Image: @MayoMovieWorld1
I meant to do this last night but there’s still time ahead of throw-in to wish Castlebar Mitchels all the best in today’s All-Ireland club final against Ballyboden St Enda’s at Croke Park. It’s a cracking St Patrick’s Day weather-wise up here in the capital – nice and sunny, if a bit on the chilly side – and I’m looking forward to strolling down to HQ later on to lend my voice in support of the Mitchels’ quest to land the Andy Merrigan Cup.
Two years ago, local club loyalties meant that I was in the opposing camp when Castlebar last contested the final. Happily, though, no such constraints apply today and I really hope that Mitchels do the business this time. Depending on the mood afterwards, I might even rise to a post-match audio and I’ll pen a piece here on the match later on this evening too.
If Mitchels do manage to land the spoils today, it’ll be two All-Ireland titles captured by teams from the county in two days. Yesterday St Joseph’s Community School, Charlestown, won the All-Ireland Post Primary B title, beating Dublin opposition in the form of Gaelcholaiste Reachrann. It’d be great if Castlebar were to follow this up by landing the Merrigan Cup this aftenoon. The best of luck to them in their endeavours.
Best of luck to Mitchels. Disappointed I can’t be there as I’m in Australia at the minute but am hoping to catch the action on the interweb.
Maigh Eo Abu
Best of luck to Castlebar today. Will be shouting for you. Theres a good balance across the team. Cunniffe Newcombe Feeney Durkin Reilly in defence. Big Barry will keep Mcauley quiet in midfield. And hopefully damage will be done by a forward line with Walsh Douglas and Kirby and not forgetting the evergreen Richie. Your time is now lads.
Big Barry for Man of the Match, well done Charlestown, let’s keep the silverware pipeline flowing in to Mayo
Below in Cork about to head into a wedding and will be hoping to find a TV at 4pm. Really hope Mitchels do the biz!
I’ve said it before in other sections but, again, all the very best to Castlebar and please do yourselves justice.
Best of luck to the Mitchels.. leave it all on the field and bring the silverware home.. we will all be cheering yee on
Cow here has just produced the goods…hope the Mayo boys do likewise with the same flair and gusto!
Beaut of a day in croke. .in the immortal words of Nike. .just do it!!
Best of luck to the Mitchels today. I think BB will be a tough nut to crack today. It makes for a great final and victory will be all the more sweeter
Team named. Aidan Walsh must be injured these past few weeks? Used to be one of the main men.
Fucked
Goals have killed this thing before 15 minutes. What a disaster of s start and hard to see where the win would come from. Junior d type wides
Ya. That’s brutal from castlebar. Disaster defending and No finishing product. Up the field the whole way from goal line to kick it into kepers hands. Criminal.
Here we go again. Beaten by the tenth minute. Breaks my heart to ask the question , “Is this the best we can send to Croke Park?”
It would appear so.
Fair play to Castlebar, as halftime approaches they’re trying to make a game of it.
Am right behind the canal goal. Castlebar, stop trying to walk the ball into the goal, have the confidence to shoot from distance and for feck sake stop dropping shots short, they are real killers.
Criminal, a great run and great movement and then a half assed kick into the keeper. Very sad. Maybe they will make a game of it but the scorers are not in it to win it.
Boden dont have allstar frowards or even county frowards, what they have is players who have the confidence to take their shot. This is lacking throughout Mayo football
Jaysus another brutal wide. BB defending with numbers across the 40 metre line. Same as Ross do. Castlebar have no answer. 3 points after 42 minutes speaks for itself. No disrespect but you cannot see any of these forward good enough for inter county.
Very disappointed for Castlebar feel sorry for them after all their effort and hard work all year
Am not too confident of these guys making a difference on the Mayo team but that’s for another day
I`m losing the faith.
Sorry, but it’s time to call it as it is. There’s lads out there who would be as well off not bothering anymore. If they can’t do it when it matters it doesn’t matter what they can do the rest of the time.
