ALL-IRELAND champions and back-to-back title winners in Munster, Tipperary, will provide formidable opposition for Mayo in the All-Ireland minor football championship quarterfinal in Croke Park on Saturday at 3pm

Despite a gusty performance in the second half Mayo came out second best against defending champions Roscommon in the Connaught final but the clear worry for Tony Duffy’s team is the failure of any of the six starting forwards to get on the scoreboard.

They didn’t fare much better in their semi-final win over Sligo, which was a low scoring game which ended 1-6 to 0-6 in favour of Mayo.

Of that 1-6, midfielder Adam Gallagher scored 1-2, the goal coming from the penalty spot, while only two points were delivered from forward play, Eoghan Lavin and Seán Regan both on target from play, Lavin nailing a second from a free.

Defensively Mayo have done reasonably well, while they have also held their own around the middle of the park where team captain Gallagher has shown his leadership qualities, but unless things improve dramatically in the attack their All-Ireland race is likely to be run at the end of the hour in.

A 2-14 to 1-14 win over Kerry in the Munster final would point to the scoring power of the Tipperary boys who are physically strong all in the key areas, but particularly at midfield where they swung the game in their favour.

They found themselves seven points adrift in that Munster final but came back impressively in the second half to win by three.

Mayo toiled in the first half against Roscommon and were lucky to still be in the game at half-time yet they had enough scoring chances in the second half to have won the Connaught title.

They will need to dig very deep and come up with something special if they are to have any chance in this game but all the indications are that Tipperary will advance to the semi-final with a bit in hand.

Verdict: Tipperary