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The Mayo senior hurlers travel to Trim on Sunday afternoon to face Meath in the second round of the National Hurling League Division 2B. The two teams had contrasting fortunes in round one of the competition with Mayo just earning a draw against Roscommon, in a match they should have won, and with Meath defeating title contenders Down in Newry. Meath also hosted Christy Ring Cup winners London last weekend and were convincing winners on a score line of 2-17 to 1-11.

The Mayo senior hurlers have their first competitive outing of the season with a home game to near neighbours Roscommon this Sunday, February 24, at 2pm in Elverys McHale Park. This is their first game under recently appointed manager Christy Phillips who is hoping to start the League campaign with a win. Phillips and his backroom team of Ciaran Hynes (Westport), Austin Kenny (Tooreen), and Sean Malee (Kiltimagh) have been fine-tuning their preparations for the League since the first week in January, training three times a week at the 3G Connacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan and playing a number of challenge games. The hurlers received a major boost over the past few weeks with the return of Westport’s Aiden Connolly to the panel. Connolly was Mayo’s stand out player last season and his arrival will be a major boost to Mayo’s full backline. Mayo will be looking for strong performances from seasoned campaigners Donal O’Brien, Pa Connell, Shane Morley, Derek McDonnell, Kenny Feeney, and Brian Hunt. Relative newcomers to the panel Ciaran Finn, David Kenny, Adrian Guiry, and Colin Staunton will also be hoping to impress. The match day panel will also be bolstered by the return of All-Star Keith Higgins and football panellist Cathal Freeman.

The Mayo senior hurling team got off to a winning start last weekend in their first game under newly appointed manager, Christy Philips. The Limerick native had previously acted as a selector under previous manager Murt Connolly during his two years in charge of the side. Last Sunday afternoon in the Connacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan, Mayo faced Donegal in Philips’ first game in charge of the team. Despite having to play without a number of regular starters from the last few years Philips’ side managed to see off the challenge of their Ulster opponents by a single point on a scoreline of 3-7 to 1-12.

Tooreen 2-21

London 2-15

Murtt Connolly’s Mayo senior hurling side are looking to keep up their 100 per cent record in division 3B of the National Hurling League this Sunday. Mayo will host Donegal in McHale Park on Sunday at 2.30pm. So far this season wins over Roscommon, Fingal, and Louth have Mayo sitting pretty at the top of the table with three wins from three. Sunday’s opponents Donegal have one win from their three outings in the league, with their solitary win coming away to Monaghan in their second round game. Mayo’s last outing was a fortnight ago when they ground out a hard fought win over Louth in Dundalk. Connolly’s men will also have the services of dual player Keith Higgins back in harness for the game on Sunday after he returned from a holiday recently. In their last outing Kenny Feeney was the main man for Mayo, clipping over seven points, keeping up the good form he showed against Fingal in Mayo’s previous encounter. The goals came from Niall Murphy, Derek McDonnell, and Darren McTigue with Eoin Maddigan also prominent for Mayo. After Sunday’s game Mayo will have two games left in the league against Sligo and then away to Monaghan in a double header with the football team on the last day of action in the league stages of the competition. Mayo have their first outing in the Christy Ring Cup pencilled in for Saturday April 23 at home to Wicklow, and if they can keep up their good form of the early season through the latter stages of the league it will set them up nicely for their main competition of the year.

A weekend that promised a lot delivered very little for Mayo football followers, apart from more questions. On Saturday a very fancied u21 team went into battle against Roscommon in McHale Park in the preliminary round of the Connacht championship and were dumped out of the competition at the first hurdle. On paper Mayo had a team full of players who would have had designs on at least a Connacht title if not more. But when it came to the crunch, too many players did not show up and they were just passengers on they day when Roscommon won out by 0-11 to 0-9 in Castlebar.

James Horan waited until the action in the Sigerson Cup had concluded on Thursday afternoon before selecting his side for this Sunday’s clash with Kerry in McHale Park. Horan has made a number of changes from the side that lined out against Down in the opening round of the National League a fortnight ago. Into goal comes Breaffy’s Robert Hennelly for his first start in the Allianz League, the Breaffy man has been one of the most constant performers for both club and the underage county sides over the past few years. Tom Cunniffe holds onto his spot in the corner, with Ger Cafferkey moving back to full back after being previously placed at centre half back in the league opener. Belmullet Chris Barrett who didn’t make the match day 26 for the league opener gets the nod at number four. Peadar Gardiner and Trevor Howley come into the half back line with Kevin McLoughlin holding on to his spot along that line. The midfield pairing of Jason Gibbons and Ronan McGarrity will once again patrol the middle third. The Ballintubber and Ballina Stephenites combination looks like one that will be the preferred one for Horan in the long run. Aidan Campbell comes into the side in the half forward line with Andy Moran getting the number 11 shirt with Alan Dillon on the other flank. Aidan O’Shea moves into the corner from the last day out in the league, with Aidan Kilcoyne being rewarded for his good showing against NUIG getting the nod at full forward with Mark Ronaldson retaining his place in the corner. Mayo are of course without the injured duo of Alan Freeman and Enda Varley from the side which started against Down and a number of other players are still out injured since before the start of the season.

While the footballers have been doing the business on the field picking up two wins from their opening games in the national league, it is now the hurlers’ time to go into competitive action this weekend. Martin Brennan and Pete Finnerty are back on board for this year following initial murmuring that they were not going to take charge of the side again following their exit from the Christy Ring Cup at the semi final stage last term.

Mayo 3-16