I’ve seen plenty of teams from Mayo lose in Croke Park but most of the time they’ve been underdogs, inferior teams trying to bridge the gap between themselves and better sides. There is no shame in losing those kind of games. This, though, is much worse than that. This is a team well capable of winning this game blowing up when the pressure is on. There’s no excuse for that, this team have let themselves and their supporters down massively today. I know that’s a very harsh statement to make about amateur players but there’s no point pretending otherwise.
I had made the point a few wks ago that the only Castlebar players who would make an impact on the county team would be Durcan and Moran. My opinion hasn’t changed.
None of the Castlebar forwards are real intercounty standard. Fact. Unfortunately.
What a flop today. It’s borderline disgraceful and I hate to say that.
Fair play to the Mitchells for getting to the final. Not one of them, on the sad evidence we’ve witnessed today will add an ounce to the Mayo team. Mitchells are a middling senior team. It gives me no pleasure to say this. These lads represent me and my club in Croke Park today. What a gulf in class between the representatives of Mayo and Dublin.
I know I’ll be attacked for speaking the truth. But so be it.
Great teams show up on the big days.
Have we got a cricket team, rounders, step dancers, anything??
One thing for certain is that we can forget any of the Mitchell’s lads making a big difference to the county team. Commiserations to them, and it’s a game at the end of the day, they will survive.
Hmmm, these players are part of the saviour plan for Mayo, interesting!!! BB could have won by whatever they wanted today.
Really cant see how that team was setup. Aidan Walsh on the bench and not playing at centre back.
Defence in a loose man to man. Not even man to man as several times Bb forwards were not tracked.
Lateral passing on hitting the Bb 45.
It seems the tight pitches of earlier rounds helped this Castlebar defence. They were opened up today.
How did Aidan Walsh not start that game? Was effective when he came on up front.
Several players played themselves out of contention for a panel spot.
we’re to start with that performance, so flat and dissapointing. Feel sorry for the lads. Yet again it shows how lacking we are in the forwards department. How a county as big of ours can have only one scoring forward(C o’Connor) is beyond me. Just pray to God Regan, Loftus and a few other of the young lads can improve over the coming seasons
Stephen Rochford learned the most today, the only Castlebar player that will make the Mayo team is Paddy Durcan, sadly another turbo failure, another big bird flu at HQ and Kirby too slow. Early in the year on this blog people said Mayo would win FBD, Ardnaree the Junior, Holymount the Intermediate, Castlebar the Senior, Mayo the NFL…….! Well all that is left is the Nestor and Sam, a big summer ahead, players need to step up or Roch will be making major surgery next year with a few household names getting P45’s
Terrible performance from castlebar.a slow start has caught up with them.
Now if anyone comes on here calling for certain castlebar players bar Moran and Durcan to be included in Mayo panel please go and get the men with the white coats!
Now great credit goes to Ballyboden they played lovely football and took there scores with great composure!
Jesus that was woeful. Feel sorry for the players but most of them chose the biggest game of their careers to have an absolute nightmare. To all Mayo supporters who thought the Castlebar fellas returning would rescue our season. well you ve got your wake up call. As I said in a previous post only P Durkin is good enough for a starting slot and nothing I saw today changed my mind. Tom and Barry are two guys I have great time for, two great servants but at best they are panel members. Some here had been calling for one or two more from these boys to be on the Co team but they simply are not good enough. Castlebar deserve immense credit for getting to 2 AIFs in 3 years and I am sure they are gutted more by their performance than the result, It was heart breaking to watch another Mayo team unable to kick a free. These are not good times for us and I fear they are not going to get much better. Not much coming through at Co level and another defeat like today just saps the energy from all of us players and supporters alike
Jeez that has to be the worst football performance I’ve watched on tv in quite some time. They quite literally could not do a thing right out there.
At least in 2014 Connolly ran the show on his own.
For mayo id imagine big bird will still be maintained and durkan will play a big part. That’ll be it id imagine, sadly Cunniffe looks finished 🙁
Not able to handle the pressure , Mentally unprepared !
Agree with all the comments above. Terrible performance. Serious questions needs to be asked after turning in a performance like that. For favourites to lose by 13 points is just not acceptable.
Hon d ross, I like to see Roscommon doing well and have no dislike for ye at all, but I wouldn’t be getting too cocky yet. The championship is different gravy, and you better believe it kid. Ye have flopped in the real thing every year since 2010 don’t forget, despite having a very talented bunch of players.
