BY RYAN FERRY
THE latest reincarnation of Mayo fever looks set to grip O’Donnell Park on Sunday.
There have been several different eras in which Mayo fans felt they were going end their great Sam Maguire Cup drought which dates all the way back to 1951.
Things were at a low ebb last year as the Kevin McStay tenure turned stale but there have been signs of some high-octane football and even a touch of chaos since Andy Moran took on the reins.
It may not end in ultimate glory this year but it sure does appear that it will be entertaining and Mayo fans are back chasing the dream.
There were fears that Donegal’s momentum would stall over the winter but those suggestions look to have been premature, and that leaves us in the highly unusual situation of a ticket scramble as we enter the second month of February.
Both sides come into the match in a similar position with four points to their name.
They have both managed to see off a Dublin side who are quite clearly in transition and who don’t carry anything like the fear factor of the last 15 years.
Mayo got the better of Galway in their opener, while Donegal saw off Kerry in Ballyshannon but there is an asterisk attached to those results considering how many players the opposition were missing.
Donegal’s game against Kerry took on a different outlook when David Clifford didn’t travel for the match.
There was going to be no great kudos for winning, while a defeat may have led to unhelpful scrutiny.
In the end, Jim McGuinness’s men got the result they needed but did stutter towards the final whistle.
When interviewed afterwards, McGuinness said ‘he wasn’t too disappointed’ even though the spoils stayed in Donegal.
Apart from the two league points, there won’t be much to take from it. The sight of Hugh McFadden dropping to the wing in the first half to take a Gavin Mulreany kick-out summed up the match.
Kerry’s aerial dominance and ravenous desire to win breaking ball was huge in the All-Ireland Final last July, and if the sides meet again later this year, it’s unlikely that McFadden will be able to canter out to collect a restart and launch an attack.
The concession of the late goal was poor and the Donegal defence will have to be better under the high ball, while they have also seen how much punishment can be dished out when handing good free-takers a free shot at the posts even from distance.
Michael Murphy and Oisin Gallen’s return is timely and they will likely be managed carefully over the next few weeks.
McGuinness has been slow to go to his bench even from winning positions but it appears he is keen to get to six points and then there may be more of an opportunity to experiment.
It’s hard to see a league final appearance carrying any great worth when McGuinness places such importance on the Ulster Championship.
However, it seems unlikely that he would want to come out second best in a fully charged O’Donnell Park on Sunday.
Mayo are coming looking for a challenge and it’s expected to be physical.
They’ll feel that Donegal will be a better gauge of their early season form than either Galway or Dublin at this time.
Moran is the type of infectious individual that can get people pulling together.
He cut his teeth with Leitrim knowing there weren’t going to be many great days in the sun, while the Monaghan players raved about his input last year when he was a coach with Gabriel Bannigan.
Now the task is to galvanise his home county and like McGuinness when he returned to Donegal in 2024, the first few steps have been eye-catching.
The likes of Cillian O’Connor, Rob Hennelly and James Carr have returned to the panel while Tommy Conroy it fit again so their depth has improved straight away.
Mayo have also been producing good underage teams in recent seasons and talented forwards. For years they longed for a left-footed free-taker and now two have come along in Darragh Beirne and Cian McHale.
Kobe McDonald has committed to a career in the AFL once he completed his Leaving Cert but he’s part of the Mayo panel this season and it will be interesting to see when Moran throws him into the mix.
Slow lateral play was bemoaned at the end of McStay’s time and a lack of willingness to take on two-pointers but Moran has quickly changed that approach.
He wants to move the ball fast up the field to his inside line, while the dangerous Ryan O’Donoghue has been moved out to centre half-forward where there is more freedom and he doesn’t need a second invitation to pull the trigger.
Mayo have been putting up big scorelines, just like the Monaghan side Moran was with in 2025.
But also like that team, they look open at the back, and there may be goal opportunities for Donegal if they go looking.
Mayo have been trying out a new-look midfield in Bob Tuohy and David McBrien and that is another sector that Donegal could get on top in with McFadden, Michael Langan, and Jason McGee all starting the year impressively.
Traditionally there is very little between the teams when Donegal and Mayo clash and it’s likely to be a close encounter once again on Sunday.
It could be an edge-of-the seat battle but the one certainty is that if you want a spot in the Dr James McDaid stand, you’ll have to be queueing long before throw-in.
