Bernard Flynn says Mayo paid the ultimate price for taking off too many of their big players towards the end of Sunday's pulsating All-Ireland final.

Six of Mayo's key men were looking on from the stand as Dublin nicked a one-point win and Flynn believes those withdrawals - coupled with Donal Vaughan's red card - were the reasons why the Sam Maguire Cup stayed in the capital:

"It's tiny margins. I have to say this, and it's with respect. You can't have six out of your eight most experienced players sitting beside you on the bench when you have to close a game out," the former Meath attacker told RTE.

"To take off [Keith] Higgins, [Colm] Boyle, Seamie O'Shea (having a great game), Kevin McLoughlin, Jason Doherty, Andy Moran - all on the bench when you're trying to close out a tight game against Dublin.

"There is an excuse and there is an argument for a couple of those guys, with injuries and whatever, but not for all six of those guys.

"The substitutions did cost them. Plus Vaughan, I'm not singling him out, but his moment of madness... I think they were All-Ireland champions for about 20 seconds.  The ball could have gone over from the free and then it's 15 against 14. That was a massive moment.

"[Joe] McQuillan was doing everything to give them a chance and they deserved it. But honestly the bottom line is - how many chances do you need to win an All-Ireland? And I mean it, my heart goes out to them. But at the end of the day, when you haven't got it, you haven't got it."

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