Kirby actually showed a bit its just the men he setup 4 or 5 times all fluffed their chances. Negating what would have been 4 or 5 assists.
Pat Durcan as usual performed his best. Aidan Walsh when he came on. That was it. Didn’t really see anything from the other players.
Skillful lads were too small and the crowded Bb defence ate them up. Bigger lads weren’t skillful enough.
You’d need a Bryan Sheehan or Paul Geaney type directing operations 30 – 40 yards from goal. Far too head down and take the obvious handpass.
For boden I thought that Basquel lad was outstanding. May well see him in a Dubs shirt in the coming seasons. Conal keaney is still very effective
Thought MDMA was very mediocre, though only high octane, 100mph matches seem to suit him, his technical limitations are really shown up in processions like this!
Is it the Mayo way of playing: pass the ball sideways, then a player runs head down towards goal until three opposition players surround him? Don’t ever look up & don’t dream of kicking a point from distance…
Conal Keaney a class apart and at least stone and a half overweight. Really shows that gym work is outweighed by football intelligence.
Basquel was a smart tidy footballer.
JP, have to disagree, Kirby ineffective, slow and even looks lazy at times, his man at corner back man of the match, Hiney is mainly a hurler at fullback for BB imagine how Kirby would deal with a natural intercounty full back.
Ciaran MDMA, carried an injury into the game and still bossed midfield for the 40 mins he played and the other first choice BB midfielder suspended today, imagine the platform they could have had for their forwards if both 100%and playing.
To be honest in my view castlebar actually won the mid battle overall in first half
Defence was surprisingly poor but nothing hides the fact that every time in the last 5/6 years you watch a Mayo team club county minor or 21 , the lack of decent forwards is alarming .
I am sick to the teeth of Mayo supporters and media alike telling us it’s all about a solid defence . you have not won all Ireland’s but every single team that does has classy forwards . You can train any aul mule to defend .
Horan done wonders for Mayo football in many ways but he has one fault (oddly enough with him being a classy forward himself) he introduced a culture in Mayo football that you don’t need individual brilliance up front , Dropping mort was the focal point of his philosophy
I mean I think he would have been okay if the few passes he laid on were finished.
Ah, it was an awful forward performance. I guess he did not have much to show for the 60 mins.
Interesting point Sean Burke. Too many Managers bleating on about workrate and turnovers. Castlebar had plenty posession. Were fitter and stronger. What point when no class up front?
durcan and douglas are about all that are worth a shot, the others that have been involved at county level are better off to just try and enjoy the club level, though its highly likely that they will not be back in Croker to play ever again with the club so do they now settle for a county medal? at best? Maybe a break from football and just relax, all these final losses are not good for anyone.
And, management cannot be blamed for kicking the criminal wides on the pitch, the players themselves must know this and theres no point in doing weights and loads of running if you are not able to hit it over the bar. I think Mayo need to set out a long term plan, give any young lad that likes football a ball to keep at home and show him the techniques of how to kick it at a target while standing and running, show them how to run at full speed while soloing and then taking a shot or long kickpass and finally watch some video of the great players like ciaran macdonald and see how he could create space to get a shot off rather than handpassing in heavily defended areas like castlebar did today.I have seen some of what passes as underage coaching in a certain north mayo town, lets just say, its no wonder we win nothing. screaming and roaring at kids and no clue of how to kick a ball themselves.
so damn sad, 3 club final appearances in a month and 3 more losses to stack on top of the pile of other final losses, it must be nearly time to start a new pile before this one tips over from being top heavy.
A sad day for The Mitchels.It was not at all a pleasant sight to witness.Congrats to the Dubs and yet again chins up to an under performing team from Mayo. P Durkan on his own could nt lift them.
-Was at that mismatch and well done to Ballyboden they played all the football
– That Castlebar performance just magnified all that is wrong with forwards in Mayo football. No pace, no power, no conviction and shriking responsibility to go for scores.
-They did win lots of possession but the waste, the waste…..
-They had huge support from all over Mayo and nice quiet build up but oh for leaders on the pitch and ability to change tactics mid game.
