Connacht giants give youth its fling

WHEN Mayo took to the field for their Connacht semi-final against Roscommon at the end of May they were only half the team that had lost to Kerry eight months earlier.

Literally.

Only eight of the side that had suffered so grievously in the All-Ireland final had survived the intervening months but, despite that turnover, manager John Maughan still believes the team has moved forward.

This, he says, is a smarter Mayo team than that which shone so brightly but faded so quickly last year. The hope is that the ingredients will retain their fizz for longer.

Guys like Ronan McGarrity and Conor Moran still bring youth to the table but, with their debut year behind them, they will offer an extra helping of experience too.

Old hands like Ciaran McDonald, James Nallen and Gary Ruane can be depended upon while their years at the coal face have been balanced by the injection of newcomers like Billy Joe Padden and Andy Moran.

"I think we have improved on last year," said Maughan yesterday.

"I think we have greater depth in the squad. We have some of the younger players from the U-21 campaign. We should be a smarter team than last year.

"You've got to throw lads in at some stage but there's no substitute for experience. Those (younger) lads that we've mentioned, I'm hoping they'll be better footballers."

At yesterday's press conference in Dublin, reporters were again digging up the ugly spectre of last year's All-Ireland final, eager to discover if there were any scars left.

Maughan accepted that such a defeat would always leave some sort of baggage, but was confident Mayo had shed the last of it.

Mindful of the strain, physical and mental, last year took, the year has been spent in low gear.

The league was approached in casual manner, to say the least. Collective training didn't get under way until mid-January and even then the intensity was conspicuous by its absence.

It was only when the squad spent a week training in Portugal at the start of June that Maughan began to pick up the pace. The hope now is that, rather than have to light a fire under the team, he will have them straining at the leash come Sunday.

Galway will approach the final in Pearse Stadium from a far different perspective. Back in May, on the back of the U-21s' All-Ireland win, supporters were talking of a third senior success in seven years in the pipelines.

The slog through the semi-final against Leitrim has brought reality back into focus however, with Forde yesterday saying that "the Galway public wouldn't have high expectations at all this year".

"They're quite low. I think they realise it will take a few years to have the kind of team they had in 2001."

Forde's assertion that he is building for the future is easily verified. Five of the U-21s who defeated Down two months ago will start against Mayo at the weekend, all of them in key positions.

The abilities of the Terrible Twins Michael Meehan and Sean Armstrong have been well-flagged, Barry Cullinane and Niall Coleman will anchor midfield while Finian Hanley makes his debut at the pivotal position of full-back.

"Five U-21s is a lot," Forde said.

"It's the most of any of the teams remaining in the finals, I'd say. I've come in at an unusual time in that a lot of the seasoned, star players of the two All-Irelands have retired or are coming to that stage soon.

"We've had to build from scratch again, which is a good place to start. Those U-21s have experience now. They know how to win All-Irelands and they're all good players.

"People still have to realise that there's a big step up between U-21 and senior. If you look at our performance against Leitrim, the Terrible Twins, as they were called, were quiet enough. That has made people realise they may need more time, we shouldn't be getting carried away."

Mayo may well be much further down the development path, but no one not even the bookies are prepared to stick their heads above the parapet with a definitive prediction on Sunday's outcome.