Here we go again

BLINK AND YOU MISS IT Mayo’s Conor Mortimer goes around Tyrone’s  Dermot Carlin during last Sunday’s Allianz NFL Division 1A tie at Healy Park, Omagh. Pics: Sportsfile

Here we go again

MIKE FINNERTY

THE fitness of a number of key players will be the primary concern for Mayo manager John O’Mahony this week ahead of next Sunday’s all-ticket Allianz National Football League semi-final against Galway at Croke Park.
David Brady (quad muscle) and Marty McNicholas (foot) are both hoping to be fit enough to be included among the Mayo substitutes next weekend, while Conor Mortimer sat out Shrule/Glencorrib’s league game on Monday due to a shoulder complaint.
Trevor Mortimer is expected to step up his return to training this week as he recovers from a broken metatarsal but is highly unlikely to feature in O’Mahony’s plans for at least another fortnight. Ciaran McDonald is still receiving treatment on his long-standing back injury in Cork.
Next Sunday’s game throws in at 2.15pm and is the first leg of a double-header that also includes Donegal against Kildare at 4pm. Mayo requested that their semi-final would be played first to allow their supporters make the evening trains back to the west on Sunday evening.
“We requested the first spot because it will make life a lot easier for our supporters who wish to travel to Dublin by train,” Mayo GAA Secretary Sean Feeney told The Mayo News on Monday.
“Realistically, if you go on attendance figures for the National League so far I’d expect that we would have between 3,000 and 4,000 supporters travelling to the match from Mayo. But the number of people from the county living in Dublin could mean we have up to 10,000 supporters there.”
Ticket prices had not been confirmed at the time of writing but are expected to be €25.
MEANWHILE, Mayo manager John O’Mahony was giving little away last Sunday in the aftermath of his team’s five point win over Tyrone in Omagh.
Word had just come through that Peter Ford’s Galway would provide the opposition in the NFL semi-final just five weeks before the teams meet in the Connacht championship.
“Obviously there’ll be a lot of notice taken of it because (we’re playing Galway in) the first round of the championship as well. The first round of the championship is the one that’ll be remembered at the end of the year. But having said that, it’s a league semi-final – that’s what’s in front of us now; it’s in front of Galway.
“In fact, I met Peter Ford at the U-21 match on Saturday and he said ‘If we’re going to progress in the league, we’re going to have to meet anyway’. So there it is. We’ll take it as it comes, but we’ll be just worried about our own performance.
“Last week when we made a few changes, people were saying ‘Ah, ye’re not trying to win’. We’ll be trying to win every game. The next game we have is next Sunday and we’re going to try and win that, as I’m sure Galway will as well, and let’s see what happens.”

FIXTURE
National Football League
Semi-Final
Mayo v Galway
Sunday, April 15 at 2.15pm
Croke Park