Seán Rice
THE county senior championship, which begins at the weekend, is not exactly swamped with new challenges to the status quo. When the preliminaries are played out, and the knockouts reached, the stage it seems will still be left to the same old sides with the same old ambitions.
Ballintubber, Breaffy, Knockmore and Castlebar Mitchels, despite their All-Ireland disappointment, seem still sufficiently ahead of the field to qualify for the quarter-finals. Sunday’s first-round games will provide a clearer perception of those accompanying them to the last eight.
From Group 1, the two most likely to emerge are Breaffy and Garrymore, and both of them lock horns on Sunday in what is an intriguing prospect at Breaffy. Their league win over Castlebar last week is a timely boost for Garrymore.
Breaffy, hot contenders for the county title, fielded their first full team in the league last Sunday, and were held to a draw by Hollymount/Carramore. That ought to trigger a greater effort against Garrymore and a sufficient contribution from the three O’Shea brothers and Mayo under-21 stars Liam Irwin and Michael Hall to shape victory.
Garrymore, who expect to have Shane Nally, Jimmy Killeen and Trevor Nally back in action, have been promising more than they have achieved those past couple of years. Their ambition this season will be put to the test at Breaffy.
Fresh from their winter rest, Ballintubber look hungry again, and who would bet against them being in the final shake-up? Hollymount/Carramore provide the strongest of opposition for their opening round of the campaign, and the former champions may be without their rock of so many victories, Alan Dillon.
A calf muscle injury forced the Mayo star out of their last league tie with Kiltane, but with three O’Connor brothers in their front line, they are not short of firepower. Throw in the likes of Jason Gibbons, Alan Plunkett, Brian Walsh, Gary Loftus and Cathal Hallinan, and you still have a side laden with impressive qualities.
Sunday’s opposition will reveal more about their true strength. Hollymount/Carramore will test them severely. They have been adjusting well to senior football, stabilised by the vigour and confidence of Stephen and Darren Coen, Pádraig Feerick, and Dermot and Kevin Costello. The outcome of this will surely decide who emerges from the group.
Can Castlebar Mitchels put that All-Ireland experience behind them to qualify for the last eight? That’s the question bugging their followers. Their mental condition will scarcely have been eased by news of the release of four Mitchels players from the Mayo squad.
With a slimmed-down version of the championship side, the Mitchels won their two opening league games with some flair, before bowing to Garrymore. Their All-Ireland preparation has them in good physical shape and that ought to be an interesting aspect of their tussle with Crossmolina.
The Deel Rovers men will probe meticulously for any Castlebar vulnerability, but Barry Moran, Donal Newcombe and company on their home ground should ensure this first hurdle is cleared.
Knockmore make the journey to Bangor nervously, anticipating a tough assignment against Kiltane. Although they lost their recent league match to Ballintubber, the Bangor men looked like a side that will be hard to beat on their home turf. If they survive this, Knockmore will join the hot contenders for the title.
Castlebar gang suffer most in Mayo cull
PERHAPS it was inevitable that in the wake of their All-Ireland final collapse, Castlebar Mitchels would suffer most in Stephen Rochford’s trimmed-down championship panel.
Neil Douglas, Ger McDonagh, Danny Kirby and Donie Newcombe have been released to their club as Mayo prepare for the opening round against London in Ruislip at the end of the month. They join Mark Ronaldson, Mikie Sweeney, Shane McHale and David Kenny and the luckless Michael Conroy, who has been troubled by injury for some time.
The Davitts star severs a 12-years-old link with the senior team, interrupted intermittently by injury and loss of form, and it was a shoulder injury that finally brought the curtain down on his inter-county career.
I suspect that injury also precluded Ger McDonagh’s retention, and I have some regrets for the release of the energetic Kirby, whose ability might have been enhanced with specialist coaching.
Now that our under-21s have been decorated with the wreaths of All-Ireland success, speculation about their promotion to the senior squad intensifies. Four of that all-conquering side – Michael Hall, Conor Loftus, Diarmuid O’Connor and Stephen Coen – are already members of the panel, and clearly have benefited from the experience.
Quick transition to senior football is not recommended, however, for every under-21 graduate. Some, like Keith Higgins, adjust instantly imbued as they are with natural temperament. Having featured in Mayo’s under-21 success of 2006, the Ballyhaunis man was a fixture in the senior side for that season’s championship and has been there more or less ever since.
Barry Moran was among the subs, and at full-forward on the team beaten by Derry in the qualifiers the following year. He has been a valued member of the squad over the past decade. For others, like Ger Cafferkey, Colm Boyle, Tom Cunniffe, Seamus O’Shea, Tom Cunniffe and Chris Barrett, maturity was more gradual.
As with all underage teams, some for various reasons will drop out, but careful nurturing ought to see many more of the victorious side push for regular places in the Mayo of the next couple of years.
Galway could be dark horses
IT was the kind of fright that will do their prospects no harm. Swept up in the pace of off-field duties in New York, Roscommon’s focus on the central aim of their visit became blurred amid the headiness of it all.
Saved from the abyss by a single point, their narrow escape was a stark reminder of Mayo’s struggle to shake off London in James Horan’s first year as manager. Only a face-saving point by Andy Moran forced a draw in Ruislip and the chance for the players to pull themselves together in order to spare their blushes in extra time.
Serious preparation followed that scare, and Mayo not only won the Connacht Championship but also qualified for the semi-final, two steps away from the ultimate prize.
Roscommon’s mentors may have been at fault in fielding a few peripheral players, but they will be the better for the experience when they reach the Connacht final in July.
Whether Mayo will provide the opposition in the final depends on the outcome of their return to Ruislip at the end of the month and, if successful, how they fare against the side already written out of the equation, and who are waiting in the long grass. Galway could be the dark horse.
