Cora Staunton says that Derry eventually got the better of Mayo because they had more of their leaders on the pitch in the closing moments of the game.
The legend of Mayo ladies football criticised the management's substitution calls, with key men Aidan O'Shea, Matthew Ruane and Eoghan McLaughlin all taken off before full-time.
Manager Kevin McStay explained after the game that O'Shea was taken off only because they felt he had no more to give, describing his performance up to then as 'immense.'
But with O'Shea having been subbed in the Connacht final too, Staunton feels it as a pattern and says that it cost Mayo late on when Ryan O'Donoghue missed a free that would have been more suitable for the left footer.
"We'd no left footed player on the pitch at the time," she said on The Sunday Game.
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"I'd question some of our substitutions, with Aidan O'Shea gone off."
"I think a lack of leaders again," said Staunton, when asked why they've now relinquished winning positions against Dublin, Galway and Derry.
"If you look over the time, the Connacht final, Dublin last week - we've the same substitutions really.
"Aidan O'Shea has gone off in most games. Matthew Ruane and Eoghan McLaughlin the same.
"When Derry needed leaders, they had Rogers, Glass and McKinless on the pitch.
"We didn't have them on at that time. I think Aidan O'Shea was having a great game again today and was taken off. I think we lacked that leadership when we really needed it."
READ MORE: Damian McErlain: Mastermind Of Derry's Minor Juggernaut Chasing Another All-Ireland Final
On the flip, Enda McGinley said Derry's leaders dragged them to victory, and he feels that they are now a team 'to be feared.'
"Defensively, they were really, really tight. It was the leadership of the key men and maybe whenever teams are in a difficult position, key men step up.
💬 "Derry are a team to be feared from here on in"
Enda McGinley pinpoints how Derry were able to get vestiges of their old selves back in the win over Mayo
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"The hole that they've been in; the attitude they showed today to turn that around, it's purely the group," said the three-time All-Ireland winner with Tyrone.
"It's purely the group within the dressing room, on that training pitch, up in Owenbeg, away from everybody, listening to all they've been listening to. They have got it together and have welded that circle tight.
"Whenever a team comes through a difficult spell they come out a different team and Derry are a team to be feared from here on in."
