After a year’s break, we’re set to be reunited with the neighbours in Connacht next year. We’ve got London to sort out first, mind, but assuming we do, we’re then set for a semi-final date with Galway, a clash that will take place in McHale Park. Defending champions Roscommon start their campaign against New York in Gaelic Park and then they’ll face the winners of the preliminary round clash between Sligo and Leitrim.
A bad draw. These draws should be seeded. There are too many big clashes in the early rounds of each province except munster where Cork and Kerry have avoided each other. However in the hurling they have Cork v Tipp in the first round again. Absolute madness. Mayo and Galway should be kept apart in Connacht. Leinster football draw is very lob sided as is the Ulster draw.
It’s a good draw for Mayo, no disrespect to the Eastenders, but a weekend away at the start of the c’ship will be good for bonding the team ahead of the real business, a home clash against the auld enemy! No pep talks needed for that one, no half-arsed performances like the dross against Sligo and L’ford. The winner of the Mayo/Galway clash will put the Rossies back in their real pecking order in the province, if Sligo hav’nt done so already!! Horan now has his initial target for the c’ship; a Connacht title would settle a couple of scores, get us to a qtr final, and see where we go from there in bonus territory. That has to be the minimum standard. Pity it’s such a long wait!!
I’d say the two novice managers of Mayo and Galway will be mightily relieved to get the easy side of the draw. No Sligo to send them packing in the early rounds this year. A great chance for one of them to make the Connacht final this year.
What are you basing that opinion on Jim, who won Connaught last year?? What teams were in the final?? A CF QF with Galway will be deadly, if we lose there’s still the qualifiers and if we win, onwards and upwards! It’s hard to say that the League will give us any indication of how the result will go as last year’s league really flattered to deceive at HQ. Also let’s not forget that the London team will be swelled with the amount of lads that are leaving the Emerald Isle for work.
Yes we’ll want to beat Galway when it comes to it, and should we manage that will definetley want to put the Rossies back in their box but whatever happens lets not get too excited. As our new bainnisteor has said, its the quarter finals that matter so when the time comes lets focus on looking for forward momentum and not get too excited about Connacht championship results. like it or not there are now two seperate competitions, provincial championships and the All Ireland series. I for one am very glad that our new man, in his inital comments seems to have grapsed that.
Sorry that should read Connaught Semi Final of course!
wasnt too fussed about who we got to be honest. We should be able to beat any team in connacht. Galway for me are a team in decline….if Mike Meehan isnt performing they are a very average side indeed.
The whole provincial thing is a joke at this stage, who cares?
It’s the equivalent of the FA Cup in England.
The All Ireland series(which includes the qualifiers) is the only thing that matters.
I don’t know why they are still persisting with it.
Interesting isint it when reality comes alive. The game v Galway will focus the mind. Two teams that are at rock bottom. When those two are down so is the rest of Connacht football.
I still worry, not about playing Galway but about the crazy premium we put on beating them. They last got to an All-Ireland semi final in 2001. Beating Galway is an end to a means, nothing more.
There seems to be an obsession with some of the Mayo alicadoos about Galway. After the debacle of the 2004 AIF a delegate told the county board meeting that the bench mark for that season was beating Galway…any thing else was a bonus.
Thet beat Galway in the Connacht semi final , so if they lost to an average Roscommon team or a poor enough Fermanagh team after that, to him it didnt matter, we had beaten Galway!
With that type of thinking we will always be insular. I hope that James Horan lifts his vision a bit beyond that and see Galway as a team to be beaten…end of story.
P.S I love the comment from Dr Hyde, they havent got much in Roscommon but for sheer hard neck they lead the nation. Two summers a go an average Mayo team danced the living s***T out of a Roscommon team in the championship. Fair play to Dr Hyde for is capacity to bury the recent past.
I suppose when you contemplate trips to Kilkenny, Carlow and London for the winter you might as well sneer at the big two while this little window of opportunity shines on the rest of Connacht.
I watched the draws last night, but didn’t have that same anticipation about the Connacht draw. Normally I’d look for a handy enough draw for us and Galway facing a trip to the Hyde or Markievicz Park, before a memorable showdown in the final. But times have certainly changed over the past few years. Connacht seems to have levelled off (more to do with Mayo and Galway’s decline), so any draw we got would have posed difficulties. Sligo’s performances against ourselves and Galway certainly suggest they are right up there in Connacht now.
I’d expect Sligo to make it through to the final. They got caught on the hop by the Rossies last year, can’t see it happening again.
That would leave us having to beat London and both Galway and Sligo in McHale park to win Connacht,
something we should be well capable of.
I know Connacht shouldn’t be the end of our ambitions, but after this year, I’d take it. As was said earlier, we should be looking at making the AI QF’s every year, either through winning Connacht or the qualifiers.
Odds on PP:
Galway 11/8
Mayo 13/8
Sligo 10/3
Ros 12/1
Leitrim 50/1
NY 150/1
London 200/1
Any word on who will have the Bainisteoir bib on in the Galway dug out nest year? Nearly forgot they are leaderless at the moment. A lot can happen in a year, Roscommon are testimonial to this, a hammering in 2009 in McHale Park to Connaught champions a year latter. Interesting times ahead and we should look forward to them with some hope that we aren’t as bad as we thought were.
Glad to see the new management team didn’t travel to the FBD final. Expect to see some of them at the Junior final over the weekend
Tomas O Flatharta was named last night
Any idea who IS travelling, in a managing/coaching capacity, with the Mayo team for the FBD Final?
According to this report in the Mayo News, the team in New York will be managed by Eoin Sweeney from Ballycroy, who has worked as a physical therapist with the squad since 2004, and the travelling party will predominantly be made up of fringe players who lined out during the FBD.
As far as i know, Eoin was the Belmullet trainer this year. He had them in fine fettle for the Comortas Peil which they won.