Never mind Sam, Mayo look like they won’t even win Connacht
THIS is the point at which players let their minds wander and think of possible glory. With the fourth weekend of the Allianz League upon us, teams will begin to picture themselves walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand to collect the first national silverware of the year at Croke Park.
For others, though, they will be looking over their shoulder, in fear of dropping through the trap door.
At the start of the year, I felt that Mayo were one of the teams who should have made a League title their priority, but they travel to Clones today with relegation firmly on their minds.
I wasn’t in Ballybofey last Sunday (I was keeping track of numbers of a different kind in the Galway count centre!) but I kept abreast of everything that happened around the country. The thought that struck me was that the Connacht Championship may be the most competitive of all provinces this summer.
Mayo’s attempt to win six-in-a-row certainly doesn’t look as clear-cut as it did before a ball was kicked in the National League. Galway’s win in Celtic Park has served notice of the work that Kevin Walsh is doing down there, while Roscommon’s scoring blitz against Cork impressed everyone – even allowing for Cork being as bad as they were.
On the bus back to Mayo on Sunday evening, hearing the Galway and Roscommon results would have only compounded the woe for Stephen Rochford and his management team. The question on everyone’s lips at the start of this year was: could Mayo finally win the AllIreland in 2016?
Now people are wondering if Mayo will even win Connacht.
There were encouraging signs for Rochford in Ballybofey, just as there had been in Castlebar against Dublin, but one area that has to concern him is how Donegal and Dublin were able to eke out a result in these tight games. That is what managers really want to see fromteams at this time of the year.
The Dubs did it again last Saturday night. If a game is tight, they are able to shut it out, run down the clock and ensure they get the win. Donegal did it to Mayo, too. It comes down to game management.
Today’s match in Clones is the most critical game that Mayo have played in quite some time. Sure, they can point to decent displays in their last two games but they are still pointless, and winning is a habit that teams should acquire at this stage of the year.
Rochford won’t be panicking just yet. There are still four games to put things right. But if they lose against Monaghan this afternoon, questions will be asked.
They have a number of injuries and are missing the Castlebar Mitchels contingent, but other teams are able to cope with such issues. Mayo need to start doing that.
Losing Keith Higgins is a blow, but they need to show they can cope without him.
If Mayo don’t win, focus will switch back very quickly to last September and the events that saw Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes ousted as a joint-management team. That has nothing to do with Rochford, but if the team keeps losing, some will wonder what that heave was about.
Winning forgives a lot and I felt that Mayo needed to make a statement by winning the league title. If they don’t beat Monaghan this afternoon, attention will switch to whether they can avoid relegation or not.
And while Mayo have their problems, Roscommon have been the story of the first three rounds of the League.
Their win in Killarney made peo- ple sit up and take notice and last week’s result just confirms that this is a team to watch.
A few players who hadn’t featured under John Evans have returned to the panel and there seems to be a real unity of purpose among the players, not to mention with the management team.
Fergal O’Donnell is like a fatherfigure to most of those Roscommon players, while alongside him you have the expertise of Kevin McStay. It is working well, at the moment. If Mayo do lose in Monaghan, and the Rossies win again, a few natives may be getting a little restless.
I also got to see a fair bit of Galway in the past few weeks, with the Connacht League final and their Division 2 encounter against Tyrone the ideal opportunity to run the rule over them. They are heading in the right direction. Johnny Heaney, their young wing-back, is a player to keep an eye on while up front, Éamonn Brannigan looks a real find.
The one thing that has dogged Galway in recent years has been their inconsistency.
Having won in Celtic Park last weekend, Kevin Walsh will be keen to build on that and show that old failings are no more by beating Meath this afternoon.
It would add to the sense that the Connacht football championship may be the most competitive province come the summer.
Something else for Stephen Rochford and Tony McEntee to worry about as they try to get Mayo out of their current predicament.