A FOXFORD MAN IN NEW YORK Former Moy Davitts footballer Robert Moran is pictured tackling Leitrim’s Shane Foley during last Sunday’s Connacht SFC match at Gaelic Park, New York.
Pic: Sportsfile
Galway won’t ‘bate’ Mayo 
Kevin McStay
ON paper, and as mentioned in this column a few weeks ago, the Connacht championship is an open and shut case. Mayo will entertain Galway in McHale Park, on Sunday, July 13. We based this obvious prediction in some instances on the demise of some counties and on others, the actual collapse of their challenge.
But we all know the ‘Theorem of the Approaching Championship Match’ — which states that a team’s chance of success increases in indirect proportion to the number of days left to the game itself. There is no mathematical proof of course, but it is nonetheless true. As the days left to the throw-in decrease, the county’s hopes of winning will increase. For no apparent reason!
Still, can you see Leitrim, Roscommon or Sligo causing an upset? I give Sligo a bit of a chance but still don’t expect a result when they face down Mayo after taking London apart.
Roscommon face Galway next week in Pearse Stadium and a modest defeat, say in the region of five points, will be viewed with relief by most supporters of the Ros’.
Leitrim generally ask a question or two when they face Galway and will probably do so again, but when all is added up, multiplied by four and divided by three, you are left one of the oldest rivalries in the GAA. Who might win that?
Toss a coin, or base it on a most in-depth examination of who won when last they met. And go for the other because it’s their turn! You will have just as good a chance of picking the winner as the next man.
The bookies are in agreement and we rarely see them fellas riding bicycles. Mayo are quoted at evens with Galway at 11/8, no doubt reflecting the home venue Mayo will enjoy should they both meet in the final. Leitrim are 12/1 even though they will face Galway. They are followed by Sligo at 16/1, which is amazing value for the reigning champions even if they must beat the Big Two to repeat the historic win of 2007.
Roscommon are not rated this season due to their league travails and loss of manager recently. At 22/1 it really is changed times for the traditionally ranked third team in Connacht. Indeed their national ranking is every bit as gloomy — rated 24 out of the 33 starters.
My own prediction is for a Mayo win in the final, which I base on a decent league run where the team was chiselled out slowly and methodically and places filled to our best advantage.
We also have some outstanding young players who will be keen to nail Galway in a Connacht decider on home turf. It is John O’Mahony’s second year and this team has his mark on it relative to the 2007 squad, which ultimately disappointed.
The loss of Joe Bergin will only become apparent in this fixture and with such a key player out of the equation the big question will be can Padraig Joyce get Galway back to where they believe they should be?
That remains to be seen, as his recent championships have not convinced even if his league form this year was above average. But Galway and Mayo will have a big say in the championship of 2008. Either way.
And that I suppose is the critical focus for both John O’Mahony and Liam Sammon; they really must get to the All Ireland quarter-finals and then launch their bid from there by winning a last eight game and getting to the semi-final.
If both teams can do that then it will represent significant progress and allow them to continue to build towards 2009, which will be their best chance of success.
* THE news of Trevor Howley’s unfortunate ankle injury, which he sustained last Sunday evening against Meath, was not known at the time this article was being written.
BACK ON THE COUCH FOR THE SUNDAY GAME THE championship took its curtain call last weekend and so began the great summer chase that is the championship. The Sunday Game hit our screens too and to mark its 30th year the old tune was relaunched. It can only be a matter of time before a group is formed to bring back the tune it replaces!!
The pundits might have lost another vital yard of pace, got a little greyer, a pound or two heavier, but one hopes the passing of another year makes you wiser too. Such is the overwhelming support for another Kerry three-in-a-row, it appears the extra wisdom might not be required. But we did get a new analytical tool, known as PIERO, to have some fun with.
The Sunday Game actually had its birthday party a few weeks ago and the plans for 2008 were revealed. Watching the old footage of the early anchors, match highlights and very 1980s studio sets, one was reminded of the massive advances technology has insisted on. The early years were certainly innocent enough for GAA broadcasters but a more forensic, harder and perhaps colder view is demanded these days.
The increase in the number of cameras and their location and angles around a ground allows us to view every last detail. Indeed the public is so well informed on GAA these days much of the best analysis can take place in their living rooms.
This year marks the arrival of TV3 into the championship arena and as with any reigning champion the challenge for TSG team is to re-focus and produce the winning plays throughout the season. There are a few new pundits added to the couch, a new set for Pat Spillane to call home over the next few months and of course, as mentioned above, our 3-D friend PIERO.
We completed the course earlier this month and it is a piece of technology that will certainly enhance our ability to give definitive conclusions. It will, thankfully, never remove all the controversial moments from the games but look out for tracking of individual players, the placement of players in any one phase of play, the speed of the ball and the distance from goal and other players.
The challenge will be trying to find a balance between what PIERO is telling us and what our own experiences will insist upon. But ‘square’ balls, was it over the upright or not, who struck who and how many steps he took will still be debated, albeit with a little more information. It will demand better positioning by our referees and umpires and this is a part of their game they will all have to work on.
That’s the great thing about the championship: whether you are a manager, a player, a referee or a pundit, we all have aspects of our game we can improve on.
But I think the return of the theme tune is something we all delighted in and now that the first game is behind us, here’s to another great season of action. What part will our county play in it?
