It’s D-Day for Mayo in Tyrone
ENTERING into the final two rounds of the National League, things are on a knife-edge for almost every county. It is hard to recall a League like this one, where so many teams had so much to play for with only two weeks remaining.
In the past, the fifth and sixth rounds were when the stronger teams asserted their authority and started to limber up for the summer. It has not been the case this year. Last weekend, we got a few upsets, the one that caught the eye was Cavan’s win over Mayo in Castlebar.
Mayo are never too far from both triumph and disaster. I know that myself from experience. Ironically, it was a defeat by Cavan in the League back in 1989, when I was manager, that sparked a frank and forthright assessment of where the team was going. The team were booed from the field that day in Ballina and a few home truths were said afterwards. But we ended up in an All-Ireland final that year, and the turning point was that defeat by Cavan.
If Stephen Rochford can get a similar response from his players after this latest defeat by Cavan, he won’t mind so much all the talk of crisis this week. And remember, Mayo did recover from a shock defeat to Galway last year to come within a whisker of winning an All-Ireland title.
We have learnt that it is foolish to write off Mayo’s prospects on just one bad performance. But there have been a few worrying signs over this League campaign.
The players that have almost led Mayo to the top of the mountain — the likes of Colm Boyle, Keith Higgins and Cillian O’Connor — are the ones that are expected to lead the charge again. Lee Keegan wasn’t afforded much of a breather from his club exertions. Whether that was the players’ choice or not, it doesn’t say much for the younger players waiting for their chance.
At the start of the League, I suggested in these pages that there was a need for Mayo to discover some new leaders, and assume the mantle for those that have been there for so long. But that hasn’t been the case.
The style that Mayo have employed over the past six years is a hugely attritional style. It demands a huge workrate, high-intensity and it takes its toll on the body. In the past six years too, outside of Cillian O’Connor, the bulk of Mayo’s scores have come from the half-back line. When O’Connor misfires, as he did last week against Cavan, Mayo can be in trouble.
Watching Mayo last weekend, they appeared to be a team, low on confidence. When a team comes so close to winning the All-Ireland, as they did last year, they should have reserves of confidence on which to depend. But it didn’t seem to be there in Castlebar.
I think their poor performance against a half-strength Dublin a few weeks ago took a lot out of this team. It battered their confidence and their morale.
Remember, they were ahead against Cavan, going down the stretch but they looked like a team who were too unsure of themselves to see the game out. That is a very worrying development.
They are travelling to Omagh tomorrow to face a Tyrone side with a point to prove. Mickey Harte has reiterated this past week that he wants his team to get to a League final. They can only do that by beating Mayo. And there is the question of the players exacting revenge for last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat.
Mayo have posed a lot of problems for Tyrone in the past, and they will need to do that again in Healy Park. Tomorrow afternoon is shaping up to be D-Day for Mayo. It could be the most pivotal game in their whole season and could be a turning point for their whole year.
If they go down as listlessly and limply as they did to Cavan last week, it will point to wider problems and it could be a long year ahead. Mayo have been in Division 1 longer than any other team. They don’t want to lose that record.
It could be a long year ahead