Mayo senior management announced their championship panel of 30 this week. Apparently they deliberated on the topic for all of last week and arrived at Pearse Park, Longford, last Saturday for the All-Ireland u21 semi-final with one or two places still up for grabs. On the evidence they witnessed there they filled the final few places before releasing it to the press. In my opinion the panel selected seems to have plenty of strength in depth both for defence and midfield. However I am more than a little concerned about the true quality of Mayo’s attack heading into championship football. We had one of the lowest scoring averages throughout the National League campaign which gives some cause for concern.
I believe that there is one obvious choice of player who would add a real scoring threat during the summer months. There is no denying that Ciaran Mc Donald remains one of the best forwards in this county. Ultimately it is the choice of John O’ Mahony, along with both of his selectors, as to who makes it onto the championship panel, but I believe Mayo’s chance of success would be greatly enhanced with Ciaran’s inclusion. As manager of his club team, Crossmolina, I know that he is injury-free and I get the distinct impression that he would dearly love to don the Green and Red this summer. In 2004 Mayo travelled to New York to play in the first round of the championship there. Ciaran was not on the plane that weekend. However he was later asked to rejoin the panel of players and went on to be the star performer of Mayo’s run to the All-Ireland final that year. There is no reason why he couldn’t do the same in 2009. Meanwhile Mayo’s preparation for the championship continued last night with a game against Kildare in St Bridgid’s, Kiltoom, yesterday evening. They will have another workout next Thursday against the Dubs that should see them ready for New York on May 10.
U21s fall just short
I was in Pearse Park, Longford, last Sunday to see Mayo play Down in the All-Ireland u21 semi-final. It was a magnificent evening for football but sadly the attendance was noticeably poor. There may be a variety of reasons why this was but my guess is that it may have had more than a little to do with the escalating levels of unemployment coupled with wage cuts, rising taxes, and pricey entrance fees! This is a shame in many ways as this u21 team deserved full support. They were magnificent in winning a Connaught Championship this year but ultimately came up short against a superior Down side. I have often driven home from games frustrated at losing to inferior opposition, but on crossing the Shannon at Tarmonbarry I was in no doubt that Down were the better team. I was hugely impressed by Down’s quality of play. Their power, strength, ball-winning ability, and point-scoring from a wide variety of angles was as good as I have witnessed at this level of football. It was incredible in many ways that we were still in with a chance of winning this game with minutes remaining. This particular Down side, however, had nothing to learn when it came to the art of closing out the game. Like Down teams of old they were smart enough to foul and frustrate at the appropriate times. In fact, Eugene McGee remarked to me immediately after the game that Down would have had at least four players sent ashore if the yellow card system was in place for this competition. He also mentioned that, for the first time ever, he watched the first half of a match on TV at his home nearby before scrambling to the pitch to witness the second half live! He suggested to me that TV did not in any way do the game justice. There are about 11 or 12 of this u21 team underage again next year. I believe they will be even more formidable in 2010.
Some interesting league finals
Last year I really fancied Kerry to beat Derry in the National Football League final. Much to my surprise, but not necessarily my disappointment, Kerry arrived on the field appearing more than a little disinterested with the task at hand and subsequently lost. This year, however, with Jack O’Connor at the helm, I get the impression that they will be a tad more focused for Sunday’s final in Croke Park. Rumour has it that they may be without many key players like Colm Cooper, Declan O’ Sullivan, Séamus Scanlon, and Mark Ó Sé. With injury worries also about Tommy Walsh and Paul Galvin they are seriously depleted. But I still expect them to win as, unlike most teams in the country, they have the luxury of having options for practically every position on the field. Derry are an improving side and have taken plenty of big scalps en route to this year’s final but as a team they are over reliant on the two Bradleys up front for scores. So I don’t believe they have the real fire power to trouble the Kerry defence. We will wait and see!
The Division 2 final is between Cork and Monaghan, both of which reached the final on merit. I expect this will be a close run affair but I give a hesitant vote of confidence to Cork as I feel that it was they who played the better football overall throughout the league. They have a better track record in Croke Park than their opponents, and are big, strong, and powerful with a real potent attack.
Division 3 has a unique pairing in this year’s final. Tipperary are the real surprise package. They are obviously doing a lot of things right down there as their u21s were extremely unlucky to be beaten in the last couple of minutes of the Munster u21 final by Cork a few weeks ago. Their seniors are on a right roll this year and had the luxury of having qualified for the division final with promotion to Division 2 guaranteed and all with one round of the league still left to play. Incidentally they lost that last game to Longford, but they will be thrilled to have gained promotion and will look forward to travelling to Pearse Park, Longford, this Saturday in the hope of collecting some silverware that would set them up nicely for the championship. However I believe their rollercoaster of a season will come to a finish this weekend as their opponents Down are a team themselves in the groove at the moment.
The Division 4 final will also be played this Saturday in Longford when Sligo and Antrim battle it out for the honours. This final is too difficult to call so my few quid will be on a treble of Kerry, Cork, and Down. Incidentally the GAA has made a really significant gesture to its patrons by reducing ticket prices for all of the league finals. Let’s hope they continue with that gesture throughout the championship.
