58 thoughts on “Andy Moran our MOTM from yesterday’s game”

1. Can’t believe Donie didn’t get more votes. Without his last minute challenge, which could have been a black card for him, we would have lost that game. Pure warrior.

2. Andy has had some year already from the FBD league in January to Croke Park in August his movement and shot selection has really improved . He had to come back from 2 serious injurys simalar to David Moran in that regard he just seems to be getting better hopefully there is even more to come…..Listening to the Bomber Liston on radio he says in 1982 Sean Lowry came back to mark him when they were playing Offaly …..

3. Andy was pure class yesterday. Performance by our full forward line puts lack of marquee forwards line to bed once and for all!.

4. Fantastic by Andy. Brilliant performance by a brilliant player and human being. Would have voted for Donaghy if he was on the list as all I read and heard today was how brilliant he was. According to some people he set up 2 4. Amazingly he is getting credit for the second goal eventhough he didnt touch the ball. I thought Donaghy did ok actually but he certainly wasnt the scourge to us that he was in years gone by. Why. Because AOS was marking him so there was no point in kicking it in high. As I said he is a fine player well capable of dealing with the low ball as well. I felt he was man of match v galway catching every high ball delivered. But of course the usual suspects want to have a dig at Mayo so they will pick on something anyway. Just read Sweeneys article, the same Sweeney who castigated our players after the Holmes, Connelly saga. Seeing as he was using animal imagery I just wonder whether he himself should be classified as a lion or a donkey. I think I hear some braying in the distance. Hi Haw

5. Well done to Andy, keep up the great work!

6. Andy was superb.

   6 goals conceded in last 4 matches is surely food for thought.

   i think Rochford should change tack now.
   play a double sweeper (5 guys playing very deep) half back line on front of them allowed to attack at will.

   Clarke

   Barrett
   SOS
   Harrison

   Vaughan
   Higgins

   Keegan
   Boyle
   Durcan

   AOS
   Parsons

   Mclaughlin

   Doherty
   AMoran
   COC

7. That’s funny to win just once. You can hear him braying in the distance. I’d say his hoof was sore after writing the article. It must be very hard for him to hold the pen.

8. Fair play to Andy Moran. Outstanding display. Doesn’t even need to look at the posts. He was on fire yesterday.

   I think yesterday we grabbed kerry by the shirt collar and threw them up against the wall a couple of times as a warning. Saturday we need to get them by the seat of their pants and fire them out the front door.

   We must be their nightmare from elm street.

9. The other way of looking at the Donaghey thing is that he is back near his peak (miraculously)so if he’s allowed to stay in our square and win clean ball they could put 3-4 goals on us and it’s light out and it won’t matter what happens up the other side of the field.

   For me it’s one of 3 who pick him up either AOS/SOS/B Moran

   Vaughan is a good player but he would be giving away 3 inches and probably 2-3 stone on Donnaghey

   i feel Rochford made a rod for his back with the keeper switch last year and everyone is jumping on him now.

10. Centrefield that exactly the team I think we should start with possible exception of Donie though being abroad I haven’t seen the game back and he may well have had plenty to do with Buckley having a quiet enough game.
    However I disagree with 2 sweepers as it completely concedes the short kickouts.

11. Really tough decision on starting 15. Jason, Paddy and Donnie have put down markers and need to start. Diarmuid who empties the tank may have to come off the bench. Let’s empty the bench much earlier, too much emphasis on starting 15.

12. Hope this puts to bed the idea i’ve seen floating round here a few times of Andy not starting and coming on as an “impact sub” ( whatever that is. Shouldn’t every sub make an impact).

    He has to start. What does Conor Loftus have to do to get a start? Loftus should be in there from the off with Ciilian and Andy up top. There’s goals to be scored against that Kerry back line. Loftus could be your man to finish goal chances.

13. So if Loftus has to play from the start who would you take off. Paddy Durcan didn’t start and he’s likely to the next day.

