Mayo must hope Dubs start Brennan, reckons McStay

Mayo must pray for Dublin’s Ger Brennan to start this weekend’s final, according to Kevin McStay.

The RTÉ pundit, speaking at Ballina Stephenites Up for the Match fundraiser on Saturday night, said for Mayo to get their match-ups right against Dublin, it’s vital the St Vincent’s man starts at centre back.

McStay claimed Alan Dillon would struggle against the pace of Cian O’Sullivan should he be moved to six and Denis Bastick start at midfield.

“If Ger Brennan doesn’t play at six, Alan Dillon is in huge trouble because, for pace, he’s the only one he matches up with. The two wing-backs [Jack] McCaffrey and [James] McCarthy will burn you for pace. You end up wrecked chasing them for the game.

“Pray that Ger Brennan plays centre back. The evidence is that Jim Gavin and his selectors will be stubborn enough to play him. Kevin O’Brien for the last three matches has been under huge pressure against Meath and Cork and still, because he was a member for his U21 team, he started him. He knows he’s having trouble in his full-back line but he will not bite the bullet on it.”

Former senior player and selector Liam McHale added that if Brennan doesn’t start, Mayo will have to put Cathal Carolan into the half-forward line and move Dillon to the full-forward line, possibly at the expense of captain Andy Moran. “Carolan has to come into this issue for 35 to 40 minutes. Dublin are favourites but we can win this game if we’re right. We had a great chance last year but we weren’t right. We got the match-ups wrong.

“Everything has to be right for us to win this game and if the match-up isn’t right for Alan in the half-forward line, he has to go inside. He makes great runs, can finish and can score. The problem is you can’t have Andy and Alan in there.

“I’m hoping Andy, with another four weeks under him, will be sharper. Before his injury he was one of the better players in the country.”