First Connacht title of the year up for grabs today

Summer really is on the way. It’s not just the incessant sunshine and the temperatures edging above the mid-teens (although these factors undoubtedly help) but it's also the fact that the first Connacht final of the year, at U21 level, takes place this afternoon. McHale Park is the venue for today’s showdown between the reigning Connacht and All-Ireland champions (that’s our lads) and the Rossies, a match that will pit Mayo’s U21 management team of Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly against their former mentor, John Maughan. It's also the first time for a Mayo side to take on a team managed by John Maughan in a championship encounter. This could be useful preparation because, if we get past Galway on 20th May, we're almost certain to be facing him again in the senior final in early July.

Mayo had an impressive seven point victory over Galway in their opening U21 match last weekend but they’re likely to face a tougher battle today against a Roscommon team that is well populated by players who tasted All-Ireland minor success with their county last September. Roscommon’s senior team has been in the doldrums for a number of years – a situation that hasn’t altered appreciably since Maughan’s arrival last year – but the unexpected All-Ireland success at minor level last year offers the county a chance to build a senior team that is once again able to compete seriously with Mayo and Galway. Today’s U21 final marks an important step on this developmental road so, from our perspective, it would be an opportune time to bugger up their succession planning and help to claim the future for ourselves.

Our prospects haven’t been helped by the injury that goalkeeper Kenneth O’Malley sustained playing for the seniors against the Dubs last Sunday, one that will keep him sidelined until after the U21 All-Ireland final next month. He’ll be a big loss to the team but Mayo, captained by Mark Ronaldson, still have a number of survivors from last year’s U21 squad and so it’s a realistic hope that this experience will help push today’s result in our favour.

Tomorrow it's back to NFL action, with the final round of regulation matches prior to next weekend's playoffs. While the outcome of our match with Tyrone up in Omagh is of no real relevance to us, it is to Tyrone who are battling to retain their Division 1 status following an uncharacteristically inconsistent league run. Tyrone know that if they lose to us they're very likely for the hop, unless, of course, their chums in Kerry bail them out by scalping the Dubs. We can therefore expect to encounter Tyrone in their meanest and most uncompromising guise tomorrow.

That said, while a few of our regulars sit this one out, Johnno has resisted the temptation to field a B team and has instead picked what looks on paper to be quite a strong side. We're clearly not just going there to fulfill the fixture and Johnno appears to want to keep the winning run going ahead of next weekend's outing to Croker for the semi-final. One noteworthy aspect about the Mayo team for tomorrow is that James Nallen - who partners Pat Harte at midfield - becomes the player to have played most matches (123 in all) with the county team. While he is undoubtedly in the twilight of his inter-county career, Jimmy has been a marvellous servant to The Cause over the years and, appropriately enough, he'll captain the side at Omagh tomorrow.

In terms of predictions, Paddy Power come down firmly on Tyrone's side for tomorrow's clash - they're on offer at 8/15, while we're available at 15/8. That's good odds for us, I think. Elsewhere, RTE and the Irish Times follow Paddy Power's lead by backing Tyrone (on the not unreasonable basis that they have something to play for while we don't) while Setanta plump for us (without really saying why). This will definitely be a tough one to get anything out of but it would be great to be heading for Croker with another win under our belts. If it's a tight match with ten minutes to go, would you bet against us?

We're off to Croker!

The GAA confirmed yesterday that the Division 1 NFL semi-finals will be played as a double-header at Croke Park on Sunday week (15th April). Ourselves and Donegal are already sure of being there and we'll know on Sunday evening who our respective opponents will be at HQ the following weekend. It's good for the team to be back playing competitive football at Croker so soon after last September's debacle and it would be even better if we could get back to winning there while we're at it.

I have to say that I'm looking forward to seeing some Gaelic football in Croker for a change. I was always a big supporter of opening up Croke Park to rugby and soccer and I managed to get to the rugby match against France and the soccer match against Slovakia but I have to admit to a sense of underwhelment at the spectacle provided by the other two codes. The rugby was interesting but far too technical for my liking, what with all those endless set pieces, while the soccer was just boring and far too long (and that was the match that everyone said was the exciting one). Also, the atmosphere for the internationals - with all that green, the Oireland chants and the Fields of bloody Athenry - left me, I have to confess, rather unmoved. It will be good to have the unstructured chaos that is often Gaelic football back again, with plenty of different colour from the four counties involved. And a win for Mayo.

