COMMENT: Disappointing U-20 campaign leaves questions unanswered

Sunday’s victory in Hyde Park sent the Mayo senior team into the Connacht final and the U-17 squad have started their camapign impressively and now look forward to a clash with Galway on Friday night.

However, Mayo’s interest in the Connacht U-20 championship came to a shuddering end last Wednesday night. A poor performance against Sligo saw the green and red finish bottom of the league table at the end of the round-robin phase. To say the campaign was disappointing would be a huge understatement.

At the start of the season there had been great anticipation about the chances of this squad. A highly-talented group of players were available following impressive work by Sean Deane at U-17 level and Tom Mulderrig with his Development Squad. However, that talent did not come to the fore in the 2024 U-20 campaign.

Sadly, this is not a singular phenomenon. Mayo have won two Connacht U-20/U-21 titles since 2009, which is an exceptionally poor record for a county with a steady flow of talented footballers who have produced six provincial minor wins in the same period.

The thought-process of those guiding the fortunes of Mayo GAA must be looked at when one tries to make sense of the poor return at U-20/U-21 level. We hear about development squads and progression through the ranks, playing the Mayo way – unfortunately, that rhetoric doesn’t stand up under scrutiny, because there is no such pathway.

The supposed linkage between academy, minor and U-20 level doesn’t exist and hasn’t for some time. What was the point in appointing Tom Mulderrig to academy roles and onwards to a Development Squad between U-17 and U-20 if he was then to be dispensed with when the U-20 job came up? Was it not enough for Sean Deane to guide Mayo to two Connacht minor titles and an All-Ireland final? He had passed 326 young Mayo footballers through his hands at minor level and as many more during his tenure with the academy, yet he wasn’t deemed good enough when the U-20 job was given out.

Our record at U20 level is exceptionally poor for a county with the quality of players we have. Maybe it’s time to show up the ‘linkage’ rhetoric for exactly what it is!