188 thoughts on “Thinking ahead to Tipp”

1. I think the hype has started already. There is now way we will beat Tipp. We were very lucky against Tyrone. They really bet themselves.

2. The one game at a time philosophy is best.
   We have got caught up with hype and optimism over the last number of years.
   Getting over each hurdle one by one is working so far.
   We need to focus on getting past Tipperary even if it is a lack lustre performance.
   Flashy football has proven to be of no use to us in preparing for the big one in the past.

3. You’re correct on all fronts WJ, this is not the time for complacency, anyone reaching the SF deserves to be there. I however would think it’s the game to ensure the 15 that would be used in September is on the field. The last few minutes of Sat showed there needs to be more understanding between the team when playing the heart stopping “keep the ball” game.

4. If you asked 100 of the most knowledgeable Mayo supporters to pick or team last Saturday not one would have guessed correctly!
   We now have a management team that view the opposition strengths and weakness and compare them to our own and pick a team according.
   So good luck to anyone trying to figure out the starting 15 for tipp.anyone of our 30 man panel or so could feature and in the management we have to trust they haven’t let us down!

5. We should be very thankful to Galway. If Tom Flynn had not knocked in that goal at the end of the match I believe we would have sleepwalked through Roscommon and met Tipperary totally undercooked, having no idea how good they could be. Oh, what a disaster that would have been.

   Now, thanks to Galway we will be well prepared and take nothing for granted. They are a fine footballing team with a great centrefield and full forward line. We need a plan for Quinliven who is a gifted forward who can turn a match.

   All the blanket defensive monsters have been eliminated. I cant wait to see a real football match for a change.

6. Think this group will be fully focused on tipp .places still up for grabs . Didn’t post any comment since match but think Tom Parsons and Barrett back are big addition heading
   Into tipp match .

7. Who was supposed to be marking Mc Aliskey the Tyrone no.13 when he found himself one on one with Clarke. Could it possibty be our no.4?
   Don’t want to stir too much but that could have been a goal, if the player was up to it ,and we could be licking our wounds today . And it wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened us at this stage of the championship. Sort it out !!!

8. Does anyone know if there will be upper tier tickets put on sale on tickets.ie for the match?

9. Just listened to parkinson podcast..Galvin is a great cure for insomnia.

10. Strange how the most optimist now are those who had no faith after Galway. The Galway who were hockeyed by Tipperary. We can beat Tipperary if that is our focus

11. It’s crucial we keep the heads. The Tyrone game was a big one and the lads were clearly very relieved to get through it and prove a point. But we need to refocus now. We have some advantages going into the Tipperary match in that we are the more experienced side at this stage of things and we have a stronger bench. But Tipperary are exuberant and they going to relish this opportunity. They will have no fear of us whatsoever. Not that we should fear them either. But we should tread carefully in our approach and not start thinking we have one foot in the final already. Tipp would love nothing more than to take a massive scalp and make a final. It is the year of the underdog after all. We must stay focused.

12. pj was it our number 6 or 4 Both Keith and Boyle were in no mans land, which is sometimes a negative side effect of playing extra man at the back. When everyone man marks, no opponent is left free but having an extra man back can leave one expecting someone else to do the marking. Anyway poor attempt on goal and we escaped. I don’t think I want the free flowing open game that people are predicting v Tipp. Play cautiously, stifle their danger men and let our experience and physical strength prove pivotal. Cork, Derry and Galway all thought the could outscore Tipp in a high scoring match. They all failed. Treat Tipp with the respect they deserve. Set up defensively, smother their main men, break their resolve and then go and win the game. Another 13 pts to twelve will be ok

13. If we don’t learn from the past, we’re bound to repeat it. So Stephen Rochford and his team management team are already looking at the weaknesses that were apparent in the Tyrone game- not least that mad last few minutes when we almost threw it away by retreating towards our own goal while carrying the ball across the field, thus
    inviting Tyrone to press up onto us. Stephen, the most mild mannered of men in front of camera, could barely disguise his feelings when he admitted it was “far from perfect.” If we ever try to kill time again he will make sure it is done up towards our opponents’ back line and not towards ours!

