When the football began this year, Pearse Stadium was windblown and lonesome and Galway, the All-Ireland vintage of 1998 and 2001, could hardly pull a crowd that would do justice to a bingo meeting.

And through murmurs and shouts of sometimes malevolent discontent, Peter Ford had to keep training a team. Yesterday, all that seemed a very long time ago. It is only the first round of the Connacht championship, but Galway versus Mayo matches are a competition in their own right.

And although as a former boxer Ford well knows the value of a few well-placed jabs, he was graceful enough to enjoy yesterday without any reference to the bitter tension of a few months ago.

"It was a match we were looking forward to for months and we trained very hard," he said afterwards in his laid back way. "There was probably more pressure on Mayo because of the John O'Mahony factor and there was talk of All-Irelands again.

"Not to say they still cannot do it, but it is going to be a hard road for them now. But from when the draw was made, we wanted to win this one and the lads were very hungry, they played with great passion."

It must have been a deeply satisfying day for the Ballinrobe man. His team looked primed to perfection and, although the game was broken and hard as nails, the Galway goals had the home fans purring.

Discounted by the majority as All-Ireland contenders they may be, but Galway remain a potent goal-scoring force. However, Cormac Bane was probably not the first name on the betting slips this weekend.

"Brilliant goals, yeah," grinned Ford. "Cormac has scored a lot for us all year. He was the right man at the right time on the ball. I suppose an advantage we have is that any of our forwards can score goals, it could be someone else the next day.

"Look, I know Cormac since school. I taught him. Maybe he is a late developer, but he is developing fast this year."

Standing outside the Galway dressingroom, Bane was happy to recount the first of those scores, which caught the Mayo rearguard flatfooted.

"I just remember a defender was standing in front of me and then Niall Coleman played a long ball through and it all opened up so I just had a pot shot at it."

His second was even more flamboyant - set up by Micheál Meehan, he delivered an old-style pile-driver that left Mayo in a deep hole after 20 minutes.

"We needed those two because, apart from the goals, it would have been level," pointed out Ford. "But we knew they wouldn't necessarily be scoring like mad in the second half because that wind is tricky.

"I felt we had a very good second half. Now there is going to be a lull. Unfortunately, there is a five-week wait now and then we have Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon. Mayo only won by a point there last year.

"So we can't take anything for granted, because we are capable of playing poorly as much as anyone, but if we are up for it and get the attitude we had today, there is no reason we cannot win."

In his immediate analysis of this early summer defeat, John O'Mahony was realistic, but far from disconsolate. The odds of Mayo returning for another September tilt at the Sam Maguire probably lengthened last night.

"Again, this has followed the trend of the last few years when it seemed to be every second year," O'Mahony said.

"We didn't do it on purpose and we will talk behind closed doors about this. Look it, when you lose all your plans are wrong and when you win all your plans are right," he said, echoing a statement Ford had made just minutes earlier.

"And I expect to get the negative on all our plans tomorrow," he continued. "But that doesn't change what we have to do - we have seven weeks before we reach a difficult back door situation.

"And that is the only thing that faces every Mayo player and the management. You win together and you lose together."