Mayo forward Aidan O'Shea acknowledged that today's All-Ireland semi-final victory over Tipperary wasn't his side's greatest performance, but that ultimately the result is all his team came for.
The Connacht side only mustered 1-3 in the second half of the game as they ran out 2-13 to 14 point winners in the end.
"We're just delighted to get the result," he told Newstalk Sport's Oisin Langan after the game. "We've been in semi-finals, epic games over the last couple of years and been on the wrong side, instead sitting watching the All-Ireland final.
"Today we just spoke about making sure we were on the right side of the result regardless of the performance and we did that. Obviously we didn't perform to our best, no doubt about that. We've a few things to work on going forward but we're into an All-Ireland final."
Mayo have come a long way to reach the All-Ireland final, with wins in the qualifiers over Fermanagh, Kildare, and Westmeath as well as Tyrone in the quarter-final, but said they didn't feel as comfortable than they had been in previous games.
"We created opportunities but we were a bit rushed and anxious to get going. We were forcing shots and forcing passes that maybe weren't on. We gave them huge opportunities on the counter-attack. They're very comfortable with ball in hand and they move the ball well up the field.
"Our first 15 minutes was as much down to us and our errors as well as our wides that put ourselves into that position where we really needed to open the legs in the 15 minutes before halftime.
"We won't be happy with the second half performance at all. The fact that we only scored 1-3 and kept them out and won the game, we'll be happy.
"They probably went a little bit more offensive in the second half and we didn't respond as well as we probably should have. Huge things to work on and we look forward to watching the game next week and getting our detail ready for whoever is coming through."
Tipperary Evan Comerford is inconsolable after the final whistle. Image: ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
The result is still momentous for Tipperary football, who reached this stage in the competition with fluid counter-attacking play. O'Shea said that Mayo needed a slight tweak in tactics to deal with their threat at the breakdown.
"It just depends on what's required on the day. We didn't feel the ball coming in as much as the Tyrone game and we were trying to get a stranglehold around the middle. I just floated out around where we needed and thankfully we took a bit of ball where we needed to most.
"You have to respect the opposition and what they bring to the table. We looked at Tipperary and saw what the two boys [Conor Sweeney and Kevin O'Halloran] have done inside over the summer. They've been very good and we've had to change tactic a little bit, but you can't go in with the same game-plan everyday. There must be a bit of a curveball here and there."
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