    Our defence was magnificent last Saturday. Tyrone managed only two points from play in the second half, four from play in the first, and only one point from their famed counter-attack. Neanwhile we had a total of nine points from play. But Stephen will not be satisfied with the number of scoreable frees we conceded or the fact that Tyrone had 31 shots on goal which on another day could have coughed up an extra four or five points.

    However, to look on the glorious positive side: It’s only as the summer progressed that we can we perceive how Stephen’s master plan is slowly being unveiled. What looked like a leaden-footed team earlier on is now shown to be an outfit beginning to peak at just the right time for the semi-final and, hopefully, the final. And what an Indian summer it’s proving for those old gentlemen of football, Andy and Aidan. Looking at Alan’s first time foot passes into Andy last Saturday reminded me of the 2013 quarter-final when we stunned and finally demolished the then champs Donegal.

    There will be more surprises to come. Of that I have no doubt. The best is yet to come. The Dubs or Kerry won’t know what hit them!The only danger is if we lose our intensity against Tipp because of complacency, subconscious or not.

    It’s 65 years since Sam last came to Mayo for a year. I remember, as if it were only yesterday, the bonfires blazing in my hometown of Ballina to greet home the conquering heroes. Please God, I’ll get to attend another victorious homecoming in my 79th year!

14. good man john I hope u get to see the celebrations again and Im sure all on the team will do their utmost to make it happen…..

15. I don’t think the lads will be complacent the next day nor will too many of the fans. Semis are for winning by hook or crook we just need to get over the finish line the next day. It can be far from perfect again so long as we win. Tom Parsons is nearing 100%, Barry probably already is fully fit and SOS has gradually come one leaps and bounds since Galway game. Chris Barrett is going fairly well and if we get through Tipp he could also be 100% flying fit. So should we make final we could have everyone bar caff at 100% peak fitness. That would be something. Tipp have fewer top players to worry about than Tyrone (midfielders, 2 in ff line and a wing back). Tyrone also had a surprise packet in Sludden we didn’t know about so we had 5 plus two very tricky corner forwards and 2 handy forward subs to nullify. Of those only the brilliant Harte and Donnelly made hay and those 2 were more so a problem in 1st half. Nearly all those Tyrone lads also had lots of experience whereas the Tipp lads don’t. That said they are useful players and were an absolute joy to watch against Galway.
    if they play with the same abandon then we need to be at out best. They have exceeded their goals going by one post match interview and are in bonus territory but may recalibrate their goals. Liked what Kerins said about Mayo and I have no doubt Tipp go out to play football with none of the shite sledging. Maybe Mayo lads made it hard for Tyrone to move freely but officials didn’t spot it and we didn’t either. Tyrone most people and Oisin McConville concurs seemed to be sledging our forwards and was disappointed to hear how blasé McGuinness was about it as it’s sneaky and ugly. At least if there’s physical shenanigans the officials have a chance to spot it. Cavanagh didn’t name names and said it wasn’t just the last day but through his career but I really couldn’t see any Mayo back pull and drag and block him off the ball. Aside from the year he caused the black card he’s been a great player and generally good ambassador for the game but I think it’s just the level of disappointment coming out in his words.

