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OSCAR TRAYNOR CUP (2nd Round) LACK OF COMMITMENT MARS CUP MATCH PREPARATIONS BIG MATCH COUNTDOWN By Tom Kelly Mayo manager P.J. Duffy became so frustrated by the lack of commitment by players on the run-up to their Oscar Traynor Cup clash against Inishowen at Milebush on Sunday (k.o. 2.00p.m.) that he was seriously considering withdrawing the team from the competition. In a code in which the club is consistently placed before the county, Duffy has been pushed to the brink of resignation because of the paucity of loyalty and dedication. The difficulties marked a return to the bad old days of the early seventies when the Mayo League struggled to field a representative side worthy of its name. The situation reached an all-time low in 1976 when Mayo failed to enter a team in the Oscar Traynor Cup for only the second time. The same thing can never be allowed to happen again, particular in an era when there are over 1,500 players registered at junior level in the county. The Mayo League knows it has a responsibility to ensure their Oscar Traynor Cup representation is maintained, even if embarrassing results are suffered as happened in the early nineties when Mayo lost 5-1 and 6-0 to Galway in consecutive seasons. The problem facing P.J. Duffy is that he is caught directly in the firing line of the raging war between junior and senior levels of football. Since the emergence of the Connaught Senior League, Mayo has lost four of its best clubs, namely Castlebar Celtic, Ballina Town, Straide & Foxford United and Manulla. To those unfamiliar with the situation, it means that none of the players playing with any of those four clubs at senior level can turn out for Mayo in the Oscar Traynor Cup. CRISIS POINT When the best players in the county cannot play for the county, it is only a matter of time before a crisis is encountered. P.J. Duffy has now reached that crisis point. In fairness to him, he has done reasonably well up until now. He brought Mayo to the semi-final of the competition last season and got to the quarter-final in his first year in charge. The extent of his problems is clearly illustrated by the fact that he has lost the backbone of the side which qualified for the final stages last April. Gone from the starting eleven which lost to Kerry in last April's penultimate round are Tom Healy, Damian Ansbro, Kieran McDonnell, Kevin Ring, Roger Clarke, Justin Keady and Declan Shaw. The Knockmore manager is left with only four members of that side, namely goalkeeper Declan Prendergast, midfielder Tim Moriarty and attackers Chris Jordan and Martin Vahey. Others lost to the squad for one reason or another are Stephen Ring, Alan Rumley, Gerry Jennings, Iain McLoughlin, Ray Prendergast, Rory O'Malley and Michael Roach. At any level of football, it is hard to pick up the pieces after such a huge loss of talent. To make matters worse, Duffy failed to get a response from a number of players he called up, players capable of walking onto the team. BECAME FRUSTRATING He still had a lot of experienced players to whom to turn. But the level of commitment was not of the degree he needed in the circumstances. Maybe the matter needed to come to a head by Duffy declaring he was on the brink of resigning. But it does not inspire confidence for the challenge ahead against Inishowen. Said Duffy: "Perhaps I should have walked away from the job three weeks ago when things became frustrating. "But the situation improved somewhat since then, and I think we can just about scrape through if luck goes our way." His squad is not without experience, with Adrian Moran, Joe Davis, Nigel Reape and Paul Jordan returning to the fold. Moran, Davis and Reape have returned from spells in senior football, while Jordan is back after missing last season's finals through injury. Duffy has also unearthed a number of surprising newcomers, most notably Crossmolina midfielder Paul McGuinness, Ballyheane's hardworking David Cannon, Parkside Celtic striker Jason Muldoon (who scored five times against Castlebar Celtic in a challenge game), and Erris ace Gareth O'Malley. Mayo defeated Inishowen 3-1 at Clonmany at the same stage of the series last season. A similar result would probably be miraculous in view of Mayo's poor preparations. Duffy has named a 17-strong squad for the assignment and they have two final training sessions in Milebush on Wednesday (tonight) at 8.00p.m. and Saturday at 4.00p.m. MAYO SQUAD
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