McStay’s men get ready to make some northern noise
Cillian O'Connor is challenged by Jason McLoughlin and Niall Carolan of Cavan during last season's All-Ireland SFC Round 1 clash in MacHale Park. O'Connor opted out of the Mayo squad this year but scored twelve points for his club Ballintubber last Saturday evening (see page 11). Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
You could argue that Mayo are about to become honorary members of the Ulster SFC. The launch of their All-Ireland Championship campaign next Sunday will see them play their first of three consecutive games against teams of the northern province. In fact, should they beat Cavan, Tyrone and Donegal, there’d be a case to say the Anglo Celt Cup should rest in the Plain of the Yews instead of Tír Chonaill for the next twelve months – but good luck selling that one to Jim McGuinness and co after all their hard work retaining the trophy last Saturday evening.
Such is the luck of the draw, Group One of the All-Ireland SFC, in which Mayo find themselves, would appear kinder than Galway’s ‘prize’ for beating Mayo in the Connacht final last Sunday week.
Where the Tribesmen must open their Group Four campaign at home to Dublin, who they only beat for the first time in championship in 90 years last year, Mayo’s first hurdle is to play a Cavan team that has lost its last five championship games – a nine points drubbing at the hands of Mayo in Castlebar last year included.
Galway must also visit Derry, who secured their only point of this year’s Allianz Football League with a stunning comeback against the Tribesmen at Celtic Park, before a rematch with Armagh, who beat Galway in last year’s All-Ireland final.
Rounds 2 and 3 are not that dissimilar for Mayo given the Ulster hue of their group. It’s not to say they’ll be favourites to win but travelling to Omagh shouldn’t scare the Green and Red; Mayo have enjoyed more than their fair share of wins against Tyrone over the years, several in Healy Park included. And then come Donegal, on neutral turf, a game that may well determine whether Mayo proceed directly into an All-Ireland quarter-final. And again, the record book reads favourably from a Mayo perspective; since Jim McGuinness steered Donegal to victory over Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland SFC final, the teams have played a dozen times in both league and championship, with Donegal managing just a single win compared to Mayo’s seven. Four games were drawn.
Reaching the last eight of the championship is something Kevin McStay managed in his first season with Mayo back in 2023, but it required his team to go the preliminary round route, the same stage at which they fell to Derry last year. So if wishing to take the direct path into the quarter-finals by topping Group One, it’s imperative that Mayo get their campaign off to a victorious start against Cavan next Saturday. The added carrot is that by the time they visit Tyrone on the weekend of May 31/June 1, the Red Hand County could already be under severe pressure given Malachy O’Rourke’s side will by then have opened their campaign away to Donegal, who will be firm favourites to win that derby clash in Ballybofey.
So if Mayo’s players and management have been able to dust themselves down and move on quite quickly from the disappointment of seeing Sean Kelly lift the Nestor Cup in MacHale Park, and extract the positives from a display that was almost good enough to take a game the bookies had rated them only 7/2 to win, then there’s nothing to suggest they couldn’t rattle a few cages between now and July.
It would represent a seismic shock if the Breffni men caused an upset in Castlebar, albeit Raymond Galligan’s side did beat Roscommon by two points in Dr Hyde Park in the penultimate round of Allianz Football League Division Two this season, on their way to a fourth place finish in the table. Tyrone have been their nemesis in each of their opening games of the past two Ulster Senior Football Championships, while aside from last year’s loss to Mayo, which was their third since 2005 in championship, they were beaten in last season’s other round robin games by Dublin (19 points) and Roscommon (six points).
Cavan’s last victory over Mayo in the championship was in the 1948 All-Ireland Final when they won by a point but they might, as a source of some inspiration, cling to the fact that they did manage to beat Mayo at MacHale Park during their last stint in Allianz Football League Division One. Paddy Durcan and Fergal Boland are the only members of the current Mayo team who started that 1-14 to 0-15 loss on March 19, 2017, with Mayo fans now hoping that Captain Durcan can, on Sunday next, make his first appearance since suffering a cruciate knee injury in last year’s corresponding round robin game against Cavan.
