Ten key questions ahead of Sunday's do-or-die football championship derby between Galway and Mayo

Galway and Mayo face other again in an age old rivalry but who will come out on top. 

10 QUESTIONS: Ryan O’Donoghue of Mayo in action against Johnny Heaney of Galway during the Connacht SFC Quarter-Final match at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Is the half-time scoreline important?

Seriously? This is Salthill, the place that trademarked the game of two halves where winning the coin toss is worth a few scores. With a forecast for rain and 30 km/h westerly winds, kicking into the Salthill-Knocknacarra club end should be a drudge on Sunday. Aside from the location, history shows it’s good to be up at the break. In eight of their last 10 SFC meetings, the team leading at the interval has ended up winning.

Who makes the best Galway-Mayo combined team?

Seventeen-point winners over Galway in Pearse Stadium 10 years ago, at the final whistle a Mayo player asked a local journalist just how many Galway men his newspaper would pick now in a combination of the two teams having chosen a relatively balanced hybrid selection in the build-up. For what it’s worth now, here’s our current selection if fit: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Seán Kelly, Jack Glynn; Paddy Durcan, John Daly, Stephen Coen; Matthew Ruane, Cillian McDaid; Jordan Flynn, Johnny Heaney, Shane Walsh; Aidan O’Shea, Damien Comer, Ryan O’Donoghue.

Do Mayo start Tommy Conroy?

A replacement for James Carr in the last two games, Conroy put his hand as high as he could with 1-1 in TUS Gaelic Grounds last Sunday. The likes of Armagh and Cork have demonstrated the importance of keeping some talent in reserve for the closing stages but those were in round-robin games. Needs must in knock-out football and Conroy should be in from the outset.

How bad are Damien Comer and Dylan McHugh’s hamstring problems?

Seeing as Galway were already through to the last 12, they weren’t going to be taking any risks with it (note: Kerry, who hadn’t yet qualified, chose to do the same with Gavin White) but Pádraic Joyce, who incidentally for some reason did not speak to RTÉ before the Armagh game despite a request, might have some regrets about not having him togged out in Carrick-on-Shannon at least. Not taking Seán Kelly off quicker might be another.

Can Stephen Rochford break his Galway duck in SFC?

It also applies to the Connacht SFC which Rochford has yet to win as manager or coach but in his four seasons in Mayo management he has yet to beat their neighbours in championship football. After five Mayo wins spanning seven seasons, Rochford experienced three Connacht defeats in as many years to Galway – 2016 and ‘17 semi-finals and ‘18 quarter-final.

Do Galway take advantage at home?

Looking at their 20-year SFC record against Mayo in Salthill, not as often as they should, really. Four victories in eight championship derbies is a pretty ordinary figure. Though Mayo’s is the same in Castlebar where they haven’t beaten Galway in SFC since 2014.

Was Aidan O’Shea given the right information from the sideline last Sunday?

Seeing as there is a job to do on Sunday, it will be parked for now but there did appear to be mixed signals from management as O’Shea dusted himself off having won that last-gasp free against Cork last weekend. Nevertheless, it could raise its head should there be a post-mortem. As calculating a management group as this Mayo set-up is, there should be no excuse for not knowing the permutations.

Why didn’t Galway utilise the standby list the last day?

If that uncertainty on the Mayo sideline was a negative then so too was Galway's management not electing to call on replacements for hamstring injury victims Comer and McHugh. So long as medical reports were provided for the pair, Galway would be entitled to bring in two from a four-man list. It was reported Galway missed the medical report deadline. They ended up making just three permanent substitutes against Armagh.

Will there be anything more than a score between them?

Not likely. Outside of their 2021 Connacht final in Croke Park, there hasn’t been more than three points separating them at the final whistle since the 2015 Connacht semi-final when Mayo won by four in Salthill. Five of Galway’s last five SFC wins against Mayo have come by three points or less, a single point on three of those occasions. As tight as things are between them, there hasn’t been a draw in championship since 1992.

Will anyone see red on Sunday?

Possibly. Things are known to get heated. Michael Farragher was the last man who saw red in the 2021 provincial final in GAA HQ when the game had already slipped by Galway. In 2019, Galway lost Ian Burke in additional time as Mayo had the upper hand. Arguably, the last game-changing dismissals were Diarmuid O’Connor’s in 2018 and Keith Higgins a year earlier. Both were shown to the line in the first half.