Roscommon need to be brave to down exciting Mayo

Roll up roll up, the big show is back in town. Well, not if we accept the growing sentiment that the round robin group stage has wounded the provincial championships, possibly fatally.

Just possibly, with the pressure of championship progression lessened and with teams well up to speed, the provincial games could be played with joie de vivre rather than the more natural claustrophobia.

We'll see. Regardless of the bigger picture, we should sit back and enjoy a potentially brilliant opener in Castlebar.

Heading into it there is much to watch out for.

The Match Ups:

Key match ups exist on either side. Enda Smith, the Murtaghs, Conor Cox, Ben O’Carroll must all be covered off from a Mayo perspective while Brian Stack's and Conor Daly’s influence in creating the base for Roscommon attacks will certainly have been noted as well.

For Roscommon, Aidan O’Shea and Ryan O’Donoghue are the most obvious targets but there is such threat from all over the pitch that going beyond this may have limited value for Davy Burke. He simply needs to ensure that as far as possible, players with the appropriate physical abilities match up to likes of James Carr, Mattie Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor, Jordan Flynn and Paddy Durcan.

Of all these match ups, I only see one as game defining. Enda Smith’s prominence in this game is likely to directly correlate with the result. I can’t see Roscommon winning if he is kept quiet. For a long time now, Smith has been the Rossies heartbeat. A point only reinforced during this year’s league campaign where, in more than one game, he almost single handedly wrestled back momentum and produced key attacking plays. He is a generational talent. Yes, at times he can be shut down but even Clifford can be frustrated on his day.