Only championship will reveal our true standing

The clocks may have gone forward by an hour on Sunday morning but Kerry looked like the only team in summertime mode in the National League Division One Final at Croke Park later in the day. While the Kingdom’s performance was far from perfect, they had the appearance of a side with one eye on the championship whereas Mayo regressed to the worst of their winter form, and the two teams might as well have been in different time zones in the final quarter such was the gulf in class.

Mayo will point to some missing players, including last year’s captain Patrick Durcan and Tommy Conroy, but it is worth noting that this is a Kerry team without Sean O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor, while Tom O’Sullivan made a late appearance. Kerry, on the basis of this display, will certainly pose a formidable test to any team in the All-Ireland series and may yet be champions-in-waiting. Mayo, on the other hand, are capable of beating anyone on their day but it’s hard to see them put together the kind of sustained run of high-quality performances that is now required to win Sam Maguire. The days of winning your provincial championship, getting a ‘handy’ draw in the All-Ireland semi-final and raising your game to new heights on the biggest day of all are long gone. All-Ireland champions need players who can deliver at a consistently high level and Mayo just don’t seem to have them.

Our middle-third is a case in point. This area had been identified as one of Mayo’s strengths in the lead-up to the league final and it was certainly the key factor in our victory over the Kingdom in MacHale Park a few weeks ago. The improved form of Mattie Ruane, the return of Jack Carney and the leadership of Jordan Flynn were all in evidence in the second-half of the league as Mayo went on a five-game unbeaten run to finish top of the table – a scenario that seemed utterly improbable after a humbling defeat to Galway in early February.

Kerry, shorn of influential midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor, seemed to be even weaker in midfield than they had been in Castlebar while Mayo’s steady improvement augured well for this Croke Park showdown. The early stages looked promising as Mayo won a fair share of the possession on Kerry’s kickout but the pendulum soon swung in the Kingdom’s favour and it never really shifted after that. Players like Joe O’Connor, Micheál Burns and, most particularly, Paudie Clifford handled a huge amount of ball, and were it not for some waywardness in front of goal, Kerry would have been comfortable winners long before the hooter.

Donnacha McHugh tried manfully to keep David Clifford on a tight leash but it’s hard to tame the best forward of his generation when the referee has decided to become his personal minder for the day. Aidan O’Shea has been manhandled around Croke Park for 15 years and has got damn all from referees, presumably on the basis that he is a big man who can look after himself. But the same applies to Clifford. He is very physical when in possession and defenders need to be able to be equally robust in the tackle. That’s not to give McHugh a blanket pardon for the fouls committed – such as jersey pulling – but it did seem at times as if he couldn’t make a proper tackle for fear the referee David Goldrick was going to blow for a free. The sight of Clifford trying to get him booked was not particularly endearing either, especially as the Kerryman always seems like a fine sportsman who shows respect for opponents and, indeed, rival supporters.

The most disappointing aspect of Mayo’s performance was the apparent lack of any sort of coherent game-plan for the championship ahead. It was clear to see that Kerry were using this league final to road-test their Croke Park strategy, especially with the use of the foot-pass, whereas Mayo looked like a team that was trapped in the same lateral, conservative style of play that is totally unsuitable to the new rules. Armagh may have won the All-Ireland last year playing this unappealing brand of football but it’s hard to see it working in 2025 when there will be a lot more space for forwards to ply their trade. The kick-pass is back in vogue – and thank God for that – but Mayo need to get the memo and start adjusting their style of play, otherwise they will be taken apart by the better teams at the business end of the championship.

Manager Kevin McStay suggested afterwards that this was one game too far for Mayo and that is certainly how it felt for those watching. Kerry looked like a team that wanted to win this league title and that is understandable given Jack O’Connor’s history in the competition – his four All-Ireland senior titles have come after league victories. Mayo, on the other hand, know that league trophies have in the past been a harbinger for a truncated provincial championship. In fact, many in this group have seen that movie twice before – in 2019 and 2023 – and they don’t want a third viewing.

That might seem like an optimistic, even naïve, assessment of Mayo’s indifferent display but I think this match will be long forgotten if the men in Green and Red win the Connacht Championship, especially if it is by way of victory over rivals Galway in MacHale Park on the May bank holiday weekend. The only objective for this group between now and then is to beat Sligo next Sunday and follow that up with victory over Leitrim in the semi-final.

Understandably, there will be some apprehension about the Sligo game after such an error-strewn, careless performance last Sunday. However, Mayo have shown enough decent form in the second-half of the league to be able to account for a team that is playing its football in Division 3 – and if they cannot then they have no place in this year’s championship and the quicker they make their exit the better.

Mayo are better than they showed on Sunday. They may not be serious All-Ireland contenders, like they were a decade ago, but they are a very capable team who won’t fear anyone in the championship. Would this current Mayo team be able to go to-to-toe against the great Dublin six-in-a-row team? Of course not, they are not nearly at the same level as that magnificent group of Mayo players who came so close in 2016 and 2017 to All-Ireland senior honours. But the championship is much more open now and the final placings in Division One reflected that levelling of standards with seven teams separated by just two league points. Mayo – with a negative scoring difference – were lucky (or some would say unlucky!) to make the final and the truth is there were five other teams equally deserving to be in Croke Park last Sunday.

On a good day, Mayo can beat any of the other seven teams that contested Division One this year, but we can also be beaten by any of them… and maybe a few below them too. For example, how confident would we be going up to the Hyde to play Roscommon or to Clones for a round-robin game against Monaghan? That’s why there will be nobody sauntering confidently into MacHale Park next Sunday for the championship opener against Sligo. We should win but equally it would not be the biggest shock of all time were we to lose, especially if we play as poorly as we did in the league final.

However, it would be foolish to read too much into a league final performance, especially when the fixture has been so devalued by its proximity to the championship. A year ago, Derry won the league final with a swashbuckling display and look what has happened to them in the intervening period. The first real test of this Mayo team is next Sunday in MacHale Park. That’s when summertime really starts.