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All eyes will be on Hyde Park Roscommon this Sunday as Fergal O’Donnell’s men bid to win back to back Connacht championships. James Horan’s Mayo side stand in their way. It has all the ingredients of a cracker in front of a packed house.

The Galway minor footballers, under the management of Tommie Joyce, will face Roscommon this Sunday (12 noon) in Hyde Park in the Connacht final.

Mayo manager James Horan reflects on Mayo's six point win over Galway.

Reigning champions Roscommon remain on track to defend their title having easily accounted for a disappointing Leitrim side in Carrick-on-Shannon last Sunday. Fergal O Donnell’s men were far superior to Leitrim throughout the field and judging on this performance they have every chance of claiming back-to-back titles.

Kevin Walsh's Sligo team start their Connacht championship campaign on Sunday when they take on Leitrim in Markievicz Park. The Yeat's men were unlucky to be relegated from division two of the NFL this year, but, even without the injured David Kelly, they should have too much power and class for Leitrim.

It’s a sort of homecoming on Saturday evening for Mayo manager James Horan and his captain Alan Dillon. Mayo will take on Offaly in their last challenge game ahead of the championship throw in on Sunday fortnight in Ruislip against London. The challenge game has been organised to mark the official opening of the new €1 million development by Ballintubber GAA Club which has redeveloped the pitch and installed an Astroturf pitch along with redevelopment of the resource centre. Mayo will face down against Offaly at 5pm, and the game will be proceeded by the Horan Cup final between Ballintubber and Kilcock from Kildare at 2pm. An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, is expected to be on hand to perform the official opening at 4pm.

With the Mayo club championships now put to bed following Ballintubber’s victory over Castlebar Mitchels last weekend, all eyes will now be drawn to the Connacht club championship. The action gets underway on Sunday for the winners of both the Mayo Junior and Intermediate championships, when both Tourmakeady and Parke face Galway opposition. The men from the Gaeltacht will have Mayo advantage when they host St James from Galway city on Sunday, in McHale Park. The Galway champions overcame An Spidéal in the Galway final by a single point a fortnight ago, winning out on a score of 0-9 to 0-8. Midfielder Paul Conroy was the top scorer for the St James men in the final kicking four points of their nine point total.

Mayo’s senior handballers saw competitive action for the first time this year as the provincial singles and doubles semi-final were played last week. Dessie Keegan defeated club mate Vincent Moran very comfortably to reach the provincial senior final while Joe McCann accounted for Galway’s Ollie Conway in the other semi-final despite the loss of the opening game on an overall 16-21 , 21-6, 21-1 scoreline.

While Roscommon and Sligo face each other in the senior decider, traditional rivals Mayo and Galway get proceedings underway in the minor curtain raiser in McHale Park this Sunday. Both teams have had impressive runs to the final and as always with these age old rivals, winning could come down to a bounce of the ball or even a refereeing decision.

All roads lead to Castlebar on Sunday as Roscommon bid to win their first Connacht title since 2001. On that occasion they were captained by Fergal O’Donnell, the man who will be patrolling the sideline this time around.