We had friends round yesterday afternoon/evening/night so the Hastings Cup clash the U21s had with Cavan came and went without my saying anything about it and then later on the same happened with the team announcement for this afternoon’s FBD meeting with IT Sligo at Charlestown (throw-in 2pm). A bit of catch-up is in order, then.

You’ll know by now, of course, that the U21s went under to Cavan in Bekan yesterday afternoon by 1-14 to 0-10. According to the score updates provided by @MayoGAA (by the way, to those who posted comments yesterday looking for information on how that match went and what team we put out, my simple answer would be follow @MayoGAA on Twitter because that’s where I get most of this kind of info), the visitors were on top in this match pretty much from the off and won with a good bit to spare.

As has already been noted in the comments, this was a much-changed U21 team from the one that started against Longford last weekend. In particular, Adam Gallagher, Diarmuid O’Connor and Stephen Coen – all of whom featured for the seniors on Friday night – didn’t line out for the U21s yesterday, with the team showing nine changes from one that started the Longford game. That said, I’ve no idea what kind of side Cavan had out yesterday and whether or not it represented anything approaching their first fifteen.

For the record, then, the team and subs named for yesterday’s match and the scorers in the match were as follows (all info from @MayoGAA):

Mayo (U21 Hastings Cup v Cavan, 11/1/2014): Shane Keane; Kevin Lynch, Liam Kitterick, Aidan Butler; Padraig Durcan, Cian Burke, Stephen Henry (0-1); Michael O’Malley, Gareth O’Donnell; Anthony Jordan (0-1), Ryan Quirke, Steven Conroy (0-1); Brian Heneghan, James Shaughnessy (0-5, four frees), James Durcan. Subs: Sean Shaughnessy, Brian Murphy, David O’Reilly (0-1), Darragh Ruane, Eoghan Collins, Mark Forkan, Tony Dever, Alan Ryder (0-1), David McHale, Brendan Carr, Sean Regan.

Onto today’s FBD clash with IT Sligo (a team which, by the way, will feature Evan Regan in its ranks) for which the following starting fifteen and subs have been named:

Mayo (Connacht FBD League v IT Sligo, 12/1/2014): Brendan Walsh (Ballintubber); Keith Rogers (Ballaghaderreen), Kevin Keane (Westport), Ger Cafferkey (Ballina Stephenites); Brendan Harrison (Aghamore), Shane McHale (Knockmore), David Drake (Ballaghaderreen), Jason Gibbons (Ballintubber), Brian Gallagher (Claremorris); Sean Kelly (Bohola Moy Davitts), Cathal Freeman (Aghamore), Cathal Carolan (Crossmolina); Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Darren Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen, captain). Subs: Robert Hennelly (Breaffy), Colm Boyle (Davitts), Lee Keegan (Westport), Mickey Conroy (Davitts), Jason Doherty (Burrishoole),  Enda Varley (Garrymore), Alan Freeman (Aghamore), Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis), Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy), Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe).

The above team shows seven changes from the one that started on Friday night. In come Brendan Walsh, Ger Cafferkey, Brian Gallagher, Sean Kelly, Cathal Carolan, Kevin McLoughlin and Andy Moran replacing Robbie Hennelly, Eoghan Reilly, John Reilly, Adam Gallagher, Diarmuid O’Connor, Tom King and Mikie Sweeney. That bench packs a bit of a punch too – the first time, surely, that we’ve listed four current All-Stars amongst our subs.