Two championship debutants in Mayo team to face London

The 2026 Connacht Senior Football Championship throws in on Saturday (April 11) as Mayo travel to Ruislip to face London.

It will be Mayo’s first visit to the venue since 2016, when they recorded a 2-16 to 0-9 win over the hosts.

The teams were due to meet in the 2021 championship – the last year Mayo won the Nestor Cup – but London didn’t compete due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mayo manager Andy Moran has included two championship debutants in Hugh O'Loughlin and Cian McHale, while two members of the match day squad, Rob Hennelly and Cillian O’Connor, made their debuts against London in 2011 – a fixture the Green and Red nearly lost before prevailing in extra time (0-19 to 2-10).

Throw-in at McGovern Park on Saturday is scheduled for 2.30 p.m. The game can be viewed on the GAA+ platform.

The Mayo team in full is as follows: Rob Hennelly; Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Fenton Kelly; Sam Callinan, Michael Plunkett, Paddy Durcan; Bob Tuohy, David McBrien; Jack Carney, Ryan O’Donoghue, Hugh O'Loughlin; Cian McHale, Aidan O’Shea, Paul Towey

On the subs bench are: Jack Livingstone, John MacMonagle, Donnacha McHugh, Stephen Coen, Sean Morahan, Jordan Flynn, Conal Dawson, Fergal Boland, Diarmuid O’Connor, Tommy Conroy, Cillian O’Connor.

Mayo go into the game as favourites as there were 27 places between the teams in this year’s Allianz National League tables. Mayo finished third in Division 1 (five wins, two defeats) while London finished sixth in Division 4 (three wins, three defeats, one draw).

The winners of this quarterfinal clash will play Roscommon or New York in the Connacht semi-final.