16. Hope you do get to see those bonfires in Ballina again , John!. Your right also , in your analysis. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but we should also thank our lucky stars again. After Cavanaghs Red Card we didn’t go for it in the way I’d like. I’d say some mental scare tissue there from some very bitter defeats . and some heavy criticism as well. Maybe the fear of failure was stronger than the desire for success for the last 10 minutes. That’s a dangerous place to be in, usually fatal. However now we need to recognise it, learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. A bit like a Waterford V Kilrenny when Waterford should have kept the foot on the accelerator on Sunday, they paid the price in letting Kilrenny get a draw, we didn’t but we got lucky. … Now while our management is getting rightly praised for getting so much right on the day. It wasn’t an A+ report card there either. One thing I have noticed that didn’t happen, I have taught it should have, Barry Moran should have been brought on, it would give David Clark someone to aim at for long relieving clearances. Even if David Clark choose not to go long for Barry, it would still give him a slightly easier option for going short, because of the opposition absolute need to mark Barry. With Tyrone pushing up as they had to, they could not afford to leave Barry unmarked. Mayo had the better fielders, but Barry is the highest fielder of a ball in the our armory. Remember the short one out to Durcan, wrong option and Durcan was not aware of the Tyrone man bearing down on the him. Of course Paddy should have gone for the same ball as if his life depended on it. Almost a fatal error . Now I’m convinced that David Clark is much more assured on his kickouts when Barry is on the pitch, it gives him the option to go long, very long with a great chance of Barry winning it. I’m sure our keep ball antics were not in the Rochfords plans. Mayo have always been better when going for it, when take our foot of the pedal, we’re not good, not good treading water. We have seen this a number of times this year, the worst example probably when we let Down almost catch us the last league fixture. Mayo’s best defence has always been attack. I’m still very pleased, but Tipperary are a serious threat, I think there’s more in us, the Team were under serious pressure on the Saturday, I’d say Tyrone were under serious pressure also with their terrible record V Mayo. The pluses are now outweighing the negatives for us, the pressure should lift a little, Hopefully We can express ourselves again, against a traditional style Gaelic-football team. But still it’s the result that counts.

17. Ya’ll can get yer tickets for the match on tickets.ie now.
    Should be plenty available for this one.

18. Tipp are a serious side with good footballers who play with no fear. In Quinlivan they have a real ff, if he was on one of the traditional big teams people would be talking player of the year about him. I would expect them to get back the player who is on the hurling panel for this one (cant rem his name but he is a talent). Tipp will cause us alot of problems and may lead the game at times. However I can see Mayo playing a high intensity game, using the bench well. Tipps lack of reinforcements from the bench will be the telling factor, I expect a close game going into the last 15mins but Mayo to pull away as Tipp tire.

19. I remember going down to cusack park in Ennis (was it about 10 years ago?) to play

    Tipp and won but we certainly did`nt overwhelm them. Colm Brown was their star man

    that day. But they are a much better team today. Especially their full forward line.They

    just seem to be scoring for fun. It`s going to have to be choked further out. Cut off

    the supply line! I`m not ready for another massive scare. Plus….. I have a weak

    heart.

20. Tip will bring a challenge, but there will be gaps in there defense as we saw against Galway and we should be able to exploit them with the team we have.
    We should win this as long as concentration stays in tact unlike against Westmeath

21. Leamtimes . Very good analysis . Fully agree with you. We were very luck to get away with the one point win . Tyrone lost the game rather that Mayo winning it. We are getting all the luck so far in this campaign. Home draws against Fermanagh, Westmeath, a handy peno at the right time, a few soft frees, then Kildare and Tyrone kicking 31 wides .

    We must treat Tipp as serious as we did Tyrone.

22. http://m.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/2016/0703/799883-kerry-v-tipperary/

    Definetly worth a read , tipp are very good going forward , we will have to be clued in

23. – Let’s dispel the myth that Tipp are a nice football team. They will want to win this at all costs and that allied with a Kerry manager who like most Kerry footballers consider Mayo walkover material is a dangerous combination.

    – Galway I believe were very surprised at how much homework Tipp has on each of their players and how it was used.

    – Our team is experienced enough to win this game once it’s treated like our AID.

    – Get those flags flying in Mayo and bring all spare flags to Croker and bring as much Mayo support as possible so we take over Croker for the day.

24. Aidan you are right in that its hard to call our team and thats a credit to the management as each opposition is treated with respect and a set game plan for them is set about whilst counteracting with our strengths and best usage of our assets .

    Tipp need to be treated with respect no doubt , their strengths are size and stature of Sweeney and Quinlivean and speed of rest of the forwards with attacking halfbacks, much like our of high octane and energy . Again I am of the opinion of beat a good football team in the way we want to do so, with running from deep and starting attacks in Kevin Mc and halfback line aided by Vaughan at Fullback.
    Vaughan at FB is a neccisity in my opnion as these lads can turn on a 6 pence and despite their size are very athletic .
    Vaughan should keep it simple at FB, knock it down to Kevin Mc and Barrett, Barrett would be a safety option for me and give added stability .

