Horan happy as Mayo motor

James Horan is targeting a prolonged run in the league to keep his Mayo charges sharp as they make a belated start to their championship campaign.

That much was evident anyway from the players he employed at St Conleth’s Park on Saturday night, with 10 of the team that started against Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final last August and of those that weren’t, David Clarke, Pat Harte and Conor Mortimer are highly experienced campaigners.

In the end, that greater strength saw Mayo through what was until the final quarter a stern examination from Laois.