Next weekend, sees the start of the Mayo Senior Hurling Championship with 3 ties down for decision in the opening round. All six clubs will play each other in a round robin series, with the top four going forward to contest the Semi-Finals in September.

Ballyhaunis go into the championship as strong favourites to retain the title they won last year. Backboned by the Higgins brothers, Keith and Pierse, the McConn brothers, Paul and Derek as well as Mayo captain Derek Walsh, they will be a formidable outfit again this year and will be looking to make it two in a row.

Next in line to take the TJ Tyrell Cup is Westport. They have been showing well in the Genfitt Cup this year, having qualified for the final of that competition recently. They will look to their county stars, the Broderick brothers, Stephen and Paul, Conor Ryan and James Hogan if they are to progress as smoothly through the Senior Championship.

Tooreen will also be looking to be in the shake-up as well this year as their underage success of the last number of years is beginning to come to fruition. Players like Adrian Freeman, Stephen Coyne, Shane Morley, Stephen Leneghan and Paul Hunt will have to be to the fore if the TJ Tyrell Cup is to return to the East Mayo hurling nursery.

Dark horses for this year's title would have to be Ballina Stephenites. They are slowly remoulding a nice balanced team, made up of players who won many titles at underage level during the mid-nineties. If they continue to progress, they will be competing for honours at the end of the season. Players they will look for leadership from include the Healy brothers, Anthony and Kevin, and the Duffy brothers, John and Tomas as well as Daniel Kirby, Vinnie O'Hora and John Tighe.

Belmullet will also be looking to get back into championship action, after missing out on last years Championship. On their day however, they are capable of causing a shock, and with Paddy Barrett, Seami Barrett, Andrew Howard and Declan Sweeney in their ranks, they will be hard to shake off.

Castlebar Mitchell's will find it tough to stand the pace of this year's Senior Championship. Having failed to reach the knockout stages in the previous few years, they will be looking to their up and coming underage stars from last years County Minor Final success to come of age. Players of note include county panellists Ger Whyte, Sean Kelly, Kieran Horan and Liam Fallon.

All in all, it promises to be an interesting season ahead. With the Mayo Senior team playing out of Division 2 of the National Hurling League next year, this Championship will act as a scouting ground to find new talent to represent Mayo next year.

This weekends fixtures:
Tooreen v Belmullet
Ballyhaunis v Castlebar
Westport v Ballina