The rapid fire nature of the u21 championship means it’s all over from start to finish in little under two months. So there is no rest for Mayo this weekend, who seven days on from their nail biting win over Galway last Saturday in Charlestown will host Roscommon in the same venue tomorrow. The 2-6 to 0-11 win over Galway last weekend was a lot closer on the scoreboard than in it was in general play on the field, an issue Mayo manager Pat Holmes hopes will be rectified this weekend. “We were delighted to get over last weekend, it was a tough battle at the end, which we knew it would be but we came out on top. We are going to have to be even better this Saturday as this Roscommon side won the All Ireland minor title three years ago and will be a tough task on the field.” Mayo’s lack of proficiency in front of the posts against Galway is something that needs to be rectified before Roscommon cross over the border, and Holmes has faith that his side will be able to do it. “We have to take our chances against Roscommon, because we won’t get as many against them as we did against Galway. The frees didn’t go as well as we would have liked last weekend, and we have to up our accuracy on that if we are going to make the Connacht final.”
The best get their chance
A trait of the Holmes-Connelly partnership has been the emergence of a number of players straight out of the minor ranks into the u21 grade each year, but there is no great masterplan behind this according to Holmes, it’s just picking the best players at the time eligible for the grade. “No, there is nothing behind it at all. When we took on this job and every year since, we have looked at every player who is eligible to play and it doesn’t matter be they 18 or 21, if they are playing well and they are up for it that’s why they get picked. We give everyone a fair go and the best players come through.”
Too much expected of players?
Speaking after last Saturday’s game, Holmes said that he hoped none of his players would be called on to play who are also involved in the clash against Kerry the next day. As it was only Aidan O’Shea made a substitute appearance and the All Ireland winning manager was happy with that. “I just think it would be very unfair on lads who put in a hard 60 minutes on Saturday to be asked to go out and put in another 70 minutes on Sunday, with another championship game coming up the following Saturday. I’m glad that they didn’t all play, but in a county the size of Mayo you would think there were enough players to give the u21s a break the week before a championship game. But then again you have to look at the job the senior manager is trying to do in getting the best collection of players together also. It’s a tough task.” Kevin McLoughlin is the only injury concern going into the Roscommon challenge, but Holmes is confident he’ll be fighting fit. “Kevin has a long term back/groin problem, he didn’t train with us on Tuesday, but he’ll be fit to play football on Saturday and besides that we should be playing from a full deck.”
