With the Round 2 qualifier win over Down last weekend now boxed away the next challenge facing Mayo comes in the form of another Ulster county, with Armagh rolling into Castlebar on Saturday evening. In this episode of the Mayo News football podcast we preview this coming weekend’s Round 3 meeting with the Orchard County and assess how James Horan’s team are set for this latest do-or-die championship challenge.
Co-hosts Rob Murphy and I open the show by setting the scene ahead of Saturday night. We also discuss the latest injury blow Mayo have suffered, with Diarmuid O’Connor most likely ruled out of the remainder of the campaign having broken his wrist in training on Tuesday night.
We always like to hear pre-match opinions from the opposition on the podcast and so are delighted to welcome Aaron Kernan as our special guest on this preview episode. The former Armagh star provides some interesting insights into the Orchard County’s mindset as they prepare for the long trek west at the weekend.
Wrapping up this preview episode, Rob catches up with Mayo News sports editor Mike Finnerty to chat about all that’s been happening involving Mayo over the last week and to review the highlights from this week’s paper.
This latest episode of the Mayo News football podcast is now online and is available to listen to on iTunes, SoundCloud, Podomatic and Spotify. You can also listen to it directly on the Mayo News website as well as here on the blog using the SoundCloud player below or the panel on the right-hand side.
The Mayo News football podcast’s championship coverage this summer is proudly sponsored by J Streicher. “When it absolutely, positively has to be financed on Wall St.” Visit our website at www.jstreicher.eu.
I want Murray to start in midfield. He’s either good enough or he’s not and what’s the point in waiting 7 months for a league to find out. Keegan is not a natural midfielder and it would rob the team of its effectiveness to put him in there.
KMcL will start but probably not Doherty. Higgins needs to tighten up in FB line.
One key point is that the team has only played two games since league final; so we need to take account of rustiness. Down match gave us vital match practice. Don’t forget Armagh had a big game last week and that may impact on their performance.
Despite our problems we will persevere on Saturday night.
Must be the good weather but I’m feeling uncharacteristically positive today…
We will win this Saturday in an entertaining shootout. They are missing murnin, Morgan and Grimley. Think we have better depth so can absorb our losses better than they can.
Nothing to fear from the provincial losers either.
So if we got through Saturday I would expect us to get through to super 8s. It is at that stage where I think we will feel the loss of ruane, diarmuid etc. They are made for croker those lads
I’m still of the opinion we should play keegan in midfield. Need a good box to box man there and think we have enough options in halfback line to cover his absence there
Agree with spotlight. Murray for me too. Putting Keegan there is robbing Peter. Supporters need to be patient on Saturday, sometimes large home support can have a negative effect on the team.
I know this sounds very bitter but I would love to draw Galway in the next round (fingers crossed we get there) and put them back in their place! Watching Mayo and Galway play each other you can see there is no love lost between the players and Galway have for too long had it their way despite Mayo being the superior team.
Sights on Armagh for now though! Fingers crossed we see some players come back from injury to freshen up the team!
I’ve seen Séamus Ó Shea is available agin, will he not slot in to miffeild
I think Coen will start in midfield and be given the job of spoiling burns. He’s a good man marker although lacking in other facets of the game namely going forward.
@Miss Mayo. .. I would love to survive Armagh by the bare minimum, and if don’t pick up any injuries , ….Oh would be a huge bonus….. Don’t wish for too much!… We don’t even know that we will be in that Pot next Monday morning just yet. .. The trouble with meeting ‘The Galway Girl’ is that she’s always wearing that God Damn awful ‘Galway Shawl’ even when the Sun is cracking the stones like it is just now…. If in the event it did come to pass, and if it was a beauty contest? , Miss Mayo would be the clear winner every time, not that there is anything wrong with the ‘Galway Girl’ but she definitely would have to ditch the fecking Shawl so as we could get a look at her.. . Now why can’t Kevin Walsh let us see what the rest of the Gaels of Ireland wants to see?
