This league finish was mental. I've never seen anything like this before. From a Mayo perspective, we knew that a defeat against Donegal could have been catastrophic considering what I expected Tyrone and Armagh to do, and they duly did it. Tyrone beat Dublin and Armagh defeated Derry.

When you look at this league campaign as a whole, you've got to give huge credit to the Mayo team and management that they've navigated it immensely successfully. 

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It's remarkable that Mayo finished top of division one with a minus one score difference. I know the defeat against Galway adds to that number a bit, but it proves to a certain extent that Mayo won a lot of tight games.

They didn't lose up in Armagh, got the point there. Won a tight game against Tyone, a super tight game against Kerry, and now another one against Donegal on Sunday. And even Derry at times, that game in the second half was in the balance to some extent.

It's an absolute credit to this Mayo team in terms of their character, that they have been able to see out these wins. Especially after the hiding they got from Galway, where everyone in the country was talking about Galway being favourites for the All-Ireland.

So if you're a Mayo player after that, you're thinking, the old enemy are going to go and waltz to Sam Maguire and we don't have a hope of winning a Connacht title, that could demoralise you.

It sure doesn't look like that has been the case, factoring in the way they've responded. Kevin McStay and his team deserve a lot of credit for that. 

LEAGUE FINAL 

Playing in next Sunday’s league final is a huge positive for Mayo because it'll be really beneficial to this team to play a big game in Croke Park with the new rules in terms of the spaces available and the way teams can exploit that by kicking the ball. It's great that Mayo get that opportunity. 

I've been particularly impressed with what Kerry have been doing over the last couple of weeks. From an attacking sense, they have got the best handle on the rules so far. They're the team that's most willing to kick the ball into the full forward line.

And that makes sense considering the players they have in there, whether it's Paul Geaney and definitely David Clifford, you're more inclined to kick the ball into those two guys. 

I'm interested to see how Mayo defend against that threat and how they attack Kerry at the other end. I think it's going to be a very difficult task. The key focus for Mayo would be that they need to play well and need to put in a 70-minute performance. 

POSITIVES

Against the wind, Mayo have been playing very well. The sharpness of Ryan O'Donoghue on Sunday was again very obvious. I loved the way he cut inside, collected the ball and played the pass to Jack Carney for Mayo’s goal.

The composed finish from Carney was high quality stuff. At other times there were good balls kicked in to Aidan O'Shea that bounced in front of him and he collected them and played them in front of people.

Mattie Ruane had a good day out again, Frank Irwin as well. Frank looks more and more confident every day he goes out.

In general, the ball movement, the runners and getting people in and around the small D is beginning to pay dividends. Mayo don't score that goal without Jack Carney getting into that small D area so that Ryan O'Donoghue could find him with a pass.

That's how you score goals, getting bodies in there. Often it's like watching a premiership soccer game. If you don't get fellas in the box, you're not going to score many goals. 

CONCERNS

I think in the second half on Sunday, we saw a performance from Mayo that caused some concern. It stemmed from Donegal being more physical and being dominant on the long kick-outs. That's an area where Mayo have been gutted in the past.

I thought there have been periods in a lot of games, when they were dominated around the middle for six, seven or eight minutes. It mightn’t seem much in the great scheme of things, but a game can be won and lost in that period.

Mayo found it hard to get the ball out when Donegal got on top in the middle and that has to be a concern. That dominance gave Donegal the platform to really cut holes through the middle of the defence.

This must be addressed urgently and a plan has to be put in place for situations when they’re under the cosh in the middle of the field and not winning ball. It’s not just about winning the ball in that sector we also have to think about where players are positioned in terms of making sure the middle of the defence isn’t left wide open. 

That type of thing is a concern, but there's no perfect team in the country at this stage. All teams are still learning and feeling their way into the season.

CHAMPIONSHIP BECKONS

The Connacht Championship starts the weekend after next. Mayo are playing Sligo, a team from Division 3.

That will be a factor in terms of their preparation for the league final. Mayo should be able to have a right cut in Croke Park and still do their business back home the following weekend.

It's not as dangerous as going into a game against Roscommon or Galway. I say that as respectfully as I can.

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