Played nine, won none, lost five, drawn four – the curious case of Mayo’s away-day blank in Donegal

Flashback to 2020 . . . Jordan Flynn of Mayo, right, in action against Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Michael Langan of Donegal during the Division 1 clash in MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey, Donegal. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile

Flashback to 2020 . . . Jordan Flynn of Mayo, right, in action against Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Michael Langan of Donegal during the Division 1 clash in MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey, Donegal. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile

Rob Hennelly

Colm Keys Twitter Email

March 17 2023 02:30 AM

Mayo, the leaders after five rounds, can book a place in the Allianz Division 1 football league final with a fourth win of the campaign on Sunday against the lowest team in the top flight. It’s as simple as that.

Or is it? To do so, they will have to win in the only county where they have played but never won a competitive senior game before.

The anomaly of Mayo’s away record against Donegal is a curious one when set against what they have done in the other 29 counties where they have played either a league or championship game.

Mayo have never played Waterford competitively at senior level and have never played in Carlow. But everywhere else, they have won at least once, except Donegal.

Does such a statistic, brought to life by the brilliant ‘ Mayo GAA Blog’ results resource that makes such information so accessible, really matter?

Maybe not. But it’s a strange one, nonetheless. In nine visits, the best Mayo have come away with has been four draws, two in their last three meetings there.

In fact, the counties have drawn their last three league games, which have all been played outside Mayo, as last year’s ‘home’ game was played in Sligo’s Markievicz Park because MacHale Park was undergoing a surface makeover.

True to form, Mayo had to come from behind for parity in Sligo, goalkeeper Robbie Hennelly hooking over a late free in the swirling wind on the first weekend of action for a 0-11 each draw.

Two years earlier in Ballybofey, Donegal looked all over winners throughout until substitute James Durcan bagged a goal deep into injury time for a 2-13 to 0-19 draw.

And then there was Kevin McLoughlin’s late equaliser in Ballybofey in 2018 with 20 seconds of the allotted four minutes of injury time remaining.

McLoughlin’s right-footed kick, after a generous helping of steps, pushed Mayo to safety on five points, leaving Donegal on three. But had the kick not gone over, they’d have finished level on four points and Donegal would have preserved status on the head-to-head.

Despite being at opposite ends of the division then, divided by five points, the prospects of a draw still has to be strong, based on their last three league results.

And Donegal’s recent record in Ballybofey is also telling, with just two defeats, Tyrone in the 2018 championship and Monaghan in last year’s league, since 2010.

Mayo’s home record against Donegal is better, but for 44 years, between 1940 and 1984, they didn’t meet in any senior competition.

Since then, Mayo have travelled to Donegal to lose five and draw four games, their other draws coming in Ballyshannon in 1985 and Letterkenny, where Donegal themselves have a poor record, in 2009.

Mayo have even won away to Dublin, their 2-11 to 0-12 win in Croke Park in last year’s competition their first in 13 away league games. Croke Park championship games Mayo have won are deemed neutral.

Mayo have won six times in league games played at Kerry venues, while they have won more games than they’ve lost going to Tyrone, 7-6, which highlights their despair in Donegal all the more.

Division 1 in 2023 has been notable for how influential home advantage has been. Traditionally, this division has operated a home success rate of between 50pc and 55pc, but after five rounds, there have been just three home losses from 20 games, a 77.5pc success rate when three draws are incorporated.

Donegal have had their struggles in this league, beating Kerry on the first day and drawing with Galway in round five, but there was a distinct lack of ambition away to Armagh on the last weekend of action. The county is currently dogged by the departure of former Footballer of the Year Karl Lacey as the head of the academy in January and the fallout from that.

Mayo come into the game in a better frame of mind, unbeaten in six games to date as they continue to get players back.

Cillian O’Connor may sit out this game, however, after picking up a knock in a recent challenge match against Fermanagh, while Enda Hession, scorer of that great goal against Tyrone, is also out after limping out of that game.

Mayo have made the last two league finals that have been played (2019 and 2022, as none were played in 2020 and 2021), both against Kerry, and the proximity of this year’s final, seven days out from their opening championship game against Roscommon, raised the question of merit on qualifying for another one.

But to miss out, Mayo would likely have to lose both remaining games to Donegal and Monaghan, a sequence that would clearly impact on their current impressive momentum.