The championship jigsaw is beginning to take shape.

Mike Finnerty | 29 May 2025

Exclusive to GAA+ this Weekend, Tyrone vs Mayo

The contenders are emerging, the pressure is building, and the stakes are getting higher.

On Saturday evening the tension will be palpable at Healy Park in Omagh when Tyrone and Mayo meet for the first time in a championship match since the 2021 All-Ireland Final.

A lot has changed since that September Sunday when Tyrone claimed the Sam Maguire Cup for the fourth time.

Conor McKenna and Oisin Mullin are now established Down Under in the AFL, Lee Keegan has traded the pitch for punditry, and then-managers James Horan and Brian Dooher and Fergal Logan have returned to life among the supporters.The big wheel has continued to turn.

Expectations among Mayo and Tyrone supporters have also had to be revised in the intervening years. Visits to Croke Park in high summer have been few and far between for both counties as players and management teams went their separate ways and a transition phase began.

This season has also provided evidence that both teams are still a work in progress. But recent results suggest that one is improving quicker than the other.

Tyrone were relegated from the top-flight of the Allianz League, but have shown enough signs of improvement against Cavan, Armagh and Donegal last weekend to make us believe they are learning fast under new manager, Malachy O’Rourke. They have won two games, including taking the scalp of the Ulster champions, Donegal, at ‘Fortress Ballybofey’, scoring three goals and keeping three clean sheets along the way.

And with eight of their All-Ireland Final XV from four years ago on duty last Saturday evening, and another former All Star like Conor Meyler on the bench, it’s easy to see why so many people now see Tyrone as genuine darkhorses. From Niall Morgan in goal to Darragh Canavan at corner-forward — and with former Footballer of the Year, Kieran McGeary, moving well through the middle third — Malachy O’Rourke’s penchant for substance and structure is beginning to become more apparent.

Darren McCurry has also been in flying form, shooting 0-24 so far in the campaign.

Mayo’s season has been far more erratic and reasons for their supporters to be optimistic have been harder to find. The team’s recent defeat to Cavan was a huge setback to their ambitions of bouncing back from the Connacht Final loss to Galway, while injuries to Eoghan McLaughlin and Diarmuid O’Connor haven’t helped either.

This week also started with the news that Kevin McStay would be stepping back from his role as team manager ‘for the immediate future’ due to ‘personal health issues’ so that means a return to the Bainisteoir bib for former boss, Stephen Rochford. Rochford should have no problem motivating the Mayo troops given their lacklustre display against Cavan, allied to the enforced departure of McStay.

However, their Achille’s heel remains their dependence on Ryan O’Donoghue for scores. The reality is that Mayo will have to produce their best performance of the year to topple an upwardly mobile Tyrone at home. If that’s to happen then the likes of Sam Callinan, David McBrien and fit-again Paddy Durcan will have to lead from the back, while Aidan O’Shea remains a totemic figure.

A rivalry renewed is often one to savour, especially with so much at stake.