Mayo are fit and ready for a Wee battle in Croker cauldron

Mayo will train tomorrow night (Wednesday) for the last time before their All-Ireland SFC semi-final showdown with Louth. The team travels to Dublin on Friday in advance of Saturday’s 6pm throw-in at Croke Park for a game that presents a wonderful opportunity to both counties to move within 70-minutes of All-Ireland glory.

The novel pairing of the 1951 and 1957 champions could not have been foreseen when Mayo and Louth were each unceremoniously dumped out of their provincial championships this season, however, both have revived their campaigns impressively.

The two are managed by first-year managers in Andy Moran and Gavin Devlin, although the latter was part of Mickey Harte’s Louth management team from 2021 to ’23. Devlin was a two-time All-Ireland SFC winner on a Tyrone team coached by Paddy Tally who is now part of Moran’s Mayo ticket.

Mayo, as a county, is very familiar with this stage of the competition whereas this is the Wee County’s first visit to the last four in almost 70 years. The fact no great rivalry exists between the two teams adds another dimension to the contest, although Andy Moran insists all of Mayo’s motivation is coming from within.

“Not to sound too passive about it, the rivalry is with ourselves. I think my lads want to play for Mayo, they want to play for the jersey and they really want to represent what's good about themselves and what's good about Mayo. No matter who the opponent is, it's the thrill they got when representing Mayo in front of Meath and the thrill they got out of representing Mayo against Cork. I don't think they've felt that in a long time and that's where we need to keep them. Who we're playing, I think, at the end of the day, is irrelevant to us.” 

The Mayo boss has been able to offer a positive update on injuries, saying he expects Eoin McGreal, Diarmuid O’Connor and Paddy Durcan to be recovered in time for Saturday. The latter pair sat out the quarter-final against Cork while McGreal was replaced during the first quarter with what Moran said was only a knock.

“Fenton Kelly is another guy that hopefully we’ll get back in the next couple of days. It’ll be great to have him, for his speed and his agility, so we're nearly there,” Moran said at last Friday’s press briefing in MacHale Park.

Mayo vice-captain Darren McHale is on the pitch again but still not fit enough for consideration, however, Andy Moran has confirmed that Cillian O’Connor is “back fully” and would be available for selection if coming through every training session before the semi-final unscathed.

“I'm not wanting to jinx it but it's down to the lads, the work they put in in the weights room, in the recovery room, and the medical team have done a phenomenal job with our boys over the last couple of weeks. So I'd be hugely positive.

“The most unlucky guy in the room really is Fenton. We were lucky to get Rory (Brickenden) back the last day, but Fenton just had a little tweak and it put him out there for three games. He's back training tonight so he's a happy boy.” 

The Mayo management remained in Dublin in the wake of their side’s victory over Cork and next day watched Louth’s sensational quarter-final victory over Monaghan, one that came hot on the heels of a shock victory over Armagh. Andy Moran was coach of Monaghan in 2025 so declined to offer an opinion as to how the Farney County played with an extra man for 64 minutes yet still lost the game, but chose to focus instead on the “great display” of Louth.

“In Croke Park, to win a 15v14 game when you're the 14, it’s an amazing feat and I don't think we should take it away from them.

“Would Monaghan be happy with the way they played? Absolutely not. I think maybe the games that they had coming up to that might have caught [up on] them. But I thought Louth were brilliant, if I'm being honest. McDonnell, Mulroy, these guys, Lennon, just excelling at Croke Park.” 

The most noticeable thing about Saturday’s opponents to Moran is their size.

“They're a massive, massive unit. That's where they caught Monaghan. Every time Monaghan got a score, they just kicked it out and [Dara] McDonnell, [Conor] Early, one of these boys just won it, and that's the huge thing. Then the effect of their bench, Tadgh McDonnell, Ciaran Byrne, coming on just made a massive, massive difference. So they're a huge challenge.” 

Indeed Moran got to see Louth up close last season when Monaghan played them in both league and championship.

“I would have full respect for what Louth bring. I think they're now hitting the potential that they set for themselves. Two big towns, I'd say probably a greater population than ourselves. I think they're really getting to where they probably see themselves to be, which is great for them. It's down to the work they've put in.”