Hope springs eternal for youthful Mayo

The season draws to a close. All with the exception of Lahardane have bowed out of their respective competitions.

Next Saturday the county’s junior champs pit their diverse skills against Owenmore Gaels of Sligo in the Connacht final, and having carried themselves so majestically throughout the championship hope rises that they will be crowned provincial champions. . . . for the second time.

Composure and self-assurance were the foundation of their success over Menlough in the Connacht semi-final, strengths demonstrated in their five penalty goals which decided the issue.

They enter the final fully aware that their performance in the first half was not up to scratch and that improvements, especially in defence, are essential if they are to finish the job.

But in recovering from that poor spell they showed their capacity to weather any adversity and having been there before, they know what it takes to succeed.

Mayo go again

So has anything been learned from the various championships? Has Kevin McStay and his backroom team made any discovery, spotted any new talent, anything that might enhance the county’s championship prospects for the coming season?

The appointment of McStay, Rochford etc was greeted with blaring trumpets this time last year. Selectors were highly visible at every game. No worthwhile match was omitted in their bid to recast an All-Ireland contending Mayo.

All of the championship games have been thoroughly scanned by the selectors this season also, but excitement about the immediate future of Mayo football is more temperate as we enter the final weeks of the year, maybe even less optimistic.

That heavy defeat by Dublin last July overshadowed a great start to the year which climaxed with another compelling Allianz League title. Disappointment at the loss to Dublin developed into queries about the value of striving to win the league at the expense of the championship.

Next to the championship the league is the GAA’s most prestigious competition, but it has been relegated into insignificance by those in annual contention for the Sam Maguire.

Only counties that have never won it seem to recognise its importance. The Kerrys and the Dublins couldn't care less about winning it. Who outside the borders of this county remembers who won the Irish National Insurance Cup last spring?

Yet, to treat the competition indifferently as Mayo did previously is not a guarantee of championship success either. In the league, counties have to be on the alert to the pitfalls of relegation.

The competitive nature of games in the premier division demands standards above the ordinary. Otherwise, a slide towards the second division or worse could become irreversible. Who knows who might be facing third division football for the Tailteann Cup?

So as Mayo prepare for another season of action, who will have caught the eyes of management? Is there another Sam Callinan out there or a Jack Carney, some young budding virtuoso, someone capable almost of predicting where the ball might fall before he himself knows it? A new Mayo hotshot.

Few in the senior club championship just finished featured as prominently or consistently as Ballina’s Sam Callinan. Having already become a model player at county level, his displays of grit and leadership as an attack-minded defender will have him foremost in Kevin McStay’s plans as a team motivator in the coming season.

Similarly, Jack Carney will have added to his growing reputation as an intelligent operator around midfield. In every club match he was a marked man, the one to be closed down.

But no one did, and that’s the measure of the Kilmeena man’s ability to lead and steer his team to success. But it ought to be recognised that midfield is his territory. Give him his head and Mayo will not want in that area.

The competence of Callinan and Carney is not, of course, the freshest of news to Mayo observers or to the Mayo management. Potential that has not made the senior squad will have been their main focus.

They will have noted the industry of Ballina’s Frank Irwin, who already has got a run with Mayo and a feel of what is needed at county level. The Stephenites full-forward may also have impressed them. Only seventeen years of age, Luke Feeney has the build and the skill-set to become an impactful full forward. He may already be in the sights of the county’s underage selectors.

Dylan Thornton is another Ballina man to have shone in the earlier stages of the championship while free from injury. Big and rangy, not unlike the build of Castlebar’s Bob Tuohy, another outstanding prospect, they present in height and athleticism qualities essential to every successful team.

A study of Kilmeena’s performances would surely have reaffirmed for McStay the rising class of talent in Mayo football.

He will have noted what Keith Joyce brings to his football, the unflagging defending that sprang from the souls of John Ryan and Jack Mulchrone, the guile of Darragh Keaveney, the leadership of Sean Ryder, the intrinsic initiative of teenager Colin Hastings and the vital contributions he made to his club’s success.

Could it be that Meath man Caolach Halligan is looming large in the minds of the Mayo mentors? His performances for Kilmeena caught many an eye. Unvarnished perhaps, but his scoring feats have been noted. The news might even have found its way back to Meath manager Colm O’Rourke.

Breaffy unveiled a couple of players who must have caught the eye of McStay and Co. The speed off the mark of Oisin Tunney, and the foresight of Davitt Neary were vital stepping stones on their way to the county final.

Of course Aidan O’Shea was the outstanding player of the championship. No one man stamped his name so firmly on the competition. The Mayo star was amazing. His brother Conor also lit up most of the contests with outstanding midfield play. Together with Mattie Ruane, they flourished as a partnership.

Mark Dolan made a huge impact in defence for Castlebar alongside Sean Morahan and Bob Tuohy who guided the Mitchels through many storms.

The performances of Kieran King for Knockmore were impressive too, and Keelan McDonnell and Stephen O’Malley excelled for Ballintubber.

Aghamore’s Tomas O’Flaherty, Liam Og Horkan of Garrymore and Oisin and Finbar McLaughlin of Westport, also produced noted performances. And the good work of Ballinrobe’s James Murphy and Even O’Brien came close to snuffing out Kilmeena’s Intermediate interests.

Only a few of those mentioned will stoke the interests of the Mayo selectors. Others will have been seen through a different lens. All called up are now deep in preparation for the start of the league at the end of January.

We are not given to calling on omens or predictions about Mayo’s future, but it is the earnest wish of this columnist that they will find the right stuff to make 2024 a season to top all seasons.

Meanwhile, the time has come for this old pen to take a rest. Happy Christmas.