We need to frustrate Mayo and sow seeds of doubt

Heading to the game in New York ten days ago there was no thinking about next Sunday’s game against Mayo. With the quality of players that New York had and with expectations high that they would get their first win, certainly the Sligo players and management weren’t looking any further down the road either. However, after that excellently negotiated hurdle even without a number of regulars available all thoughts are now on MacHale Park next Sunday, where we will play one of four teams that can realistically win an All- Ireland this year.

When the sides last met two years ago in the Connacht final, Sligo scored enough that would have won 68 of the last 100 Connacht championships, unfortunately Mayo scored enough that would have won all 100. I think the message here is while we can score big in games we also concede too much. This is where getting the balance right is going to be the challenge for the Sligo management team. There will be a view after a good performance last week that it will be difficult to make changes, however that wouldn’t be my view. I feel every game stands on its own merit with the opposition’s strengths having to be to the forefront of the thinking. I often hear some managers say we will concentrate on our own side of things and let them look after themselves. If Sligo were to apply this approach I believe there would be little point in showing up. I know Carew is not one of these types of managers and will very much focus on the opposition with the benefit of how the game developed two years ago.

The bottom line is that we cannot afford to go toe to toe with Mayo and think we will out- shoot them. We need to keep this game as tight as possible for as long as possible, sowing seeds of doubt into their minds that what happened against Galway last year can happen again. We need to frustrate them as we did in the 2012 final where they fell over the line against us after we let them off the hook missing a number of chances. Stating the obvious, we cannot afford to give them the start they got in 2015. In order to achieve that we need to set up an extremely disciplined defensive system with a structure to play counter attack football. While we do not have some of the physical attributes of other sides, what we do possess is a lot of pace, scoring threat and are able to bring the ball from defence to attack very well when we are on our game. It’s unlikely that Mayo will feel that they will need to go defensive against us, so this may allow us to dictate the way we want to play. This is now where the big decisions will have to be made as we are not playing New York we are playing a side that were a whisker away from winning the ultimate prize last year. In this regard it is now about picking the best fifteen that the manager feels can play the system he wants to play that can contest this game. You cannot have sentiment about these decisions, as a player or players that may have been outstanding against New York may not be suitable for this game. When I talk about discipline in defence that extends also to not giving away unnecessary frees where Mayo have a very high conversion rate. I feel for the Sligo players and management as two weeks after a trip across the Atlantic is very challenging to get prepared again for a game of this standard after such a high rate of attrition from the Gaelic Park pitch, when picking up a number of injuries. From what I know of Stephen Rochford he will not take Sligo for granted and will be forewarned after the Galway defeat last year. However, Mayo as serious contenders for Sam will have to tailor their training for challenges that on paper will be bigger than Sligo and certainly won’t be looking to peak next Sunday.

While battling on bravely after a horrific start two years ago we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again as the game was over after 10 minutes. Mayo’s plan will be to do the same again and while not their usual style I would expect a couple of high balls down on top of a strategic full forward early on to try and replicate that start. We need to make sure to remain in the contest up to the point where we have a chance to strike and win it. When New York went a point up last week, many were writing Sligo’s obituary, however the players remained very calm in a hostile situation where reputations were on the line and with the benefit of a number of replacements coming in turned the game around to win in comfort. This maturity will be required again next Sunday and hopefully the injury situation improves over the remaining days this week to make sure we put in a performance that will be talked about for years to come. Incidentally the previous three times we travelled to New York were three of our most memorable years, 2002 the majestic games in Croke Park, 2007 going on to win the Connacht Championship and 2012 losing narrowly in the Connacht final against Mayo, let’s hope this pattern continues in 2017.