'll do exactly the same. We won't change anything," Horan said.

"Training at our normal times and in our normal places, and we'll just get on with it. That's been our approach all year and we won't change it now. It will be interesting, two different styles." Tweet

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