Three things we learned as Mayo's forward line impress
1
By placing Aidan O’Shea in at full-forward, the Mayo team is a more balanced and cohesive unit, and they carry much more penetration in their inside line of attack.
Aidan reminded me of TV character ‘The Incredible Hulk’ yesterday as he absolutely smashed a succession of Sligo markers with his height, power, and sheer bulk as he cake-walked to an impressive 3-4 from play.
Last season, in their two games against Kerry, Mayo selected Alan Freeman (the drawn game) and Andy Moran at full-forward (replay), however, with O’ Shea in there, they are a different proposition.
What Kerry defender - or any other county defender - could stop the Breaffy man in one-on-one combat?
Beside him Cillian O’ Connor, who benefits from O’Shea being at the edge of the square, notched 1-7, to take his tally to 7-29 in five Connacht finals, as he and eight or nine other Mayo players collected an impressive five provincial medals in succession.
His younger brother Diarmuid, also caught the eye with four points from play and he is a nice addition this season.
It is highly likely that Mayo will face Tyrone (who play Sligo next in the qualifiers) in the All-Ireland quarter-finals and it will very interesting to see if they can handle a massed defence.
They could not break them down in their league game earlier in the year but I’m sure that contingency plans will be in place should they meet again.
However, as Galway and Sligo have now discovered, leaving a defender isolated on O’Shea is asking for trouble.
2
Ger Cafferkey used to be Mayo’s regular full-back, however, he was substituted both days last year against Kerry.
Earlier in that campaign, Galway’s Paul Conroy shot three or four points off him from play in the second half of last year’s Connacht final.
Ger was a sub against Galway in the first round this season and substituted again yesterday.
Given that Donal Vaughan is not a realistic option in my view, it appears that Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly are not really any closer to finding a full-back that they have 100% confidence in.
Castlebar’s Tom Cunniffe can be put in sometimes but there are question marks over his defensive ability in that position too.
Sligo scored 2-11 yesterday, and could have hit at least two further goals with a bit more composure.
That has to be a concern for the Mayo management and supporters going into the business end of the season.
Ultimately, they will have to consider dropping a few men back when they lose possession in order to avoid the top teams exploiting their weaknesses and getting in for goals.
3
Mayo beat Sligo yesterday by 26 points. Dublin defeated Longford in the Leinster championship by 27.
Young, impressionable Gaelic footballers are intelligent and well-educated men, and unless there is a reasonable chance of some type of success, progress, or silverware for the weaker counties, then is it realistic for the GAA to expect them to continue to want to make huge sacrifices to represent their county teams?
Fair enough the provincial championship should be retained, you only have to look at the attendances in Clones, Hyde Park and Killarney over the weekend to acknowledge the huge relevance and interest it retains.
However, there does need to be some other format, or some other competition for the smaller fish to play for when they are eaten by the sharks in the provincial championships.
To say that qualifiers are providing that outlet is nonsense.
Any of the top Division One teams that lose a provincial championship game can regroup and come again. And invariably do.
However you will find few in the likes of Clare, Longford, Waterford or Carlow who will agree that the current qualifier system offers them a genuine chance of success.
In Connacht, Mayo are very dominant since 2011. Leinster is a monopoly and Munster is a duopoly, so the only provincial championship that three or four teams can win is Ulster.
A new format needs to be thought about, a second tier for an All-Ireland competition needs to be introduced.
Sooner, rather than later.
