Galway boss Padraic Joyce questioned the amount of injury time played by referee Joe McQuillan after his side were pegged back for a draw by Mayo.
Five minutes of additional time was signalled at the end of the 70 minutes and when Damien Comer pointed a free for Galway in the 75th minute, it looked to be enough to give them a fifth successive win over Mayo at Hastings MacHale Park.
But McQuillan played on Ryan O’Donoghue kicked an equaliser for Mayo with what was effectively the game’s last play.
READ MORE: Ryan O'Donoghue's late score salvages Mayo draw in league opener with Galway
Joyce said: “Just frustrated with a few decisions out there. It’s the first League game, I was very proud of the fellas and probably overall a draw was probably a fair result but, lookit, we were a point up and five minutes injury time was up and he played a sixth one so, lookit, again, no complaints but we do feel a bit aggrieved that we didn’t win the game but that’s a good sign of the team, we’re not happy with a draw in Castlebar.”
Joyce also questioned the free count though it actually went in favour of his side, 12-8.
“Joe’s a top class referee but when I look back on it and ye look back on it, the free count was probably more in Mayo’s favour than ours but that’s Joe’s decision.
“I’m not making a show of it. We played well in fairness, we minded the ball really well. Went down to 14 in the first half and we sucked the life out of the game and then lost Cillian [McDaid] to another innocuous kind of black card there so, look, overall very proud of the players.
“Last Tuesday night was the first night that we had more than 20 players on the pitch so after two good sessions together, it’s a great start for us.”
Mayo manager Kevin McStay, who was taking charge of the team in the League for the first time, felt that they deserved a share of the spoils.
He said: “We’re pleased with a point. We could have lived with it if we left without one, but I think we deserved one – that’s my sense. I would say that anyway.
“But I was quite satisfied with the effort in the second half. Our boys never stopped trying. We demanded that; we wanted that; we expect that off ourselves.
“That great attitude I was talking about last week – when we were in a bit of trouble, they dug deep.”
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