Revenue from the qualifiers looks set to spike again this year as Mayo go on the road to Newry this evening.
The 7pm throw-in has dismayed Mayo supporters and their county board, which requested a 3pm start, but they’ll still travel in bigger numbers than any other away team in the qualifiers this weekend.
While Mayo’s loss to Roscommon certainly was a surprise in the context of their dominance of the fixture since 2001, ultimately they lost narrowly to a team that competed in Division One this year and that have since gone on to claim provincial honours after a much more comfortable victory over Galway.
Mayo rarely make life easy for themselves in the qualifiers but they invariably get the job done.
After all, while they were beaten by Kildare last year, it came amid extraordinary circumstances with the ‘Newbridge of nowhere’ backdrop driving the home side to new heights. And even at that, Mayo were well in the game right up to the end.
Down have mixed the good with the bad this year having blown a golden opportunity of promotion to Division Two before battling gamely while down a man for the majority of the thrilling Ulster Championship defeat to Armagh.
Their win over Tipperary suggests they’re moving in the right direction but they don’t look ready to take a scalp as big as Mayo’s.
You’d still have to fancy Mayo to get the job done when looking at their body of work in 2019 as a whole rather than rushing to judgement on the back of the Roscommon reverse as many have done.
The counties have only met once in the Championship before, an All-Ireland quarter-final in 2012 that Mayo won at their ease at Croke Park but which was probably most notable for key forward Andy Moran rupturing a cruciate ligament.
VERDICT: Mayo
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