The team for Sunday's trip to Omagh has been announced. I haven't got the print version of the Irish Times yet today and it's not in the web versions of either the Times or the Indo so my source is the normally reliable Mayofans.com, which I'm assuming is correct. Here it is:

D Clarke; A Higgins, L O'Malley, K Higgins; G Mullins, BJ Padden, E Devenney; P Harte, J Nallen; A Moran, G Brady, A Kilcoyne; C Mortimer, A Dillon, M Conroy.

It appears that Johnno has chosen not take Niccolò's advice as regards team selection! Players carrying knocks and those, like Campbell, who are on U21 duty tomorrow, have been rested but otherwise this is a strong team. Liam O'Malley gets a run at full-back (where he started last year's championship) in place of James Kilcullen with Aidan Higgins taking his place at corner-back. Enda Devenney switches wings in the half-backs to replace Peadar Gardiner, with Garry Mullins coming in at right-half. James Nallen comes in for David Heaney at midfield and Andy Moran switches out to right-half forward instead of Aidan Campbell, with Michael Conroy getting an overdue start in his place at top of the left.

Finally, I'm doing a bit of experimentation on the video front. As you can see, I've added a sidebar containing videos that are on the newly-established Green and Red YouTube channel. I'm not sure if I'll leave the sidebar there - it kinda takes up a lot of room and only includes some of the videos on the channel - but, if not I'll just leave the link to it. By the way, I've uploaded more videos from the Fermanagh and Dublin games - one from the former and three more from the latter - and I hope to add video clips from all matches I'm at from here on. Enjoy!

Johnno’s Machiavellian moment?

Every aspiring politician will at least know of Niccolò Machiavelli. He was, of course, the original cute hoor of the Italian Renaissance, whose classic treatise on statecraft, The Prince, has been well thumbed by generations of politicians all over the world, not least by our own Fianna Fail backwoodsmen. Niccolò was a smart lad and, in The Prince, he provides valuable advice to those exercising power who, on the one hand, must be above public reproach while, at the same time, getting up to all manner of nefarious activities behind the scenes to ensure that the greater public good is satisfied.

Which brings us neatly to this weekend’s final round of NFL matches before the playoffs. (Hands up all those in the playoffs? Not so quick Misters O’Shea, Harte and Caffrey!) Those three poor wretches – Kerry, Tyrone and Dublin – who sit below us in the table are scrapping it out for the two Division 1 places on offer for next year and, as Pat, Mickey and Pillar are well aware, three into two won’t go. The Dubs play Kerry (though, to national media chagrin, not for a place in the semis and not at Croker either) while we travel to Omagh to face Tyrone.

As this particular race reaches the final bend, the Dubs are in the ha’penny (or putative Division 2) place, needing a win over Kerry to retain their Division 1 status. A draw could do Dublin, but only if we beat Tyrone, in which case Tyrone would fall to Division 2. Kerry can afford to lose to the Dubs but, again, only if we beat Tyrone. If we lose and Kerry do too, then it’s the cute hoors from the South-West who fall through the trapdoor. Which is where our friend Niccolò Machiavelli comes back into it.

I don’t know about you but, were I asked to choose which county out of the three struggling wretches that I’d like to see fall to Division 2, it would have to be Kerry. Dublin are kinda nice to have around – for hole-kicking purposes – and our head-to-head record against Tyrone is quite good too. But Kerry . . . yes, need I go on? Relegation wouldn’t be the end of the world to them but for a county that sees league success as a handy training exercise prior to launching its annual assault on the All-Ireland, it would, to paraphrase Gerry Adams, be a bit pussed off to find itself down among the great unwashed of Division 2. Who knows? It might even start a whispering campaign against Pat O’Shea and cause sufficient rancour to destabilise them and generally bugger up their championship preparations. It’s got to be worth a shot.