14. Andy was inspirational on Sunday and very deserving of MOM. His all star should be assured after this Come to think of it the whole Mayo team have been inspirational to us all for everything they have given us. Resilience, persistence, never say die attitude and against all odds (We don’t have the population and wealth of Dublin or the history of winning like Kerry) makes me so proud to be from Mayo. It’s so unfortunate that we seem to need 110% of things to go right for us to beat a Kerry or a Dublin whereas anybody else only needs 70 to 80% of things to go their way to get there. Next Saturday would be a good day for the deities to give us the nod. Carpe Diem Mayo.

15. Donie Vaughan should mark Donaghy the next day with Lee Keegan brought back into half back line where he can run from deep. Aidan O Shea should go back to the half forwards but do what Donaghy did the last day by drifting out from his marker. We need to vary the kick-outs better and take from the Dublin playbook that worked so well against Kerry last year. I don’t buy the notion that Kerry will improve more – Mayo can too.

16. And Joe Brolly said he was done!!

17. I am worried on this ref. He will want to pay them back for foul he missed against Dublin. He admitted he was wrong. They will play that perfectly.

18. Pretty balanced and positive article in today’s Irish Times from McGuinness.

    Basically AOS at 3 was brave, but let him off the leash upfield every now and then. And address our kickouts.

    Simples then!

19. really good analysis piece by Rob Carroll from the42.
    I particularly liked his analysis of how the sweeper is viewed pundits.

    i thought he made a good point about kerry’s lack of aggression in the middle third. last week tomas o’se said that mayo had “awoken the dog in Kerry” but if you compare sunday’s game to the 2014 replay there was not the same level of aggression or off the ball stuff from Kerry.

    so i think next saturday’s game could see a much more aggressive and physical Kerry.

    http://www.the42.ie/kerry-mayo-football-drawn-game-analysis-3557102-Aug2017/

20. The more I think about it the more I think Rochford was right in his team setup and believe he will start the same team the next day. But for a couple of silly errors which directly resulted in their goals (not some wonderful play from Donaghy) we would have them beat out the gate, thats not even counting the soft wides we kicked. I think Rochford got alot right the last day and should not bend in his belief on how the team should play beacuse of what a few pundits and jornos think.

    My one criticism of the management is the timing of the subs, Loftus beought on too late to make an impression, this has always been a fauult of Mayo management from Rochford to PatNoel to Horan, substitutions have always been reactive rather than proactive. I would have liked to have seen Nally come on instead of Drake as he can nail that long range point if the opportunity presented itself.

    Way too much focus given to the AOS issue, its the typical Irish attitude of not liking anything new. If we played a more traditional defender in fb and coughed up a few goals then where would we be.

    People not focusing enough on what went right the last day, namely our attack. Even though a fair amount on chances were wasted it looked at times fast, slick and full of ideas. No coincidence that quick accurate ball into ff line resulted in Andy having his best game in a mayo shirt in years, Doc too thrived on the quick delivery. AOS not in the forwards meant we had to move faster and play more varied passes, have to say it worked really well at times. I have long maintained and have said so on here that the sweeper system does not suit mayo. On sunday we didnt use it and got the best forward display for a long time. I really hope we dont fall back to sweeper mode and go defensive the next day beacuse we are better than them when we play on the front foot, they are there for the taking if we are positive and go for it.

21. Linguistic gymnast of the week award has to go to David Brady on the Donaghy/O Shea match up:

    “Look everyone is saying it was a disaster, but it wasn’t an utter disaster”.

    Narrative is growing now that it was the right decision – the way the media works nowadays is fascinating. The analysis now will be based on analysis rather than looking at the replays of the match which won’t change whatever analysis you want to read into it. I’ll say no more about it from that perspective time to move on to Saturday.

