Speculation of personnel changes and positional tweaks have been rife all week but don’t be surprised if both Mayo and Kerry go same again.
First ones to blink.
Mayo played most of the better football last weekend yet did not win. Kerry looked off-colour for long stretches but did some damage in bursts. They didn’t win either.
Both sides go again at Croke Park on Saturday evening and the chat all week has been about what changes will be made.
Will Shane Enright keep his place? How about Donal Vaughan marking Kieran Donaghy? Will Jack Barry come in from the start? Can Jason Doherty and Andy Moran produce the goods again? Surely Aidan O’Shea can’t play full back again? Surely?!
We will know the teams late on Friday night but late changes can be made all the way up until 30 minutes before throw in. The Kingdom could recall Donnchadh Walsh if he is passed fit to play while former Armagh star Stevie McDonnell has an interesting suggestion for the Mayo frontline.
The 2003 Footballer of the Year thrashed out his change with Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour. The debate unfolded so:
MCDONNELL: “I would definitely leave Enright on Andy Moran again this week. I can’t see Moran being as effective and scoring 1-5 or 1-6 again. What I would to see from Mayo is to see Conor Loftus starting. He’s a scorer. Why not put him on the pitch for the start?”
PARKINSON: “And who does he start for? All these things are being thrown out there but who does he start for?”
MCDONNELL: “I would start him for Jason Doherty.”
PARKINSON: “But Doherty was outstanding the last day.”
MCDONNELL: “I know he was outstanding but… “
PARKINSON: “Outrageous! I can’t let you continue. I can not let you continue with this.”
MCDONNELL: “Just let me explain my reasons for this, here. Doherty has more experience than Loftus and he could have more of an impact coming into a game. That is why I would start Loftus ahead of him.”
Parkinson went on to claim that Doherty must be ‘safe as houses’ after his excellent performance against Kerry last week. He pointed out that were Doherty dropped and Mayo were to fall short, it would be another stick used to beat Stephen Rochford, their boss.
McDonnell would not let it drop that easily and argued that Loftus could be a livewire presence for the first 45 or 50 minutes with Doherty coming on when the game is presumably in the melting pot.
Loftus for Doherty would be one of the summer’s bolder calls but that has not stopped Mayo before.
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