What advice would our friend Niccolò give to that other aspiring politician were he to join Johnno’s inner circle this week? Go for another win in Omagh, to keep the run going? Or, maybe, decide that this would be a really good opportunity to blood a few 16 year-olds? (Which it would, of course, as Tyrone know plenty about drawing blood). I know, I know, we’d still be relying on the Dubs to fulfil their part of the bargain - a big ask, even in the partisan surroundings of Parnell Park - but the temptation to, ahem, help events on their way must be there, mustn’t it?

Johnno has already hinted that he does indeed intend to change the team for Sunday, now that the result of that particular match is of little immediate interest to The Cause. But how many changes is he likely to make and will he be browsing through his FG-supplied copy of The Prince while doing so?

O'Malley's thumb and other stuff

Medical update on Kenneth O'Malley's thumb: reports now say that he has dislocated, not fractured, it but he's still - according to the Mayo News - looking at an eight week layoff. Not only does that rule him out of the Galway showdown on 20th May, it also means that he'll miss the rest of our U21 campaign, even if we get all the way to the final again (this is due to take place on 4th May). That's a heavy price to pay for deflecting a goalbound shot from Dublin over the bar the last day.

In the same Mayo News article, Johnno confirms that he'll do a bit of experimentation for Sunday's trip to Omagh, now that we have the luxury of not giving a rat's posterior about the result. More on that topic tomorrow.

Finally, here's Kevin McStay's thoughts on the weekend's activity - penned while on his Easter hols out in Spain - where, in all likelihood, it was marginally cooler than at McHale Park last Sunday.

Looking back, looking ahead

A quick one this time, to deal with a few issues from Sunday and a few more about the coming weekend.

First, a correction to yesterday's post. I watched most of the game again on Setanta last night and I realised that the first video clip I included yesterday was, in fact, Andy Moran's point and not Alan Dillon's. The fact that it was taken with the right from that distance should have raised suspicions but it was only when I saw the action on the box that I discovered the error. Sorry 'bout that. Sorry also, Dubs fans, that WAS the penalty miss in the second video. The only difference watching it on TV was that the spectacle of Dublin blowing an ill-gotten match-winning chance was even more enjoyable. And the ref was still an idiot - Jayo played for the penalty and Cahill definitely should have walked for his assault on Dillon. And all those wides: sixteen in total, I think.

Okay, that's enough looking back. Looking ahead to the league semi-finals, it's still not clear who we'll be up against on two weeks time. Assuming we don't win our group (a safe assumption, I think, given where we are versus Donegal and who our respective opponents are this weekend), we'll be up against the winners of Division 1B. Kildare currently head this Division (where, I wonder, would the Lilywhites stand in Division 1A had they been playing in it? Not on top, that's for sure) on 9 points, with a +5 points difference. Laois are second on 8 points (+15), Galway are third also on eight points (+8), while Derry are fourth on 7 points (+3). The top two play each other next weekend at Newbridge, with Galway hosting bottom-of-the-table Down and Derry at home to Louth.

Obviously, the likely Divisional winners will emerge from the Newbridge clash, because if one of them wins there, they'll also win the Division. However, a draw at Newbridge would enable Galway, with superior points difference to Kildare, to top the Division and book a clash with us. I doubt this will happen: Laois need to beat Kildare to make the playoffs and, after tonking Armagh last Saturday evening, they should be more than a match for the soft-centred Lilywhites. So, after our rematch with the Dubs, we could be set for another reprise of the Summer of 2006, this time in the form of Laois. And this one could well be at Croker.

Finally, there's our injury list, which, unfortunately ain't getting any shorter. As Setanta reports this morning, goalkeeper Kenneth O'Malley is the latest victim, having fractured his thumb against the Dubs. David Brady has also suffered a setback: he now, apparently, has a thigh problem to deal with. O'Malley is probably out for the rest of the league but Brady might be fit for the playoffs, depending on how serious this latest problem is. While these most recent injuries are a pain (both to the players involved and to The Cause), they don't represent a catastrophe: David Clarke can slot in between the sticks and the reborn David Heaney can continue to enjoy himself at midfield. The U21s will miss O'Malley, though, as he's one of the All-Ireland winning bunch from last year who are still eligible for 2007. He obviously won't be available for next weekend's Connacht U21 final against the Rossies.