22. Mayo mad – agree with all of your post.
    I was not confident on rochford didn’t know what to make of him but I have to say fair play to him he is willing to try new things , I think he got more right on Sunday than Fitz Maurice, the changes made in the back had a positive knock on effect in the forwards that is where the scores will come from. Also you don’t know what he going to do therefore hard for opposition to plan playing against us. I have no doubt Mayo will win the next day.

23. btw…congrats to Andy Moran.

    Highlights the utter madness of playing him as an impact sub 2 or 3 years ago. SR deserves credit for unwinding that ridiculous oversight.

24. Have to laugh when I read the so called experts saying Kerry will learn more . Truth is we now have 16 players right up to the pitch required . Battle hardened and mad to go again . Fitz Maurice ( who I have serious doubts about as a coach ) has to be worried about Enright , Griffin , Young , Maher , M Geaney , & Buckley . I think he has no choice but to go with a sweeper and the only one who will adapt in 6 days is Murphy . If we can handle Donaghy we win . End of story . The only man for the job is Leroy . Putting a midfielder in on him is a waste of time . While a midfielder would prob negate the high ball threat any good full forward would be too cute . A FF all his life has to be trying to outwit a FB and he knows exactly what every one of his teammates are thinking when they have the ball . Anyone not specialised in reading that will be distroyed . And Donaghy is so intelligent in that regard . Leroy would read his runs and not be caught ball watching . Okay you still have the high ball threat but it’s a gamble I would be prepared to take at this stage . I expect massive pressure on our kick out next day so we need AOS out there when we go long . Moran is good but can be got at ( very easily ) . He is the one I would soften up . If he is looked after they are gone . Good luck Sunday lads

25. In my opinion the aos experiment worked. His man scored 1 point and the scores he set up were scored by others that aos colleagues were marking, not aidens fault. Once donaghy went off though, aos should have moved up the field to help win possession and the game. I think it was a once off, next day the square will have a sweeper and a different fullback patrolling and donaghy may be completely nullified by tight marking. Aos would add a lot of headaches to an already creaky kerry back six. If anything, brady is right in saying that kerry are the ones to be worried, they weren’t expecting Mayo to be like this and when aos is added into the Mayo attack and Keegan put back to his own spot and an extra 6 days rest on the sore foot, the advantage lies with Mayo.

26. Perception’s Perception’s, and its all about the Perception’s from the wet seat’s in the lower Cusack on Sunday I taught Deggan was very poor and worth about 5 points to Kerry …. . I now disagree with that, he was pretty good and even handed that’s after being more objective in the relative calm of reviewing it twice on the Telly…… Of course I’m biased at the match in real time… David Gough has a good reputation as a referee, but I too worry about every Ref versus Kerry or Dublin… Mayo’s 16th man will hold him to immediate account in any event……. About the AOS,/ Donaghy delima at this stage!.. Tuesday morning is all about perception as well… There were 3 possible seneraios for the match last Sunday… No 1..Mayo win…… The perception and concisus would be that Rochford was a tactical genius, Kerry having failed to exploit the high ball to the edge of the square and Donaghy failing to plunder a goal or two against us personally… …No 2,A Kerry win, Calls for Rochford to be sacked immediately , The critic’s, oh my God what would the critic’s say.?. …. No3..Its a draw… 60%/40%.–70%/30% depending on who you ask?… Against the idea!……, Probably fair,. but it was still by a very long way,. Mayo’s best effort to curtail Donaghy in the last 3 big championship match’s…. Isn’t that fair,?… Now with a few days left to prepare to deliver the knock out blow to the Kingdom, Rochford and his management team and the entire Mayo team, don’t have the luxury of caring about the critics or what they might say… They got to plan, and use the limited time available very well… They gotta learn from the past and the mistakes and the success… Now on Tuesday morning, they are not only our best hope, they are our only hope… Let’s get behind them, the Mayo 16th man has their back. Let’s go for it and do it…. David Bowie wrote a song ‘We can be hero’s’, and we can and we will be hero’s on Saturday and that’s it!.. Let’s do it!… Strange things these perception’s, and strange taughts can flash trough your mind at a big match…. From the wet seats in Lower Cusack from my perspective, grown men, in theese white pointy hooded ‘Ponchos’ get excited jump up and down, remonstrated, encouraged linesman, ref, the player’s, the teams, everyone!.. The Klux Klux Klan have been in the news recently.. Well for all the world, theese ‘White Ponchos’ with their pointy hoods look like that the Klu Klux Klan has invaded Croke Park for to enjoy the rain. When viewed from behind… Now I am certain none of them, are actually in the Klan or every would be be in the Klan… Just the faces you know and see at every Mayo match… One or two I know by name, they too know me too… One turned around to see me ‘Oh how are you Leantimes’?’..’ ‘Wet’ says I,’ when did you join the Klu Klux Klan,?’ , and the people beside me laugh because they can see a line of Mayo supporters with their white pointy hoods all looking like they were just back from Virginia in Donald Trump’s America… .Reminds me of the time in TV show ‘Father Ted: when the man asks Father Ted ‘How did you get into the racism Father?’ Lovely people in reality, but that’s what Perceptions can do… And at least they were dry, it was during the minor match or I would never have noticed anything peculiar about their fashion sense at all,!

