Here’s the team that lined out at Charlestown, courtesy of new Mayo GAA blogger No one shouted Stop! (the more blogs, the merrier, in my view: now all we need are a few blogs from other counties to join in the fun) who, unlike myself, was at yesterday’s game.

The team was: Shane Nallen; John Brogan, Billy Joe Padden, Aidan Higgins; David Geraghty, Trevor Howley, Keith Higgins; Peadar Gardiner, Seamus O’Shea; James Gill, Austin O’Malley, Donal Corrigan; Michael Mullins, Alan Dillon, Brian Benson. Subs: James Kilcullen for O’Shea, O’Shea for Corrigan.

Trevor Howley at no. 6 is an interesting selection and he’s undoubtedly a strong candidate for that position over the coming year (along with the likes of Cafferkey and Kilcullen, I suppose). But BJ at full-back again? I know it’s still only the middle of January and it’s only the FBD but we really have to start trying out serious alternatives for this position. Maybe because it’s the FBD, other options aren’t available but if we’re still fielding BJ there in a month’s time, I’d be concerned.

Austie can have no complaints about the game time he’s getting but I think he’d need to up his consistency fairly seriously to be considered as an credible option at centre-forward. Mullins and Benson sound like two good additions to the squad – we’ll never turn away forwards who can score.