Dream league final pair but schedule needs reviewing

While the league fare has been patchy this year, there's a great buzz this week over the final match-up we have in Division 1.

There was some gloom early in the campaign that there'd be little interest come the end, with the championship programme looking so attritional this year.

But I think both teams will be gunning for silverware this Sunday. From Kevin's comments this week, it was clear he really wants to go for it.

I think the desire to maintain momentum would trump anything else.

Mayo have a fixture pile-up to deal with - of which, more later - but the sight of Galway in a national final will certainly sharpen the interest.

That dynamic has definitely added to it, the two biggest rivals in a local derby with silverware on the table.

With his selection for the Monaghan game, 10 changes in total, it showed Kevin had his eye on the bigger picture, and he would already have had the Tribesmen in his head as likely opponents before that.

I was particularly struck by Padraic Joyce's response when it was put to him that Mayo were looking to move the date. He was pretty adamant that "we'll see ye on the 2nd of April at 4 o'clock in Croke Park." That's the rivalry poking its head out there! He's adding a bit more spice to the mix.

I always felt there was little prospect of the GAA agreeing to move it forward.

You'd be setting a precedent whereby a team who didn't want to play on a certain date would point to them switching a game to accommodate Mayo. It was evident from Kevin's comments that the pitch was made more in hope than expectation.

But that's separate to the primary issue which is the overall scheduling. Do I think it's unfair? I do. People will say they rested a load of players against Monaghan, but that's not the point.

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