Mayo 0-10, Dublin 0-9: another comeback win clinches playoff place

We could get used to this! For the second weekend in a row, Mayo more or less failed to show up for the first half but then more than made up for it with a storming second half display, once again snatching victory by just a single point. But, just like last week, one point was as good as a hundred and the win had the added bonus of securing our place in the NFL playoffs, incredibly - given the strong competition we've faced in Division 1A - with the final round of matches still to come. If you're looking for a report on yesterday's match, try the Indo, Setanta or RTE. Eugene McGee's analysis in the Indo is also worth a peek.

This really was a game of two halves. After a relatively even opening quarter, Dublin raced into a five-point half-time lead, at which stage we looked in serious bother. However, with the wind to our backs in the second half, we began to launch a wave of Route 1 attacks which, once the Dubs were reduced to fourteen men soon after, became more or less relentless. Dublin failed to score in the second half - even from the penalty spot - and we kicked a few hundred wides (okay, a slight exaggeration but it just seemed like that at the time) as well as the six points that secured the win.

A number of factors are worth noting about the game. Let's start with the weather. A beautifully warm(ish) and sunny day, with a cloudless sky, made it look like the perfect day for football. However, as often can be the case at McHale Park, a strong wind blew down the pitch (almost, though not quite, in a straight line) and this made it extremely difficult to judge how and where to kick the ball. This made mistakes inevitable and both sides struggled to figure out how best to move the ball in the conditions. Dublin opted, with some success, to play a neat, passing game in the first half and it was during this period that they really opened us up. In the second half, we chose to welly it into them and we won enough ball to create ample scoring chances. We really should have won by six or seven points, given all those chances but, in retrospect (and only in retrospect can one say this), all the wides added an extra frisson of excitement to the day's events.

Then there was the ref: what an idiot. Pointless bookings, stupid, indefensible decisions (including the Dubs' penalty, which Jayo clearly played for, in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo) and, when it came to the crunch, craven, gutless cowardice. He'd got Keaney's sending-off right, mind you, and this undoubtedly altered the course of the game, as Keaney was playing very well (scoring three points) and the sending-off really hampered Dublin's cause, making it virtually impossible for them to attack us. But the ref's moment of truth came later: Barry Cahill poleaxed Alan Dillon with a high clothesline tackle, which could only merit one punishment. However, just as the ref bottled the Ciaran Whelan incident last August, so too did our man in Castlebar, presumably because the Dubs were already down to fourteen men at that stage. This meant that the attempted murder (almost) of Dillon warranted yellow rather than red. Nuff said.

Then there were the two sidelines. Johnno once again refused to panic and made five changes over course of the game (one enforced, as our unfortunate goalie Kenneth O'Malley broke a thumb and was replaced by David Clarke), all of which helped the cause. Both Ger Brady and Austie (despite his point) played poorly and their replacements - Aidan Campbell and Alan Dillon - injected more purpose into the attack, Dillon landing a fine point from play. Here it is:

Pillar, meanwhile, panicked and, when Pillar panicks, he doesn't do it in half measures. Bonnar out to midfield, Whelan off, Ryan on at full-forward, Cullen up to the half-forwards, Cullen back to the half-backs again. On and on the changes went, enough to make one dizzy. And then he did what he really shouldn't have done - he went and took off Mossie Quinn, just like he did last August. And the inevitable happened: a penalty for the Dubs (back in Croker it was a free) that Mossie would have nailed. But Mossie was already warming down and so Diarmuid Connolly - who in fairness took the kick well - was left to see his effort come back off the post to safety. Dubs' fans, you may wish to look away now:

And then there was our backline, which looked as loose as the proverbial goose in the first half, while those neat, fit Dubs lads waltzed through them almost at will. But here's an interesting fact (for which credit goes to The Brother, who noted all this down): they didn't foul, not at all (I'm not counting Jayo's theatrics for the penalty here) and so the damage that was done had to be done from play, which took a lot of effort on their part. Ultimately, the backs' discipline kept us in the game and made the score we had to get in the second half a manageable one.

