Kerry need to be wary but still should have too much for Mayo in Castlebar

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 2A Mayo v Kerry Saturday, January 25 MacHale Park, Castlebar, 2pm

FIRST up for Fintan O’Connor’s Kingdom is a potentially tricky assignment on the road to Castlebar this Saturday afternoon.

On all known form the Kingdom would be expected to get the better of Mayo, but on the first day out in the league when patterns of form have yet to be established you have to be a little bit more wary of what might await you.

It’s a journey into the unknown in a way and that’s especially the case as Kerry travel to MacHale Park to face a Mayo side which didn’t partake in any pre-season competition. Of course, it should be a feather in Kerry’s cap that they played both Cork and Waterford in the Munster Senior Hurling league.

Indeed in both games there were spells and passages when the Kingdom fronted up well against their more vaunted opponents. That said Mayo’s lack of pre-season games doesn’t mean they’re going to be ring rusty necessarily.

We can’t forget that Tooreen, who should supply as many as ten starters to the Mayo team, made it all the way to the All Ireland Intermediate Club semi-final where they narrowly lost out to Cork kingpins Fr O’Neills.

“We beat Mayo fairly well last year in the league at home, but Mayo are improving all the time and I think Tooreen were in the All Ireland Club Intermediate semi-final and gave them bags of it,” Kerry boss Fintan O’Connor explained this week.

“I know our county champions [Causeway] didn’t fare as well in the provincial championship, so when we say we should be beating them, yeah, maybe, on last year’s game we should, but I don’t think that’s respectful to what’s going on in Mayo either.

“You have to treat everyone withtheutmost respect and I think Meath went up to Mayo last year and drew, got a point in the last minute and we have seen how dangerous Meath are over the last couple of years in different games.

“So we should be going up and trying to get a win, but we have to treat the game with the utmost respect and try and go up and put our best foot forward and, hopefully, we come back with a win.”

As Tooreen’s run to the

All Ireland Intermediate Club semi-final proved there is talent in Mayo hurling. Centre-back Stephen Coyne is a quality hurler. Defenders Brian Hunt, David Kenny and Corey Scahill should provide a certain amount of stability, while up front both Shane Boland and Seán Regan can impress.

Against all that, however, is Mayo’s poor 2019 season. They did well to avoid relegation to Division 2B for this season, but their failure to make an impact in the Nicky Rackard Cup (two levels below the McDonagh Cup where Kerry operate) is telling.

Kerry would seem to have a more impressive panel of players at this disposal – drawing from a wider number of clubs that shouldn’t be all too surprising – even if they’ve lost a couple of additional players over the winter period.

Patrick Kelly’s retirement and Jack Goulding having to opt out of the panel due to work commitments is a blow, but O’Connor and co have probably gained more than they’ve lost with Shane Nolan (below) and Brandon Barrett returning to the fold, with Jason Diggins back from injury and with Eric Leen and Fionán Mackessey again available having gone travelling last summer.

Add to that some of the All Ireland Under 20 B winners from the last couple of seasons and Kerry should have a greater depth in their panel than they had during last year’s McDonagh Cup campaign. That’s a huge plus.

Diggins, however, is likely to miss the opening round or two of the league, but once he comes back on stream he’s sure to be a massive boost to the Kingdom’s chances of reaching a league final in March.

When Kerry played Mayo last year they won at a canter. We should probably expect it to be a bit closer this time around, but even so it’s hard to look past Kerry here. They know what’s at stake, they know they have to hit the ground running, they know they can’t afford to drop points.

Verdict: Kerry