WHERE is this Mayo team at? That question will be answered on Sunday week when the final whistle blows in the Connacht final.

Now that we’re at the end of this two-game stretch, it’s time to take stock and realise what’s riding on the next game.
The current situation tells us that Mayo have got to where they want to be. All that really mattered was winning the games against Sligo and Leitrim and progressing to a Connacht final.

If they go on to win the Connacht Championship then the two average performances will be forgotten and it will be seen as part of the plan.

READ: Mayo's Greatest Supporter: Some of the first nominees

However, if they go on and lose the final, people will look at it as a three-game collection and say the performance level just wasn’t good enough in any of those games. That’s why so much rides on the result in MacHale Park on Sunday week.

POOR PERFORMANCE

THERE’S no doubt, the performance on Saturday against Leitrim was not what it should have been. When you look at the game as a whole, there were a lot of similarities to what we saw against Sligo, particularly in the first half.

Mayo weren’t nearly as intense or physical as a team needs to be in a Championship game. The second half wasn’t a whole lot better. They made a load of changes at half time, and that would suggest to me that Kevin McStay was definitely not happy with the way the first half went.

EDITORIAL: Hard to gauge where Mayo are at ahead of Connacht Final

Mayo were better in the second half, but the performance remained below the level expected.

If we’re being honest, the last ten minutes were fairly stress-free, whereas the last ten minutes against Sligo looked a lot more precarious, but we were playing against a team who were rank outsiders.

IMPACT

ONCE again, we’re seeing a situation where Mayo are extremely reliant on Ryan O’Donoghue to do a lot of the scoring. He scored nine points on Saturday, but wasn’t at his absolute best.

He missed a few chances that he probably thinks he could have scored. He’s important to Mayo, but if we’re going to be successful, you need to be getting other players taking the scoring load off him.

Aidan O’Shea was good against Sligo, but wasn’t as impactful on Saturday. The lack of ball coming in his direction was a result of Leitrim’s good play around the middle.

When Kevin McStay is looking at his team for the final, he’ll look to the players who have had big impacts and big contributions for him.

I’ve already mentioned how important Ryan O’Donoghue is for us. He’s going to have to have a big game being that creative force, getting scores and creating scores for others. There will have to be an impactful performance from Aidan O’Shea as well.

Then, around the middle of the field, that intensity, drive, power, and pace will be crucial. Mayo are going to have to get big performances from other players that we’ve seen do well already this year.

Mattie Ruane hasn’t shown the same form in the last two games as he did in the League, so you’ll need to see a huge showing from him. Then you’ve the likes of Jordan Flynn and Jack Carney. They’re going to have to be at the top of their game and be very physical.

Mayo will need to be hungry in fighting for possession in order to go on and win the game. The middle of the park is going to be a key area of the field and it won’t be simple, given the fact that Galway have big men all across the middle third.

SETTLED BACKS

AT the back, Mayo have generally been okay defensively throughout this league campaign. On Saturday, scoring was dominated by one outstanding player in the middle third, Barry McNulty and there wasn’t a lot Mayo’s back seven could do about that.

Looking ahead to the Connacht final, it’s positive that Mayo have a settled full-back line. They have had a couple of games together and the communication between them will be good.

That’s vitally important because Galway’s forward line and their ability to kick scores is a big strength. Therefore, the Mayo’s defenders are going to have to show their ability in one-on-one situations and win their individual battles.

As we see the development of the game now with the new rules it has become more and more obvious that tight games are won the team who come out on top in the middle third.

We need to improve here big time. Jordan Flynn, Matthew Ruane and Jack Carney all got on the scoresheet against Leitrim. They have that ability. They can shoot. They have the ability to do the bread and butter stuff in the middle of the field, they have that physicality, that work rate, that ability to win breaking ball and be competitive on the long kickouts.

SPREAD THE LOAD

BUT when you consider the makeup of the Mayo team, there is an onus on them to get scores as well. So I think that’s something that they’ll focus on and look to give Ryan O’Donoghue a helping hand in terms of providing a scoring threat. That’s vitally important for Mayo otherwise we will become predictable.

We’ve seen Eoghan McLaughlin have good days and some impactful moments for Mayo. He can drive forward and get a goal. We’ve seen Paul Towey and Fergal Boland come off the bench and kick scores. We’ve seen that Frank Irwin can kick scores.

You have to have a good spread of scorers over both halves. That’s why there is an onus on those middle third players and an onus on those players coming off the bench to kick scores and keep the scoreboard ticking.

That’s why Mayo’s bench will be important. I think that’s something Kevin McStay will be conscious of in the Connacht final. You’ll not want to go 20 minutes into a game or have a second quarter where you are not scoring enough, so they might have to go to the bench early to get those extra scores.

The fact that the Connacht final is going to be in Castlebar is a positive. Mayo have been much better in Castlebar this year in the league, so they will go to the game with more confidence than they have previously on home ground.

There have been other years where Mayo have had a poor record at home, whereas this year we’ve beaten Tyrone, Kerry and Donegal. That’s vitally important and will be a confidence boost that maybe they’ve not had in the past.

As I said, a huge amount depends on the outcome of the battle with Galway. It will be the main topic of coversation for the next two weeks.

PICTURES: Mayo GAA supporters out in Leitrim for Connacht semi-final