– Hard luck guys but you were hammered and there is no other way to put it.
hontheros, i was one of your defenders but that’s a dirty little snide jibe!!! We can do without the likes!!!
Better off ignoring them Joe , the digs are flying from that lot but it’s only st Patrick’s day , scorching July is a different world in inter county . They should really know that by now.
3 club finals and beat out the gate in each on, Mayo going poorly and the minors getting well and truly hammered. At this stage we have to admit that there is something very wrong in Mayo football. We cant dress it up anymore by saying its an off day, the opposition were good on the day, robbed by the ref. All these excuses are rubbish. Mayo football have had too many days like this.
Mayo football is just too naive, we keep making the same mistakes, play the same way, no confidence on the big days. Mayo football need to grow up and develop a nasty streak, a win at all costs streak. It may not be pretty to look at but we have played pretty football long enough.
Look at McMahon, Donaghy, Galvin,McGee. These are nasty bastards on the field but they have the medals. We have nice lads who go home empty handed year after year.
If you get to the all ireland final you have to make the other team play to their best to beat you Bodens under 18 team would have beaten castlebar today, I am so sorry to have to say that only its true. castlebar were clueless as to what they had to do.performances like that do no good for the future of MAYO football.
We badly need a few expert forwards coaches in Mayo I think we should devolop a plan and realistically target winning an all Ireland in the next five to ten years go back to basics and learn the skills to open teams up and put the bloody ball over the bar not backwards and forwards like a rugby team look how natural the Kerry forwards looked last week kick passing the ball I’ll get hammered for saying the above but honestly if we keep doing the same old thing we will get the same ol results and the judging by today the results are getting worse
Hard Luck Castlebar, going 2-03 to no score down just killed them. One thing today highlighted is that you have no business expecting to win a final unless you have top free taker. Wouldn’t be too hard on the lads, they tried to the end. Corofin won the final by 10 points last year and Castlebar beat them fair and square, still a good year
Joe Mc
To be fair plenty on here and since the league has started have gone on about how the Mitchels boy will add to the team and maybe get an extra 1 or 2 on to the county panel when they are back. From that performance I cant see it. Perhaps we are a bit sensitive when an outsider points out a home truth. Alot of our own county folk have said alot worse on here today. It was just an awful performance from the very start. No other way to put it
Castlebar had absolutely no pace apart from Durkan. You might get away with it in Tuam stadium but not in croke park. Eoghan Reilly has bulked up too much and could not get around Croke Park. I would keep bring Kirby, Moran and Durkan into the Mayo Panel. Kirby could still be an effective target man. There was nothing up front with him.
I think we learned today that less power and more pace and skill is needed for croke park.
the reason that Mitchels fowards were poor is that BB kept all their HF Line back in defence and broke at pace when Mitchels had 9 or 10 men foward. Mitchels fowards had neither room or time but when BB broke out of defence they had the overlaps
Pace is vital but you need to have bollix to shoot too , all Ireland final day is the day you need to do it otherwise everything you did before is worthless.
Mayonaze, You still think moran can make inpack for Mayo ? What a game he had today?
Terrible day for us. I’ll be charible and leave it at that.
Haven’t had my eyes checked in a while. Must do so tomorrow.
I read there that someone feels that Castlebar won the midfield battle in the first half.
Facetheball seriously kirby as a target man? And when he got the ball he didn’t do a thing with it!
Look at Keaney won ball turn bang over bar simple but effective!
Be interesting times ahead for castlebar few of there players seem to have gone past sell by date as top club players and they haven’t had to many county under 21/minors in last few years.
It actually could be a while before we see a Mayo club in a senior final as we just don’t seem to have a club that are head and shoulders above the rest.
Ballintubber and Breaffy seem to be closest level to castlebar but they to have some limitations and after that there is a huge gap.
Could see today why Ballyboden beat St Vincents in the Dublin champions. Castlebar didn’t learn much from their AI final defeat of two years actually got worse something not right there as they are much better than what they showed today.
Durcan,Moran Cunniffe etc will not in the right frame of mind to return next week I can imagine now.
