Mayo’s league learning curve to continue against Galway

HOW does one preview any intercounty game while the new rules are still bedding in? Data remains slim on the best ways to exploit advantages and avoid sanctions under the rules conjured by Jim Gavin’s footballing boffins.

What we do know is that Galway have developed a real knack for hitting two-pointers.

Padraig Joyce’s men kicked three of them en route to a 1-12 to 0-9 win over Armagh last weekend. Paul Conroy kicked four out of six scores from beyond the 40-metre arc in an exhibition game prior to that. That’s 20 points from ten big kicks in two games for Galway.

Mayo, by contrast in 150 minutes of behind-open-doors football, have kicked just one two-pointer, despite numerous attempts.

How big a factor will that particular quirk be when these great old rivals bash heads in the Hastings on Sunday? If the game goes down to the wire, as it often does when McStay and Joyce’s armies cross swords, Galway have the very men to deliver the orange-coloured coup de grace.

The Tribesmen fielded a strong team in their opening-round win over Armagh in Pearse Stadium. Thirteen survivors from last summer’s Connacht final win over Mayo featured in that game.

One notable absentee from last year’s provincial final was the powerhouse Cillian McDaid, who played the full game against Armagh at the weekend.

Their defence, which held the All-Ireland champions to five points from play, boasted five starters from last year’s Connacht final.

Damien Comer and Robert Finnerty sat out the Armagh game, but in McDaid, Matthew Tierney, Shane Walsh, Paul Conroy, Seán Kelly and Finian Ó Laoi, Galway are a force to be reckoned with.

Mayo, on the other hand, will still be down some key bodies.

Jordan Flynn and Conor Loftus will likely not play for Mayo for quite a while after their awe-inspiring exploits with Crossmolina.

Aidan O’Shea is still on a break from the intercounty grind, while defenders Jack Coyne and Paddy Durcan and attacker Tommy Conroy remain injured.

The good news, however, is that Diarmuid O’Connor looks set to be fit to start against the Connacht champions.

The Ballintubber gazelle got a six-minute run against Dublin and could start anywhere from 8 to 12 on Sunday afternoon.

The 30-year-old two-time Young Footballer of the Year has been versatile to a fault throughout his Mayo senior career, never quite nailing down a berth at midfield or half-forward.

What role McStay, Rochford, Buckley, Mulligan and Canney find for him in Gaelic football’s largest-ever real-world experiment will be interesting to see.

MIX AND MATCH-UPS

THEN again, with Kevin McStay lauding ‘very good’ displays from Conor Reid and Davitt Neary against Dublin, O’Connor’s place at half-forward is by no means guaranteed. He is more likely, therefore, to partner Matthew Ruane at midfield. Whatever about the skies, Ruane and O’Connor will need to go to war on the ground to stop Conroy from attempting two-pointers and stop McDaid from covering every inch of MacHale Park.

Further up, Davitt Neary is likely to start again after a fine showing against Dublin. Frank Irwin and Paul Towey, despite being subbed off in Croke Park, still shot five from play and could well feature in a forward line where Ryan O’Donoghue and Fergal Boland are the only nailed-on starters.

The lads from 1 to 7 have never had the license to roam forward like they have now with the new ‘12-man back rule’. Sam Callinan, David McBrien and Colm Reape did so on several occasions against Dublin. One of Callinan, McBrien or McHugh could be preoccupied with minding Shane Walsh and will likely not see the whites of Conor Gleeson’s eyes.

On paper, and given Mayo’s hit-and-miss record in MacHale Park, Galway are the favourites to take both points.

But with these new rules, almost anything is possible.

The trial continues.

FIXTURE

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 ROUND 2

MAYO V GALWAY

MACHALE PARK, 2.30PM, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2