James Horan reserved praise for Ryan O'Donoghue as his Mayo team edged Meath by a point in their Allianz Football League Division One encounter in Navan.
O'Donoghue played a crucial role in Kevin McLoughlin's late goal which gave Mayo the lead and the Belmullet club man's vision and work-rate impressed his manager.
"Ryan worked hard today today. It's his third league game and obviously a very talented player but his hard work today was really good," Horan told RTÉ Sport.
"Real good vision to set up Kevin McLoughlin and Kevin finishes those goals nine times out of 10, so we're delighted.
"With 10 or 12 minutes to go, Meath were on top, they were ahead, the crowd were behind them, the wind was behind them.
"It was a daunting task but I thought the way we stuck in there and won a couple of crucial breaks showed real character and I'm delighted all the guys stuck in.
"We pinched two points, I'm delighted and we'll move on."
The conditions made the match difficult for both sides who racked up sizable wide counts and with that in mind, Horan was pleased to come away from Páirc Tailteann with Mayo's first win of the league campaign.
"There was a lot of turnover today, particularly for both teams playing into the breeze," he said.
"You had to bring it in that bit further so that slows it down and teams get people back.
"There were a lot of bodies knocking around there and the ball is wet and slippy, so anything can happen and you saw that with the return from shooting today.
"But it was always going to be a battle. Meath are a very proud team and up here on their home patch, it's going to be tough to get the two points and move on, [but] we'll take it."
