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Connacht will be looking to nail another milestone this season when they travel to Thomond Park for a top-of-the-table clash with Munster on Saturday (515pm)..

Connacht pulled off a worthy pre-season scalp when they overcame Munster at Thomond Park by 28-12 in their final pre-season warm-up fixture.

While Mayo head into Sunday's Connacht final as favourites, joint Mayo manager Noel Connelly is not taking anything for granted and he is very keenly aware that Sligo will pose a serious threat to his side's ambitions of claiming a 46th Connacht title. Sligo's performance against Roscommon and particularly that of their inside forwards impressed the Hollymount-Carramore clubman. "They were the underdogs, Roscommon were the hot favourites after winning the division two league final. Sligo had won three and lost three in division three, but they were the highest scoring county team in all the leagues, also they used very few players outside the 17 or 18, so they are a very settled team, a very young team, and they played with great belief and no fear, and led from the off. Nobody could say they weren't deserving winners," he said.

The last time that Mayo lost in the Connacht championship was back in 2010, back then Davitts' flying wing-back Colm Boyle had fallen out of favour with the then Mayo management and it was another two years before he returned to the fold under James Horan. Boyle did not make it to that game as a supporter he said last week. "No I missed it, I was at a wedding the same day," but like many a summer wedding in Ireland he was one of a few missing in action from part of the celebrations, adding that he did see it on TV. "I missed the dinner over it."

Half a decade ago, Mayo were bounced out of the Connacht championship by Sligo in the shadow of Benbulbin, it was one of those bad days for Mayo football where nothing went right.

The Galway minor footballers under the guidance of Clonbur's Stephen Joyce aim to collect the county's first Connacht minor title since 2007 when they face Sligo in Hyde Park (2pm) on Sunday.

Last Sunday in Croke Park, Kildare booked their place in the final of the Leinster minor championship with a swashbuckling win over Dublin. This was despite the fact the Lillywhites had already been beaten in the championship by Louth back in April. However in Connacht there are no second chances for teams, until the final where both sides are guaranteed a place in the All Ireland quarter-final.

After a season of learning curves, Connacht now face a critical test in Sunday's Champions Cup first leg qualifier with Gloucester in Kingsholm.

Connacht will have one eye on Edinburgh and Gloucester this weekend as these two clubs, fighting for Champions Cup rugby, will meet in the final of the European Challenge Cup.

In a testing week for Connacht, both on and off the field, Pat’s Lam squad now faces the most difficult challenge against title-chasing Ulster on Saturday (2.40pm).