27. Do we remember the amount of people on here calling for Andy to be dropped and to retire in 2014? xD

    Andy <3

28. Rewatch last night.

    Kevin Mc is a fabulous player. Unbelievably composed on the ball. Turnovers and tackling outstanding.

    DOC had a far better game than I realised on the day

29. Andy – oh Andy, what can I say?

    @pat you are right, i’m getting a bit worried on Gough, not Gough as such, whom I admire, but Kerry’s very cute approach. Former ‘Kerry Great’ Brendan O’Sullivan has a big spiel in this morning’s Examiner on how ‘unhappy’ Kerry are, referencing the non free for MacMenamin’s foul. As you say Gough admitted he missed it. Advantage Kerry.

30. Pat – but following that logic, Deegan should have given us everything the last day. He rode us in the replay last year and months later admitted he’d got the Small black card decision wrong. Did that do us any favours last Sunday?

31. I wouldnt be in such a rush to bring AOS back to the forwards. Mayo forward play was excellent on sunday with some fast movement and clever interplay. Andy and Doc(who is criminally underrated imo) thrived on the quick ball sent in. AOS back to the forwards could have a detrimental effect on what was clearly working well, having him there would result in us being more one dimensional as he would be a focal point, Kerry would be happy with that, easier to set up against. Who would he replace? COC, Andy And Doc are definite starters again, KMc Is crucial as a link man, DOC and Vaughan while not spectacular do a very important job in stopping their man counter attacking down the wing and offer width to our attack. I wouldnt upset what worked really well just beacuse its AOS. The only advanced position I can see for him is replacing Seamie at mf who I think is struggling and clearly cant last the distance anymore.

32. Well done to Andy, such an excellent performance and by my reading he had a hand in 2.12 of our scores because he happened to be in the same half the ball was in for the ones he didn’t score himself, or was looking directly at the ball. This would put him ahead of Donaghy who all pundits seem to have forgotten scored a solitary point on Sunday. Yes, Donaghy had a hand in a couple of more scores but they seem to have built him up to something more than he actually did.
    Anyway – I managed to listen to half of the GAA hour podcast from Wooly parkinson – he makes some very interesting observations and credits Rochford with having the balls to make the big decisions, nothing Rochford rarely gets credit for the ones he makes that work.
    On the point of Aidan on Donaghy – its a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Aidan would have in fact been the ideal candidate given the other match ups – Keegan was playing a more advanced role (which many have cried out for him to do) so switching a forward for a back when the cap was fitting seemed like a reasonable idea.
    Did it work? To an extent, I’d argue that it did. Aidan was left badly exposed for the first goal and did win the aerial battle he had with big arse. The second goal he could have done little about as that was the very ball he was put on Donaghy to defend but he was the other side of the field following a hospital pass from Keith that Aido was never going to reach. Had Aidan managed to get on the end of that pass from Keith, he had the entirety of the left hand side of the pitch open to run up and would likely have created another score. Enough on that point.

