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I have no doubt Stephen Rochford slept soundly last Sunday night after his team finally put 70 minutes together that all his hard work merited. This was a big game which attracted all the national media, Roscommon against Mayo in the 2016 national league was the main event on the GAA calender. It’s a long time since that was said about two Connacht counties going head to head in a league game, the last time probably the 2001 league final between Mayo and Galway.

It was a must win game for Mayo and Stephen Rochford was a contented figure not long after the final whistle was blown in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon. Rochford’s Mayo side had just seen off Roscommon with an impressive display and he was also able to welcome back to action one very key man whose form will be a big factor in Mayo’s chances of success this summer.

Mayo get their National Football League campaign under way on Sunday away to Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn, and for new manager Stephen Rochford it is going to the first major test of his side's credentials in the new season. Rochford will be dealing from a slightly rigged deck when he makes his first team selection, with no players from Castlebar Mitchels available to him, or from Hollymout-Carramore and Ardnaree who have booked their places in their respective All Ireland club finals.

This weekend Stephen Rochford will take his first training session with the Mayo senior team, just three weeks out from their first game of the 2016. Last Thursday night Rochford met the press for the first time since his appointment and spoke at length about his hopes and the challenges ahead for the next year and much more. 

Medtronic senior footballers produced their finest display in many years to defeat a highly fancied Allergan side by 2-15 to 0-10 and claim their third successful Connacht title.

If Breaffy are going to claim their first ever senior county title, they are certainly going to earn it. After topping a group that included fellow semi-finalists Knockmore, they saw off arguably the fourth best team in the county in Garrymore in their quarter-final win. On Sunday they backed that up with a steamrolling of the defending county champions Ballintubber to set up a final on the bank holiday weekend against fellow local rivals Castlebar Mitchels. This will be a repeat of the 2013 final between the sides, with a few little angles thrown into the mix.

The Ballintubber juggernaut roles on into the semi-finals of the Mayo Senior Football Championship after the defending champions had nine points to spare over Ballina Stephenites at the end of an intriguing encounter in MacHale Park on Sunday afternoon.

Breaffy v Garrymore

"What we do need to concentrate on is being at our very best in June, July, August, and September, and whatever we have to do to be in the best shape we can be, that's what we have to concentrate on," said Noel Connelly on a wet and cold evening last November when he and Pat Holmes sat down to meet the local press for the first time after their appointment as the new Mayo senior management ticket. This coming Sunday is last Sunday in August, and things have gone exactly to that plan so far. If they are to keep going until September then the next step is to get over Dublin on Sunday.

This Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final clash between 2013 All-Ireland champions Dublin, and the team they defeated by a single point in that final, Mayo, has the entire country anticipating a humdinger of a game. Croke Park itself is a total sell-out, so there will be 82,000 plus a few stragglers at the game itself, and about 750,000 viewers tuning in on TV.