The Mayo News has a quote from County Board Chairman James Waldron who says that McHale Park will definitely be ready to host the Tyrone match and also the Connacht semi-final in June.  The work won’t be completely finished by June but there will be some seating open in the new stand by then.  On Sunday week, however, our posteriors will have to make do with all that homely old concrete seating but the builders have apparently given assurances that all the mugs containing weeks-old tea as well as all those half-eaten bacon rolls, empty crisp bags, Coke tins, fag butts and back issues of the Daily Star will be swept up into a nice, neat pile in advance of the throw-in.  Well, we are hosting the All-Ireland champions after all, so we should, like, make a bit of an effort for the occasion.

The same Mayo News story confirms what most of us had probably heard already about the imminent return to the senior panel of James Nallen, David Heaney and Aidan Higgins.  Where are we going to put all these half-backs, I wonder?  Maybe we could convert them into corner … no, I think we’ve already exhausted that approach.  No news though, I see, about Keith Higgins – when is he coming back from Oz?  Is he coming back from Oz?  If he is, he’d need to get his skates on or else it’s difficult to see how he’s going to be in the frame for a starting championship place in June.

The same article (I’m getting the maximum out of this one, I know) says that Barry Moran and Seamus O’Shea should be back pushing for places for the Tyrone match and that Trevor Howley is now back in full training once more.  It’d be great to see the Knockmore man back on the field at some stage, even for a brief cameo appearance, on Sunday week.  We’ve missed you, Trev.

Seeing as we’ve got the Mayo News open, you may as well gorge yourself on all the rest of its GAA content.  Here’s Mike Finnerty’s match report, Daniel Carey’s post-match  tête-à-tête with Johnno and a sketch on the Tuam match from the same writer that I haven’t got around to reading yet.  Mike Finnerty also has an interview with senior and U21 player Donal Vaughan ahead of this Saturday’s U21 Connacht final with Sligo (the throw-in for which at Markievicz Park has been fixed for 5 pm, by the way).  The most noteworthy bit from that lot (well, from the bits I’ve read) comes from the post-match comments: Johnno is apparently in denial about our slow start the last day and put it all down to the weather whereas Alan Dillon admits that “we didn’t perform at all” in the first half and that “it’s something we have to address”.  Figure that one out for yourselves.

Good God: is that the time?  The month of March over and not a child in the house washed yet.