Roscommon boss Davy Burke said he learned “a hell of a lot” ahead of his side’s upcoming Championship joust with Mayo.
The Rossies slumped to a second successive defeat as a late raid whittled Mayo’s eight-point lead down to one before losing by two in the end.
The sides will meet in Castlebar in the Connacht quarter-final on April 9 - they could still clash in the League final seven days earlier - though Burke said that this encounter proved to be a useful yardstick.
READ MORE: Mayo survive Roscommon surge to win Connacht rehearsal
He said: “I think it’s very relevant in that tactically they’re a long way ahead of us to be honest with you. Clearly they’ve a lot more work done than us.
“They (the Mayo management) were a long time appointed before us. They hurt us a lot, we were poor. I learned a hell of a lot today, I learned hell of a lot today.”
Yet, with both managers rotating their line-ups, cards were being held close to chests.
Burke added: “Ryan O’Donoghue didn’t start, Aidan O’Shea didn’t start, Ciarain Murtagh didn’t start, Daire Cregg didn’t start, Conor Carroll didn’t start. You have to see your squad too.
“You can’t be preaching about lads training hard every day and not reward them, so we had to reward lads today and I think, without knowing it, both teams came into it with the same mentality.”
His opposite number Kevin McStay didn’t indulge the notion that he was keeping his powder dry, however.
He said: “Any guy that starts today is expected to go full throttle or he’ll be falling down the pecking order. As simple as that. Matchday 26, to get into it – if you’re fit you’re good to go.
“I’m going to be absolutely honest – we haven’t even thought of the Championship. Other than we know Roscommon are there waiting for us. In terms of prep for it, the only thing we’ve put down is as good a pre-season as we’ve ever had, getting the boys well-conditioned and ready to play robust and serious National League matches, which I think we’ve done.”
READ NEXT:
- Katie Taylor sends Eddie Hearn public ultimatum over Dublin fight
- Jack Kennedy to miss Cheltenham festival after failing to recover from broken leg in time
Conor McGregor slams 'dishonourable' fighters in late night social media rant
Stephen Kenny pinpoints when Kylian Mbappé is at his most dangerous ahead of France clash
Chris Farrell set for move to France after Munster release the Irish star
For all the latest Horseracing news please click here to sign up to our newsletter
