John Maughan is no stranger to these situations. Standing on the edge of a football field in Connacht, talking of Mayo and another provincial final. This return has been perfect; well plotted and low key.
"I'm pleased we won," he acknowledged. "I felt we played as well as we were allowed. We came up here as underdogs and that suited Mayo. A lot of our supporters didn't travel because not very much was expected of Mayo but we felt we were capable of coming here and getting a win."
Youth was the key. The links to 1997, Mayo's last All-Ireland year, are slender now. Liam McHale is part of Maughan's back-room team. Maurice Sheridan and Kenneth Mortimer are on the bench.
Only four players survive from that team.
"Well, we are young, we are kind of in transition and I think that is good, it shows the conveyor belt is still going," Maughan says.
"If you look at Sligo - guys like Paul Durcan, Dessie Sloyan, even Eamonn O'Hara - they have played a lot of high-intensity football over the past few years and I just felt that we might be a little sharper. And I think that's the way it went.
"We were a bit inhibited in the first half but after that the lads expressed themselves and really finished strongly."
And the reward is the same as it ever was. A July date against Galway. Only the dates change.
"Well, look, that performance would not be good enough to beat Galway and we acknowledge that.
"A Galway-Mayo clash was probably what a lot of people wanted and it is usually a great occasion. They are the form team and we still have work to do. But it was just important that we came here and got a win."
Markievicz Park has proven a tough ground on home managers. Peter Ford emerges from the Mayo dressing-room after offering his congratulations.
"We have no excuses. This is very disappointing - we prepared well and we honestly expected to win this game. But Mayo were just sharper than us.
"We hoped to get through to half-time and reorganise but if anything Mayo were even stronger in the second half.
"We have no complaints, we never really threatened.
"Winning a Connacht title was the hope this year, there is no point in denying it. We just have to take a few days now and try and get together and see what we can do in the qualifiers."