Don’t want to jump the gun but if we beat Armagh Saturday night I wouldn’t like to meet Cork in the next Round it would be nice to meet Meath And bate them out the gate or Cavan Galway And Cork would be tricky
Hi Folks I am looking for a ticket for the Munster Hurling Final next Sunday can anyone help please
Paddy Tally interview Mayo v Armagh on Off the Ball today.https://youtu.be/AQu-KjK19VU
James Fleming,. I wish you luck with your hurling ticket and I admire your persistence. You deserve to get one!
I’d love to see Murray replace Diarmuid for a few reasons. Firstly I’ve never seen him play but I’ve heard such positive reports on his style. If it doesn’t work out and he’s struggling we’ll have Seamie to come on or maybe even Donie.
If it does work and he plays a good game we will have another positive to add to the list. And we can all do with some positives at the moment.
I also think I’d like to see James trusting the youth to get stuck in and show that they’re up to the fight. Of course there’s risk involved but lookit nothing ventured nothing gained! Bring on the youth, especially in the heat we might expect with this beautiful weather. Come on Mayo and enjoy the game. Maigheo mo chroí
@James Fleming, James theirs loads of tickets available on tickets.ie for that Munster Final.
@James Fleming, head over to tickets.ie now, there is a small number of Clare End terrace tickets available, Tipp Co. Board returned a small amount of their terrace allocation, hence why there are a few still on sale. Be quick, the Limerick Bandwagon is snapping these up fast. No stand tickets were made available to the public, these were distributed to clubs STHs and CBs. Anyway enough about Hurling, Up Mayo!
Diarmuid O Connors unfortunate absence give an opportunity for someone, very much depends on who’s putting up their hand at training.
I wouldn’t have a problem with Keegan midfield and James McCormack coming in.
It’s more how we play imo. Sweeper essential if we continue with attacking half back line and also to give full back line a bit of additional cover.
I hope we mix it by throwing good direct ball into coen, he is good distributor and good score taker. Big game needed from him. He’s up. For it.
Interesting analysis there by Paddy Tally, can’t argue with a lot he said. Thinks Armagh will beat us, and considering our defensive set up this year, along with Diarmuid and Matties injuries, I think they’ll beat us too unfortunately.
Connacht Teleraph running with the news that Duirmuids injury will have him out for up to 6 weeks, making him available for AI semi should we get there. In the same article they take the view that because Cillian wasn’t mentioned in the latest County Board announcement as confirmation he won’t be available. I for one don’t think that’s necessarily the case so is the Duirmuid news 100% accurate also?
Ah. Come on back to earth guys. Only one game on the horizon v Armagh.
It will take a genuinely good performance to get past them. We have not seen one in the championship yet this year. So lets hope we can bring it on Saturday and that that will be enough to get us into the pot on Monday. Nervous here. Diarmuid is a massive loss.
If diarmuid is back in six week then the injury must not be as serious as reported. There is no way a broken wrist will heal and be rehabilitated in that length of time , a sprain maybe.
Someone was trying to explain to me about a pin and a semi rigid cast , I didn’t have a notion what he was saying tbh but crux of what he was saying was Diarmuid could be back in a few weeks . Like I said I’m only relying what someone said to me , don’t know if there’s truth to it .
Who cares what Paddy Tally thinks he’s not exactly a top manager himself. Let everyone write us off so what.
But the acceptance from our own supporters being so negative all the time is really beginning to get to me. So what if we have a few injuries we still have a good panel to select from. A lot were saying Doc should have been hooked off in both the last 2 games. If Galway or Roscommon were playing Armagh this weekend there supporters would be up for it and not predicting defect like a lot on here. I have never heard a Galway person saying there were going to loose a match no matter what. Every team we come up against have a few dangerous forwards so what !? we have come up against the best and our backs have done is proud in the main and you know sometime we also have some good forwards too. Cut out this defeatest attitude God knows we had it for long enough before the Horan Mk1 era.
A semi rigid cast might reduce rehab time but I can’t imagine anyone being fit enough to play Gaelic football in just six weeks unless there have been huge advances in recent years . you sometimes see soccer players playing with a semi rigid cast but I have never saw a GAA player play with one.
