Photo: The 42
It’s been a long day and I think I’ve stuck up more posts in a single day today than I’ve ever done before but the day wouldn’t be complete without announcing the winner of our Man of the Match poll arising from yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final clash with Dublin at Croke Park.
It’s a fairly clear-cut result too, with Cillian O’Connor heading the poll on 33%, while his brother Diarmuid came next on 23% (which means the O’Connor household bagged a 56% share of the total vote). Next came Colm Boyle on 11%, Keith Higgins on 7%, Tom Parsons on 6% and Patrick Durcan on 5%. 475 votes in total were cast in the poll.
Cillian also scooped the MOTM award on The Sunday Game yesterday, with both O’Connor brother also nominated today for the GAA’s Player of the Week award, which Cillian looks on course to win.
Well done to Cillian and to all the lads for the way they battled back to dig out the draw at HQ yesterday.
Well done Cillian and congratulations———hard argue with that tally!!
Though some lads like Tom and Diarmaid had colossal games Cillian definitely had the biggest impact on the game. Great to see him back to his best, now here’s hoping he can do more damage from play the next day as well.
Well done cill more the same next sat I think Connolly get off w j
Well done Cillian, a great dead ball display. He has some temperament to take all of those chances, he was deadly on Sunday. A special mention to Diarmuid as well, these O’Connor boys have a great mentality!
All of the players can be very proud of their display and fightback, especially Patrick Durcan seen as it was his first big game in the limelight.
A quick thought about the replay, how would we be feeling if we gave up a 7 point lead with nine minutes to go, if we can get a lead on the Dubs the next day, we are in with a great chance, roll on the game!
We know exactly how we’d feel HSE, didn’t we surrender a five-point lead this time last year! The less said about that the better and here’s to finishing the job this Sat.
Will there be any changes for the semi ?
Do people expect .
Crowd around me were magnificent……….”Mayo Mayo Mayo” chants loudly heard whenever the Dubs started up………More of that next Sat please !!
Diarmuid is now 1/20 for Young Player of the Year
I know we all joke about a large number of Dublin fans being soccer fans first and acting that way. From my experiences in 2013, last Sunday and looking at some of their opinions on twitter its the absolute truth. They are absolutely one eyed, and while we are all biased to some extent I think we are all mature enough, and grounded in gaelic games enough to have a little bit of balance and fairness, but not them. Its all about the ref, and what should have been a “peno”, saw some lads last night trying to convince the world, with absolutely no irony involved, that AOS “pulled McMahon into him”. you couldn’t make this stuff up.
Sitting near Dublin fans in Croker is not pleasant, I’m not looking forward to Saturday (even though I realise I am damn lucky to have tickets) but showing up and shouting for the lads is the absolute minimum they deserve.
Its a pity this game wasn’t on Saturday week, Man United are playing Liverpool at 5:30 so we could probably knock about 10,000 Dubs “fans” off the attendee list.
Tom Parsons was kicking ass and taking names on Sunday but you cannot argue with the tally alright , more next week please Cillian and hopefully AOS chips in with the same amount!
I had high hopes for young Patrick Durcan and it’s great to see a young guy perform on the big stage. First seen him in the Kerry league game. Thought for a debutant he was winning ball he had no right to win. Has really worked on his game eliminating the running into contact. But by jese when he gets into his stride, he looks one of the quickest players in the championship. Higgins, Keegan, Durcan and Parsons is fierce pace working around our midfield and defence.
I can’t wait for Saturday. I just hope the bodies aren’t too sore and the recovery time is enough for key players. The likes of Parsons, DOC, O’Shea and Boyle took (and dished out) a couple of ferocious hits and may struggle for a few days. This may even require a few changes on Saturday to keep things fresh and give a few guys a little more time to recover.
I’m the only rural gentlemen working with over twenty Dubs in Dublin. And I burst through the doors of the office on Monday, absolutely beaming with pride. I just get the feeling these guys are not for taking a step back, and I’m f’cked if I am either! We’re not going away Dublin……
Right, enough talk about the jackeens.
Whats the story with Clarke, Cunniffe and Donie Vaughan?
Do we want Clarke back for the final? I wasn’t that impressed with Robbie, he came off his line again on a couple of occasions dangerously, one time in the first half where if the Dublin forward got a fingertip to it, it would have gone over his head, despite having two backs contesting for the ball.
