It's a pity that one of the most interesting clashes of the early football championship should be so obscured by the weekend's fixtures' overload. At least five of the matches today and tomorrow would be considered top-ofthe-bill stuff in a fortnight's time.
Anyway on its own merits, this Connacht football semi-final is a fascinating collision between teams heading in different directions. Last year Roscommon could console themselves that they had run ultimate All-Ireland winners Galway closer than any other team. Admittedly Galway also treasured the memory but more on the grounds that it had served as a wake-up call.
Mayo also lost to Galway but in a more highly-charged environment. In retrospect it probably didn't do a lot of harm. The team was jaded after two All-Ireland disappointments and in all likelihood wouldn't have made the breakthrough last year.
Rest and recuperation are all very well but only inasmuch as they facilitate some sort of regeneration and evidence to date casts doubt on this. Admittedly three years ago when the counties last met, the match was so unimpressive that only the blindly loyal could have envisaged Mayo making much of an impact on that year's championship and yet they almost won the All-Ireland.
Both teams have had outings which proved a little stickier than expected, Mayo's against New York and Roscommon's when they travelled to Leitrim. Yet Mayo's experience was the more alarming. The dogs in the street are familiar with the team's attacking deficiencies and yet the position appears to have deteriorated since last year.
Kieran McDonald mightn't be everyone's idea of a scoring forward but he bagged two goals against Galway and might have had a third. Traditionally he has proved hard to hang onto for the county panel but at the very least his departure removes an option.
Michael Moyles and Ger Brady were brought in as new faces in the attack but are now both replaced after a single outing. Kenneth Mortimer, twice a contender for Footballer of the Year as a corner back, is moved up to centre forward. His football ability and perceptiveness make it worth a throw of the dice but the switch is at least partly influenced by his loss of form in defence.
Whatever the impact, the attack needs some sort of shake-up as even against New York, the old failings of inaccuracy were plain for all to see.
Roscommon will be a different proposition. There is always the possibility that they are slightly overvalued on the basis of last year's Connacht final exploits but the most impressive aspect of the win over Leitrim was the confident teamwork and the sharpness of the forwards.
Fergal O'Donnell - whose physical performance at centre forward did more than anyone else to bother John Divilly last year - was introduced the last day and did sufficient to earn a starting place tomorrow.
There is almost a public consensus that Roscommon should win this match. Mayo are another year older and don't seem to have tapped into new reserves of talent. Once a team starts to slide, small revivals are rare and Mayo can be seen as a snug fit for this category.
Nonetheless, there are some reasons not to rule out a home win. Mayo will be organised and well-drilled. There is enough experience around the field to adapt to a crisis and a more combative defence than Roscommon have been recently accustomed to facing.
The visitors have their own weak spots, particularly at the back, and are in the slightly unreal situation of being hot favourites. Their road to recovery may be - as Sligo's proved last year - a bit longer than they anticipated.
MAYO - P Burke; A Higgins, K Cahill, G Morley; F Costello, D Heaney, N Connelly; J Nallen, D Brady; C McManamon, K Mortimer, J Casey; M Sheridan, J Horan, D Nestor.
ROSCOMMON - D Thompson; D Gavin, D Donlon, E Gavin; R O'Callaghan, C McDonald, C Heneghan; T Ryan, S Lohan; C Connelly, F O'Donnell, D Duggan; F Dolan, F Grehann, L Dowd.
