The team’s been announced for Sunday’s Connacht semi-final with Sligo. (Thanks to Furboot for tipping me off – my broadband connection has been acting up of late and I was trying, without success, to get tuned into Mad West when the details were posted on the Club Mayo Dublin site). Anyways, here it is:

Mayo Connacht SFC v Sligo: David Clarke; Colm Boyle, Kieran Conroy, Keith Higgins; Tom Cunniffe, David Heaney, James Nallen; Ronan McGarritty, Tom Parsons; Peadar Gardiner, Pat Harte, Trevor Mortimor; Conor Mortimor, Austin O’Malley, Andy Moran.

Good to see Conor in the team and that Tom Cunniffe at last gets a start in the half-backs. Colm Boyle and Kieran Conroy deserve their starting places in the full-back line but switching Keith back to the corner and parachuting James Nallen in at seven is odd, to say the least. It’s possible that they’ll swap positions before the off, I suppose. Midfield is as expected and, with Alan Dillon sidelined, the half-forward line contains no surprises, with Peadar Gardiner returning on the right and Pat Harte given the pivotal CHF role. James Gill loses out after being ever-present in the team right throughout the league. The full-forward line picks itself.

It’s quite a strong team but the Higgins/Nallen bit is bound to provoke plenty of debate, I think. Back with more on it tomorrow.