A little over six months on since they tasted a defeat of the bitterest kind to swallow, the Mayo senior hurling side will be getting back into competitive action this weekend. With a place in the final in their grasp a late surge from Carlow saw Mayo lose their footing on their home patch, and with it a chance to make it to the final of the second tier competition. Seeing their chance to appear in the Christy Ring Cup final slip through their fingers in McHale Park against Carlow late last July will have left the Mayo squad eager to put things to right in 2009.
However things are not going to be easy for them in the National League and the Keogh Cup which they are turning out in this weekend. The management team of Martin Brennan and Pete Finnerty are back on board for this new campaign, but the mercurial talents of Keith Higgins, Stephen Coyne, and Shane Morley will be missing untill closer to summer at least as the trio travel through Austrailia.
The DCU Sportsground will host their first saunter into action on Sunday at 1pm, with three key players on extended leave Brennan and Finnerty will have been warmed to see that the rest of last year’s panel have made themselves available for action and after a couple of practice games over the Christmas they will be hoping to plant a winning marker on opening day. Big displays in the Keogh Cup and League from experienced players like Pierce Higgins, Seamie and Paddy Barrett, Cathal and Adrian Freeman, and Niall Murphy will be needed early doors to keep things competetive as they get ready for another assault on the Christy Ring Cup later in the summer.
