FOOTBALL NEWS
Daniel Carey
MAYO manager John O’Mahony says next Sunday’s Allianz National Football League fixture against Tyrone is ‘going to be a monumental game’. Mayo’s place in Division 1 is almost certainly secure despite last weekend’s defeat to Galway, but they could still be relegated if they were heavily defeated in Omagh, and Kildare beat Laois with something to spare.
“Our attention turns to try and get safety in the division now, and we’ve a huge game against Tyrone,” he told the media in McHale Park. “They lost [to Derry on Saturday night], so it’s going to be a monumental game for us.”
Mayo currently occupy fifth place in Division 1, having secured five points from their six league games. They have a points difference of +2, seven better than Tyrone, their opponents next Sunday in Healy Park (throw-in: 2.30pm). Kildare are second from bottom with three points, but their vastly inferior points difference of -18 means they need a 20-point ‘swing’ next Sunday to leapfrog Mayo and avoid the relegation trapdoor. The Lilywhites’ task will be helped by the fact that their final game is away to Laois, who are already relegated having lost to Donegal last Sunday.
“I suppose of all the league games, that one was as near as you’ll get to a championship encounter,” O’Mahony said of Mayo’s game against Galway. “We had the winning of it. I thought we showed tremendous character in the second half when we went behind immediately after half time ... In the last two minutes ... we probably had a chance or two that we should have put away … a couple of attacks broke down [and] we gave a short kickout. But I ... felt that the period just before half time was just as crucial to us, in the sense that we had a five-point lead and we let it back to a point.”
