Mayo continue to thrive

It’s difficult to imagine how the Kevin McStay era could have made a better start.

Rather than laments over the absence of Lee Keegan and Oisin Mullin, commentary around Mayo is now focused on the swagger with which they are playing.

David McBrien and Enda Hession are striking the right balance between fulfilling their defensive duties and providing threats moving forward.

Conor Loftus and Jordan Flynn have taken significant strides this term, while McStay is getting the best out of Aidan O’Shea.

The return of Tommy Conroy off the bench capped a hugely satisfying Saturday evening as they proved too strong for Tyrone in Castlebar.

What is going wrong with Tyrone?

The Red Hands have lacked a spark thus far in the year.

The 2021 All-Ireland champions scored just 0-5 from play in a 4-10 to 0-12 defeat at MacHale Park, and they are struggling to get a kick out of many of their protagonists. Cathal McShane in particular has been far from his best.

They lacked urgency on Saturday evening, and were defensively suspect. The manner in which the rearguard parted for Diarmuid O’Connor to score Mayo’s fourth goal will be of particular concern to Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher.

After three defeats in four games, Tyrone know they must arrest this decline before the visit of Kerry in round five. 

Relegation race to go down to the wire

It is difficult to predict the two teams that will drop out of the top tier.

Roscommon opening with three wins removed them from the conversation for now, while obituaries have been written for the Division 1 status of both Monaghan and Donegal in recent weeks.

Tyrone are the latest team that find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table.

With all teams picking up points, it could go down to the wire. And no team is safe just yet. Cork were demoted from Division 1 in 2016 despite amassing six points, showing how high the bar can be.

No real daylight separates the teams in the bottom half of the table at present, and several teams could find themselves dragged into a relegation scrap over the coming weeks.

Kildare struggles

The Lilywhites were tipped as the biggest threats to consensus favourites Dublin and Derry for the promotion spots at the start of the Division 2 campaign.

But dreadful home form has ended such aspirations, and now they have a battle on their hands to ensure Sam Maguire Cup status for later in the year.

In 2022, they went unbeaten at St Conleth’s Park through their Division 1 campaign, with wins over Dublin and Monaghan, and a draw with Kerry.

In contrast this year, Cork and Derry have left Newbridge with 13 and 14-point victories respectively.

Glenn Ryan’s charges are badly struggling at present, and they are one of only two teams across all four divisions not to have scored a goal in this year’s Allianz League.

If Kildare fail to arrest this decline, they could find themselves mired in a relegation scrap in the coming weeks.

Cork warming up nicely

Failure to back up big performances has been all too common for Cork in recent years. But their 6-18 to 0-12 defeat of Limerick on Sunday afternoon was the perfect response to the heartache of last week’s loss to Dublin.

Promotion may be out of reach for the Rebels, given how the Dubs and Derry have flown out of the traps. But the Leesiders are nonetheless building nicely for the summer.

Conor Corbett and Chris Óg Jones have both made significant strides this term, while Brian Hurley has been given a new lease of life in the inside forward line.

There was significant Cork representation on UCC’s Sigerson Cup-winning team, and that experience will be of real benefit to the likes of Mark Cronin who is looking to make an impact on the inter-county scene.

John Cleary’s side will be feeling quite good about life after their 24-point drubbing of the Treaty, and travel to Clare next weekend with a pep in their step.

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