Both Mayo and Monaghan are fighting to avoid an early exit from the 2022 All Ireland Football Championship, they throw in this afternoon, at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, in Round 1 of the Qualifiers (4pm).
This will be the first time Mayo will have to qualify via this format, since the 2019 Championship where they began life in Round 2, having been knocked out of their provincial Championship by Roscommon by a single point.
Having claimed the 2020 and 2021 Connacht Titles, a three in a row looked to be on the cards, having looked at their form coming in off the back of a league gonal appearance, despite losing to Kerry in the final, a result that looked out of character for The Maritime County.
However the men in green and red hit a major stumbling block, in their 1-14 to 0-16 defeat to Galway in the Quarter Final, having managed a late resurgence putting a five point sequence together, they would suffer defeat by the minimum, having relied heavily on the free taking of Cillian O’Connor and the scoring exploits of Ryan O’Donoghue.
The Farney Army meanwhile overturned a poor league campaign, to make it to the last four of the ulster Championship, where they were outclassed by a dominant Derry outfit, struggling heavily in defence as they conceded three goals in the 3-12 to 0-17 defeat, Conor McManus and Jack McCarron were the driving force behind the Monaghan attack that day, they will again look to unravel a backline, as Mayo will have to be cautious of their scoring form.
Monaghan have become a mainstay in the Qualifiers over the last number of years, 2015 is the last time they advanced as a provincial winner, but if you count both Covid affected years then they have not made the final eight stage since 2018. In 2016 they were dumped out by Longford in Round 2, on a scoreline of 2-13 to 1-13, having struggled to show their abilities despite topping their Super 8 group back in 2018.
Both teams faced each other in Clones earlier this year, where Ryan O’Donoghue kicked 1-06, helping Mayo edge out Monaghan in Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, the teams were never separated by more than one score in a tense battle, but Jason Doherty’s goal midway through the second half sent Mayo on their way to a hard-earned 2-10 to 1-11 win.
This will be the first time in recorded history where Mayo and Monaghan, will meet in the Championship setting, despite having locked horns over the years in the Football league, with plenty of games having that Championship feel.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.