Derry coming out of the draw for Mayo was probably both the best and worst case scenario from Kevin McStay’s point of view.
My former team-mates received a lot of praise for their performance against Dublin, but it’s no good to them now. They had the chance to send the All-Ireland champions into the preliminaries as well as laying down a marker, but failed to take it.
Still, there was much to build on. They swatted away whatever nonsense was around them, something McStay referenced afterwards.
They put all their eggs in the basket against the Dubs, but couldn’t see it through. Hopefully that won’t count against them this weekend, but to come down from that monster performance will be a challenge.
You don’t know how much energy has been expended. If they get through this weekend, it’s only a week until the next challenge, though it would be a welcome problem.
Special mention has to go to Aidan O’Shea on his 90th championship appearance, an incredible feat.
The scrutiny around his scoring misses the point. He’s not a scoring full-forward, he’s a creator and causes havoc.
Tommy Conroy kicked three points from play and Ryan O’Donoghue finished with 0-07 in total last Sunday. They flourish with Aidan there beside them, particularly Tommy against the Dubs. There may have been some question marks over him coming into the game, but Aidan laid it on a plate for him, creating pockets of space and holding up defenders.
I played with him for 12 years, so I know full well the importance of his role to the team.
All those years of high-intensity training and sheer amount of games, it speaks volumes that not only is he still playing, but he remains integral to Mayo’s game plan.
He really had the bit between his teeth on Sunday, but Derry will be a different challenge.
While Dublin usually take the brave approach and go man-for-man in the full-back line, I don’t see Derry replicating that. It will be a blanket defence that will attack collectively when the opportunity arises.
Derry nearly come into the game as something of an unknown; they have quality players throughout the team, but they have been playing terribly!
They are a Division 1 side and league champions – and gave Mayo a tonking on their last visit to Castlebar in March – but many feel a rot has set in over the championship. Certainly we haven’t seen enough in their last four games to suggest that they will beat Mayo.
Based on form, it should be a home win, but this is what makes it a great draw for Derry.
They could have drawn Louth (Mickey Harte sideshow) or Tyrone (Ulster rivals and Mickey Harte sideshow), but this game has none of that baggage for them. They will be thinking, after such a positive display against the Dubs from Mayo, ‘let’s get stuck into these lads and see what they are made of’.
If Derry are there or thereabouts going into the final quarter, they will have full belief that they will get the job done
Their structure hasn’t been good enough and haven’t responded well to adversity in the heat of championship, but this is their chance to rectify that.
I’m expecting a one-score game at the finish, with Mayo to edge it.
Galway v Monaghan
Galway probably got the nicest draw of the lot, facing a Monaghan side that at the weekend collected their first win, league or championship, since January.
The fact the Tribesmen are in the preliminaries at all, rather than the quarter-finals a week later is a kick in the teeth for Padraic Joyce, whose side were in total control of their game with Armagh before defensive errors cost them victory.
Armagh remind me at times of the Mayo of old. When the game went into pandemonium mode, they seemed to flourish and finished really strong. Galway gave them 1-01 off mistakes from their kickout, and essentially, on the back of one glaring error for Tiernan Kelly’s goal, their season has flipped.
Had they seen the game out, they would have had an extra week off. I can’t think of another county that could have done with extra recovery time more than Galway.
Damien Comer’s hamstring injury could see him out until an All-Ireland semi-final or final, there are concerns over Sean Kelly’s fitness, and is Shane Walsh at the peak of his physical powers? I’m not so sure.
I fully expect them to beat Monaghan, but moving forward, have they enough time to sort the injuries out?
Have they enough in reserve to beat an elite team in the form of Donegal, Kerry or Dublin in the quarter-final? I just can’t see it.
Louth v Cork
This is a real fascinating encounter between two evenly-matched teams. Cork stuck well in the game against Tyrone, but ultimately looked a little blunt in attack
Mattie Donnelly won player of the match, but he didn’t have to do much to take the accolade because Cork didn’t have a full-forward line for a lot of the second half.
The Rebels don’t seem to have an attacking plan – though their rapid counter-attacking, as we saw against Donegal is potent – as without Brian Hurley up top, they appear a little short on forwards capable of doing serious damage.
Louth created goal chances against Kerry, but still slumped to a crushing defeat. Can they recover well enough on Sunday?
The huge carrot for the Wee County is that should they progress to the last eight for the first time since the introduction of the backdoor 23 years ago, they would avoid Kerry (having played them in the group stage) and Dublin (can’t have repeat provincial final pairing).
It leaves Armagh and Donegal, significant obstacles, but not insurmountable barriers.
Having said that, the three weeks back-to-back for all the preliminary winners could be the biggest issue looking to the quarter-finals. It was no surprise last year that only one of the preliminary winners, Monaghan, went on to reach the semi-finals
It’s such a hard game to call. Tentatively I’d probably lean to Cork, but not with a great degree of confidence.
Tyrone v Roscommon
I get a bit of stick for slagging the Rossies, so I’ll be as objective as I can be.
They conceded 1-20 against a poor Cavan side, but ultimately scored 3-20. I think they will be looking to turn the game into a shootout and back the likes of Diarmuid Murtagh (pictured below), Enda Smith, Conor Cox and Daire Cregg to turn on the style.
Tyrone are very much an up-and-down team.
They conceded 17 points to a Cork side that were far from slick in attack, so if you’re a Roscommon forward, you’d be licking your lips. Though if you’re Darragh Canavan or Darren McCurry, you’d be doing likewise as you will feel there will be plenty of chances to take aim.
I see this as the highest scoring game of the weekend. The Rossies will just throw the shackles off and go for it.
In some ways, the often pragmatic Davy Burke has probably gone full circle on it.
It’s a free shot at Healy Park where no one is really giving them a chance. They weren’t great by any stretch in the group stage, so they feel they have nothing to lose.
They may concede heavily, but they will back themselves to get enough at the other end to make it a contest.
Roscommon will back themselves, but if Tyrone have any bit of bite about them, I’d expect them to prevail.
Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Antrim v Laois (2pm) and Down v Sligo (4pm), on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
