Have Mayo gained a backbone in Callinan and McBrien?

How good are Mayo? How bad are Galway? Those are two questions that won’t be answered on a windy January afternoon in Salthill, which is why we won’t be getting carried away by events last Sunday.

However, if Mayo had shipped an eight-point loss to our near neighbours there would be plenty of gnashing of teeth this side of the Shrule Bridge so we will take the positives from a performance that was as encouraging as anyone might have hoped for at this early stage in the season.

The importance of bagging two league points in January cannot be understated, especially when the fixture list for February involves a home tie against All-Ireland champions Dublin and away dates with Kerry and Tyrone. There are no ‘gimmes’ there – particularly in light of Dublin and Kerry’s need for points after opening day setbacks – so these two points to Galway could prove very precious indeed come the end of March. Indeed, the wide margin of the victory might also prove useful if the league comes down to scoring differences – and that is entirely possible since there are so many closely-matched teams.

There was lots to like about Mayo’s display in Salthill, not least the way we played against the wind in the first-half. The opening score from the returning Fergal Boland involved some neat, incisive build-up and it set the tone for what was to come.

Mayo under Kevin McStay have been criticised for their inability to pick their way through a massed defence, most notably against Louth in the championship last summer, but there were no signs of such bluntness in attack last Sunday. We created several good goal-scoring chances in the first-half and many of our points came from intricate, well-constructed moves through the heart of the Galway defence. There were always players coming off the shoulder, in particular Eoghan McLaughlin on the left-hand side of the Mayo attack, and we constantly tried to move the ball forward when the opportunity arose instead of this incessant lateral hand-passing that was in danger of becoming our trademark last year.

Mayo’s ability to scythe through the Galway defence was undoubtedly helped by the Tribesmen’s strangely flat display. It was one of the poorest performances from a Galway team in some time, and whether it speaks to early-season cobwebs or something more profound is an imponderable that won’t be answered until later in the year. But the complete lack of form of talismanic players like Matthew Tierney is a cause for concern for manager Padraic Joyce, and on the basis of what we have seen in 2023 and again last Sunday, Galway have a long way to go before they recapture the superb form of the summer of 2022 when they could so easily have lifted Sam Maguire. They’re in the Hyde against Roscommon next weekend so they’ll need to change the mood music for that if they want to get their league campaign back on track.

One of the most encouraging aspects of Mayo’s display was the defensive spine of Sam Callinan and David McBrien at centre-back and full-back respectively. Both positions have been problematic for Mayo over the years and we have struggled to find natural players in those key defensive areas, often relying on the versatility of footballers who might offer more elsewhere but were needed in these pivotal roles. In Callinan and McBrien, we seem to have found two men who can command the centre of the defence while also offering an attacking threat. Obviously, it is early days yet and bigger tests will await both players but they both look comfortable in their respective roles and that is as much as we can ask for at this early stage.

Our midfield also acquitted itself far better than many might have expected. Newcomer Conor Reid put in a really solid, workmanlike 40 minutes and showed an ability to win and retain ball, something he has become known for at club level. It was a big step up for the Moy Davitts man but he acquitted himself really well and his willingness to constantly make himself available for the off-load was impressive. On several occasions, he received the ball under pressure from several Galway players but was able to retain it and then off-load to a team-mate in space. That kind of hard graft may not make the highlights reel on Sunday night but it is a cornerstone of any successful team and is something Mayo has often lacked in the past.

Fergal Boland could not have hoped for a more impressive comeback and his performance certainly raises questions about his omission from Mayo teams, not just in the first year of Kevin McStay’s reign, but also during James Horan’s time in charge. Boland is always worth a score or two, and while he might go through lean spells in front of goal, he constantly poses a threat and offers a lot in terms of work ethic, football intelligence and general attitude. It would be good to see him get a run of games through this league campaign because too often he has been inexplicably dropped when several others might just as easily have suffered the same fate.

Jordan Flynn continued where he left off in 2023 with another influential display around the centre of the field, as well as a customary contribution on the scoreboard. A player of Flynn’s fierce physicality is essential to any team with aspirations for championship success and we are lucky to have someone in his uncompromising mould. He gets through a power of work – a lot of it unglamorous but still important. He is such an improved player over the last five years and must surely be one of the first names on the Mayo team-sheet by now.

Mayo’s bench also made its mark on Sunday, especially Paul Towey who kicked a couple of beautiful scores in the final 15 minutes and Diarmuid Duffy who brought a real vibrancy to the Mayo attack, eventually winning a penalty that was converted by another substitute Cillian O’Connor. It seems likely that O’Connor will spend more time on the bench than the field of play this year, but he has the potential to make an enormous impact nonetheless. It is a great luxury to be able to bring on a player of Cillian’s ability and experience when the game is getting stretched and scoring opportunities are becoming more plentiful.

Finally, a word on the Mayo goalkeeper. There was some talk that Colm Reape might come under pressure from the returning Rob Hennelly but last Sunday’s display would suggest he is not planning to relinquish that No 1 jersey any time soon. His kick-outs – now the most important attribute for any goalkeeper – were excellent and he always looked comfortable on the ball when he became involved in open play. Sterner tests await when teams push up on him more than Galway did but he showed once again that he is comfortable at this level and can handle the intense pressure that comes with modern goalkeeping.

Next weekend sees the Dubs come to Castlebar, and that promises to be a great occasion, especially with Mayo having a pep in their step after last weekend’s impressive display. As mentioned earlier, the two points on the board takes a little of the pressure off Mayo, but there is no room for complacency either because this looks like one of the toughest league campaigns in years. All of the teams are very easily matched – as last weekend’s results in Croke Park and Tralee demonstrated – and Mayo will want to pick up some points in February so they can enter the home straight with the hard work done. Dublin – still smarting from conceding three goals at home to Monaghan – will offer a very different test to a Galway team that looked like they wanted to be anywhere but Salthill on a blustery January afternoon.