Paul Flynn believes that Mayo manager Kevin McStay will be most concerned by the lack of energy and work-rate during their surprise defeat to Cavan at home.
Cavan produced a stunning second-half display in MacHale Park to blow their All-Ireland series group wide open when they claimed a fully deserved 1-17 to 1-14 victory over Mayo.
In truth, the scoreline was generous to Mayo, who were able to put a gloss on the game that their performance didn’t deserve with an Aidan O’Shea goal deep into injury-time and a couple of late points.
Cavan played to their strengths and were cruising to a comfortable win when they led by eight points after 70 minutes, while Mayo looked a shadow of the side that topped Division 1 in this year’s league campaign.
Speaking on The Sunday Game, Flynn claimed that the listless display will be a serious headache for McStay.
" Cavan were by a distance the better team and the thing that will bemuse the Mayo fans and Kevin McStay’s management team the most is just that lack of energy," he said.
" Whatever about anything else, they would have to ask, 'What did we really do really well against Galway?’ And it was: 'We outworked them, we stripped them, we didn't give them any time on the ball'.
"That's just a basic fundamental that you'd expect from your team every time, and they didn't get it today.
"Cavan outworked Mayo and that was the foundation for Cavan’s win, that alongside the fact that their forward unit just wasn't clicking, the scores were coming from midfield.
"Niall Carolan did a fantastic job on Ryan O'Donoghue and didn't allow him to have an impact from play.
"So all the credit is to go to Cavan for this. But when Mayo do look at themselves, they’ll be really disappointed with their work-rate and the turnovers that they didn't get."
Dessie Dolan was slightly more charitable to the Green and Red and claimed that the reason they looked so poor was because Cavan controlled the tempo and pace of the game at all stages.
"Mayo didn't get rhythm because they weren't let get rhythm," he said. "I think Cavan, throughout the game deserved to win.
"They were very competitive, they were brave on the breaks and defensively, they were well set. They were very organised throughout and then they got some great scores with some great leaders.
"Is it a surprise that Cavan put in that performance? Yes, it is. Going down to Castlebar I don't think people gave them a chance.
"People probably felt it should have been routine for Mayo, but Cavan were fully deserving of their win and it was an excellent performance from Ray Galligan’s men."
