OPINION: Morale boosting league victory for Mayo

It was far from pretty but Mayo got the job done in what was billed as a 'must win' National Football League fixture against Tyrone at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Sunday afternoon.

As we said in these pages last week, it seemed very early in the season to be calling a fixture as a 'must win', but the split season format means that the games come thick and fast, and after two defeats, Mayo needed to get their season back on track.

Kevin McStay and his team now find themselves off the bottom of the Division One table and indeed, they are level on points with Kerry, who are actually in fourth position in the table.

As a spectacle, the game was frustratingly devoid of free flowing football, with both sides choosing to play a containing style of football, rather than embracing the new rules which has led to some high scoring encounters already in the division.

Strong finish

In truth, the game could have gone either way in the closing stages but a second yellow card for Tyrone's Michael McKernan gave Mayo a crucial extra man as the clock ticked down, and late points from substitutes Ryan O'Donoghue and Fergal Boland were enough to bag Mayo the two points on offer.

Outside of gaining the win, McStay will be happy to get Jordan Flynn back into the starting line-up and Aidan O'Shea and Jack Coyne also got some minutes for the first time this season. New players like Davitt Neary, Cian McHale and the impressive Frank Irwin got more game time and if players like Paddy Durcan, Diarmuid O'Connor, Jack Carney and Tommy Conroy can get themselves back fit in the coming weeks, Mayo's options will certainly be much healthier ahead of the stiff tasks that await them in the next four rounds of the league.

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First up next weekend, Mayo will make the trip to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh for a much anticipated clash with the All-Ireland champions. Throw-in for that game is 5pm on Saturday evening and there is sure to be a great atmosphere in one of the most intimate stadiums in the country.

Kieran McGeeney's men are just one place above Mayo in the table after they were comprehensively beaten by Donegal last weekend so Saturday's evening game is indeed a crunch tie in terms of league positioning going into the last three rounds.

Donegal impress

There is no doubt who have looked the best team in the league so far, with Donegal having won their three games with the added bonus of getting the legendary Michael Murphy back on the field last Sunday afternoon. Jim McGuinness's men travel to Galway in round 4 for a top of the table clash and that should be a game worth savouring as Padraig Joyce's team look to make amends for a second half capitulation against Derry last weekend.

The winner of that game could well then have one foot in the league final but all eight teams in the division can still realistically harbour ambitions of league glory given the condensed look to the table after three rounds.

Kevin McStay, in typical fashion, was bullish enough in his comments to the press after the game. He is correct in saying that Sunday's win will be good for the morale of his squad, but he is happy with the direction his side are going in and a win against the All-Ireland champions on Saturday evening would certainly be a huge boost as we start to reach the concluding stages of the NFL.

The championship is now just over six weeks away, and the league has begun very badly for Sligo, who have lost all three of their games in Division Three.

Mayo will certainly be hot favourites for that game in MacHale Park in the first weekend in April and if they can retain their status in Division One before that, they will look back on the league campaign as a success. Saturday evening's game against Armagh will probably decide if Mayo will be looking up the league table or looking over their shoulders in the coming weeks.