And then there were our forwards, whose shooting was, to say the least, interesting. Mort had a stinker - when he picked up his customary booking in the first half, it looked he might walk before the day was out - but he was still a star and contributed four critical points, including a right humdinger from play. Austie and Ger Brady played their way out of the team - the Austie Fan Club now has to disband, I fear - but Killer cemented his place in the side, as did young Campbell and Dillon also showed his worth when he came on. Andy Moran and Kevin O'Neill have had better days but, no doubt, will have them again.

And then there was David Heaney. "He's had his chips" - when did I say that? Back in February sometime, I think. Yes, as a back, but David Heaney in midfield is a positive asset to the cause. He worked his nuts off there yesterday and scored two outstanding points from play. He's obviously at home in the thick of things at midfield and, in DB's continuing absence, he gives us strength, intelligence and mobility in that sector. He was clearly our Man of the Match.

And then there was the pitch invasion. Well, there were more than 15,000 people in McHale Park yesterday and, given such numbers, it was always likely that there would be an excitable minority who just couldn't be expected to keep their emotions in check. And it is April, after all, with the clocks having gone forward and we'd just wiped the eyes of not just the Dubs but Kerry and Tyrone as well.

And then there was (and is) The Johnno Effect. To have taken Mayo from the trauma of last September to the semi-finals of the league, in an ultra-competitive Division, with a game to spare represents as good a start to The Second Coming as could have been hoped for. When we got back to the car after the game, I spotted a Fine Gael election poster high up on a lamppost and there was The Great One, amidst three grubby politicos whose names now escape me, grinning his Election Grin with the others. Maybe it was the bright sunshine or something, but, when I glanced up at the photos, I'd swear there was a twinkle in Johnno's eyes . . .

U21s win; playoffs beckon if seniors do too

Our U21s got off to a flyer yesterday in their Connacht championship campaign, easing comfortably past Galway at Pearse Stadium. The defending Connacht and All-Ireland champions had seven points to spare over the Tribesmen, winning by 1-13 to 0-9. They now face the Rossies – who beat Sligo yesterday by 1-14 to 0-10 in the other semi-final – next Saturday in the Connacht decider. An early Connacht title in the bag would be nice but, with Roscommon starting to transition some of last year’s triumphant Minors through to U21, we can expect a tough battle next weekend.

And so to today’s crunch match with the Dubs at McHale Park. The weather promises to be fine and sunny, veering towards warm, and this - along with the sense of confidence now returning under Johnno’s Second Coming – should ensure that a monster crowd turns up at McHale Park this afternoon. While the roads were empty as we drove West last night, I’d expect plenty of Dublin supporters to make the trip too: indeed, we had two small Dubs travelling with us last night! With a big home support and a sizeable travelling contingent of Dubs, I’d expect well over 10,000 to turn up at McHale Park this afternoon.

Events down in Tralee last night – where Kerry and Tyrone played out a scrappy, nervous 0-9 each draw – mean that today’s match with the Dubs now has even more of a championship feel to it. Put simply, if we beat the Dubs today, we’re home and hosed as regards the playoffs. A win today would put us three points clear of both Tyrone and Kerry and four ahead of the Dubs with only one round of matches left to play. So it’s a simple message for the lads today: win this one and we’re in the playoffs.

Given the tough standard in Division 1A this year, it would be quite a phenomenal achievement to reach the playoffs with a match to spare and it’s a prize well worth going the extra mile for today. It would also represent a considerable rehabilitative feat following the traumas of last September and it would give Johnno and his team a great platform from which to launch this year’s championship campaign.

The Tralee result doesn’t, however, make the dogfight for the four Division 1 places appreciably clearer and, if we lose today, we’re still (if we also lose to Tyrone) in danger of sliding into Division 2. The one thing that is clear is that Tyrone cannot now make the playoffs but Kerry, the hoors, still can, providing they beat the Dubs next weekend while we lose both today and next weekend. That’s the nightmare outcome: we end up in Division 2 and Kerry end up in the playoffs, providing them with valuable match practice to launch their defence of the Sam. I much prefer the other scenario: paste the Dubs and we claim the playoff place ourselves today, leaving the other three, Kerry included, to scrap for the two Division 1 places on offer. Get to it, lads!