Ger Caff appears to be heading back to good form, the extra protection no doubt helps him sleep at night
More than likely the man of the match is rather clear . So possibly there should be a separate poll for a stand out preformence other than the man of the match . It could be that second place is the second best preformence however it wouldn’t be a bad idea wj .
It’s not just on Twitter, East Cork Exile – have a look at this debate on gaaboard.com (which I always thought was used by people who know their Gaelic football) for how the Dublin lads are trying to argue things. I’m struggling to think if I’ve ever come across anything as deluded as this before. The funny thing is that this site (i.e. the blog) has more than once been referenced over there in dismissive terms as some kind of shrieking loony-bin. What goes around comes around, I guess. And as for the bodhran-bangers on Reservoir Dubs, let’s not go there.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/gaa-gold-for-capital-as-football-fans-rush-for-tickets-31492613.html
This is outrageous, limits on purchasing in shops and online, most people were unable to access the website as it had technical difficulties yet ONE place in the whole country allows people to buy as many tickets as they want, unlimited. And where was that? in Dublin city on a Monday morning. Why don’t we all just give up our tickets and let them put f*cken 82,000 Dubs in there altogether. A few hundred of us will huddle in at the back of the Canal End.
As well, the “Business Spokesperson” says people will travel up and make a weekend of it. They will in their f*ck, the hurling final is on the next day, hotels and B&Bs were booked months ago for the Saturday night.
I doubt Vaughan will play seeing as he is a defender who has to tackle.
I’v done both AC joints. The problem isn’t taking big hits or shoulders. You put your arm out to tackle someone even the smallest jolt and it goes. Even something like a tug on yer arm when running past or when you have yer hand up catching and it can go.
Funny enough but a solid shoulder you can take as the joint is stable. But when you have yer arm up to do anything like tackle or catch very easy for it to pop again.
It’s a frustrating injury as it’s awful pain when it happens. Preferred the full on punch in the face I got to the AC joint popping.
Cillian o Connor has balls of absolute steel! I’ve never been more impressed with him, with this Mayo team. Not to play well for such a long period and then to nearly pip it! No doubt the momentum is in our corner, but for the love of God, we can’t go quiet again like we did when we went 7 points down! I listened back to the radio one commentary, and they said when we got it back to six, was only a ripple of applause. Everyone will remember when we scored the penalty what the atmosphere was like, but I’ll remember what it was like before the comeback! This team, win lose or draw Saturday, deserve the best support we can give, they gave and give in every game no matter what, we have to do the same!!
Season Ticket holders can buy 2 additional tickets with Bring A Friend option.
Hurry now to get them – I got them for section 703 🙂
Bring a friend is now live. Two extra tickets per season ticket or cairde ticket. Get in there before the Dubs!
We’re there together again, Tubberman! Just got mine in the same section. We should wear Mayo jerseys or something so we could recognise each other there!
Email saying bring a friend, two per season ticket account received at 9.02 am.
Email saying sold out received at 9.33
Jeez
Ice Cool Cillian.
I thought Mayo fans were unreal on Sunday….never gave up shouting and chanting. The noise in the 10mins when we were coming back was unreal.
I got the mail and the one after saying the Bring a Friend was sold out just now at exactly the same time. Luckily The Brother tipped me off a few minutes earlier so I managed to get sorted but by the looks of it many won’t be.
Wow – they’re all gone already! I also snagged a few in 703, I was watching out for the e-mail to get in quickly…but I didn’t think they’d go that fast. Unbelievable demand for tickets for this game. They musn’t have kept many back for the Bring a Friend option though.
One direction would not sell as quick
But sure isn’t that what the MOTM poll shows, John? The poll allows you to vote for any player (to that eejit who was on here yesterday, I should add that the poll is confined to players from our side) and so the result gives you an indication of who it was felt did best on any particular day. As I mentioned in the post last night providing the result, for Sunday’s match (aside from Cillian) it was Diarmuid, Colm, Keith, Tom, Paddy D and then Aidan (in that order).
Feck
Had to drop kids to their first day back at school and missed bring a friend.
Missed the bring a friend on the fathers season ticket too, kicking myself that I didn’t buy a season ticket for myself this year. Hopefully there are some more released but I’m not hopeful.
Anyone know the best way to go about a ticket at this stage? Clubs I suppose?
Kevin Mc took 10 steps before he played the ball to A Brogan for his point. Amazing. No wonder he is elusive when he does no need to hop and solo the ball like everyone else.