We were decimated everywhere..haven’t a single positive to take from that game..thought douglas could shine today and really answer a few questions..no bite..Ballyboden made it look so so easy..am truly disheartened tonight and still have the drive from Dublin to face into…
The days of us being fat with talent look to be over. Aghamore and Balla have actually stopped the arse totally falling out of the underage scene.
When we had the best division one in the country we ignored half the talent playing in it.
Now its very workmanlike and ordinary in club football.
Almost all division one sides from 1997-2003 would walk away with the Mayo division one and senior championship.
Of course at the time it was United league of nations when selecting our county team. Now that we mainly focus on division one the clubs and players are not there.
Only for Aghamore going above and beyond in coaching where would our underage scene be?
Aghamore to take over in my view. Theyve started picking up the A titles at underage.
Mayomadness, i’m not complaining at all about an outsider telling it as it is. I actually welcome that. If you read his post again, there is sarcasm involved, a different ball game. That’s my gripe. As i already said, i was a supporter of his. 😉
Absolutely bet out the gate
I know most of Ye on here are well informed very articulate blah blah and don’t like to go along with high stool type analysis but is there ever a point when you say hang on ” is there something amiss with Mayo teams in all Ireland finals ” I know I know we’ve had ballina and crossmolina and one minor and 21 title in this era but it’s a shocking return for final appearances .
I thought Mitchell’s were nervous wrecks, their body language even the faces some of them were pulling when shaking hands before throw in and on the field of play . Very nervous I thought .
Catslebar won plenty of ball in midfield in the first half Source…, it was the forwards that let them down and the backs were embarrassingly overran.
Most Boden attacks were started from their backline. Durcan shrewdly reverted to kicking everything short as funnily enough, they could barely win a break in the middle at certain stages.
As much a massacre as the first half was, castlebar got the ball in scoring positions plenty. Possession wasn’t really a problem
I would urge Mitchells and the rest to start preaching to the kids in the clubs the most important skill in football, putting it over the bar, start at the edge of the small square and kick it over from left right and center with both feet, keep at it until its second nature, then keep moving out the field and again from all angles with both feet, practice practice practice. If even half the wides had went over it would have been a competitive game instead of the washout that happened. Its too late for the adults to learn but look at whats possible in roscommon, they have some terrific shooters on the senior team, it doesnt just appear, its taught from an early age.
You’re right Dave but it has to start at youth and it has to become cultural in Mayo football . Praise point scoring at under ten level up as much as defensive brilliance . A block at underage level will get an almighty *gwan ya boy ya young …., you’re a hardy hoor ” a point from the 21 will get a clap .
We have a local media who hype up our teams and I believe this is a huge problem. This week we had 20 and 24 page pull outs in the lead up to the final. These same newspapers wont cover a club league game.
On the performance, the Castlebar forwards do lack pace. Croke Park is all about pace. Patrick Durcan has a real burst. Danny Kirby doesn’t score and therefore cannot be a viable option for us in August. Kerry have not won a Senior Club Final in 21 years but they are normally competitive at County Level.
Next Sunday is Huge, a drop to Division 2 would realistically rule us out of All Ireland Contention in 2017. I haven’t given up hope for this year, but Cillian is irreplaceable.
I have’nt read the previous posts yet, so excuse me if I repeat.
I’ve said it here before, if you cannot score you cannot expect to win.
In the very first minute several Mitchels players handled the ball within 40 yds of the Ballyboden net. Very scoreable chance, but they didn’t even consider having a go, giving it to someone else who was of the same mind.
Where have we seen that before?
Doesn’t auger well for Mayo football in the foreseeable future.
Commiserations to the Mitchels in the final today. I’m sure the lads are hurting badly tonight after the way the game unfolded. They’ve put in a massive 15 months of effort and and can be very proud of what they have achieved over the course of the past year. A well deserved break needed at this stage before Club championship kicks off again in a couple of months. They’re a fine team and will be back beating the best of what the rest of the county has to offer that’s no doubt.
