Maughan still in club class

Although back at the Mayo helm, John Maughan still has unfinished business with hometown club Crossmolina. Ian O'Riordan reports.

When John Maughan answered Mayo's call to return to the county football management position last month he had only one condition - he could stay committed to his position with Crossmolina as long as they remained in this year's club championship.

On Sunday, the Mayo champions face Allen Gaels of Leitrim in the first semi-final of the Connacht championship (live on TG4, 2.30). Last December, Maughan answered a similar call from the club to take over as manager, and that request, like the call from Mayo, didn't need a whole lot of consideration.

"The first reason why I came back to the Mayo management was because I was asked to come back," he says. "The other reason was that I love being involved with intercounty football. So when I was asked to take over, I didn't need a whole lot of time to consider it. And I felt I was young enough too to give it another go.

"It was the same with the club last December. The previous management had stepped down after losing the county title, and again I was answering the call. And the club is obviously very close to me. I was born and raised in Crossmolina."

It's only when Crossmolina's championship run ends that Maughan will start to focus 100 per cent on the Mayo position. But he will be no stranger to what is required, having been in charge of the county for four years up to 1999, during which time he led them to two All-Ireland finals

- losing to Meath by a point in a replay in 1996 and by three points to Kerry a year later. Though he may have fallen short of delivering Mayo's first All-Ireland title since 1951, he had a very credible record, winning 11 and drawing one of his 16 championship games.

His second term with the county will also see Maughan take charge of the Mayo under-21 team, a link he feels has taken on a greater significance as the under-21 grade has become more and more a feeder for senior football.

"Working with both teams has become the norm these days. The two counties that contested the All-Ireland under-21 final this year, Dublin and Galway, both had the senior managers working with them as well. It is a new venture for me, but I think the age profile of intercounty players is dropping all the time and I expect we will have a large number of the Mayo under-21 side involved in our panel this year."

For now, however, Maughan's focus remains on the club championship. As All-Ireland club champions from 2001, Crossmolina have high ambitions, but Maughan hasn't put one moment's thought beyond Sunday's game with Allen Gaels.

"I've just looked at the video of their county final," he says, "and there's no doubt they are going to be formidable. They're a tough team, and always hard to beat.

"To be perfectly honest, we haven't been playing that well this season. The Mayo final against Knockmore was a huge struggle, and they were in command for a long time. But we have a great rivalry with that club and those sort of games will always be tight."

That victory included a notable contribution from Kieran McDonald (1-5). Though he has drifted in and out of the panel in recent seasons, Maughan has big plans for McDonald in next summer's championship.

"Oh, very much so," he says. "He is one of the top players in the county without a doubt. I've worked very closely with him and we do have a very good relationship."