There will be no room for neighbourly politeness in Castlebar on Saturday evening when Mayo and Roscommon meet in a crucial Division 1 clash that could leave the loser embroiled in a relegation dogfight.
The Allianz League top flight is wide open this season, with only Derry boasting a 100% record at the summit of the table. Six of the seven other teams have lost two games each through the first four rounds, with Monaghan currently propping up the table after one win and three losses.
Roscommon are coming off an emphatic win at home to Monaghan last week while Mayo are still smarting from a second-half collapse in Tyrone that saw them hand back at three-point half-time lead and eventually lose by four points.
Former Red Hand superstar Peter Canavan, whose son Darragh continued his fantastic form in Omagh last Saturday, reckons Mayo boss Kevin McStay must stick or twist when it comes to his overall game plan and decide once and for all what to do with some of his most high profile campaigners.
"They're not in a position to tip-toe around each other for this one because neither of them will want to get relegated," Canavan said on the RTÉ GAA podcast. "Crucial game – how many times have we said that? Every round it feels crucial.
"The losers of this one certainly are going to be in difficulty
"Compare the two teams on form, you’d say Roscommon are the form team coming into this. But you’re not comparing like for like because Mayo didn’t put out their best 15 whereas Roscommon did put out their best and went out at all costs to try and defeat Monaghan at home.
"For this one, you would expect that Kevin McStay is going to put out his best 15 from the start – and Roscommon likewise."
RTÉ Sport columnist and former Mayo star, Lee Keegan, this week curiously described the complicated Mayo-Roscommon relationship as a "healthy hate".
"I’m looking forward to this Roscommon team playing on Sunday because you’ve got some of the best forwards in the country playing for them – Daire Cregg, Enda Smyth, Ben O’Carroll, Donie Smith – all excellent players and if they can secure enough possession around that middle-third they’ve got a great chance of winning it," Canavan said.
"Speaking of that middle-third, Mayo were receiving a bit of criticism last week with Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan in great form. The game was won in the middle-third where Tyrone secured dominance at the start of the second half and it was ball after ball that was coming in – it was one-way traffic.
"That’s the key area that Mayo will have to address on Sunday. Diarmuid O’Connor came off injured against Tyrone, Massive loss around the middle. Mattie Ruane was just back after a long absence so he tired as the game went on.
"It’ll be crucial to see who Mayo put in there around that middle sector. The winning of that area of the game could well decide the overall outcome of this one."
There was no room for veteran forward Aidan O’Shea last week in Omagh for reasons that are still unclear. The Breaffy man has spent as much of his inter-county career out around the middle of the pitch – with mixed results against the bigger teams – although many feel he’s at his most effective on the edge of the opposition’s square.
Might McStay recall the burly target man in front of his home fans against Roscommon?
"I don’t know if Mayo have sat on a firm game plan in that regard yet," Canavan wondered. "O’Shea has been lining out at full-forward but not really staying in there. At times he does and at times he drifts out because he can play out around that middle sector.
"Whereas if you look at Dublin, their out and out target man, they want him to stay in there and they want to get the ball to him, that’s Con [O’Callaghan] and likewise, David Clifford is not going to be playing as a third-midfielder out around the pitch, he’s obviously a strong target man.
"Mayo need to come to a game plan and stick to it. I don’t know if it’s Aidan’s own idea to move out the pitch if he’s not getting on the ball or if it’s team selection of game plan to do that. He didn’t even get any game time against Tyrone so he may not be used at all on Sunday.
"The Mayo management team have a bit of head scratching to do when it comes to selection and it’ll be interesting to see where Aidan lines out, if at all."
Watch Derry v Dublin in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights on Allianz League Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm, follow a live blog every Sunday afternoon on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Sunday Sport