I reckon Kevin Keane getting off means Connolly gets off. Karma I suppose.
Surely Connolly can’t get off? It’s clear and unambiguous. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but there are multiple angles showing what happened and so he’s caught dead to rights.
That said, like a poster above I’d almost like to see him get off and then beat them with him on the team so they can have no complaints.
@facetheball
The man you should really be looking at on steps is MD McCauley…i have never seen a player get away with as many steps as he does and seems to get called up so little on it…in fact i can’t remember ever seeing him called up on it.
Interesting reading here in Jim McGuinness’s article:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/jim-mcguinness-mayo-s-refusal-to-buckle-caught-dublin-off-guard-1.2335427
Are these the only players who have not featured in championship to date or am i missing someone – Michael Hall, Conor O’Shea , Michael Conroy, Evan Regan, Conor Loftus and Stephen Coen.
Tonyk……that’s not on!;-)
thanks for the sympathy team sheet. feel better now.
I think it is instructive to analyse the match the last day and the Jim McGuinness piece in today’s times is insightful.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/jim-mcguinness-mayo-s-refusal-to-buckle-caught-dublin-off-guard-1.2335427
A couple of points about the game last Sunday
1. David Drake (our additional sweeper) was taken off around 40something minutes (not exactly sure what time, need to review the game again) and Andy Moran was introduced, we go 6 on 6 at the back.
2. The Championship quarter we create a lot of chances but put a lot wide and others into the goalkeepers’ hands we should be winning comfortably but are still 1 behind.
3. Sometime later (think around 55 minutes) Alan Brogan is introduced for Paddy Andrews creating a mismatch with Ger Cafferkey, Brogan (not the fastest in the world) takes Ger on a tour of Croke Park.
4. 4 minutes later with Ger following Alan Brogan around the park, Dublin create the overlap that results in a fortuitous goal.
5. 60th Minute Dublin’s purple patch concludes with Jack McCaffrey putting them 2:12 to 0:11 up , (1:04 to 0:01 in 14 mins)
6. 67 minutes we score a couple of points, Bastick is black carded and Alan Freeman takes us to 14 points.
7. We win a penalty, score, score from the kickout and in the madcap remaining minutes (with Dublin having no recognised midfield remaining) could have won it or lost it.
Anyway a lot to determine for the next day, The sweeper was obviously working in that it limited Dublin to very few goal chances (apart from the penalty where Paul Flynn trips over his own feet outside the box and as Joe Brolly rightly points out Boyler rushed in diagonally rather than from in front of his goalposts to stop). However we ceded too much space to them in our half forwards as we had no support for Aido or COC and no cohesive plan to get the ball up there, maybe the answer is rather than punting in high hopefull balls from too far out the field we run hard at them like we did in the last 10 minutes.
Finally we need to be alive to the correct matchups, when Alan Brogan was introduced it was our opportunity to introduce Brendan harrisson (Patrick Durkan would have been my first option but he was already on).
Thoughts?
@ HopeSpringsEternal & Citywest, everyone here should read that piece by Jim McGuinness. It is outstanding. Please God and all the Heavens can we have Jim as our manager, even for one year. Anyone good at praying here?
Jim’s good alright, Joe Mc. But, sure all he was doing was writing down what he said straight after the match on Sky! Link is here.
I’m not sure which is more impressive, to be honest – his column today or his reasoned analysis on that clip which he obviously put together in his head right after the game and then articulated so well. Obviously if you contrast the Sky panel’s discussion with the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party that is The Sunday Game post-match the difference is quite stark. I’m on record as saying that the Sky deal is wrong on every level and still hold to this but it must be said that the quality of their analysis is light years ahead of the clownish buffoonery that’s offered up on RTE.
Well done Cillian what a great performance I thought Diarmuid had a great game and he is settling in well into the team. I was impressed with Lee, Keith, Colm and Tom. AOS was magnificent the professional way he went about the business. He was not going to let the others down no matter what they threw at him. Seamus was targeted from the off as was Kevin.
Willie Joe, I don’t have Sky so i’m stuck with the other.
Neither have I, Joe Mc – I’m just going on the video they stick up online of their panel discussions, which always sound more reasoned that the panto on RTE.
Willie Joe, I don’t have Sky so i’m stuck with the other. Just watched the link now, thanks. Good discussion. We’re not given much hope !!