The Mayo senior hurlers have their first league outing of the season with a home game to Fingal on Sunday at 2pm in Elverys MacHale Park against Fingal. This is the second season in charge for Limerick native Christy Phillips who is hoping to start the League campaign will continue on the success his team have had recently in the Kehoe Shield. Phillips and his backroom team of Leo Connor (Limerick ) Austin Kenny (Tooreen ) and Karen Lacey (Westport ) have been fine-tuning their preparations for the League since the first week in January. The hurlers received a major boost over the past few days with the return of Tooreen’s Cathal Freeman to the panel. Mayo will be looking for strong performances from seasoned campaigners Donal O’Brien, Padraig O’Flynn, Derek McDonnell, Kenny Feeney and Brian Hunt. Relative newcomers to the panel David Kenny, Kieran Kiely and Fergal Boland will also be hoping to impress.
Fingal, under Manager Mick Kennedy, should provide a very stern test for the home side. They are divisional team, made up of 16 mostly junior clubs within north Dublin and have been promoted to Division 2B in 2014 after winning Division 3A in both previous years. Mayo and Fingal are playing in a very competitive Division 2B of the Allianz National Hurling League this year featuring Wicklow, Meath, Armagh and Down. Both teams will be hoping to retain their positions within the division and use it as a springboard to the Christy Ring Cup which commence on Saturday May 3.
