Roscommon v Mayo, Dr Hyde Park, 2pm
Roscommon v Mayo, Dr Hyde Park, 2pm
Sunday, June 8
Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship Semi-FinalRoscommon v Mayo, Dr Hyde Park, 2pm - (Live on RTÉ)
Mayo began their bid for a fourth Connacht senior football title in a row back on May 4 with a 4-18 to 0-8 win over New York in the Bronx, but an entirely different challenge awaits James Horan and his players at Dr. Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon.
They face Roscommon at the Connacht semi-final stage for the second year in a row, having recorded a comfortable 0-21 to 0-9 win over John Evans' side last June. They will face a considerably improved Roscommon side this year though, with their near neighbours having secured promotion from Division III this spring in emphatic fashion.
That said, anything other than a Mayo win on Sunday would represent a major shock. The beaten All-Ireland finalists of 2012 and 2013 are on a superb run in the province, and have won nine games in a row in the west, with their last Connacht Championship defeat coming to Sligo way back in 2010.
The starkness of that reality was something Evans touched on this week, in the face of rising expectations in Roscommon.
"Ah look, I think we're losing the run of ourselves," said the Kerry native, in relation to Roscommon's prospects. "Mayo are a different animal (to Leitrim, Roscommon's quarter-final opponents). They probably started their gallop a little too early last year. They're coming into the championship with a lower profile this season but they're still a dangerous animal to be dealing with.
"I expect them to come out all guns blazing. Anyone that has any doubts about them are going to be disappointed. They want to win the All-Ireland and prove everybody wrong. They are the second best team in the country and went very close to Dublin in last year's All-Ireland final. They gave Roscommon a bit of a drubbing in Castlebar last year."
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While Evans' motivation in playing down his side's chances is easily understood, there is no denying that he has increased expectations to manage. The Rossies cut loose in Division III this year, scoring 9-106 on the way to promotion and then producing a fine display to see off Cavan in the Division III final in Croke Park at the end of April.
Added to that is the success their underage teams have enjoyed in recent seasons. Roscommon minor and U21 teams have been plundering success for the last few years, and their U21s reached the All-Ireland final for the second time in three years earlier this season, albeit suffering a heavy loss to Dublin in the decider.
Evans has been cautious with those U21 players so far this summer. He brought Enda Smith, Mark Nally and Diarmuid Murtagh off the bench in the second half of his side's 1-18 to 0-13 quarter-final win over Leitrim on May 18, but he has named his starting team for Sunday, and none of them get the nod. The only change from the comfortable win over Leitrim sees Ian Kilbride come into the defence in place of the injured David Keenan.
Roscommon have to go all the way back to the 2001 Connacht final for their last championship win over Mayo. Mayo enjoyed big winning margins over Roscommon in their victories in 2004 (10 points), 2005 (8 points), 2009 (20 points) and last year (12 points), with the only close game between the two in recent times being the 2011 Connacht final, which Mayo won on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-11.
That's the history, and it's something Mayo will be well aware of. Horan has named a fresh looking side for Sunday, with Conor O'Shea handed his first championship start in a half-forward line that also includes Diarmuid O'Connor, the younger brother of established star Cillian O'Connor.
Conor O'Shea joins brothers Séamus and Aidan in the starting line-up, so it looks as though the Breaffy trio will appear together for the first time in a senior championship game for Mayo. There is no place in the starting team for Adam Gallagher, who impressed during the league, but Mayo captain Andy Moran is excited about the new players in the Mayo camp this season.
"We're in a very positive frame of mind," the Ballaghaderreen man told GAA.ie. "We have a couple of young guys in the likes of Diarmuid O'Connor, Stephen Coen, Adam Gallagher, Brendan Harrison, Conor O'Shea. Tom Parsons coming back too. There is a real sense of life and buzz about the place and we'd be expecting a big year out of us again in 2014."
Another new face for Mayo is Gavin Duffy, the former Connacht rugby professional who joined the Mayo senior football panel last month. His arrival on the scene has caused quite a stir in the county, and while he is not named to start against Roscommon, his presence in training alone has been heralded by management and teammates alike recently.
"He keeps everyone honest and he'll add that couple of per cent to everyone's game that is of benefit to the overall squad," said Duffy's former Mayo minor teammate Alan Dillon this week. "He's equipping himself well in training and he's physical. His physical presence is something that we probably didn't have bar Aidan and Seamie O'Shea in that middle third department.
"He's an addition. First of all, he's a Mayo man so James is entitled to bring him back, even if he was playing club football. He's part of the squad, that's the most important thing."
While Roscommon had little but positives to take from their Allianz Football League campaign, Mayo had a decidedly more mixed bag in Division I. They reached the semi-finals, but their defence was an issue, as they conceded 16-106 in eight league games. Of that, 16-78 came from open play and they conceded more from open play than they scored.
On the positive side, they were the top scorers in the regulation stages but there is no doubt that Horan will have been doing his best to shore up the defence ahead of another assault on the Connacht and All-Ireland Championships.
The winners of this game will advance to the Connacht final on July 13. Should Mayo get there, they will be bidding to become the first team to win four Connacht titles in a row since Roscommon and Dermot Earley did it from 1977-80.
ROSCOMMON: Darren O'Malley; Séan McDermott, Niall Carty, Neil Collins; Ian Kilbride, Niall Daly, Ciarán Cafferkey; Cathal Shine, Kevin Higgins; David O'Gara, Donie Shine, Ronan Stack; Senan Kilbride, Cathal Cregg, Ciaráin Murtagh.
MAYO: Robbie Hennelly; Tom Cunniffe, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins; Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, Donal Vaughan; Aidan O'Shea, Seamus O'Shea; Diarmuid O'Connor, Conor O'Shea, Jason Doherty; Kevin McLoughlin, Alan Freeman, Cillian O'Connor.
Preview: Arthur Sullivan