If its a fracture – healing times for a wrist 6-8 weeks with or without metal. You wouldn’t return to full contact prior to it being fully healed.
They only put metal in if the fracture position is not satisfactory and needs relocating to heal in optimal position or if there are multiple fractures. Metalwork does not speed up the healing process contrary to popular belief
Fractured my wrist not so long ago. Cast was on for 6 weeks and was at least 3-4 weeks after that before I had reasonable flex in it again. But Diarmaid is a lot younger and fitter than me,…..however hard to see him being back unless we make it to September. At this stage hoping we make it to next Monday’s draw. Teams performance is very dependent on Aido …..expect he will be targeted more by opposition if we progress
Weighing everything up on a very basic level, I would say there are 5 or 6 of the Armagh footballers that we would like to have on our team and 9 or 10 of our lads that Armagh would not say no to. We have to have a decent chance of success on Saturday. It will all come down to performance on the night. A good performance and we will be in the hat again for the next draw.
With respect to Armagh, if we cannot beat them in our own back yard in a ‘do or die’ fixture then we have really fallen down the rankings, even taking our injury list into account.
I expect us to win but the absentee list to take its toll soonafter. Hope I’m wrong on the latter piece.
NiallMc1983 – Although I said previously to start Murray, playing Coen may not be a bad idea to track Burns around the pitch.
The way I see it, if we can keep Burns, Clarke, O’Neill and possibly Campbell quiet then Armagh will lose.
MO4Ever, every man and his dog on this blog, an around the County, were very confident of beating Roscommon….how did that turn out?.
We’re all entitled to our opinions, I do think Armagh will win, but that won’t stop me attending the game and roaring my head off. I obviously hope im wrong. I feel a team like Armagh is a bridge too far in our current injury crisis. We needed the softest draw possible to make supers i.e offaly/laois/westmeath, but we got Armagh. We’re just always vulnerable in qualifiers, but crazily, we’re a different team in Croker and AI series, every team knows they can whack us in a qualifier as a poor Kildare team proved. We seem to play at the level of opposition in front of us.
I think the tension from the stands will filter to the players (as usual) on Saturday, the current heatwave is very reminiscent of Newbridge…that does not suit our older players. Just have an over all bad bad feeling for this one.
However, having said all that, if we were to beat Armagh (please God), I would fancy us in a neutral venue against provincial losers.
Thanks everyone for helping me out with your help in letting me know about tickets becoming available on Tickets .ie for the Munster Hurling final Now back to the football I think Mayo will beat Armagh by about 4pts Keep the faith everyone on here
so we have gone from winning the national league to not being able to beat Armagh in our own back yard? I don’t buy that ok we lost to Roscommon a game we would have won if we had a reliable freetaker. Ok we lost Diarmuid and Mattie both huge losses but I’m excited about seeing a fully fit James Carr, Mikey Murray, Fionn Mc Donagh, Darren Coen Ciarán Tracey and Eoin O Donoghue lighting up the super 8’s Armagh have good forwards no doubt and a great midfielder in Jarlath Og but we are good enough to beat them if the attitude is right and the lads go at it from the throw in and stop conceding daft goals
Are Mayo team picked yet
Mayo supporters need to give a performance like they did in Castlebar against Derry in 2016 and against Cork down in Limerick in 2017 where they roared the team on to a close win .No point in a big massive Mayo support coming to McHale park and going all quite after a goal goes in or if we go behind by a few points as Joe Brolly refers to this as the huge sense of anxiety that hits the place when Mayo concede goals in championship games example the Ross game and against Kildare in the closing stages last year.Also nobody should be talking about All Irelands or Dublin from now on ,a Win over Armagh Saturday is all that matters.
Backdoorsam, lack of a reliable free taker was not the main reason we lost to Ros. Out of the 17 or so wides kicked that night, the vast majority were kicked from play, from various players, some very experienced. Mayo had more than enough opportunities to win that game without having to rely on free kicks.