    I thought Jason Doherty had one of his best games in a long long time. He really is so underrated by many. The fact of the matter is if he’s not playing or not playing well, neither do Mayo. I though Keegan was kept quiet enough, Donie had a great game as did Barrett and Keith. Cillian’s last point (I think it was on the 60 minute from the left between the 20 and 45 meter lines is a contender for point of the game for me. Diarmuid i thought was good enough, but not as good as he can be. He delivered some quality ball in, so in the vein of current media analysis I’d put him in for having a hand in 1 goal and eleven points or more for at some stage in the build up having touched the ball, looked in its general direction or having been in the vicinity of Croke Park during the game.

    Things we need to do better the next day.
    1 – push up more on Kerry’s kick outs. We did let them have too many of their own short kick outs. May have been a case of allowing them to do that so that they didn’t go long, putting pressure on our own midfield.
    2 – sort out our own kickouts. i won’t mention the war but Clarkey put a kickout over each sideline in the first half on Sunday. That is just not good enough.
    3 – taking our opportunities. There’s no doubt we were a little below par in this regard. Too many short shots into the keepers arms, silly wides. Sure conditions had a part to play but we still need to do better here.

    As for the ref the next day or the last, we just have to play the way we know we can. I don’t think Deegan had a terrible day and if I’m to give him any credit he did allow for the conditions. I did think he was guilty of giving Kerry a few soft ones but to be fair when would we ever expect anything less. He left his black card in his pocket which given his inability to call one right was probably the best thing for him on the day.
    Gough on the other hand is a better referee and being honest, I’d love if he had a clanger or 3 that goes in our favour to turn the game and win it for us. On the balance of fortune, we’re due something like that against Kerry. That said, I’d happily take us winning without any assistance from the man in the middle, because that is what we do whenever we do win.

    Up Mayo.

33. Agree with all of what you’re saying MayoMad – also think I could agree with Aidan being left where he was but to attack, hard to know. Totally agree re subs, what the hell bringing on Conor with couple of mins to go? Too late. Thought Nally would’ve been ideal to throw in there too.
    Heard Rochford say in an interview that he could care less what anyone thinks of his decisions & you’d believe him too – he will do the next day what he sees as best & fair play to him.
    Next Sat is about so much more than getting to another AIF – Mayo are the better team and let them go out and prove that next Sat, with the entire 16th man behind them once again.

34. MaigheoGalinGaillimh, I dont think Aido can attack from fb line, if Kerry turn over ball then its quick ball into ff, catch by Donaghy and goal all in a flash. If Aido plays there again he has to stay there to the end or until Donaghy gets taken off.

    Also another thought, if AOS was moved to our ff line as many suggests Fitzmaurice wont sit back and let him have his way. He would probably make a switch and move Buckley back to screen infront of Aido, this would have the knock on effect of reducing space for Andy and Cillian to operate in. Swings and roundabouts, there is major consequences in every move made at this level.

35. Huge personal credit to Andy Moran. Tremendous positivity and inspirational to all.
    Parsons the man for me on Donaghy. Capable of matching him in the air with the advantage of being much more agile than AOS. We need to set out our stall in attack mode…

36. WJ I’d be concerned too and I’d be urging any Mayo media voices to be highlighting the fact that Kerry will be expecting and anticipating favours from Gough. Kerry re the aristocrats of Gaelic football..they more often than not get the decisions from ref’s, the benefit of the doubt etc. They are cute at manipulating officials. That’s the way it is.

    Deegan/Gough isn’t comparing like with like. We’ve been due some favourable decisions from ref’s in big games for years and I’m still waiting for a situation where we come away thinking, gosh we got the run of the green from the ref today. Usually it’s the other way about.