J.J. Delaney( who has eight All Ireland hurling medals) said on radio two weeks ago, that he really admires Derek McGrath the Waterford hurling manager, he said McGrath always plays down his teams prospects prior to games, Brian Cody talks up the opposition. We in Mayo, love to hear our chances talked up prior to games (which leads to extra pressure on the players and often leads to complacency). We take great offence if any commentator dismisses our chances. Castlebar’s Parade was postponed until next Sunday and the Team were to lead the Parade with the Andy Merrigan Cup….. Pressure, Pressure…. Midwest radio always have a special programme prior to Finals in Croke Park, which also leads to more pressure, does a management team ever refuse to take part? – never. Stephen Rochford went to great lengths last year after Corofin’s win over St. Vincent’s to play down their prospects in the final, – it paid off. Stephen has a lot of psychological work to do with the Mayo Team if they are reach their full potential. (it was ALL Kerry after they scored the first goal last Sunday, according to Sean Rice in the Mayo News).
Was at game. Castlebar warmed up in front of us. Fairly average warm up. The sub keeper was out the field lobbing balls into the number one. Thought he should have been warming him up with short range shots.
You don’t reach a final with poor players but if the psychological layers are stripped away on the day that matters then we get the disaster that hit Castlebar today. Atrocious option taking , woeful marking at the back but the thing that stood out was Conal Keaneys leadership. He bossed Castlebar today, made it look easy. Castlebar had no bosses.
This is roughly the 40 th A final Mayo teams have played in Croke Oark since 1989. We count the winners on a single hand. Something happens to the players from this county come the day. Average players become awful, good players become anonymous and star players freeze. It’s something deeper within our psyche.
Dave, when children (boys AND girls) in the St Brigid`s club area reach their 6`th birthday, the club presents them with a football.
A lot of people blaming the Castlebar forwards, but the concession of 2-14 was always going to end in tears.
We have reportedly a 49 man training panel being assisted by a huge backroom team.
Meanwhile our national schools stopped with Cumann na Mbunscoil and our secondary schools dont even train or own footballs.
That is a ridiculous way to structure our investment into developing our Senior teams prospects. Skill and football intelligence won out today. Castlebar were actually by far the fitter team with no one carrying any extra weight. Take 100k of the senior budget and put it into our schools immediately.
Sickening today. Sickening.
Sean Burke and John Cuffe – on the money there. But if they were nervous wrecks and they froze (and the body language looked awful from back in the Cusack where I was), why?
This was their second final in 3 years, they have a spine of experienced Mayo panelists, who have appeared in senior finals.Ballyboden should have been nervous. It was like a junior team playing a senior there at times.
Is there a collective (Mayo) feeling that when you step out on the pitch for a final, it will happen, rather than I will make this happen?
Croke Park is a big pitch that exposes teams that need narrow claustrophobic, hard work n sweat football.
This is why Monaghan dont do so well in Croke Park compared to Ulster.
Its part of the reason Castlebar were opened up now in two finals much more than in the games leading up to finals.
Awful performance by the Mitchels. Totally frozen on the big occasion.
Desperately disappointing. Can’t imagine how Mitchell’s team feel.
Very sad day for Castlebar and Mayo football again. Deepest comiserations to all involved. For whatever reason they never even came near their potential. The psychological issues for Mayo teams playing in Coke parked seem to be huge. However I think the players need support now and to be shown gratitude for their efforts. Some of the comments here are unfair. Yes there is some root and branch changes needed in Mayo football but let’s not let emotions run away with us today…
So it was a bad day again in Croker, not the end of the world, I’m sure the lads know more than any of ye above what happened to them,and can do without all the negativity posted here. Hopefully they’ll have the heart to rise up again and keep chins up.lets be thankful to these guys for all their commitments to club and county. My heart goes out to them tonight.
Agreeing twice in the same week with John Cuffe is very worrying. Losing a final by 12 points coming in as 2/5 favourites with all the leading bookmakers. Having bet 2 of the leading club teams of the last 20 years in their run to the final makes it even more sad and disheartening.
Bad and indeed heartbreaking end to a wonderful year for Castlebar, Club players need confidence and quiet frankly a total focus before a Life game like this. Reading posts that seem to suggest that there were barking dogs in the psyche of the teams buildup in the form of delayed parades and hyped expectations. This would be a very unnecessary and foolish ingredient.
