Mayo and Kerry ready for battle in Division 1 final

Mayo senior football manager Kevin McStay and his selectors have made one change to the team for the Allianz National Football League Division 1 final against Kerry.

Into the team comes Davitt Neary, who replaces Fenton Kelly in the starting 15. Stephen Coen wil captain the team, while Matthew Ruane is set to will make his 70th appearance for Mayo between league and championship having made his debut against Tyrone in a league game in February 2019.

The Mayo team in full for the final, which will be played in Croke Park on Sunday (March 30) at 4 p.m., is as follows: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Enda Hession; Sam Callinan, David McBrien, Stephen Coen; Jack Carney, Matthew Ruane; Davitt Neary, Darren McHale, Jordan Flynn; Aidan O'Shea, Frank Irwin, Ryan O'Donoghue.

The Kerry team is: Shane Ryan; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Gavin White, Mike Breen, Brian Ó Beaglaoich; Joe O'Connor, Barry Dan O'Sullivan; Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Graham O'Sullivan; David Clifford, Paul Geaney, Dylan Geaney.

Mayo and Kerry have met on 55 previous occasions in league action. That makes the Kingdom the county Mayo have met most often in league fare.

They first faced each other in the league in 1928, when the Kingdom won a semi-final meeting between the counties on a 0-6 to 0-4 scoreline. The game was played in Castlebar.

Kerry hold the upperhand in overall meetings with 27 wins to 24, while four games have been drawn.

Kerry and Mayo are two of the most successful counties in terms of league titles, the former having 23 to their name and the latter 13.

This year's final will be refereed by Meath's David Coldrick. The game will be broadcast live on TG4 and on Midwest Radio with commentary from Michael D. McAndrew and Martin Carney. Tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster.