Nickey Rackard Cup finalist Mayo's David Kenny during a Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard, Lory Meagher Cup Final media day at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
A year can be a long time in hurling.
In 2023 Mayo were relegated from the Christy Ring Cup and becalmed in Division 3A of the Allianz Hurling League.
This year they won the Division 3A Final and are just one win away from promotion back to the Christy Ring Cup as they get ready to play Donegal in Sunday’s Nickey Rackard Cup Final.
The appointment of Ray Larkin and Brian Finn as joint-managers with a backroom team that includes highly rated coaches like Nigel Shaughnessy and Pádraig Mannion has clearly worked the oracle.
“Yeah, they've a great structure in place there and all we have to do as players is turn up and it's there for us on a plate,” says Mayo team captain, David Kenny. “It's been great for us.
“They've good drills and good coaching points and they're good at communicating with us and improving each individual.
“There are lads there who wouldn't have played much hurling for Mayo up until this year and they've really brought them on leaps and bounds and created a good panel with new lads there from clubs like Moytura and Caiseal Gaels that wouldn't have been renowned for hurling with Mayo and are grabbing starting jersies which is brilliant to see.
“We were disappointed to go down last year and the goal at the start of the year was definitely to go straight back up. We have one more game to do that and Donegal are in the way so hopefully we can get over that step.
"We'd like to view ourselves as a Christy Ring Cup team and so would Donegal. Both of us can't go up, that's the problem, but the truth is that both of us would probably survive up there. It's a question of who wants it more on Sunday.”
Mayo captain David Kenny lifts the cup after the Allianz Hurling League Division 3A Final match between Mayo and Sligo at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile.
Donegal have been something of a bogey team for Mayo in recent years and came out on top again when the teams met in the group phase of the Rackard Cup.
Kenny believes that if Mayo are to turn the tables in Croke Park on Sunday they’ll have to match the physical intensity the Ulster team like to bring to the table.
“They just work extremely hard and you get a lot less time on the ball,” he says. “They bring a high intensity to the game and it's either match them or they go through you.
“They have a good system, they're set up very well and are hard to break down. They have players that they trust in that system and they're very good at what they do. We'll have our work cut out on Sunday.
“We have to match their physical intensity and play at a high speed because you won't get much time on the ball to make decisions so you have to make the right ones.”
