Everything possible for Mayo but nothing is certain
Mayo’s Frank Irwin goes for a score as Derry’s Martin Bradley looks on. Picture: INPHO/Lorcan Doherty
The rise in popularity of the League of Ireland, which has seen tremendous growth in terms of audience, has gained the league a moniker as ‘The Greatest League in the World’, thanks in no small part to that exact declaration by Damien Duff. It’s fair to say the Shelbourne boss knows a thing or two about great leagues from his time as an integral part of Jose Morinho’s all-conquering Chelsea side which for a spell ruled England’s Premier League.
Tongue in cheek, or not, it’s possible the League of Ireland might just have a rival as the ‘greatest’ in its GAA equivalent however, regardless of the apparent lack of ambition of some counties to actually win the bloody thing. I mean, what other league in the world could, on its very last day, offer any team both the potential to reach the final or be relegated?
Both those possibilities lay before the Mayo senior football team who, next Sunday, will host Donegal in the seventh and final round of National Football League Division 1 matches. But Mayo aren’t even unique to that set of circumstances; the same opportunity exists for Kerry who inside the next fortnight could either be lifting silverware in Croke Park or contemplating life in Division 2 in 2026.
The odds on that happening are slim but as anyone licking their wounds after Cheltenham last week will tell you, long shots can sting when you least expect.
Adding several layers of intrigue to the meeting of Mayo and Donegal in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park is that both are one win (although Mayo will still be at the mercy of other results) from qualifying for a final which will be played the weekend before their opening games in the Connacht and Ulster championships. And while Kevin McStay hasn’t publicly expressed a disinterest in his team qualifying (Mayo’s primary focus has been on avoiding relegation), his Donegal counterpart Jim McGuinness hasn’t been shy in explaining why travelling to Croke Park one week out from encountering Derry in a provincial championship opener might not be too high on his list of priorities.
But the same day as that Northwest derby is another, with Mayo taking on Sligo in the Connacht SFC quarter-final, and given the Green and Red’s experience of winning the Division 1 final against Galway in 2023 but crashing out of Connacht at the hands of Roscommon, in Castlebar, seven days later, you’d wonder will either side truly be trying to win next Sunday’s encounter.
There’s much more reason for Mayo to want to do so however, as there was a misleading air surrounding their impressive victory over Derry, in Celtic Park, last Sunday afternoon. The result, which has them sitting on seven points in the table, was still not enough to guarantee absolute safety from relegation. Tyrone and Armagh can still both reach seven points with home wins against already Derry (already relegated) and Dublin respectively, and Kerry, currently on six points, would leapfrog Mayo with a victory away to Galway.
In that scenario, the fate of Mayo, Tyrone and Armagh would be determined by scoring differences, and Tyrone’s is already better than Mayo’s while Armagh’s is five points worse – but that would change dramatically in the event of a Mayo loss and an Armagh win on Sunday. So as the saying goes, everything is possible and nothing is certain.
What Mayo have going for them, however, is some right good form. Four games unbeaten, three of which were against Ulster opponents who have included both the All-Ireland champions and Allianz Football League Division 1 champions, there’s nothing to suggest that Mayo are not well equipped to get the job done against Donegal. And whatever that brings, so be it – a defeat for either one of Galway or Dublin next Sunday and like it or not, Mayo would be guaranteed their place in the final. But as things stand right now, five counties are within contention of reaching the decider and four are in contention of joining Derry in Division 2 next season. And like already pointed out, both are possible outcomes for Mayo and Kerry.
The greatest league in the world? This year, at least, quite possibly.
