Three Mayo players who caught our eye against Kerry

Jack Carney 

This was some shift by the Kilmeena man. 

A late addition to the starting lineup in place of Davitt Neary, Carney came into this game on the back of a very good showing from the bench in Mayo’s draw against Armagh.

Today, he was at the heart of Mayo’s game-winning midfield display and shone in a middle eight where Aidan O’Shea, Matthew Ruane and Jordan Flynn all showed well. 

Carney’s terrific display against the Kingdom will give Kevin McStay and his selectors some serious selection headaches over the coming weeks. 

David McBrien 

He’s a nailed down starter for Mayo, and rightly so. He can wrestle with bears and hunt like a tiger, and is well able to make and take scores with his barnstorming bursts past the half-way line. 

What goes less noticed are his more understated ventures into enemy territory. Not once, but on several occasions, McBrien and Stephen Coen wandered forward from the half-back line to station themselves right in front of the Kerry goal. 

Kerry men followed them back there each time, so one can only presume they were deployed like two-legged Trojan horses to free up space around that golden 40-metre arc.

How best to use the Ballaghaderreen bruiser will remain a talking point among the Mayo GAA faithful for a long time yet - much like our next pick.

Frank Irwin

He’s shown well at full-forward all year for Mayo. Today, we got to see him at midfield, where he plays his club football with Ballina Stephenites. 

Though he floated between midfield and full-forward for much of his 54 minutes, he kicked two neat scores and gave Kerry plenty to think about with his skill, size and mobility. 

The jury is still out on whether he’ll be kept around the middle, particularly with so many competing for the 8,9,10,11 and 12 jerseys.