Mayomad your right to a point but saying if we had a reliable freetaker we’d have won isn’t wrong either. Imagine if we had a freetaker the caliber Maurice Sheridan or Michael Fitzmauruce In that team now we’d be Connacht champions.
I’m glad to see that man got his Munster Hurling ticket.
No James. It’s not picked yet. I’d be looking at a named 15, if it’s named tomorrow, with an open mind too. I’m sure there will be players getting a run through fitness tests tomorrow evening. The managment might not settle on the starting 15 until hours before throw in. They have a tough job this week and I would think a bit of a gamble as to who will get a few of the starting jersies.
Thank you source of the robe
Thanks Rivellino you are brilliant
Mayo are vulnerable for this one .. its obvious
Fell over the line against down
Armagh comprehensively beat monaghan
Thats the current form
Diaruid is one of the best players in the country. A leader.
Asking murray to step in is a very big ask
Id take a 1 point win
i had a fracture and it took 5 weeks to heal. mine was lower side of the severity scale it would entirely depend on the type of break and definitely will have a lot of muscle wastage in the arm from the cast and obviously match and general fitness will suffer.
really the focus has to be to win tomorrow and try to get into the super 8 and see where we are then.
play a sweeper and go out to overwhelm Armagh in the middle 8 Higgins and Mclaughlin have to be brought out the pitch so that they can impact the game
totally agree AT would be crazy to start Murray tomorrow in such a high pressure match if we happened to be winning well then bring him in
Keith Higgins at 8 / 9. Ideal man, has the pace, mobility, fielding capacity, score taking ability and ultimately the experience to manage the game ….
It won’t happen tho as I’m not JH ;0)
A hard battle awaits but we’ll win.
Crowd need to be supportive and patient No point moaning and groaning when the team make mistakes or kick a bad wide etc It does filter down to the players Playing at home does bring pressure Sometimes the big expectant crowd want the perfect performance with no mistakes That simply does not happen Remember Roy Keane praising United’s away support in contrast to the Prawn Sandwich brigade who turned up at Old Trafford No prawn sandwiches in Castlebar this weekend please Just a raucous passionate home support who stay with the team until the final whistle Up Mayo
Mayo Dunphy, you’re correct in saying that the heat in Newbridge affected our older players, it was the 2nd hottest game I was ever at. Salthill a good number of years ago being the worst. That game was at 5 o’clock and this one is 7 , so it’s going to be a lot cooler.
Missing Mattie, Diarmuid and several others is unfortunate. However, it is also a great opportunity for other lads to step in and step up and really show us what they can do. Some of the more experienced contributors on this blog will have seen it before where a player with less of a reputation can up his game significantly in the absence of the big names. It’s kind of coming out from under a shadow in a way. We need a bit of that on Saturday.
I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if after next Saturday evening we are talking about a new hero or two for Mayo – one that we haven’t figured on before. Who knows! Here’s hoping for a big performance.
I think our lads are going to be a bit cranky and determined to lay down a marker.
Id say that was the 2005 Connacht final Nephin, I remember being burnt to a crisp after that game!!.
Yes, should be a bit cooler in fairness at 7pm. Boyler being of the fair skin type, really struggled in Newbridge. I’d agree big time with to win just once there, we really need to keep shouting and supporting the lads no matter what! Roar even louder after a wide, get the mayo mayo chant going as much as we can! They will respond.
The injuries are a terrible blow and there’s no way to sugarcoat that.
I remember following Mayo vaguely in the late 80s and more clearly in the decades after that. The Mayo crowd could be very quick to turn on the team,start groaning after a miss etc. This kind of sh1te used to sicken my hole. I noticed a marked change around when Horan started first, it’s well recognised he put a new steel and belief in Mayo football and the support went along that. Our belief in the lads could never be questioned.Whats the fcuk has happened? We lost a very close game to Roscommon and put in a typical Mayo qualifier performance ie just did enough against a half decent team. I’m sorry but in my mind that doesn’t mean these warriors will not fight like demons on sat, how many times have they let us down in the last 8 seasons? I can count on one hand…
Do I think we can win Sam this year? Not in my opinion, mainly down to the injuries and that’s a real shame considering where we were after the league final.
