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The eagerly anticipated AIB Connacht senior Football Club Championship final between Corofin and Mayo champions Ballintubber takes place this Sunday (2pm) at MacHale Park, Castlebar.

A few weeks ago before the county final between Castlebar Mitchels and Ballintubber I envisaged a predicament that Cillian O’Connor could find himself in. I thought nothing of it at the time because I expected Castlebar to retain the Moclair Cup. O’Connor was at the final stages of the trials for the International Rules team, with his skill set and physical attributes I have no doubt he would have been on Paul Early's panel. When Ballintubber won the county final I immediately thought of O’Connor and the predicament, club versus country? It was simple; he was going nowhere and immediately pulled out of the Irish set up to give his full attention to his club.

When the big questions are asked the big players stand up and that's what happened on Sunday, when Ballintubber battled their way into their first ever Connacht senior championship final. When the Roscommon champions came knocking, Alan Dillon, Cillian O'Connor, Jason Gibbons and Stephen Broderick all stood up and had the answers for the questions put to them and their team-mates and in a few weeks time, they'll be ready to answer those same questions from Corofin in the final.

Congratulations to Ballintubber who clinched their third Moclair Cup in five years against last year’s county and Connacht champions, and their fiercest rivals Castlebar Mitchels. It is a marvellous achievement for a team that was playing intermediate football in 2007.

Goals win games and there was no recovering from the two goals they shipped inside the opening ten minutes for Castlebar Mitchels on Sunday in MacHale Park.

Elvery’s MacHale Park is the place to be this weekend, when the best eight senior club teams in the county do battle for a place in the semi-finals of this year’s club championship.

Cillian O’Connor picked up the man of the match award on The Sunday Game, for his fantastic display, while Colm Boyle got he nod on Sky Sports but those two weren't the only Mayo players deserving of special praise.

Mayo head into Sunday's Connacht final looking to win four Connacht titles in a row for the first time since 1951.

Mayo manager James Horan has thrown a wildcard into the mix this week, with the news that former Ireland and Connacht rugby player Gavin Duffy has joined up with the Mayo senior football squad. Duffy who was a Mayo minor star on the team that lost the 1999 All Ireland minor final was recently released by Connacht after his second stint with the province where he played 173 games scoring 83 points. His period at Connacht was interrupted by a spell in England with Harlequins from 2003 to 2006 where he played 110 times and won the Challenger Cup in 2004 scoring a try in their final win over AS Montferrand. Duffy played ten times for Ireland over his rugby career scoring 18 points, getting his first try in his second cap against Scotland in the 2005 six nations. He was also part of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Mayo will get the 2014 season under way five days later than initially announced, with the announcement on the county board Twitter feed on Wednesday evening that the FBD League game against NUIG would now take place on Friday January 10 in Elvery’s MacHale Park. Mayo will be in action again two days later against IT Sligo and then face Roscommon away the following Sunday, January 19. With Mayo on their well deserved team holiday at the start of the month, the fixture change was inevitable. The change will see Mayo GAA fans get to see the senior side in action twice in three days at the start of the month, and the county’s u21 side in action on the Saturday sandwiched between when they play in the Hastings Cup at home to Cavan on January 11. Mayo are hosting a fundraising banquet in the Knockranny House Hotel on Sunday December 22 to raise funds for the team holiday with tickets costing €100 per adult and €10 per child. To book your place contact Elverys MacHale Park on 094 9250487 or contact 087 6680115