37. Rub!

38. Question for mayo supporters that may still be relevant come sunday based on rumours….

    if david clifford was from Mayo would there be a clammer for him to be called up to the senior panel for the replay….i think the answer to that is undoubtedly yes….will be interesting to see what fitzmaurice thinks.

39. Cantini, I read that a rule was introduced in the past couple of years whereby a player cannot play minor and senior in the same year, so Clifford isn’t an option for Kerry – thankfully!

40. @ MaigheoGalinGaillimh – You’re right. We have a manager with no problem backing himself and for that I am thankful.

41. @tubberman

    that is only if he is u-17 so i think he is eligible.

42. You are probably right Mayomad but I thought McGuiness made a good point re that in his article today – worth the chance every now & again for Aidan to break forward.
    I also commend Aidan on his role last Sunday, he seemed to take up the position no bother & we can’t know how he felt it was going for him himself, but he had his head up right through.
    Congrats to Andy, amazing.
    On we go, it’ll be Sat before we know it!!

43. Congrats to Andy. Inspirational player and leader
    when needed. Never gives up.

44. Andy is in my opinion your most lethal forward with the killer instinct required for that position. He is a nightmare to mark in normal circumstances but when we surrendered so much space in front or your inside line the likes of Andy will crucify any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

    Considering the appalling conditions last Sunday it was in my opinion a needless exercise to waste Aiden O Sheas attacking game on Donaghy as any high ball has only a 30% to 40% chance of sticking is those conditions. Kerry simply wouldn’t risk that kind of a percentage considering the way Mayo break out and run the ball from deep. I would have started Vaughan on him as he has better ground skills and he would have caused him a lot more problems than Aiden did. It seems that next Saturday is going to be a dry day so I would expect a few scuds to be launched in a game like that much more than last Sunday, perhaps O Shea started there in the wrong game as I don’t see this ploy being used again but who knows.

    I can’t imagine we will have Walsh or McCarthy back in time so they are two big losses for us to take at such a critical time of the year but that’s sport. That game will bring on a very untested Kerry but the sharpness Mayo had last Sunday was a sight to behold. Can’t wait, Ciarraí Abú

45. mcGuinesses article was interesting and maybe he is on to something in tapping into the Kerry mindset.

    Regardless of Andy’s 1-5 and Mayos great haul from play the last day – I am pretty sure Kerry would continue to back itself in a shoot out against Mayo (rightly or wrongly). It begs the question why Mayo set up so defensively in so many of hte games that brought them to Sunday if they didn’t risk that approach against far inferior opposition? I read plenty on this site for instance that the ploy was being deployed in order to prepare for precisely this and the next battle….Sunday put paid to that notion. I expected Mayo to set up more defensively – and i believe they should do so again – that is complicated by the kick-out if you want to put pressure on Kerrys – which is a must….but its doable. If Kerry are always going to back themselves in a shoot out then thats information you can exploit….but not so sure I woudl be saying we’ll call their bluff on that. Anyone that thinks Geaney (who still scored 3 from play) Donaghy and o donoghue is going to lose 1-9 to 0-5 points v Moran, Doherty and O Connor again would be brave in that prediction.

46. Clifford not eligible to play for senior team as he is part of minor panel who are still in contention in minor championship. Debate ends there.

47. Never mind the regulatory issues around bringing Clifford in to the senior, who in their right mind would put a still developing 17/18 year old body in a situation where a player like Colm Boyle could meet him full on. I don’t think some people understand what 5/6 years of top level S&C has done to GAA players, they are teak tough and know how to hit you. I witnessed Lee Keegan hit a young lad a shoulder in a club match that still has the lad out injured 5 weeks later, it wasn’t dirty and was 50/50, but he knew what he was doing. As a father I wouldn’t allow any son of mine within an asses roar of these lads till their bodies are capable of taking the hits they dish out.