However the negativity and gloom from some on here is over the top, that translates to the players, it’s literally the only thing we as supporters can control or influence .
I hope the players bring their A game but I hope we as supporters do too.
We were all angry and frustrated after the ros game but it’s 10 times worse for the players and I think they owe themselves a performance. We owe it to them to let them know we are with them and behind them all the way. If a pass is dropped remember our storming comeback gainst Kerry when down to 14 men, if there’s a missed point roar them on to go again and get the next one like we did against Cork in the Gaelic Grounds,if we are a point down in the last few minutes get the Mayo Mayo chant going like we did when we drowned out the hill in 16 and 17.These lads are Mayo and they’re still OUR team.
The nearer it gets the more optimistic I generally feel.
Despite injuries, there still remains the core of a very strong team and I believe others will step up on Saturday. One thing we know for sure about Horan that can never be questioned is the highest of standards he sets. Perhaps too high if training is anything to go by! But again, I wouldn’t criticise him for that. Think of Kilkenny AvBs, not a whistle in sight. The Gaa equivalent of Fight Club no doubt. And not a word about it.
James is a leader for sure and will get the most out of players and there’s every chance one or two will surprise and excel on Saturday. The environment is there, the professionalism, and he’ll instill a real sense of belief. Looking at it positively, training is intense because there is savage competition for places and obviously management are throwing the gauntlet down to players. James said as much at the start of the year and hes true to his word. Both injuries are in no way career threatening which is key, just presumably impact/accidental injuries from players giving it there all and not soft tissue injuries you might get from overtraining. I think there’s a significant difference there.
Looking forward to a brilliant evening, summer days, massive crowd, electric atmosphere. Sure where else would you be. Bring the voices and the colour. Let’s treat the Armagh travelling fans with the same respect and hospitality as the Down faithfull gave to us.
Firstly the injuries are unlucky, we had a good run from 2014/2017 without many’, before that we had a bad run (Andy cruciat, cillian shoulder etc).
I think the comments at the top of the hour on podcast are unfair on Horan. Basically you train as you should play in order to perform and achieve.
Mayo should win this easy, 5-6 points or more. There a struggling division 2 side and not more
Good man FW. I was planning to write a piece like that all day and you bate me to it! I’m behind you all the way in what you say.Our lads don t deserve this negativity.it’s only two years since they gave us , in my opinion , one of the most he’ll raising summers of our lives. Give them a break everybody.no pun intended!
Folks, you are amazing and I mean that. Almost all the comments on the blog since yesterday have been positive, inspiring and marked by belief in our team – thank you!
You’ve raised my spirits – I’m so glad to see the knowledgeable posters that so many of you are pointing out the possibilities and places on the field we can try things. Thinking of the options we have and saying them. Thank you again. It is a gift to be constructive and raise spirits and I definitely thank you for it. I also believe that our lads have character and that doesn’t go away. Like people have said above I believe very much that they deserve our support. Thanks fab MayoGAA blog posters.
Mayo 2/5 to beat Armagh so bookies pretty confident whatever about the worries expressed on here. I hope ye make it to the knockout match where surely ye would hope to draw Meath. I dont think Armagh will go quietly into the night though and Mayo cant afford to “coast” in this one. Kerry most vunerable to attacks straight down middle but Mayo not strong there either I would expect Armagh to go for goals straight away. Ye need to be out of the blocks early and OShea needs to deliver again in midfield. Parsons absence heaping pressure on O Shea but he is trying hard as he always does for ye. Enjoy the match I will be away so will only see the result so hopefully yer ball drops into the bowl on rte next Monday morning.
If Dublin were playing Armagh tomorrow people would be talking about 15-20pts win.even missing couple players. Do some think we so far behind the pace setters we can’t win?if we get can’t win the game we as well of out altogether.
Firstly , you absolutely cannot take any league form whether good or bad as a barometer for a knockout championship game. Any team managed by an All Ireland winning capt like Mc Geeney will bring a lot of aggression, intensity and fitness.
