Ahead of a cracking programme of fixtures in Division One this weekend, we’re looking at Kerry’s form, Ulster’s biggest rivalry and a new role for Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea.
Can Kerry possibly be as bad again as they have been to date?
A few weeks back, we wrote that while a defeat to Dublin in the league would not have been the end of the world for Kerry, it would still be a concern to have no points on the board after two games with a few difficult away trips ahead.
Still, Eamonn Fitzmaurice couldn’t possibly have envisaged just how poorly his charges would perform in defeat to the Dubs and ahead of Sunday’s clash with an in-form Kildare side in Newbridge, nerves are certainly becoming fraught in the Kingdom at the moment.
Fitzmaurice can call upon returning Dr. Crokes trio Johnny Buckley, Kieran O’Leary and Eoin Brosnan and will deploy Kieran Donaghy from the start against the Lilywhites. He will be demanding a better showing than what Kerry produced against both Dublin and Mayo, where between the second half in Castlebar and the first half in Killarney, they were held scoreless for 64 minutes, a scarcely believable statistic for a Kerry side.
Win on Sunday and there’s plenty of time to salvage what has been a near disastrous league campaign to date; lose and they’ll be staring relegation from the top flight square in the face.
Aidan O’Shea on the ’40, a one-off experiment or a more temporary measure?
Given some of the games they’ve produced in recent years, the meeting of Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park is arguably the most exciting game of the weekend, where plenty of those in sky blue will be eager to exact some measure of revenge for the All-Ireland semi-final defeat last September.
The most interesting aspect from a Mayo point of view, however, is the deployment of Aidan O’Shea at centre-half forward. O’Shea started off his senior Mayo career in the full-forward line, occasionally plays in the forwards for his club and is well able to take a score so there seems little doubt that he can play the role. The question is, is it necessary?
Will Mayo miss Aidan O’Shea’s fielding ability in the middle?
Even though he played in midfield in 2011, it was last year when O’Shea announced himself as a midfielder of real quality. He was one of the standout performers in the league and was excellent when he returned from injury during the Championship, forming an excellent partnership with Barry Moran.
By all accounts he was outstanding for DIT during the Sigerson Cup, so some would ask why move him out there now when he is clearly flourishing in the role? The other side of the coin for James Horan is that Mayo are certainly not lacking in options in midfield, but, in the temporary absence of Andy Moran, they are arguably lacking a marquee forward and the prospect of O’Shea at 11 and Moran at 14 with a decent midfield behind them come Championship time sounds interesting indeed.
If Horan is going to try it, the league is the best time to do so and we should have a good idea whether it’s worth persisting with after events at HQ tomorrow evening.
Can Tyrone make their presence felt in Ulster’s biggest rivalry?
He won’t admit it, but having been the big dog in Ulster for so long, it must be pretty galling for Mickey Harte to be playing second fiddle to Donegal at the moment. The meeting between the two sides is now the biggest rivalry in the province, although the rivalry is something of a one-sided one considering that Tyrone have won only one of the last seven encounters with the Tír Chonaill men.
Still, there has only been a single score in their last two clashes, both of which were in the Ulster Championship, and it is worth bearing in mind that Tyrone came the closest to beating Jim McGuinness’ all conquering side last year. Harte’s side have started the league well with victories over Down and Mayo and they have a nice mix of youth and experience, with veterans Sean Cavanagh (if you can even call him a veteran at 30) and Stephen O’Neill showing no signs of slowing down their age thus far.
Sunday’s meeting mightn’t have a huge bearing on the championship meeting later this year, but a wily campaigner like Harte will be looking for any chinks in Donegal’s armour which could give them an all-important edge a little further down the road.
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