    They may well only play two in there if so Harrision can sweep up off Vaughan and Barrett with Kevin Mc pushing up a bit and so allowing Aidan in and out at FF .

    I think we have two on form midfielders who will take it to any pairing left in championship then super pace and line breakers in Higgins and DOC with accuracy inside .
    We need to be on the ball for Tipp and at our best but I think the team below would be best suited to try mark the Dub/Kerry forwards of this world too and no harm in having a bit of familiarity for potentially playing the best team in the world ever as the media would have you believe .

    I appreciate Vaughan is a loss to midsection Tom P will take on that mantle and Higgins gives more live in the 12 to reimburse the loss of Vaughans runs .

    ____________Clarke
    Harrison_____Vaughan___Barrett
    ___________Kevin Mc

    Leeroy______Boyle______Durkan

    _________Seamie___Tom P

    ___DOC______AOS______Higgins

    ___________Andy__Cillian

    Dillon done well the last day also but we knew the halforward and fullforward positions would be congested v Tyrone and we needed his acuracy and experince to dictate the tempo of the game, but there should be a bit more freedom V Tipp but by that also we need fast wing forwards to track their halfback also and try stop them getting quality ball into fullforward line .
    I do think this game will start at 100mph and will be helter-skelter so need men on the shoulder and break them down/absorb their early pace and attempted break winning .

    I think the key to this game will be dont underestimate Tipp but dont over estimate them, they have two goal threats inside, a very accurate freetaker so cant be fouling like previous but we need to play our own game and use our halfback and halfforwards lines and penetrate them in addition to our 5- years of strength and conditioning plus Tom P and Aido considerable bulk and power running at the heart of the Tipp defense .
    I dont think there is any need to hide anything, we have a challenge in front of us lets setup defence like we would v Dubs or Kerry and lets give our best and this team wont get carried away with themselves or anything to that effect as they have had enough near misses so are now dedicated to finishing the job .

25. Wise words from our captain Cillian O’Connor:

    (We didn’t leave anything to chance in our preparation. Would we be happy with our performance? Stephen has outlined a few reasons why we wouldn’t. Again we have plenty to work on.)

26. Down south here I work with and know a few Tipp lads. Some of them from the football side of the county.
    Well they are delighted to be facing Mayo and not Tyrone in the semi, and give themselves a right good chance.
    I have no problem with them thinking they have a right good chance, they are there on merit. But their glee at getting Mayo is based on the fact that they think we are flaky, a soft touch, they have zero respect and its not based on anything factual about this team, its on them taking a casual look at football every so often on all Ireland final sunday when we might be there back in the, dare I call them that, “bad old days” of 2004 and 2006

    They are completely dissing the fact that this team has been in the past 6 semi finals. That is a f*cking unbelievably record and level of consistency. We’ve beaten all comers bar Kerry and did everything but beat them in 2014. But yet, still no respect.
    I guarantee you, if we were Down for example, and had that record, they’d be sh*tting themselves. I find it very insulting personally, but I keep me powder dry, do my best Kerry man impression and ask them things like will they find it hard getting tickets for both the hurling and football finals this year.
    If the bookies and pundits opinion wound up our lads with their dismissive attitude before the Tyrone match, they should take a drive to Tipp this week and talk to some of their fans to get the blood going again.

27. I agree Tipp certainly are very good going forward and are a good footballing side I believe we have the team and squad to beat them but in saying that we will have to be at our best and play for 70 minutes I’m not expecting it to be as tense as the Tyrone game. Part of me thinks Tipp might have peaked against Galway but let’s not take them for granted Rochford and the lads will be well clued in we should win by a point or two if we don’t concede any silly goals

28. I’m after reading a post that Tyrone lost the game rather than mayo winning it. What are ye on about. If Tyrone missed chances that’s there hard luck. We took ours. When cavanagh went off Tyrone could not push up either and tried to make it even harder for us to get through. It ain’t easy to penetrate mass defence . We were unlucky too not to get few frees. Vaughan and moran had calls in second half and did not get them so that’s that. Cavanagh going off ment Lee pushed up and scored winning point. U rarely notice much difference when real defensive sides are a man down. We don’t play conventional way any more. We should not over analyse as our glass is now half full.

