EDITORIAL: All to play for on trip to Derry

AT the start of the 2025 National Football League campaign, the bookmakers had Mayo as the favourites for relegation down to Division Two, but with two rounds yet to play, Kevin McStay’s men are now in a position to secure their Division One status with one victory from their remaining two games.
A superb display against Kerry in Round Four at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park saw Mayo secure the two points on offer and moved them onto five points for the campaign, and they now occupy fifth place in what looks a very condensed table.
Sunday’s game away in Derry is still a very tough assignment, as the men from the Oak Leaf county are currently sitting bottom of the table and will be going all out to win the two points on offer.
There is sure to be a championship like atmosphere in Celtic Park for the 1.30pm throw-in, which is live on TG4.
Derry’s form in the league has been a bit hit and miss but there is no doubting they are a very talented outfit on their day, as Mayo found out to their cost in the preliminary quarter final of the championship last year.

Squad depth
In Ryan O’Donoghue, they have one of the best forwards in the country at present, and the return of the likes of Jack Carney and Aidan O’Shea strengthened the look of the Mayo squad against Kerry.
Paddy Durcan and Diarmuid O’Connor could also return from injury against Derry, so all of a sudden, hopes are high that 2025 could see Mayo continue to compete at the business end of the championship.
A win on Sunday could actually mean, depending on results elsewhere, that Mayo may be in a position to challenge for a place in the NFL final, which is pencilled in for the weekend of March 29/30.
However, it remains to be seen who will actually want to play in the Division One final, given that the championship outright begins for many teams in the first weekend in April.

Bizarre fixture planning
It really is a bizarre set of circumstances that many teams would simply rather avoid playing in the NFL final as they try to get themselves in peak condition for the championship.
It is still fresh in the memory for Mayo that in 2023, after defeating Galway in the NFL final, they went out of the championship at the hands of Roscommon the very next weekend.
Galway look likely to make the league final again as they currently sit on top of the table and there is a chance that Mayo could join them there if they were to defeat Derry on Sunday and Donegal at home in the final round on March 23.
But whether Kevin McStay would want his side to have a trip to Croke Park just seven days before a championship clash with Sligo is another question altogether. Jim McGuinness all but said he doesn’t want his team to make the final, so we could have a scenario at play where neither Mayo nor Donegal will be going all out to win when they clash in the final round.
However, Kevin McStay and his management team are likely to take it one step at a time. They will be going for a win on Sunday against Derry, with an eye to seeing where that leaves them ahead of the final round of fixtures.
It should be a fascinating encounter, and after such an exciting victory against Kerry, Mayo fans are likely to travel in large numbers and perhaps enjoy an overnight stay on the banks of the Foyle at the weekend.