All-Ireland SFC qualifiers Round 2: Kildare v Mayo (Croke Park, today, 6pm)
CROKE Park’s surface will be as pristine as ever, but The Short Grass County will still know that Mayo have been waiting in the long grass for them.
The westerners have already wreaked some revenge for Kildare knocking them out of the All-Ireland Championship in round three of the 2018 qualifiers, their earliest exit since 2010.
Mayo let off some of the steam that no doubt built up in their heads when Kildare took them to Newbridge – nowhere else – four years ago when they ensured their relegation from Division One this season by inflicting an eight-point defeat in round seven.
That was in Carrick-on-Shannon due to the redevelopment work taking place at Castlebar.
Although this is another neutral venue, Mayo will be delighted to face the Lilywhites at GAA headquarters, which has been a second home for them, with only Dublin having made more big game appearances there over the past decade.
Sure, while Dublin won seven finals in that timeframe Mayo lost six, but all that bitter experience will stand to James Horan’s men.
Kildare may be closing in on a century without ‘Sam’, compared to only 71 years for Mayo, but setback after setback has not stopped the Connacht men coming back again and again.
They almost threw away their passage to this stage but held on for what was a fully deserved victory over Monaghan last Saturday.
A certain amount of rustiness was inevitable after their early exit in their province, pipped by the minimum margin against eventual Connacht champs Galway in a quarter-final back on April 24.
Kildare, in contrast, made it all the way to the Leinster decider, with wins over Louth and Westmeath, but were then destroyed by Dublin in final, losing by 5-17 to 1-15.
The Dubs are probably the best team in the country again, but Kildare still fell far short of what is required at the top level.
With Cillian O’Connor back in the Mayo ranks, along with his industrious brother Diarmuid, and the likes of Lee Keegan, Oisin Mullin, Patrick Durcan, and Eoghan McLaughlin driving forward from deep positions, plus the Pogba-esque potential threat of the enigmatic Aidan O’Shea, the westerners will carry plenty of threat in Croke Park.
Bringing Conor Loftus and Jason Doherty into the starting side, in place of Adrian Orme and Bryan Walsh, look like added power and creativity to the Mayo mix.
Given that they shipped 2-15 against Westmeath in their Leinster semi-final, the Kildare defence doesn’t inspire confidence, even though it’s coached by Ryan and Anthony Rainbow.
Dermot Earley and Johnny Doyle will bring midfield and attacking nous respectively, but the Lilywhites don’t have enough players of that quality, although Daniel Flynn and Jimmy Hyland have undoubted ability.
Kildare struggled on their travels in the League, losing all four away matches by a cumulative 19 points.
Mayo look good value for another win, by a similar margin to that average of four or five points.
