Hennelly has been handed chance to claim Mayo’s No.1 shirt

WHEN Mayo seek a first win over a Jim Gavin-managed Dublin in 14 attempts in Croke Park tonight there will, naturally, be attention on how some of their more inexperienced players adapt to the venue and the opponents.

With three wins out of three from a mixture that spans the age spectrum, manager James Horan has managed to shift the dynamic around Mayo away from a team seen as too dependent on the tried and trusted.

That could possibly change, depending on the result, or more pertinently the performance, against Dublin.

But Fionn McDonagh and Michael Plunkett especially, and Brian Reape, Conor Diskin and Ciaran Tracey, have been contributors to Mayo’s best league start since 2012 when they also won their opening three games, though their second-round win against Dublin wasn’t played until March because of an abandonment.

One of the other features of Horan’s second coming has been the use of second-choice goalkeeper Rob Hennelly.

Already this season he has played more competitive games, when Connacht League is incorporated, than all of 2018, having started their first four games against Leitrim and Galway in the Connacht League and Roscommon and Tyrone in Division 1 of the Allianz League.

David Clarke was back in for last week’s home game against Cavan but Hennelly’s selection for tonight’s Croke Park game prises open a debate that looked done and dusted since the 2016 All-Ireland final replay.

The significance of it can’t be overlooked given that it’s his third game from four in the campaign and the most important for Mayo.

It also takes him back to the scene of his 2016 All-Ireland final replay penalty concession and black card for the first time.

It is a personal test for the Breaffy man but also a road test for a new management seeking faster, further and more pinpoint kick-outs.

Last year, Hennelly’s appearances amounted to just three, a Connacht League game and two league starts, against Dublin in MacHale Park and Kildare in Newbridge.

The previous year his activity was restricted to just one pre-season game. For Mayo’s seven league and 10 championship games in 2017, Clarke was ever-present.

Clearly, Stephen Rochford made his mind up that, after the 2016 replay decision to select Hennelly in place of Clarke backfired, the goalkeeping position wasn’t to be tampered with again.

Clarke became the permanent fixture and responded with a string of great performances throughout 2017 that helped to propel Mayo to another All-Ireland final.

Hennelly’s match-day redundancy for most of the last two seasons illustrated that.

His selection for that replay had been based on kick-outs.

Observing Dublin pushing up on the Mayo kick-out in the drawn game, they sought more reach which they felt Hennelly could give them at the expense of Clarke’s shot-stopping and composure. Ultimately, it didn’t work.

Prior to 2017 Clarke and Hennelly had dovetailed for six years, chiefly on the back of Clarke’s injuries.

Horan did, however, select Hennelly for all five championship games in his first season, 2011.

Clarke featured in just one league match as the position alternated between himself, Hennelly and Kenneth O’Malley in the early part of the season.

By 2012, Clarke had established permanency, featuring in all but one of the league games and the entire championship pro-

gramme that took Mayo to an All-Ireland final with Donegal.

Hennelly opted out of the squad during the year but returned in 2013 when Clarke and O’Malley were injured.

Clarke had torn his hamstring so badly that it would take him almost a year to recover. Opportunity knocked for Hennelly who remained in the position for Horan’s final year.

He was sprung again in 2015 when Clarke, who had been first-choice for Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly, sustained a groin injury in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal.

Hennelly finished the season and appeared to be the preferred choice for Rochford in the early part of 2016 – he played six of the seven league games – before lining out in both Connacht championship games against London and Galway. Clarke displaced him, however, for the qualifiers.

After the 2016 replay, Hennelly vowed not to give up and felt he still had something to offer.

He’s had to be patient but Horan has given him a wider glimpse already than he’s had for the last two seasons.

He still brings a decent range to his kickouts and his conversion of long-range frees and 45s was evident in the win over Tyrone, when he landed two points.

With Cillian O’Connor not yet back and his return from those distances somewhat limited and more erratic, it’s something for Horan to further ponder.

Now 35, Clarke’s form has followed a consistent trajectory over the last three seasons that has resulted in two All-Stars.

His kick-outs come under consistent scrutiny for the speed and height they travel at but he remains the safe choice with his bulging catalogue of saves.

But Hennelly is keen to pay his way again and will see tonight as a sizeable deposit.