On the injuries for Mayo I cant believe people have been questioning James Horan training technique here all week. If they dont train hard and have these training games they go into a game flat , whereas two guys gets severe injuries and “they shouldn’t be doing it” .
Diarmuid has been in my opinion having his quietest season in some years so while he is a loss it is not as bad as people make out. Plenty of young forward talent still there.
Aos and one of Vaughan, Keegan, Seamus I shea, Mikey Murray for midfield…
@Tuamstar. Regarding training. If your playing championship games a week apart I would have thought there would almost be no contact training between games. I would have guessed light running and some ball skills training would be the extent of the training just to keep fitness topped up. With potentially 7 games in 8 weeks, the number 1 priority in training should be no contact. I guarantee, even after the Down game, there would be none of the players who were not feeling some bumps or stiffness.
While I accept a wrist injury might occur, (might) innocently enough, I think it took some level of force to break a collar bone.
If the collar bone injury occurred through tough tackling in training then I would have to agree that the training methods were wrong.
Mathew Ruane has been at full fitness tilt for some months now and the very last thing he would have needed was full contact training.
As regards Diarmuid O’Connor. He is a huge loss. At this point we have no choice but to rearrange the team, but make no mistake about it. Diarmuid is a big loss to us.
So I don’t buy this crap that training has to be brutal. It doesn’t, and I certainly don’t buy the theory that Diarmuid was not playing well and will be easily filled in for. We will get a replacement player on the pitch but he will not be a Diarmuid O’Connor.
My team for Sat would be:
Clarke
Barrett
Harrison
O’Donoghue
Keegan
Plunkett
Durcan
O’Shea
McCormack
McDonagh
Loftus
Treacy
Doherty
O’Connor
Carr
But Revellino , nobody knows for sure exactly what happened? Again it could be the most innocuous thing, granted they played Saturday, rest , recuperating Sun, Monday. Tuesday training would possibly working on ball skills, kickouts, etc with a training game.. Nothing too major but you have to keep the work ticking over. Remember some lads in the panel are playing for game time and a chance to impress the manager, they will push themselves..
Goodman Tuamstar. That’s why I said “If”.
As regards playing for places, unfortunately there are more places available now due to the injured players. It’s not the end of the road for us but the road has got a bit windier and a bit more uphill.
I mentioned 7 games in 8 weeks. Maybe that should have been 5 in 6 weeks.
By the way Tuamstar, who would yea be hoping to avoid in Rd 4 ?
The manager is obviously trying to get the younger guys in the team up to that ferocious championship intensity level, four or five years of this County training regime is miles ahead of a club set up, guys are just harder all round. I don’t think that all supporters grasp this. The hits are bigger, need to be super fit and powerful to absorb the hits and still do ones job on the pitch. Some guys are great footballers at club level, but at County level, they don’t make any impact.
Saturday evening could be a good time for long ball, ie long kickouts, long pass into the forwards with less of the energy sapping running in the heat, I hear it was warmest in the West yesterday, due to hit 38 or 40 today here in Framce ??
Are the Armagh team traveling down tonight or game day ?
Exactly, how is the likes of Ciaran Tracey or Mikey Murray supposed to get anywhere close to championship intensity if there’s no contact at training!?
This is a case of hindsight being 20/20 vision – because of the injuries there should have been no contact.
But if there was no contact in training and the players weren’t up to the tempo of the match, there’d be people saying “Ah they really miss Donie Buckley, he brought great intensity to the training” etc etc.
We are good enough to beat Armagh without DOC – I expect the Mayo team to come out all guns blazing for this one.
Avoid Mayo.. will be played in Croker I’d imagine.. We are at a very low ebb ..
As far as I’m aware the Armagh team are travelling to Mayo this evening, – all part of the bonding that’s part and parcel of modern day football.
Revellino, regarding the training methods and I agree on one knows the specifics of either injury but Ruanes injury occurred in a 4 week period between games, there would need to be full contact training during that period to keep up match fitness, the collar bone could also be broken from a bad fall from high fielding not necessarily a hard tackle. A wrist injury is just unlucky, can happen at any time regardless of the type of training (a stumble while going down for a ball for example). We also have to give the players a little credit that they wouldn’t be going in with bad or unnecessary tackles in training, they know the score regarding squad injuries.
