Battle-hardened Mayo can retain their Connacht crown

West of Ireland football seasons don’t revolve around this pairing anymore but it remains a rite of passage for players.

This edition holds a localised importance that is as significant as ever. A win here will leave Mayo in a strong shape of mind as they face down a third consecutive tilt at an All-Ireland final. For Galway, a strong performance will offer further evidence that they are travelling in the right direction but there is a vague murmur that Galway may have the vigour and sense of tradition to shock the home team here.

That seems unlikely. When the Mayo team was released on Thursday evening, it held the definite look of the tried and tested. The return of Keith Higgins to the corner back is less an admission that the experiment of placing the Ballyhaunis man among the forwards failed as an acknowledgement that he is simply irreplaceable as a defender.

Chris Barrett’s first start since last year’s All-Ireland adds to the depth of experience and quality within the back six.

Barry Moran is named at midfield along with Séamus O’Shea , with the younger brother placed at centre forward/human wrecking ball.

Inserting Aidan O’Shea in the engine room of the Mayo attack is an intriguing move. Every time he moved forward with intent last summer, good things happened. The problems occurred when he was dragged out to the periphery of play, in particular during the All-Ireland final against Dublin.

O’Shea has been transformed from the slightly disconsolate young full-forward he was shaping up to be before Horan gave him a central role.

Central figure

After a thunderous campaign in 2012, there is an expectation that he can be a central figure in hauling Mayo across the September threshold. The bigger question is whether the Mayo attack can live with the best this year. Given the team’s capacity for producing phenomenal scores under Horan, carping about their attacking play can seem begrudging. But the unit struggled for long periods against Tyrone in last year’s semi-final and also in the final against Dublin.

The return of the boys of summer suggests that Mayo have found nobody new: that they simply cannot find a knacky little beggar who can whip over 0-3 without anyone really noticing. But Adam Gallagher showed flashes of real promise in the league and Alan Freeman, a key performer last summer, is held in reserve.

Also, there is endless room for improvisation, with the O’Shea’s comfortable at midfield and Barry Moran able to operate at the edge of the square. Whether there is a new dynamic and point to Mayo’s attack remains to be seen –and it is unlikely that Mayo will unveil it tomorrow in any case.

Mayo came like a juggernaut last summer and arguably peaked a little early. They laboured against Roscommon in their semi-final win and needed the cavalry of Dillon and Moran to see them through. But they won.

Alan Mulholland admitted that last year’s evisceration in Salthill caused Galway to recalibrate their approach to training and physicality. Twelve months on, they know what to expect.

Star graduates

Galway’s midfield partnership of Fiontáin Ó Curraoin and Tom Flynn, star graduates from the All-Ireland winning U-21 school, have been given rave billings after dominating the skies in Markievicz park.

Mayo’s Rob Hennelly will kick ball away from them all afternoon, with Kevin McLoughlin and O’Shea likely to be frequent targets. The general expectation here is that a coming Galway team will earn valuable experience on this occasion but no Connacht medals.

But they have seasoned operators in their back division in Gareth Bradshaw, Finian Hanley and Gary O’Donnell and a half-forward line with terrific potential to force Mayo’s flying wing backs into a stay-home mentality. As Mulholland has stated, they will take the field feeling no sense of pressure other than to perform.

If Galway get going quickly and Mayo chug along as they did against Roscommon, it could make for a tantalising afternoon. But this Mayo team has been locked into a fascinating battle against mythology for the past four summers and they have proven themselves to be exceptional in honesty and consistency. Their main objective is to make it to the All-Ireland quarter-finals without showing their hand.

They should take another step and strengthen the links with ’51 tomorrow in Castlebar.