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While the FBD League in January is not somewhere that you can make an solid predictions of what is to come in the year ahead, there is one thing that you can take from this year’s early season jaunt around the province at this stage, and that is that James Horan was true to his word when he said he would be giving all his players a chance to impress during the competition.

Mayo 1-12

The Mayo senior and intermediate football championships kicked into life this weekend, with most sides getting to grips with the white heat of championship fare for the first time this season. The big surprise of the weekend occurred on Saturday evening when Norman O'Brien's Ballinrobe destroyed Ballaghaderreen in Charlestown. The south Mayo men pulled off a 1-11 to 0-5 win over the 2008 county champions and restricted them to a solitary point in the second half, Kenneth O'Malley also saved a penalty from Andy Moran in the game.

While the post-mortem on Mayo’s inglorious exit from the Connacht championship went on over the week and will go into the future, it’s back to basics this weekend for the inter county football panel when they rejoin their club mates for the first round proper of action in the Royal Theatre senior and intermediate championships.

A little bit earlier than some would have liked the Royal Theatre Senior Football Championship roars back into life for 2010 on Saturday evening. First up in the championship are the champions and the new kids on the block in the solitary five team group in Charlestown at 7pm on Saturday. West Mayo will bring the combined forces of Islandeady, Parke, Louisburgh, and Balla together under the guidance of Padraig Walsh to try to topple Ciaran McBrien’s men in the championship opener. Charlestown will go into the game as hot favourites, but they have been known to be slow starters in the championship, and this early outing could prove to be a tricky encounter if the amalgamated side manage to click on the field. Players like Ollie Feeney, Jarlath O’Malley, Peter Collins, Simon Cloherty, and Conor Walsh will be watched to show they have the class to make the step up from the junior ranks to senior football.

Ever since Joe McQuillian blew his final whistle in Croke Park last August and brought Mayo’s 2009 season to a shuddering end at the hands of Meath, all minds have been set firmly on the start of the national league and Mayo’s next crack at an All-Ireland run. The FBD league has run its course to a final spot against Galway at the end of the month, but Sunday’s game against the old enemy is where it all really begins again. While the lights may have been extinguished on this fixture by planning issues, there should still be plenty of fireworks on the field when the sides go head to head on Sunday in a game where both sides have a lot of questions to answer about each other.

The next two weekends of action for the Mayo senior footballers have a more challenging and appealing look to them than the previous two weekends fare against the students from Galway and Sligo. Games against Roscommon this Sunday, and Galway the following week, in the opening round of the national league is the early season competition for which Mayo supporters have been waiting.

Castlebar lose unbeaten record

With the Connacht Junior League taking a break this weekend after the first couple of rounds of games got the paddocks across the province muddied up for the rest of the season, it will give the Mayo sides involved a chance to regroup and get their game plans down for the remainder of the year. With five rounds of the league gone so far Westport are the best placed Mayo side and sit in sixth position in the league tables on 12 points with two wins from five. They sit a point ahead of Castlebar thanks to the four bonus points they have picked up. Castlebar, despite having won the same number of games and picking up a draw, trail their near neighbours because they have only managed to pick up a solitary bonus point in their five outings.

•Galwegians are in action on Saturday when they play their fisrt AIB Cup fixture this season. They host Highfield in Crowley Park in this postponed second round fixture. Highfield advanced with a 13-6 victory over Sunday’s Well, but Galwegians should prove too strong for this division two side which currently lies 11th in the league. Galwegians, who advanced to the semi-finals before losing 5-8 to Shannon last season, have another great opportunity to go through - the winners will play division three outfit Nenagh Ormond in the next round. Buccaneers have already advanced following their superb victory over Clontarf.