48. Not to go down a rabbit hole on Clifford given wiser men than me above points out he definitely can’t play – but he is already playing against Kerry’s finest in senior club championship….if you are playing at that level you can play at intercounty…in fact I think its a safter place for a lad like him as given the glare of the cameras, the implications of getting sent off etc…intercounty players are likely to be more responsible than some of the loose cannons you see on the club scene. He is 13st and looks like he is no stranger to the gym himself.

49. If there was ever an example in Mayo for young fellas in football it’s Andy Moran. He was a slight little wisp for a long long time before he started to become one of our best ever.

50. Disappointing to see its the kerry poster who has underlined the fact conditions stopped kerry lumping in the garryowen . All the talk, excitement and overly sensitive souls lumping in praise on rochford well im going to be 100% honest and to hell with yer putdowns, it was a disaster of a move and cost us a big game victory once again. Brave call me bollix an off the bloody wall call esp with the day that was in it ffs

51. Sean, who would you have put on Donaghy, and why would you have done so – what greater positive would this have brought.
    I’m interested to hear what the alternatives would have been.

52. Sean Burke – What happened for Kerry’s 2nd goal when AO’S wasn’t marking Donaghy.

53. Sean Burke – I never played full back (or at any serious level at all)…..but is the reverse not also equally (if not more) true – that in wet conditions there’s a lot of danger to the defence from high balls pumped in….?

54. So Rochford is working for Met Eireann and predicted a wet day. Management made plans to deal with Donaghy. He was hardly going to look out the window at half two and say O No its raining. We will change our plans and put Aiden outfield again. Give the management a bit of credit. It was a brave decision and it did work to a certain extent. Imagine all the anguish here if we had a small chap on Donaghy and he caught a few high ones and scored a few goals. And this is some bullshit about not kicking in a high ball when its raining. Thats the most dangerous time to do it and Im sure the Kerry Co Board might have invested in a pair of gloves for their Kieran.

55. Mayomad, 11-36
    Agree with you, as the man said, circumstances alter cases and broken noses alter faces.

56. Willie joe – did deegan get it wrong when he did nt even book never mind red card Doherty for pole axing cooper after keegan s goal? This thing about refs is ridiculous. Mayo and Kerry call mcquillan Dublin joe but the dubs recall mcquillan v Tyrone in 2011( an atrocious performance by mcquillan), he also black carded mcauley and red carded bastick in the drawn semi in 2015. As for gough Kerry think a Meath ref favours the dubs I mean c mon. As for missing mcmenamin s challenge it looked like a great challenge at first and lets face it who doesn’t like seeing a Kerry fella get splattered. All teams think the ref rode them. Winners don t need excuses.

57. Ger71 – of course everyone has their own perspective on refs but Deegan’s performance in last year’s replay was a class apart. His bottling of Small’s black card offence set the tone as Dublin, quite rightly, quickly realised they had a homer on their hands. From then on, virtually all of the big calls went their way. That included (1) Lee’s black card, which was a pull back and so not black (needs to be a pull down) and where, ironically, Connolly’s imaginary card-waving theatrics was black (remonstrating aggressively with an official); (2) McCarthy’s off-the-ball assault on Vaughan, which ended Donie’s match but didn’t yield a card; (3) Small – again – with his attempted strikes on Cillian when he had him pinned on the ground, red all day long but Deegan bottled that with another yellow; (4) Brogan wrestling Diarmuid O’Connor to the ground in the second half as we tried to break upfield but Deegan waves play on, another black but nothing given and of course Brogan scores later on. The Doherty incident – which I accept was one he missed involving our players – was one of the very few breaks we got from a horrendous ref that day. Sadly, it’s one we’ve just had to swallow and accept.

58. On the point of refs and cards I think we have to be thankful to Deegan that he did not give Donie a black or yellow in the final play of the game as either would have ruled him out of replay. Also have to thank Donie for taking such a personal risk to prevent a kerry score.