Moran’s men travel in no fear of Omagh
Goalkeeper Niall Morgan drops the ball which resulted in Darren McHale scoring Mayo's opening goal against Tyrone last season. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
Were you to tell Mayo and Roscommon supporters, minutes after the Connacht semi-final mauling that the Rossies inflicted on Mayo, that less than two months later the Green and Red would be standing one win away from an All-Ireland quarter-final and Roscommon one defeat away from an All-Ireland exit, both sets of fans would probably have ended up laughing in unison.
Yet that is the situation going into this weekend. While Roscommon are now in knockout territory, Mayo’s win over Monaghan, who ironically are the Connacht champions’ opponents on Saturday, means the Green and Red are guaranteed two bites at the cherry – the first coming next Sunday in Omagh.
It will be the eighth championship meeting between Mayo and Tyrone, with the last one just over a year ago, also in Omagh, as Mayo produced an excellent display in the All-Ireland group stages to defeat the Red Hands 2-17 to 1-13. Not only will another victory for Mayo in Healy Park see them into the last eight but it would also mean a two-week break ahead of the All-Ireland quarter-final.
A defeat would not end Mayo hopes either, but Andy Moran’s side would have to be out a week later for Round 3, in what is effectively a preliminary quarter-final, where defeat would signal Mayo’s exit from the championship. Given their record over Sunday’s opponents, one would assume Mayo can approach this game with some degree of confidence but like anything when it comes to this Mayo team, nothing is simple.
From being a defensively solid team with a struggling attack last year, Mayo have now become a free-scoring side but have lost much of their defensive stability.
So adverse to kicking two-pointers last year, Mayo struck six efforts from outside the arc in Clones last Sunday week, four coming from the full-forward line. That trio of Darragh Beirne, Ryan O’Donoghue and Kobe McDonald accounted for 1-16 between them against the Farney men and given Tyrone’s own troubles in defence – with the absences of the injured Padraig Hampsey and Peter Harte, who opted out of the inter-county season – and belief will be high that Mayo can rack up another high tally.
But their glaring issues at the back can almost negate their attack. The full-back line struggled badly whenever Monaghan went long and direct and were it not for injuries in that game to Bobby McCaul and Ryan McAnespie – as well as some goalkeeping heroics by Jack Livingstone – we would likely be looking ahead to Mayo being in a straight knockout tie this weekend instead.
Andy Moran may look to shore up his defence with a bit more experience and bring in Paddy Durcan from the start, who impressed from the bench against Monaghan, while Hugh O’Loughlin, who played at wing-forward against Monaghan, could also be another option in the half-back line if needed.
Another big plus for Moran is his squad is relatively injury-free, but the same cannot be said for his counterpart Malachy O’Rourke. The Canavan brothers Darragh and Ruairi both missed the All-Ireland opening round win over Roscommon a fortnight ago due to injury and there are doubts about their availability for this weekend too. However, Brian Kennedy and Ethan Jordan are back, with the latter scoring the winner against Roscommon last month.
Indeed, ten of the starting fifteen in Hyde Park started against Mayo last year in Omagh, along with substitute Darren McCurry, while only six of Mayo’s starting team against Tyrone last year were also starters against Monaghan.
Ethan Jordan, Eoin McElholm, the evergreen Mattie Donnelly and Darren McCurry are more than capable of doing damage to a Mayo backline that remains brittle but in the Canavan boys, Tyrone have a duo who can trouble the best in the country.
Should they not be fit, and the inside line of Beirne, O’Donoghue and McDonald flex their muscles one again, Mayo could possibly make it another successful trip to Ulster, provided their porous defence tightens up.
