I could get some really nasty splinters, so firmly am I sitting on the fence about Mayo right now.

In this new world that is the current championship format, it’s still tricky to judge where teams are at.

How gung-ho are teams for provincial honours? Particularly those assured of their place in the All-Ireland series anyway.

We had the same debate about the league and many felt Derry had got it right. Suddenly they’re dumped out of Ulster and their aura looks shattered. It may yet suit them to be a third seed and avoid a fierce provincial campaign, but right now it doesn’t feel like that.

Mayo know that road after winning the 2023 league and losing their next championship game. The optimistic outlook is Mayo took a more cautious, slow-roll approach to this year’s league, seeking to do enough to stay up but not be in consideration for the league final.

Maybe they did, but how easy is it to calibrate perfectly such an approach?

Not very and only time will tell.

In terms of Connacht, Mayo do really appear to want to win the Nestor Cup.

As John Gunnigan noted after Sunday, it was our first win over Roscommon or Galway in a non-knockout Connacht championship (i.e. not including the Covid campaigns of 2020 and 2021) since 2015. It is simply incredible that Mayo have reached four All-Ireland finals since 2015 with such a lack of dominance within the province.

Compare it to Kerry and Dublin, for instance.

So given their stated aims for the province, winning on Sunday was almost non-negotiable.

Sure, defeat would have ensured we would be third seeds in the All-Ireland group stage but we’d be going there with a massive confidence dent and also exposed to the potential of drawing Dublin or Kerry.

It’s worth reminding people now that defeat to Galway could be even worse in terms of the draw possibilities. We could have Dublin or Kerry as first seeds and a Derry, Tyrone or Donegal as third seeds.

So winning this provincial final appears vital.

But just where are we at?

Let’s start with a glass half-full outlook and the positives.

A five-point win in the Hyde is not to be sniffed at. Our starting forwards kicked 1-12.

Our full-forward line all bagged at least two scores from play and, after a frustrating league, both Tommy Conroy and Aidan O’Shea managed to score more from play in the Hyde than they had across the entire Division One campaign.

O’Shea and O’Donoghue alternating as the focal point of the full-forward line appeared to work well and kept Roscommon guessing. O’Shea’s goal was a crucial score and was a really well-taken one which will do lots for his confidence.

Conroy was peripheral in the first half, but two very good points from play in the second half were so warmly received by all Mayo fans and could be a great tonic for him.

Fergal Boland was also peripheral for stages but still came up trumps with two fine points from play. That’ll do.

Conor Loftus coming on and scoring two points is a great boon too. He struggled to score as centre-half back last year and his confidence suffered. He can now be a real live option from the bench anywhere across the middle eight.

Kevin McStay admitted afterwards that Mayo played quite a lot of keep-ball in the first half because of the stifling heat. It helps to explain their refusal to keep going with the direct ball inside which worked so well in the opening minutes, especially when Mayo were forcing so many turnovers and able to counter at pace.

Roscommon ended up having to shoot from long enough range a lot on Sunday which is a credit to Mayo’s defensive shape and tackling, even if Enda Smith’s goal chance was a let-off.

The negatives? Well, there are a few.

Firstly, the main cause for optimism going in was that the Rossies are struggling. They were relegated from Division One, the Davy Burke honeymoon appears to be over and the Hyde on a warm, dry day does not suit their best method for frustrating Mayo – crowding the defence and making it very hard for Mayo to break them down.

You could not really dispute any of that after Sunday. No one should be getting carried away with beating the Rossies this year and I don’t think anyone is. They had a fine second quarter to leave just a point between the teams but never looked like a team poised to drive on.

That’s their problem, but the context of it is important to note for Mayo.

Crucially, we struggled on kick-outs. It has been a recurring theme all year and you would have to think the opposition managements will target it. Push up on Mayo and they will struggle to win the ball if forced long to a contest.

It must be added that many of the kick-outs we lost were breaks and it was as much about reaction speed and guys being stuck to the ground than any greater physicality.

That is to say, very fixable stuff.

It was telling to see Aidan O’Shea utilised more as an outlet for kick-outs on Sunday. That’s a new departure and it was not exactly a roaring success but it certainly adds to our heft and a little bit more work around movement and support can see it being much more beneficial.

We would like to see the signs of training ground work on kick-outs a little bit more than we have so far. Perhaps it will come.

While Conor Loftus came on to very good effect, our squad depth is still uncertain. We have not seen enough of James Carr to know how ready he is to impact. Diarmuid and Cillian O’Connor, Eoghan McLaughlin and now Paddy Durcan remain injury concerns.

Padraig O’Hora made a welcome return but the feeling remains that Mayo cannot absorb more than a couple of injuries to regulars. And Sunday underlined how we need to double down on the cotton wool for Ryan O’Donoghue.

Overall, the jury is still out on both the players and management. But then we don’t need a verdict in April. We have only seen some of the evidence.

The rounded picture of the season has yet to reveal itself.

For now, we will remain on the fence.