A PLACE in the National League final will be within striking distance for the winners of Sunday’s clash of unbeaten Armagh and Mayo.
Both counties have already travelled to Croke Park and beaten Dublin handsomely and with five points from three games they trail top dogs Kerry (also on five) on scoring distance. Billy Joe Padden - who played for Mayo and Armagh after relocating from his native Belmullet to Carrickcruppen - expects both counties to hit the ground at ‘The Hyde’ running.
“I’d say they’re both absolutely delighted with the starts they’ve made to the campaign,” said Padden.
“And Mayo will be happier that they seem to have played a little bit better in each game so far and that sort is the sort of trajectory you want to be on.”
The Mayo starting line-up includes only two of the players that began their most recent meeting with Armagh – a Qualifier in Castlebar in 2019. The westerners won by a point that evening and only two players (Paul Hughes and Jamie Clarke) are absent from the 18 who featured for the Orchard county. Armagh will have experience on their side on Sunday and Padden expects the action to be fast and furious from the throw-in.
“I think Mayo will want to play at a really high tempo and Armagh play at an ultra-high-tempo – they’re very aggressive and physically strong,” he said.
“The last meeting was 2019 and all the Armagh players are bigger, stronger, better conditioned now, they’re as well-conditioned as any team in the country so I expect it to be fast and frantic and physical. It’ll be a question of whether you can turn turnovers into scores. Mayo were able to do that against Dublin and so were Armagh and it’ll boil down to who takes those chances.”
Padden agrees that Mayo’s style could suit Armagh. James Horan teams don’t tend to set up with multiple sweepers and their attacking system will leave gaps at the back that Armagh’s kicking game can exploit.
“For Armagh it will be all about whether they can break away from Mayo’s press higher up the field and get that quality ball into the full-forwards because Mayo will always leave you an opportunity like that – they’re not going to leave two sweepers back to cover,” he said.
“Monaghan put Armagh under severe pressure on their kickout and you’d imagine that Mayo will do something similar. They’re a high-pressure team, they like to press and I think they’ll be really aggressive and try to play the game at a high tempo and keep Armagh in their own half.”
Sunday’s clash will be Mayo’s 600th League game and manager Horan has made four changes to the side that beat Dublin last Saturday. Ballina Stephenites clubman Frank Irwin (son of former goalkeeper Gabriel Irwin who starred against Tyrone in the 1989 All-Ireland semi-final) makes his debut at full-forward.
“James has been brilliant at bringing new players into the squad,” said Padden.
“Look at the players Ryan O’Donoghue and Matty Ruane are now. They didn’t play in 2019 and they’re two of the best players in the country and I think that one of James Horan’s best attributes as a manager is bringing those players up to speed.
“He keeps giving these young lads opportunities to go and prove themselves and that’s why Mayo are able to deal with injuries better than some other counties – because they have players there with the experience to step into the huge gaps left by Cillian O’Connor last season and Tommy Conroy this season.”
Mayo (v Armagh) R Hennelly; L Keegan, R Brickenden, M Plunkett; O Mullin, S Coen, S Callinan; J Flynn, M Ruane; F McDonagh, D O’Connor, C Loftus; A Orme, F Irwin, R O’Donoghue
Subs: R Byrne, D McHugh, B Harrison, P Durcan, P O’Hora, C O’Shea, A O’Shea, K McLoughlin, P Towey, J Carney, F Boland
