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After a 10 year absence from the top of the tree in Mayo hurling, the most decorated hurling side in the history of the county, Tooreen, are looking to cap their year with a Connacht title on Sunday.

One was once the name to beat in hurling for years and the other has taken up that mantle and is going in search of its sixth Mayo senior championship in a row. The TJ Tyrell cup has wintered in Tooreen 26 times in the past, but it has been ten years since it last headed in that direction and since 2008 he has made his home in Ballyhaunis. On Sunday in Ballyhaunis at 2pm both sides will meet once again in the Mayo senior hurling championship final.

Carlow 1-16

According to the AA route finder only 4.9 miles separate Tooreen and Ballyhaunis from each other. On Saturday afternoon Tooreen will make that short trip to face their neighbours in the county senior hurling final at 4pm. Tooreen were the standard bearers of Mayo hurling for a long time before the past decade which has seen Ballyhaunis steal their mantle as hurling kings of Mayo. The Ballyhaunis men will be appearing in their seventh final in succession and will be looking for their fifth title in six years, their four in a row bid was stopped last year by James Stephen’s Ballina, who themselves were dispatched from the competition by Tooreen last weekend in a semi-final replay.

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.

For the second in row Mayo started off the National League with a defeat at the hands of Derry, this time in James Stephen’s Park last Sunday. While both sides hit 10 scores the decisive score of the game came from Derry debutant James Kielt 45 minutes into the contest, who got on the end of move that came about as Tom Cunniffe lost possession trying to break out of defence.

While the rest of the country was fighting off the chill last Sunday and the pre-eminent side in the game couldn’t make it to Galway for their league game, Mayo made the long trip to Derry to open their account in division 3A of the National Hurling league. And despite a brave battle by their defence and midfield they came out on the wrong side of a 0-9 to 0-6 scoreline. Martin Brennan along with Pete Finnerty is again patrolling the sidelines this year and Brennan was disappointed with the result last weekend. “Well it was played in terrible conditions and we didn’t even think it would be played at all, but that’s no excuse for the scoreline. The conditions were the same for us as they were for Derry. Our defence and midfield put in a fantastic display, but it was up front where we had our problems and it’s something we need to get sorted out.”