Hoping to escape from New York

Ian O'Riordan talks to John Maughan about Mayo's trip to the United States.

This time every the year the GAA throws down its annual banana skin; the Connacht football championship fixture against New York. This morning Mayo make the transatlantic trip with thoughts firmly fixed on Sunday's game at Gaelic Park, and there'll be no unturned stones left behind.

Manager John Maughan admits he knows "very, very little" about the New York line-up but that's still enough to assess the challenge. New York are always up for this one. He circled the date several weeks ago and stamped it "Handle With Care".

"I just got this paper clipping sent to me yesterday," says Maughan, "all about their preparations. And they are obviously taking this game very seriously. They've been together the past three and half months, with a panel of 38 players. And they've been getting out training three times a week.

"They're described as a big, strong physical side, and I've also been told most of the players have taken this week off to prepare specifically for Sunday. And everyone knows that New York have nothing to lose. It's the sort of shock result people are always looking out for. We've been as professional as we could have been in preparing for this game. It would have been an injustice to New York if we hadn't."

The most recent reminder of New York's potential to send a travelling team slipping occurred this time last year. Leitrim travelled out in a focused mood and yet needed extra-time to finally get through, winning out in the end by two points.

Part of the deal is you never know what to expect. Some of the Mayo players got a preview of the New York style of play during the Connacht FBD league, and while Maughan was unable to attend that game, it was described as "exceptionally physical". But Maughan does know all about Gaelic Park, having played in the Bronx venue on several occasions.

"It's something of an alien environment, with a tight, hard pitch. And they're expected temperatures of around 80 degrees. But again we've prepared for that. We've got plenty of advice on hydration and also the best way to adjust the body clock and things like that.

"So the preparations have gone fine. Some of the lads picked up a few knocks and bruises at the weekend but nothing I'm too concerned about. We're more or less at full strength and we'll be putting out the best team we have."

Maughan has named a provisional starting line-up for programme purposes, recalling three of his more experienced players that sat out the league - Peter Burke in goal, midfielder David Brady, and wing forward James Gill. He'll take a final check on players' fitness on Saturday before confirming his selection, with only corner back Dermot Geraghty and wing forward Andy Moran in line to make championship debuts.

Win or lose on Sunday, the team will then head for a five-day training stint in the Catskill Mountains, two hours north of New York, before returning home on Sunday week.

"It's a well known recreational area," says Maughan, "but also has some excellent training facilities which we'll take full advantage of."

The curtain raiser to Sunday's game at Gaelic Park will be the inaugural women's football All Star tour match, where a Rest of Ireland selection take on this year's All Star team (1 p.m. start local time).

The touring party left yesterday morning, and the All Star team will also conduct several promotional training sessions for underage women's footballers in the New York area as part of the tour this week. Sixteen players will travel as the Rest of Ireland selection.

MAYO (SF v New York): P Burke; D Geraghty, P Kelly, G Ruane; F Costello, D Sweeney, J Nallon; D Heaney, D Brady; J Gill, A Dillon, A Moran; C Mortimer, B Maloney, M McNicholas.

WOMEN'S ALL STARS: (v Rest of Ireland): A O'Donoughe (Kerry); N Ó Sé (Mayo), H Lohan (Mayo), M Kavanagh (Dublin); A Crotty (Waterford), M Farrell (Dublin), E Flaherty (Galway); A McNally (Dublin) M O'Donnell (Waterford); L Cohill (Galway), C Heffernan (Mayo), M McGing (Mayo); M O'Rourke (Waterford), G O'Shea (Kerry), K O'Driscoll (Kerry).

REST OF IRELAND (v Women's All Stars): D Horan (Mayo), S Farrelly (Dublin), R Stevens (Galway), J Murnane (Kerry), A Daly (Galway), J Greenan (Monaghan), M Beades (Roscommon), DL Fox (Donegal), L Hughes (Tyrone), M Nevin (Dublin), S Ramsbottom (Laois), K Lacey (Donegal), T Noone (Kildare), M Heffernan (Mayo), C Staunton (Mayo), M Kirwan (Laois).