Mayo will do enough to win at Hyde Park

by Martin Carney, Mayo's foremost GAA columnist

THE appetiser was rather quirky. Starting with an earthquake, ending in a solar eclipse, and sandwiched in between the preliminary Connacht championship game between New York and Mayo.

Yes, New York was the place to be 10 days ago when the planets collided, the fates colluded but Mayo swatted any potential embarrassments aside with a 15-point win over the home team.

So, all roads now lead to the Hyde today when old foes Roscommon and Mayo will once again trying to outdo the other and advance to a Connacht final.

The backdrop is interesting. Unanswered questions will get addressed and the health of the respective foes will be laid bare for all to see.

An underlying tension has lingered since last year’s championship meeting in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

Mayo, with much justification, felt that the four-point defeat was in no small way attributable to the fact that they had to show their colours within six days of winning the league title. Inadequately prepared as a consequence, they came up against a side that had for some time been planning an ambush.

The game was always likely to yield one outcome: a Roscommon win.

A mugged Mayo have endured derisive noises ever since while the victors, Roscommon, seem to think that they never received the respect and adulation their victory merited at the time.

A comprehensive Mayo win in their recent league game provided consolation of a sort for the Green and Red, but it’s this weekend’s clash that will hopefully bring the best out in them and settle matters for the moment.

If anything, I think the advantage is with Mayo. From last year’s encounter all but Fionn McDonagh remain. Whether or not the influential Diarmuid O’Connor will be declared fit is anyone’s guess but all the others should be available for selection.

That, then, presupposes that Jordan Flynn is ready to go and Donnacha McHugh could be considered for a defensive role.

This trio would add significantly to the team, judging from the evidence presented in New York. Though there was never any doubt about the outcome in Gaelic Park, flaws were evident in the full-back line and around the middle third, and with the efficiency of the attack.

If, for example, McHugh was selected, it would free Sam Callinan to occupy a more advanced area of the pitch than has been the case to date. From here he could best exploit his creative and attacking skills.

Flynn’s recall to the middle third, if it materialises, would improve the ball-winning abilities in the sector. In his absence, I thought that New York enjoyed far too much success in gaining primary possession from their own restarts the last day.

Furthermore, Flynn has become the heartbeat of the team and much of what he does sets the standards for those around him.

Allied to this is Flynn's ability to take scores. At a time when the scoring returns from Ryan O’Donoghue are acting as a strength and becoming a weakness, if you like, for the team, it’s important that others join in to ease the Belmullet man’s burden.

His return of one goal and 13 points in Gaelic Park was, aside from a match-winning total, the highest recorded by a player since championship games started there in 1999.

Quite simply, for Mayo to thrive and progress, more forwards need to assume significantly improved scoring returns.

Of the 10 goals and 112 points registered this year in league and championship, O'Donoghue has nailed one goal and 43 points, the remaining forwards two goals and 28, others two goals and 29 points, and substitutes four goals and 12 points.

IRRITANT

A second area that Kevin McStay will mull over is his full-back line. Long, direct, high ball was an irritant there the last day.

Two goals conceded, aside from the same number of chances offered, is not the standard expected from a team with lofty ambitions.

This was an area earlier in the season that offered assurance. Four clean sheets in the opening five league games is testament to this.

Attempting to identify the source of the defensive lapses and plugging them will certainly top McStay’s agenda. Worryingly, six of a total of the seven goals conceded this season have occurred in the last three outings.

A small change, though, I believe would bolster the defence and provide the steadiness and solidity required.

It appears to the onlooker that in David McBrien, Mayo have a player who is a natural fit for the number three position. If selected against Roscommon, there is a good chance he’ll be relocated to the full-back line. Aside from anything else, he looked out of position in the midfield sector in New York.

Make no mistake about it, Roscommon will be smarting and ready. In their own eyes they were never given credit for their championship win last year. It had all to do with Mayo’s inadequate preparation more than Roscommon’s superiority – or so they thought.

Aggrieved and all as they are, I think this will be a challenge they won’t overcome. A single win in the league followed by relegation, coupled with some less-than-convincing utterances from their manager, suggests to me that they are under pressure and may well come up short.

In saying that, I recognise their patterns of play can make life difficult for the best and their quality forward line could cause problems on the day.

Roscommon have become one of the country’s most consistent practitioners of the massed defensive structure. Piling everyone behind the ball, choking space and reducing the tempo to a stroll has stood them well against Mayo in the past. Add in the fact that Mayo have struggled when faced with this approach heretofore, and we see a possible source for frustration.

Enda Smith, Daire Cregg and Diarmuid Murtagh are excellent forwards and with regular supply of ball, they could threaten. Still, the losing spiral they became enmeshed in and the drain that has had on their confidence won’t help.

Against this, I believe the game in New York was of benefit to Mayo. It came at the right time and highlighted some of the flaws that needed addressing. I feel they will be more secure at the back this time round and one thing that Roscommon will be unable to match is their counter-attacking speed.

With Paddy Durcan providing leadership, Jordan Flynn and Jack Carney bossing the central zone, Ryan O’Donoghue continuing his scoring streak and the substitutes adding their bit, I think Mayo will do enough.

I still see them as the best team in Connacht, and the public will get confirmation of this on Sunday.