29. Good analysis Leantimes. I think trying to close the game out and the scary moments will help Mayo learn. It’s OK to do it for maybe 30 passes but it will eventually break down so head up field and go for a score or a wide and set up quickly for kickout.
    Outside of boot ye picked a good team and it would be good for the team to get Barrett 70 mins or close but only if he’s showing championship form in training. Having him as in form option for a final would be great if we win. Donie might be the man in FB vs Dublin but not so sure vs Quinlivan or Donaghy. Either Keane with help from sweeper or Barry as sweeper. Alternatively we can play one midfielder very deep while Mayo defending with Aido covering midfield. Keith was needed back the last day with those corner forwards and could be again if we and Kerry make the final.

30. I disagree Toughnup…the stats don’t lie. While we showed renewed vigour and battling qualities throughout, we still only win by a solitary point. Tyrone kicked 5 wides in the last 10 minutes. They missed the only real goal chance(and PJ was right, we feel asleep which almost priced fatal). In the end we were lucky to scrape through BUT sometimes you make your own luck.

    Onto Tipp…. I agree with Leantimes and Olive…

    Anyone who thinks Tipp will just show up and go out and play is ridiculously naive. They have a cute kerryman at the helm and are a serious footballing team. They are better than any team we’ve played in championship so far this year(with the exception of Tyrone, but you can be damn sure their forwards will be far more clinical than Tyrone if we cough up as many scoring chances as we did on Saturday).

    I expect this to be a tense and dogged affair on Sunday week. We’ll need the same attitude as we brought to Croker last Sat but with even tighter defending, conceed less frees(look at the stats; granted some were soft) and it’s important that we create more scoring chances. If you watch the Tyrone game again, we never threatened their goalkeeper and as items have said, 13 points is rarely enough to win a game. We were fortunate that it was the last day because the opposition kicked 14 wides and 5 short into our keeper.

    East Cork Exile – funny you say that, I know a lad from Tipp and they do think Mayo are a softer touch than Tyrone, you’re right. Part of them wanted Tyrone for revenge purposes but quietly they’re happy they got Mayo.

    We have the squad to win. That’s for sure. I believed we could do it v Tyrone if things fell out way. I believe we can beat Tipp but only if we approach it the right way and perform better than we have yet in 2016.

    I also believe the hurt of losing semi finals in 2014 and 2015 should really spur on our lads. ‘Remember Limerick’.

31. For some reason I had sky-plussed that Galway Tipp match and have watched it back. I had originally watched it in a bit of a daze, very very merry, so it wasn’t easy get a full proper perception first time around. Second time I could analyse it far better

    A couple of things

    – Tipp looked a little clueless early doors with bad decision making and potshots. When they finally ditched the patient build up approach and focused on first time balls into the FF line they quickly reaped the dividends. They’ll no doubt go with this approach from the off, while allowing their HF line drop deeper overall. Higgins was badly caught for what would have been the winner by McAliskey and Keane and Harrison don’t have the experience a lot of our other lads do at this stage of champ. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Donie Vaughan sit in front of the FB line or even Barry Moran 2.0
    – They coughed up a few goal chances early doors. That said I thought this was more down to good Galway build up than any blatant defensive deficiencies. But they can be got at and they’ll likely find our pace tough to handle. They’ll approach this game much more defensively though you can be sure
    – There’s much more to them than a classy FF line. Their workrate is phenomenal, Fox plays the roving half forward role to perfection and their midfield is as good as we’ve seen from anyone all Summer. They wouldn’t have created all of those goal chances but for some top class turnovers in their own half. Surely we won’t be as loose at the back and this is one day I think the sweeper system will certainly be vindicated
    – They are a much better attacking side than Tyrone, moving the ball at pace from their backline and playing intelligent angled balls into the FF line with constant support runners. Mayo-2013 like
    – They have a free-taker which Tyrone absolutely don’t

    Honestly though, if they play like they did against Galway we will be in for a far tougher afternoon than some might like to think. Tipp fans will be rightly insulted by the bookies’ odds, going on current form there is little to suggest they don’t have a chance at an upset. They blew away a team which made us look awful in June

    However it is a semi-final and current form only tells half the story. We are a division 1 side, them Division 3. This is our 6th AI semi on the trot they haven’t been there in yonks. We have much better, more experienced players. We also have a subs bench, which they don’t.

