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Mayo will start their defence of their Connacht u21 title tomorrow in Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown with the visit of Liam Sammon’s Galway side. Since the trio of Pat Holmes, Noel Connelly, and Mícheál Collins took charge of the side in 2006 they have at the least managed to claim the Connacht title, in their first year in charge they landed the top prize seeing off Cork on an unforgettable day in Ennis.

Mayo 2-6

Kerry 0-13

Mayo 4-14

Mayo 0-9

Mayo 3-14

I am confused as to the real potential of this Mayo team. I can’t honestly say how good this team is, as I doubt they have ever played an easier inter-county match in their lives, nor will they play an easier one ever again. I suggested here in this paper last week that I fully expected Roscommon to put it up to Mayo for 40 minutes or so but that ultimately Mayo’s greater fitness, ability, and general know how, would surface and they would pull away from Roscommon in the last 30 minutes possibly winning by 5/6 points. As you now know we won by 20! I had alluded to Roscommon’s morale-boosting victory over Leitrim a few weeks earlier that would have seen them arrive in Castlebar full of hope and brimming with confidence. I met a few of their supporters before the match in the Sportlann who had the audacity to suggest that they were in fact well capable of beating this particular Mayo team, and for me not to be one bit surprised if they pulled off a famous victory. Oh how wrong they were. This was arguably the worst performance from a senior Roscommon team in a championship encounter that I or many others have ever witnessed. Fergal O’Donnell, the messiah who had guided the county to their historic minor All Ireland victory in 2006, was in charge and their supporters were giddy with excitement and expectancy. Eleven of that minor squad were involved in one way or another last Saturday and they appeared to be relaxed and in confident mood as I watched them go through their paces in the warm up on the back pitch a half hour before the game.

Fixture pile ups usually occur for club sides in Mayo in late summer, if the senior inter-county team are involved in championship action at the business end of the season. But last weekend, as it will again this weekend, it came to a log jam for both the senior inter-county side and u21 side. Normally before inter-county games the senior team management announce their team on a Thursday evening, bar any niggling injuries that may be hanging around. But last week, John O’Mahony informed the press and public through county PRO Kevin O’Toole that there would be no side named until Sunday morning due to the involvement of the u21s in Connacht Championship action.

We are officially up and running now, with the championship opening in 16 days on another continent all that we were waiting for was the 30 names who would make up the championship panel for 2009. When the list was announced on Sunday evening there were no major surprises as John O’Mahony and his backroom team set out their stall for the summer. As was widely expected James Nallen, Keith Higgins, David Heany, and Trevor Howley were all included in the panel despite none of them taking part in the league campaign. In total 22 of those picked for last year’s squad at the same stage of the year were selected again this year, with the likes of Colm Boyle, James Gill, and Michael Mullins all not making the cut this time around. While the veterans Nallen and Heany were included Aidan Higgins, whom many thought might have got the nod, was not selected despite lining out in a recent challenge match against Offaly in Castlebar.

Standing in the broad sunshine in Pearse Park, Longford, last Saturday as evening began to creep across the midlands a disappointed but still positive Pat Holmes picked his way through the questions that followed his side’s third consecutive defeat in an All Ireland u21 semi-final. “Of course you are disappointed, that you didn't get another step when you come out of your province. But some very fine players have emerged for Mayo. The group of players that we had, you couldn't fault any of them for attitude for commitment, and I believe that they all gave to their full potential, but what more can you ask for?” Despite tasting defeat Holmes is confident that the players who have now passed on from his tutelage at this grade and some who are still under-age next year will have a big say in the future fortunes of Mayo football.