I felt that the two early goals was the perfect antidote to delivery for the lads, Mitchels have skinned major scalps on route to this day and expectation was the glass in the ointment I felt. The Ooh God !! this can’t be happening hit the team collectively in my opinion after that major gate fail. I was looking at them shrinking and the reality is that they would take skelps out of them if this was a home and away situation as the mental frailties would be a non event in the replay, but alas that is not the deal. Any team who make it have to deal with expectation, if it was their first time at the alter I would be more understanding, but the reality is that they have been there before in the recent past, management have to burst the bubble and develop a siege mentality in the players.
Congrats to Ballyboden they had the right stuff and one can’t argue with what they brought to the table today, great teams deliver but I think this would have been a great game if your lads had been prepared correctly. Great teams are picked from great club players and I do not like to see people being dismissive of the Mitchels lads because of today, perpetration is the key on many levels.
We were favourites for this match, we talked ourselves up big time, no room for any negative stuff, all about building up confidence, sure that’s how we do it down in Mayo. Well maybe from here on we should start looking at ourselves in a different light, and not be afraid to call a spade a spade. I agree with some posts above about the local papers, way over the top on hype, players start to believe it will be easy and when we win we’ll be heroes in our town forever. The way we started would suggest that, because there seemed to be no game plan what-so-ever.
We must not forget this team won the County title with ease, and beat a few more very good teams along the way, so they can’t be that bad, or not as bad as they looked today. That’s why I have to believe their mental attitude was not right and the apparent absence of game plan made it worse. Any thoughts that some of these Castlebar players would be soon available to give the Mayo team a lift, may have to be put on hold for a while – these guys will need to lay low for a while.
will somebody in management please position three “forwards” about 20 yards in front of goal: one directly in front and the other two some ten yards to the right and left.
Keep recycling footballs from behind the goal so that each player kicks at least 20 points in
quick succession.If one is missed begin the process again.
Then rotate positions with the same exercise.Then move the players back a further 10, 20 and 30 yards.
This exercise improves confidence and shooting ability.
How many time do Mayo players try to walk the ball in or pass to somebody else
because they are AFRAID to go for the score ?
How many times do they kick to the chest of the goalkeeper?
Its worth trying and works in other sports.
I feel very sorry for the players. They had such a good year, only for it to be undone today. I am disappointed that some of the County players didn’t stand up as leaders today. I really thought Barry would have the experience to rally the troops. I actually thought he had been taken off, as I couldn’t see him in the action. It is going to take a lot to recover from this I feel.
Just home from Croker, jaysus that road seems too get longer each year. A long time to think and have come to the conclusion that I refuse to believe mayo footballers are incapable of kicking a fecking ball between two sticks from within 30yards. There are kidsin Kilkenny who can do that. In my opinion whTs whong is down to confidence and self belief.
Castlebars forward play was an exact copy of Mayos last weekend. When attacking the initial player who recieves the ball with a shooting opportunity doesnt back himself so either runs into contact or passes laterally, the passing continues, opposition filters back blocking space. In the end the player who has the balls to shoot is the wrong one in the wrong position under pressure. Kerry attack, gets the ball to player who backs himself and tap over the bar.
Dropping the ball short into the keeper is all lack of confidence, over compensation on accuracy by holding back on power, you notice all the short passes fall dead centre of the goal.
Mayo go to the Hyde next week, we may win, we may not but I can guarantee two things, the wide count will be in the high teens and there will be 4+ shots dropping short.
Until Mayo players grow up, can look in the mirror and believe they are as good as everyone else and that they are going to fucking win, there will be more days like today.
For all on here that keep harping on about how championship football or July scortures are a different level of football, thanks and all but I do realise that, as I have aluded to in previous posts on this forum I am well aware of that and how we have nothing to show for ourselves in championship. Regarding my comment earlier it was tongue in cheek but only to signify what looks like a strange scenario or opinions by posters whereby a team that has got to 4 semi finals or greater in a row appear to be clutching at straws to pick out the crowning jewels from a team that put in that performance today, in particularly a forward unit that looked as ordinary as that which appears to be your county teams achilles heal also from who ye were looking for options for. As someone said alot worse was posted on here from ye’re own county representitives so relax a bit. Alot of twists and turns in the road yet before the year is out.