Mayo will make their second trip to Ulster in three weeks when they head to Ballyshannon on Sunday to take on a Donegal side who are rooted to the bottom of division one of the National Football League. The Ulster champions have only picked up one win in their four games so far in the campaign, that win was a surprise win against defending league champions Cork in Ballybofey a fortnight ago. Along with a defeat to Kerry last Sunday, Jim McGuinness’s side have also been beaten by Down and Laois in this year so far.
As for Mayo they will be eager to get back on the horse after a disappointing defeat at home to Down last Sunday. That five point defeat to the Mourne County damped down some of the expectations that may have been building up among supporters following the wins over Laois and Armagh. But having limitations exposed in a league game is far preferable than it happening come summer time. While the two early wins were good to get, the level of opposition that Mayo faced also has to be put in context. For example, Armagh were operating without any of their Crossmaglen contingent two weeks ago.
The poor return on the scoreboard from play is one major factor that will have to be addressed, with Mayo only scoring four points from their 11 points from action in the open. While they did hit seven points from placed balls, it still represented a poor return from the number of chances they had from frees.
Mayo will also have to do it this weekend without the services of Aidan O’Shea who got a straight red card from referee Barry Casssidy early in the contest. Wednesday night’s extra time win over Galway in the u21 semi-final may also limit James Horan’s options, with Cillian O’Connor unlikely to feature from the start coming off the back of a man of the match performance against Galway in a game that went to extra time and having Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final next Wednesday evening also. In that game against Galway, O’Connor put on a display of free taking that Mayo could sorely do with.
With O’Shea out of the reckoning, Horan will have to decide who to partner Barry Moran with in the middle of the park, Aidan’s elder brother Seamus will be the obvious option, but someone like Pat Harte or Jason Gibbons is also an option. If Kevin McLoughlin recovers from injury, he will also give an extra option in the half forward line.
