Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
It would be a travesty if Mayo players never reach summit but over-reliance on Andy is football suicide
IT’S derby weekend and the clash of Connacht juggernauts Mayo and Galway is the pick of the bunch. For many of these Mayo players it’s the most important game of their footballing lives. If David Clarke, Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle, Lee Keegan, the O’sheas, Kevin Mclaughlin, Andy Moran and Cillian O’connor finish their careers without an All-ireland winner’s medal it would be a modern day football travesty. This week Stephen Rochford has said Mayo want to go through the front door – because they’ve no other choice, in my opinion. I don’t think this team can stomach another defeat to Galway, then regroup and come through the back door – beating the top teams along the way to win the Ail-ireland. Having tipped Dublin to retain the All-ireland, I’ve seen enough already to realise it’s any- thing but a certainty. Chinks are starting to emerge in their playing and managerial set-up and Mayo will take some solace from that. But the big question tomorrow is how strong are Mayo mentally? Five or six of their key men have an awful lot of miles in their legs. Yes, Galway are improving with an excellent boss in Kevin Walsh but their really challenge starts in Salthill. The genie is out of the Galway bottle and they’re facing a seriously wounded animal in this Mayo side. Can they front up and match Mayo’s sheer physicality? And if things are going wrong, they must not wave the white flag as easily as they did against Tipperary last year. To kick on their young players must develop a real tough, mean streak. With the serious pace they possess through Eamonn Brannigan, Michael Daly, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh, Danny Cummins and Tom Flynn, they must stare Mayo down with every chance they get in a one-on-one. Their defensive vulnerability under the high ball is still their Achilles heel. Fortunately for Galway, Aidan O’shea won’t be starting. But it’s a big blow to Mayo. They need O’shea leading from the front, and this game will tell us everything about Mayo’s mental state of mind. The loss of Brendan Harrison weakens their full-back line considerably – he’s a brilliant man-marking corner-back. Up front once again there is serious pressure on Andy Moran and Cillian O’connor to perform. Look, there’s an awful lot right about Mayo’s play. But the one area that needs drastic improvement to go the whole way is the natural point taking from general play – those 30-40 yard shots under pressure, they don’t come often enough from their forwards. They must develop a couple of forwards who can score three to four points each game. This is a must to win an All-ireland and the over-reliance on Moran up front to constantly keep showing for the ball at his age is footballing suicide to me. It would be a tactical masterstroke to play him as an impact sub again. I predict a monumental Mayo effort. I’ve no doubt in my mind the brilliant warriors and legends like Higgins, Boyle, Keegan, Moran and Mclaughlin will do their stuff once again, though I hear it’s a possibility there will be one or two changes with a doubt over Mclaughlin’s fitness. But it’s the performances of the likes Chris Barrett, Tom Parsons, Jason Doherty, Diarmuid O’connor and Fergal Boland that will decide this outcome. Last but not least, Aidan O’shea’s omission and his serious lack of game time in 2017 may well give Galway that slight advantage. Galway to just shade it.