Late points from Trevor Mortimer and Kevin McLoughlin saved James Horan's managerial bacon back in 2011.

In his first year as Mayo senior football manager, Horan was staring down the barrel of a Connacht SFC defeat to London in Ruislip but those players came to his rescue to force extra-time.

They survived on a scoreline of 0-19 to 2-10 and, looking back now, Horan tells The Examiner: "It was bordering on out of control. The players weren't sure what was happening either and we were just hanging on, hoping. There was a kind of a 'this can't be happening' vibe to it. Very unusual."

The Ballintubber clubman admits his days as an inter-county manager would have been numbered had they finished second best to the Exiles.

"It would have been over, no question. I would have picked up that vibe from officials that might have been there, make no mistake about it. It was fairly clear.

"Nothing direct, but you know the way these things operate sometimes! The officials and how they can say things... but I'm sure because of the snowball effect it would have had, it would have been out of control. I'm pretty sure of that."

He continued: "Because it went to extra time we had officials coming out to tell us we'd be late for the plane. Everything about it was mad. It definitely shaped us as a management team as well and what we did from there.

"There was a realisation of where we were and what needed to be done. It just set a tone and we knew there was only one way we could go. I think it gelled or glued us all together and there was no looking back. The boats were burned at that stage, so we had to go forward.

"Thankfully we got through it and kicked on. And they're still kicking on."

Horan doesn't expect history to repeat itself this weekend and is optimistic about his former team's chances this year on the back of their recent All-Ireland U-21 success.

"The age-profile of the team is 26 which is perfect, it's the optimum for inter-county football, and those players are potentially young players of a very high calibre.

"They've obviously yet to do it in championship some of them, or get a start, but I think it's very exciting to have those guys mixed in with the experienced players.

"And that's what the London camp will do. There's a training camp for four or five days over there, and that will integrate the young and the old very successfully.

"I think the team is getting stronger all the time. I genuinely think it is.

"They are a very focused bunch and they're looking to do everything they possibly can, and there's a few players to give it a fresh impetus so I think they'll be very, very competitive."

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