Mayo can expect a real test of their credentials

I was out doing a bit of work in Gaelic Park, New York five weeks ago when Mayo started their championship campaign with a facile win over the home team.

No sooner had the game finished than the band kicked off their night’s entertainment with the obligatory ‘Green and Red of Mayo’ to a rapturous response.

I presume the result was being relayed back home around the same time because, almost instantly, I received a tongue-in-cheek text message from a Galway friend: ‘And so it begins. Mayo for Sam!’

Leaving aside the rivalry between the counties, it says something that a dyed-in-the-wool Galway supporter, with every reason to be at a low ebb himself, still can’t take this Mayo group seriously.

It might be forgotten that when Mayo and Roscommon met just three years ago on a howling mad dog of a day in Hyde Park, Roscommon were reigning Connacht champions and seemingly on the cusp of a period of rare dominance — while Mayo were the slight underdogs.

On the same day, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was establishing his Dáil credentials outside the grounds with a megaphone protest about Roscommon Hospital. Inside the Hyde, Mayo were struggling to establish themselves as a genuine championship team having stuttered and stumbled in London a few weeks earlier.

Things are much different these days. Ming has got himself a bigger and louder megaphone (gegaphone anyone?) and Mayo have established themselves as possibly the only credible alternative to a period of endless dominance by the Dublin behemoth.

That 2011 game in Hyde Park is also worth mentioning for another reason. I have a feeling tomorrow’s semi-final could be played along similar lines.

Given the broken weather of recent days and that strong breezes are predicted for the weekend, it could be a day for defenders and the type of day that places a special onus on freetakers.

This may be of more concern to Roscommon as the concession of nine points of Leitrim’s total of 13 came from needless frees. On his Connacht final debut three years ago, Cillian O’Connor defied his tender years to hold his nerve in a tense game as he kicked 0-8 of Mayo’s 0-13 total from frees. Any sloppiness in the Roscommon rearguard tomorrow will be similarly punished.

In conceding just a single point from a free out of a total of 0-18 in their league final against Cavan, Roscommon showed they can be as disciplined as any of the top teams. Only Clare conceded fewer points in all four divisions of the league.

There was something almost evangelical about John Evans’ talk in the aftermath of the league campaign that delivered their first national title at senior level in 35 years. Evans said “it’s just the rise of Roscommon. They are rising up. It’s wonderful to be in a football county that has so much passion, and they deserve a break.”

For those breaks to come tomorrow they are going to have to get Cathal Shine and Kevin Higgins to dominate midfield from the word go. Unless they meet Dublin during the rest of the championship, Aidan and Seamus O’Shea are unlikely to come up against a midfield pairing as powerful and as mobile as Shine and Higgins.

The real intrigue for us neutrals lies in the battle of the scavengers around the middle of the park.

Diarmuid O’Connor, Conor O’Shea and Jason Doherty are unproven as half forwards but have been given the nod, though the fact Roscommon have relative novices in Ian Kilbride and Ciarán Cafferkey balances their inexperience out.

At the other side of midfield I expect David O’Gara, Donie Shine and Ronan Stack to be able to compete physically with Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Donal Vaughan, but they might need a bit of assistance in trying to stem their runs from half back.

Keegan, as we know, is a thoroughbred wing back and the best hope that Roscommon have of stopping him is to have Cathal Cregg, Senan Kilbride and Ciarán Murtagh join in the tackling.

Expect Roscommon to keep it tight at the back, in the first half at least, to try and resist the early onslaught, frustrate the Mayo attack and catch them on the counter attack.

Almost everybody has had their say on what James Horan needs to do these days to build a better team. He needs to get Keith Higgins playing in his natural position of corner-back. He needs to find a marquee forward. He needs to get Aidan O’Shea playing at centre or even full-forward. He needs to find a player that will plug the holes that appeared so alarmingly when conceding 16 goals during the league. And on and on it goes.

From what I saw, even in the lopsided game in New York, Mayo need to develop a faster game, a type of one-touch game, if they have a chance of making decent forwards look better than what they are at the moment.

With that in mind, it appears Andy Moran has become the fall guy. While he wasn’t alone in slowing down the play in recent games (Aidan O’Shea being the more obvious culprit), Moran was guilty of taking one too many turns and being too conservative in possession.

As captain and leader, Moran will take the lesson on board and I’ve no doubt that he is still one of the six best forwards in Mayo in 2014.

Ironically enough, a wet ball in trying conditions tomorrow would suit Moran better than any of the six named starting forwards but we must assume that James Horan feels the newcomers offer the team more in terms of an emerging game-plan.

Mayo may have to be patient and steadfast for a long time tomorrow. They are going to have to stretch themselves a good bit more than they have been doing these past three seasons in Connacht to pull through. But, if they’re up for a dogfight, I expect they will.

One final point — this time regarding Gavin Duffy.

The fact he is 32 means he’ll have to make every second count, which again, can only be good for intensity levels on the training ground. Whatever damage might be done to morale among other panel members is likely to be offset by Duffy’s charisma and by his desperation to succeed.

It may take a bit of time for him to bed in but I can see it working out for the player and for Mayo in the end.

Did you know? All-Ireland qualifiers

The draw for the first two rounds of the qualifiers will be made on Monday morning on Morning Ireland at 8.35pm. Here’s who is in the hat and the date they will be playing.

The first team drawn has home advantage except where two teams who have already met in the 2014 championship (in that case the winner of the earlier game has home advantage) or if a county did not have home advantage in the first round of the 2013 qualifiers (if both teams have played away in 2013 the first team drawn shall have home advantage).

Round 1A

June 21: Wicklow, Offaly, Dublin/Laois, Wexford/Longford, Fermanagh, Derry, Limerick, London.

Round 1B

June 28: Westmeath, Louth/Kildare, Carlow/Meath, Down, Armagh/Cavan, Monaghan/Tyrone, Clare/Waterford, Leitrim.