Horan has no shortage of selection options ahead of Mayo's promotion push

By Aiden Henry

Despite the well-publicised series of player retirements earlier this year, Mayo manager James Horan has no shortage of selection options ahead of his side's clash against Down in the opening round of the Allianz National League Division 2 North at Elverys McHale Park, Castlebar, on Saturday.

While the shortened league campaign might not allow Horan to experiment as much as he would like, supporters can expect to see him give a number of the fringe players in the squad the opportunity to show their worth.

However, I expect the early focus by the management will be to get promotion points under their belt.

This would mean a fairly experienced side being named for the opening games.

If that proves to be the case, the starting 15 could be along these lines:

Robbie Hennelly; Michael Plunkett, Oisin Mullin, Lee Keegan; Patrick Durcan, Stephen Coen, Eoghan McLaughlin; Matthew Ruane, Conor Loftus; Kevin McLoughlin, Ryan O’Donoghue, Diarmuid O’Connor; Tommy Conroy, Aidan O’Shea and Cillian O’Connor.

However, Aiden O'Shea is unlikely to start due to injury.

In the event of Horan being prepared to experiment, Ballyhaunis club man Jack Coyne could be in line for a place in the full-back line.

Other new young players hoping to make their mark this year include Westport’s Rory Brickenden and Claremorris’ James McCormack, whose progress was held up due to a serious leg injury picked up in 2020.

Mayo fans are looking forward to finding out if players in the calibre of Bryan Walsh, Paul Towey, James Durcan, Jordan Flynn, James Carr and Mark Moran can stake a claim to a regular starting place in the team this year. All six got some game time last year.

Other current squad members such as Colm Boyle, Padraig O’Hora, Eoin O’Donoghue, Brendan Harrison, Jason Doherty, Darren Coen, Fergal Boland and Darren McHale provide further solid options.

The Under 20 players currently training with the Mayo panel include Frank Irwin (Ballina), Eoghan McHale (Belmullet), Jack Carney (Kilmeena), Oisin Tunney (Breaffy) and Garrymore’s Enda Hession.

A number of fascinating weeks lie ahead for Mayo football.