Basically on one knows how these injuries occurred so blaming training methods without knowing the facts is not really on.
I hear from a man in hospitality in Westport that they travel down today Sean. All second hand news, of course!
Goodman FM, now that’s the sort of talk we need to hear right now, Mayo is a dam good team, always hard to beat and it will no different on Saturday evening. Armagh was not happy with the draw last Monday morning and we need to show them they were right not to be happy about the draw.
Team named
Boyler who I thought had played well the last day is dropped along with Doherty
Looks like a 3 man midfield and 2 man FF line
Andy and ???????????????
Just spotted Darren Coen also dropped
Hope he isn’t injured
1. David Clarke – Ballina Stephenites
2. Chris Barrett – Belmullet
3. Brendan Harrison – Aghamore
4. Keith Higgins – Ballyhaunis
5. Lee Keegan – Westport
6. Michael Plunkett – Ballintubber
7. Patrick Durcan – Castlebar Mitchels(C)
8. Donal Vaughan – Castlebar Mitchels
9. Aidan O’Shea – Breaffy
10. Fionn McDonagh – Westport
11. Conor Loftus – Crossmolina Deel Rovers
12. Mikey Murray – Ballina Stephenites
13. Kevin McLoughlin – Knockmore
14. Andy Moran – Ballaghaderreen
15. Fergal Boland – Aghamore
Mayo host Armagh tomorrow evening in Round 3 of the Football qualifiers at Intersport Elverys MacHale Park at 7pm.
James Horan makes four changes to this starting team with Michael Plunkett, Donal Vaughan, Fergal Boland & Mikey Murray all named to start. The players to miss out are Colm Boyle, Diarmuid O’Connor(injured), Jason Doherty & Darren Coen.
1. David Clarke – Ballina Stephenites
2. Chris Barrett – Belmullet
3. Brendan Harrison – Aghamore
4. Keith Higgins – Ballyhaunis
5. Lee Keegan – Westport
6. Michael Plunkett – Ballintubber
7. Patrick Durcan – Castlebar Mitchels(C)
8. Donal Vaughan – Castlebar Mitchels
9. Aidan O’Shea – Breaffy
10. Fionn McDonagh – Westport
11. Conor Loftus – Crossmolina Deel Rovers
12. Mikey Murray – Ballina Stephenites
13. Kevin McLoughlin – Knockmore
14. Andy Moran – Ballaghaderreen
15. Fergal Boland – Aghamore
Looks like Kevin Mc will be staying in the full forward line more or less. Presume Boland and Loftus will switch positions.
Can’t see that team starting if it does maybe Donie
As sweeper and Mikey Murray in midfield? I think we need Darren Coen’s power in that forward line to get some early scores on the board young Burns will take watching in midfield we need everyone to bring their A game
Darren Coen will surely start unless injured. In 2 man FF line with Andy
Kevin Mc will move to HF line
One of Murray or Vaughan (maybe even boland ) won’t start
I would assume it would be Vaughan to not start
Surely to god Horan won’t continue to waste kevin Mc in corner forward !!!!!
Higgins damn lucky to be starting as well
Now there is a tactical starting 15. Probably will be the starting 15 too. Will be interesting to see where Vaughan plays, I’d expect maybe Higgins will get more action further up the field this weekend. Another intriguing weekend ahead…brilliant!
anybody have the full 26 for the game, is Carr or Cillian in it.
How in the name of God McLoughlin and Higgins have survived a cull while Boyle and Doherty are dropped, is beyond me. Boyle had possibly his best game all year and Doherty was a constant target for our kickouts, as well as supported play from the wing.
I doubt Boyle is able for a game every week tbh and that’s probably why he starts this one on the bench.
Culmore – we NEVER name the full 26 in advance. You’ll find out tomorrow when the programme is out. For once, could we please be spared this tedious debate about the match-day panel?