Battle royale expected as Mayo meet Donegal in Nicky Rackard Cup final

Not for the first time in a final – not even for the first time in this year's competition – Mayo and Donegal will lock horns to see who will get their hands on the Nicky Rackard Cup. The decider takes place today (Sunday) at Croke Park, Dublin, throwing in at 4.15 p.m.

Donegal will go in as strong favourites having won all games en route to the final, a run that included a seven-point victory over Mayo (0-21 to 0-14) in Letterkenny back on April 20.

Before a ball had been pucked in this year's championship, Donegal and Mayo seemed the most likely finalists, and so it has come to pass. But Mayo almost came a cropper against Roscommon in their final group game, which was effectively a semi-final as whoever got the better of the contest would be guaranteed a place in the final.

'Better' for Mayo would have been a draw as they had a much better scoring difference, and a draw is what they got – but Roscommon could have snatched victory and, with it, their place in today's showdown, inaccuracy at the end proving the Rossies' downfall.

“I think we were seven points up with 10 or 15 minutes to go,” reflects Mayo joint manager Ray Larkin on that game. “They (Roscommon) got a fortunate goal that came off the upright, and they got a couple of handy frees after that and we kinda lost our shape a small bit.

“We panicked a small bit and the lads started taking pot shots from places they wouldn't have before that. I suppose they needed that bit of urgency trying to get a score and get back on top again.

“We spoke about that at training. We just needed a few evenings on the field to work on getting the ball into the shooting zone, which we had been doing before that, and to get the heads right.”

That Roscommon game and the defeat to Donegal in Letterkenny do help to focus the minds, Larkin insists.

“Against Donegal we had a good first half and we were two (points) up 10 minutes into the second half but they got a run of us at that stage then. They got a couple of frees and a couple of scores which we never recovered from really.

“They really shut it up in the back then. They went back into nearly two sweepers and shut up shop really, and I suppose we didn't learn from that. We tried a couple of pot shots from outside that didn't work.

“We presume they'll go the same way again today in the same shape when they know it was good enough to beat us in the first place. But we'd expect to learn from it. It's a good thing in one way that we got beaten because we'll go in under the radar now as underdogs.”

DO OR DIE

Brian Finn, who performs joint managerial duty with Larkin in the Mayo set-up, says the preparation for the final has been going well.

He explains: “You have to treat it as just another game but you have to get the lads focused – that it's a do or die game. In our hearts we believe that we're good enough to win it. We have to relay that to the lads and get them to a stage where they believe they can win it.

“A lot of emphasis is on the little things we slipped up on in other games – the right place to take our shots from, to get into that scoring zone to take the shots, not to rush the tackle, not to commit the foul and give away the free. Just tidying up the small things and hope that there's enough then to take us over the line.”

Brian adds: “There's bound to be nerves, even among lads used to playing in Croke Park, on an occasion like this. A lot of lads have played in Nicky Rackard finals in Croke Park before, and some would have played Donegal there before, which is great for them.

“However, we have 13 lads from junior clubs around the county involved this year, and out of that there are eight lads who never played senior hurling until this year – it's their first year involved. So it's a huge occasion for them to get to Croke Park in their first year, to win a National League title in their first year. Some of them have impacted greatly on the team.”

CORE

Finn and Larkin are in their first year in charge of Mayo but stalwart players David Kenny and Adrian Phillips believe they inherited the core of a good panel from their predecessors, Dave McConn and Tom Phillips.

Tooreen star Kenny says there has been 'no major change' this time around and the players have the same drive as last year, just with improved results.

Phillips adds: “We probably had more of a panel for the league this year, so that gave us more options and more players as opposed to last year. We had all our players together. Obviously the Tooreen lads came in a little later but they were there for the entire league, which was good. That's a bit of a difference from last year.

“That just led into the championship then. We beat Sligo twice – the last round of the league and then the league final – and it was good to win that trophy and earn promotion. We had everyone training and everyone fit and healthy for the league.”

While Kenny says preparations have been going very well, he knows they rode their luck a bit against Roscommon. “Yeah, it was ropey. We were probably lucky to get away with a draw. They missed a crucial free at the end.

“Roscommon got a run on us in the last 10 minutes. We had a good lead and if we had taken all of our chances during the game we probably would have been more ahead, but it was very close to get through on score difference. We're lucky to be here (in the final), so we're hoping to take the opportunity now.”

Was it good prep for final? “I hope so,” says Ballyhaunis man Phillips. “But we've a good bit to work on because we know that won't beat Donegal.”

Regarding Donegal, Kenny recalls a 'tough battle' in Letterkenny back in April. “They're well set up, well drilled. We've met each other a good few times over the last few years so we know other very well. It's always a good dog fight between the two of us.”

Both David and Adrian were on the Mayo team that lost narrowly to Donegal in the 2020 Nicky Rackard Cup final. “They got two late goals to beat us that day,” recalls Adrian. “It was very eerie in an empty Croke Park (due to Covid-19 restrictions). We drove up to Croke Park individually that day, and drove down individually, so it was a very unique situation. Even if we had won there would have been no celebrations.”

Assuming they win today, there will have to be celebrations afterwards, surely? “Oh absolutely!” says Adrian. “That will take care of itself!” adds David.

The Nicky Rackard Cup final between Mayo and Donegal throws in at 4.15 p.m. this afternoon in Croke Park. The game is live on TG4 and on Midwest Radio with commentary from Michael D. McAndrew and Frank Browne, while Mayo GAA will have updates and reaction across its social media channels.