A season of certainties still has a few questions to answer

With Castlebar Celtic already within just two points of retaining their Super League title, the real contest this season has been at the opposite end of the table. Celtic have a home tie against Ballyheane sandwiched between trips to Kiltimagh/Knock United and Crossmolina, providing loads of opportunity to seal the title. Second place seems to be a shoot-out between Ballina Town and Westport United, while Conn Rangers are not completely out of the running yet.

Relegation battle:

From early on, it looked like Claremorris and Crossmolina would end up in the relegation places, and they may well do, in a few weeks, when it is all sorted out. But Crossmolina have improved at this crucial stage of the season, and that, along with the collapse of Manulla, could see them survive at the expense of the central Mayo outfit.

Ten days ago, Crossmolina beat Manulla 4-0 in Carramore. Crossmolina played really well that day – a fact that pleased manager, Mick Duffy. His philosophy is that if you play in a certain way, results will follow. That way includes having more possession than the opposition, being technically good and confident on the ball, and moving forward. They did all that against Manulla.

Manulla never looked like scoring in the defeat to Crossmolina. They didn’t create a single chance. They have scored less (14,) and conceded more (58) than any other team in the division. That’s an average score of 1-4. These type of stats are usually a satnav to relegation.

That lack of creativity, and revolving squad availability - or, to put it another way, a lack of commitment from many of the players he would like to call on - has made Aiden Dunleavy’s job managing Manulla, extremely difficult. They are now heading into the difficult part of the season when the GAA championship is commencing, which will make it harder for Manulla, and a few other teams, to field their strongest eleven. Despite Dunleavy’s hope that they would be safe before this key calendar phase; they aren’t. They have home ties with Ballinrobe Town and Claremorris and a trip to Westport remaining. They might get something from the Claremorris game but it’s hard to see them picking up much more.

Crossmolina have tough remaining home ties against Westport United and Castlebar Celtic. In the earlier round they recorded a combined 0-19 against these two, so it’s hard to see them getting much there. But they have a key game away to Claremorris, and they need to win that to be safe.

Claremorris face Ballyheane and Manulla (Away) and Crossmolina at home. The final placings will be decided on how the Manulla versus Claremorris, and Claremorris versus Crossmolina games go.

Premier Division:

Madly, in the Premier Division, the teams finishing fourth and fifth could theoretically be promoted. With three B teams in there, and Mayo League rules rightly precluding A and B teams from the same club competing in the same division, Castlebar Celtic, Westport United and Ballyheane’s B teams can’t be promoted. But they could, hypothetically, occupy the first three slots. Imagine that!

Luckily, to save any potential blushes for the Mayo League management, Glenhest Rovers have demolished all that has come before them, in this division, this season. They have a one hundred percent record, scoring an impressive 53 goals in 13 games. The catalyst for the change in fortune for Glenhest, who were relegated from the Super League last year, has been the arrival of Connor McCarthy. Not that he has done it all himself. But he has knocked in 17 goals and his presence on the park has helped Pat Mulchrone, get even one more. They have three games remaining to add to their totals. To have one striker capable of getting 20 goals a season is a luxury; having two is on another level. Rovers should be very competitive next season in the Super League.

They will be joined by Ballyglass or Ballyhaunis Town, who meet each other later on in the month in a fixture that will probably decide who goes up. Ballyhaunis won the earlier round 8-3 and they are in slightly better form, currently. It looks impossible at the bottom, for Kiltimagh/Knock and Straide and Foxford United to survive.

League One:

Iorras Aontaithe and Killala look to have enough to escape League One at the correct end. Fahy Rovers are four points behind with two rounds of the league remaining. It’s probably too big an ask of them, at this stage. Castlebar Town and Crossmolina B are already relegated to Division Two. Their places will be taken by Ballina Town, whose B team have won the Division Two title at their first attempt, and Snugboro.