Criticisms of Mayo reaching unusally high levels so early in season

by Martin Carney, Mayo Foremost GAA Columnist

IT’S seldom criticisms of the county team reach such high levels this early in the season.

One would have thought allowances for the relative inexperience of the starting 15, difficulties encountered with the new rules and the absence of key personnel would have softened tongues.

Not so.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that the opponent in the other corner was the arch-rival Galway and fans anticipated a testy opening-day home statement to remind all of what was in the tank. It wasn’t to be.

Leaving Hastings Insurance MacHale Park afterwards, listening to the rumblings related to the insipid performance was what dominated.

Sympathy drips in small doses when it comes to assessing a losing Mayo performance.

Before returning to the theme and having a look at today's encounter with Tyrone, it’s worth reflecting for a moment on some of the new regulations that have ushered in a game vastly different in many ways from what was the accepted norm.

Assessing the limited evidence to date, there is every reason to look forward to an improved code for all concerned once the initial teething problems have passed.

In the space afforded it’s impossible to cover all bases. Isolating three or four regulations and looking at how they have impacted the team will do for now.

There is little doubt that the new two-pointer – that score registered by a conversion from beyond the 40-metre arc – is one that just now Mayo haven’t fully grasped the importance of.

At least that’s the impression taken from the encounter with Galway. Or perhaps it’s a case that, quite simply, the team lacks the cast of players suitably equipped with the skill sets and awareness to execute these.

Galway’s return of seven two-pointers only served to magnify Mayo’s miserable return in this department.

Yet Mayo weren’t alone here. Derry and Dublin, both beaten, recorded a similar rating. Armagh and Tyrone, on four each, bettered this, while Donegal and Kerry, both victors in their respective round two games, managed two apiece.

For years, possibly as long as they have played the game, players have been discouraged from taking ‘pots’ from distance.

Working the ball into optimum scoring zones close to goal by endlessly moving the ball through the hand has been the favoured approach.

Shots from distance carried too much risk, were discouraged, and slipped from the kicking repertoires of most.

Outside of Fergal Boland, Mayo just now appears to lack fire power in this area.

He may not have enjoyed any success the last day – four wides to his name was disappointing – but at least the Aghamore man was willing to have a go.

Forwards with this skill are urgently needed. It would appear it will become an increasingly important part and major feature in the ‘new’ game.

As a final word on this, I feel that the reward should only come from kicks taken in open play.

Allowing two to stand for a technical infringement that happened at the other end of the ground (violating the 3/3 rule) is, as Kevin Mc Stay pointed out, draconian.

The ‘solo and go’ option open to a team once they have a player fouled is one that really fascinates.

Rugby league has a somewhat similar way of restarting the game and I feel its inclusion has added to the spectacle.

The advantage of the rule is twofold: teams get an option of speeding up a restart and exploiting any drop in concentration from their opponents.

James Horan, in a recent meeting with club delegates and referees, explained the rationale behind the change and who can execute it. It is designed to help keep a flow to the game and eliminate the oft-time delays around taking free kicks.

The confusion that existed since the opening days as to who can activate the regulation was put to bed when he explained that anyone on the team has authority to take on the responsibility.

Many, myself included, were of the opinion that only the player fouled could restart the game.

For the last decade or more the thrill of watching midfielders competing for the ball in the skies became virtually extinct.

The preponderance of the short restart followed by a handpass to a colleague and subsequent transfer to the goalie became common practice. Everything was done on the altar of retaining possession at all costs.

With the new regulation that insists restarts go beyond the 40-metre arc comes a commensurate increase in man-to-man aerial contests. This particular duel, beloved of many, looks like again becoming a central feature of the game.

Associated with this is the inevitable scrap for broken ball. The ensuing element of ‘chassis’, as Joxer might say, added to the excitement in the opening rounds.

A team’s hunger is easily measured by its degree of aggression brought to this facet of play. Regrettably, in this department, Galway once again enjoyed considerable success. Mayo looked flat in the scrap by comparison.

It's a matter of taste whether or not one has been won over by the new phenomenon of the roving goalkeeper. That he can only accept a back-pass delivered from within his own large rectangle is one thing.

That in order to reprise the act he must be in his own team's attacking half of the field is going to bring a radical alteration in how the game is played. Personally I am dead against it.

I see little to the manoeuvre beyond a way of slowing the game down. An aid and encouragement to prolonging these insufferable handpassing bouts, it serves to dilute the prospects of the 1 v 1 duels that followers hoped would become more a feature.

I can understand the argument that games evolve and that this is a radical part of that evolution. Like everyone, I need to see more of this played out before I reach a final judgement. Early signs have left me lukewarm at best.

And so, to toay’s game with Tyrone.

Game three, home tie, and with more pressure than wished for riding on it. Though they were beaten comprehensively by Armagh in round two, Tyrone have the safety net of points garnered from the opening game with Derry.

Tyrone are incidental here. What they bring or how they play means little. This game is all about Mayo: their attitude, levels of competitiveness and growth as a unit.

A win is important, moreso even than the quality of the performance. Residents in the top division for longer than most, it is a prized position worth protecting.

Leaders need to blossom, experienced players need to set the tone, and the blend between new and old harmonise. Too often in the opening rounds players struggled to ‘read’ the intentions of their colleagues.

As every sportsman knows, there’s nothing more fulfilling than unearthing a winning performance when naysayers have written you off.

Let’s see a rejuvenated Mayo triumph.