Galway must bridge ‘embarrassing’ gulf to Mayo

Galway manager Alan Mulholland has thrown a challenge down to the chasing Connacht pack by saying it’s "embarrassing" to see how far the rest have fallen behind Mayo.

James Horan’s side got their quest for four Nestor Cups in a row off to a winning start against New York last weekend, but Mulholland said his own side and the rest of the province need to improve drastically to shift the balance of power in Connacht.

Last year, the gulf between the sides looked cavernous as Mayo hammered Galway 4-16 to 0-7 in the opening round at Pearse Stadium, while Mayo went on to record 12-point and 16-point wins over Roscommon and London en route to the title.

“It’s vital for the Connacht championship. It’s a little embarrassing for the other counties,” said Mulholland.

“The margins which they won by last year, we’ve all got to look at ourselves and say we’re not at the standard we should be at.”

Despite Mayo’s dominance west of the Shannon, things have not gone as smoothly when the big awards have been distributed. And Mulholland thinks this shows how far the rest of Connacht has to improve.

“It’s not Mayo’s fault. They still haven’t won the All-Ireland in the past couple of years so you can’t say they’re streaking away from everyone else in the country.

“They seem to have left the rest of us behind in Connacht and it’s up to us to get back up,” said the Galway manager, who hopes to end a six-year wait for the Tribesmen’s 46th Connacht title.

Meanwhile, Mayo skipper Andy Moran says he is expecting to see Donegal’s Mark McHugh back in the inter-county fold before the end of the year.

McHugh announced his departure from Jim McGuinness’s panel recently, but according to the Ballaghaderreen man, with the pressures of the modern game, it’s not surprising to see players exit senior teams.

“I’d expect to see Mark back by the end of the year. I’d expect him back in the Donegal squad,” said Moran.

“When you’re not playing well in a county set-up, the pressure that’s there it’s fairly active. The experience I had after the Tyrone game last year when I wasn’t hitting the heights that I wanted to hit myself, it’s a tough place to be.

“And if you don’t feel you can get to them, sometimes it might be better to step away,” said Moran at the launch of the Connacht championship at the Connacht GAA centre yesterday.