Tough trip to the Kingdom awaits Mayo
Shane Boland is the only addition to the Mayo team for Sunday's key game against Kerry in National Hurling League Division 2.
The league table never lies and while Mayo can have few complaints about currently being bottom of National Hurling League Division 2, it is not all doom and gloom either.
The opening game against 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up Laois is an outlier given that the majority of the Tooreen contingent were still recovering from their All-Ireland adventure, but the three games that have followed have shown that the Green and Red are competing well against teams who operate a tier or, in some cases, two tiers above them at championship level.
The Round 2 game against London, Christy Ring Cup champions and who Mayo beat in the Division 3 final last year, saw Mayo earn a hard-fought draw, a big turnaround given that twelve of that starting fifteen also started the 29-point defeat to Laois a week previously.
The last two games have seen defeats to Derry and Meath respectively, but there are green shoots in those losses, nonetheless. Tooreen contingent David Kenny, Bobby Douglas, Oisin Greally, Daniel Huane and Eoin Delaney returned for the trip up north while Sean Kenny made an appearance off the bench against Meath, scoring a penalty. Their clubmate Shane Boland has also been selected to start Sunday's game away to Kerry (Tralee at 1pm) in what is the only change to the team that started against Meath.
With Conal Hession and Liam Lavin on the comeback trail, there is great cause for optimism for Mayo ahead of the Nicky Rackard next month, and Mayo will be big favourites to win it outright. But right now, focus will be on trying to stave off relegation back to Division 3 and it will be a big ask, with their final two opponents both competing in the Joe McDonagh Cup last year.
Westmeath, Mayo’s final opponents, will be there again while this weekend’s opposition in Kerry were relegated to Christy Ring for 2026.
The Kingdom defeated Mayo’s relegation rivals Derry and London by 24 and 12 points respectively, so by that metric, Mayo will be heavy underdogs for their trip to Tralee.
Kerry, who had a bye last weekend, can all but secure their place in the league final should they beat Mayo, and they will be expected to do so comfortably going by their league results, losing only once this season in the league against Laois.
But surprise stories with Mayo hurling are never far away.
