A few things struck me before a ball was kicked (or handpassed) last Sunday.
First off, I was running slightly later than I usually would be for a game.
As I drove closer to MacHale Park, I couldn’t believe the lack of the hustle and bustle a match day with Mayo usually brings round the area.
The next surprise was the deserted terraces on the media tower side of the pitch. It’s probably the first time I’ve walked that route on match day without stopping at least once for a ‘How do you think we will do today?’ chat.
That walk coincided with the Mayo team coming out on to the pitch to barely a whimper of an applause.
I should have known then we were in for a dour struggle and that’s how it panned out.
The dark dreary day, along with a swirling wind, certainly help with the atmosphere in the ground or the fare on offer.
Tyrone, with the wind at their backs, decided very early that they were going to sit into their defensive shape around the arc and watch Mayo play the ball around the fringes time after time, which was bizarre.
It’s quite ironic that their manager, Malachy O’Rourke, was part of the FRC until a few months ago — the group who were given the mandate of making Gaelic football the most exciting field sport in the world to play and watch.
Twenty minutes in, and with both teams having only raised three white flags between them, the level of excitement was zero. Most Mayo fans were probably hugely frustrated with the slow phases of play.
Kevin McStay, however, will argue that going in only a point behind at half-time, after playing against that wind, meant the end justified the means.
When Jordan Flynn kicked our only two-pointer at the start of the second half to put us into the lead, I honestly thought we could cruise to victory against a Tyrone team that looked completely out of sorts.
That never materialised though and the struggle continued, which probably tells us where we are with our own game and confidence at the minute.
What McStay will be delighted with is that with the game level with a couple of minutes to go, it was his team that responded with the big plays, even if we did need a bit of help from a mis-hit Niall Morgan effort for a point to set us on our way.
If we didn’t know it before, then we had it confirmed on Sunday — Jordan Flynn has become one of our most important players. He just has that physical edge that we sometimes lack.
He was bouncing off Kieran McGeary a couple of minutes in which sent the signal to follow his lead. I thought Eoghan McLaughlin added hugely in that area too which was very welcome after what we saw against Galway.
Crucially, with two points now are on the board, Mayo have given themselves a real chance of staying in Division One. With Donegal — who could either be trying avoid a league final or assured of being in one the following week — coming to Castlebar in the last round, one win in the next three games might even be enough. Granted, our score difference would need to improve with the likelihood of a few teams finishing on six points.
Regardless, a trip to a packed Athletic Grounds this weekend is hugely exciting if you are a Mayo player this week. To go to the All-Ireland champions for a Saturday night game should really get the juices flowing and I would be expecting them to play with much more energy and purpose than last Sunday.
To come out of Armagh with a result would be the badly-needed shot of confidence this team needs.
And don’t rule it out, we are typically at our best when our backs are to the wall.
Armagh are a bit Jekyll and Hyde at the minute. To take advantage of that, we need our attacking game, in particular, to drastically improve.
We have scored the lowest amount so far in Division One and could only manage 12 points in our last two outings which simply isn’t going to be good enough to win this sort of game.
An interesting evening awaits.