Mayo players held a ‘secret’ meeting after their defeat to Galway

Mayo's players had a meeting in Castlebar on June 17, a week after their defeat to Galway in the Connacht Championship semi-final in Pearse Stadium.

The meeting which was reported by The Connacht Telegraph took place the Saturday after their defeat to Galway after a round of club games in the county in which most of the county squad were involved. The club matches took place at 7:30 that night. The meeting is believed to have been arranged in order to review their loss to Galway and to clear the air in the panel by allowing all squad members to give their views on the loss. The report claimed that Mayo's manager Stephen Rochford was fully aware of the meeting, but that he didn't attend. No details of the meeting were made public but it is understood that it was mainly focused on where the squad is going and how best to regroup after their disappointing loss to the Tribesmen for the second year running. Mayo will host Derry in the All-Ireland qualifiers in MacHale Park in Castlebar next Saturday evening. Mayo will be looking to repeat their run through last year's qualifiers where they defeated Fermanagh, Kildare and Westmeath before they eventually reached the final after beating Tyrone and Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter and semi-finals respectively.