Whelan: Sharp improvement required up front for Mayo to survive

Having ended the early part of the season as league champions and serious All-Ireland contenders, Mayo could exit at the quarter-final stage at the hands of neighbours Galway unless they quickly improve up front.

That's the view held by RTÉ football analysts Ciarán Whelan and Tomás Ó Sé, with the former Dublin footballer also wondering where the leadership will come from when the team hits a sticky patch in a game.

Kevin McStay’s side looked on course to top their group when Tommy Conroy’s goal put his team six points up against Cork in the final round-robin clash.

However, the Rebels hit back in style, hitting their opponents for 1-06 without reply to win by three points.

It meant they edged Mayo out of second place, ensuring they have home advantage in next weekend’s preliminary quarter-finals, while the westerners face a daunting trip to Salthill.

Speaking on this week’s RTÉ GAA podcast, Whelan says the manner of the last quarter collapse will be a worry for McStay and his management team.

"It leaves a lot of question marks over Mayo, particularly the last 10, 15 minutes when Mayo needed leaders," he said.

"The question you would have had against Mayo all year, was when the pressure comes on, do they have people that can stand up?

"It was kind of left to Paddy Durcan, who kicked a couple of wides, but he was the only one really trying to drive on."

Whelan outlined that as well as leadership issues, the other element that still needs addressing is a familiar one for Mayo.

Of their starting forwards, only Ryan O’Donoghue (0-5, 0-4fs) and Jordan Flynn, who kicked over four superb scores, raised white flags from play.

Whelan suggests that the pattern has been evident, with the memorable away win in Killarney something of an anomaly.