    I’ll be honest, I am expecting a bit of a drop off and for us to make this a little tougher than we should, but I do think we’ll be fine in the end and there won’t be too much panic. Psychologically it will be very hard for our lads to be as motivated when we’re unbackable favourites against an unknown quantity, as opposed to written off with a point to prove against the most over-rated team in the land. Shades of 2004 about it. It also resembles Kerry/Meath 09 and Tyrone/Wexford 08. In both instances though the two favourites never really looked like losing and I think we’ll see something similar to that

    I think there’ll be goals in it for Tipperary, and I could even see us being behind at HT. I think we’ll start to pull away slightly in the 2nd half though and our bench will all make a positive contribution

    Believe me though stranger has happened and we need to definitely exert caution. Leicester City winning the league, Portugal winning the Euros and Djokovic losing to a journeyman at Wimbledon all happened in the last few months!!! Bad conditions, an early sending off plus a penalty to them and you just never feckin know

    That said no matter how hard I try, the match I’m properly analysing is the Dubs/Kerry one. I think we’re conditioned at this stage to expect nothing but a win against opposition like this. Hopefully the lads don’t take my approach!!

32. Although the hand passing at the end was dodgy and absolutely horrendous for the nerves. It was 100% the right thing to do. Mayo were a point up, the onus was on Tyrone to come up and tackle them which they didn’t. Whats the alternative kicking a 50/50 ball into a full forward line and getting hit on the counter attack.

    Its just a shame we are not very good at it!!!

33. “East Cork Exile – funny you say that, I know a lad from Tipp and they do think Mayo are a softer touch than Tyrone, you’re right. Part of them wanted Tyrone for revenge purposes but quietly they’re happy they got Mayo”

    Met a few Tipp friends last week and they said the same thing. felt that Tyrone are the type of team that really don’t suit them, and that they feel out of all the teams Mayo can be beaten. We don’t have near the same level of fear factor that Kerry and Dublin have, it won’t come till we finally start winning All Irelands

    I’d say neutrals are quite happy with how the semi draw panned out, Tipp would be beaten already if they played either of the other two.

34. “Although the hand passing at the end was dodgy and absolutely horrendous for the nerves. It was 100% the right thing to do. Mayo were a point up, the onus was on Tyrone to come up and tackle them which they didn’t. Whats the alternative kicking a 50/50 ball into a full forward line and getting hit on the counter attack.
    Its just a shame we are not very good at it!!!”

    That sums it up mighty

    Right decision, some terrible execution. Aidan O’Shea should never take a free again that was absolute madness at the end. Whatever about McCurry kicking the point and bringing it to a replay before that, had Clarke not been awake we would be only looking to 2017 right now

    We just don’t have the composure of a Dublin or Kerry

35. They won’t open up the top tier until all the bottom stand is sold out which I can’t see happening. 35,000 max at the semi.

36. I know it’s ‘IFS & BUT’s’ territory but let’s face it, if Tyrone had any shooting boots on they probably would have edged it. The goal opportunity was a terrible miss, an open goal and he kicked it straight at Clarke. Directly at him.

    The sheer delight at the final whistle from both players and supporters was fuelled mostly by 1. Utter Relief that we are still in it after a tortuous final 5 minutes and by 2. Pride in that we fought and dug out a victory…

    And ‘dig out performance’ were Rochford’s own post-match words. Sure, it was our best 74/5 minutes display in terms of consistency and resolve but it was far from perfect.

    From here on in, anything other than an upward trajectory in terms of form, performance etc simply won’t suffice. Thankfully, I think the team and management know this.

37. I would say the team are their own biggest critics, they’ll look back at last weekends game and know exactly where they need to improve. The booster they’ll take from it will be the much needed injection of morale it will give to the entire panel. I’d imagine they are gunning for this semi final.

38. Mayonaze that 1 goal chance that Tyrone had. Great ball in by mattie donnelly. But he was allowed to much time and space on that occasion to find a great pass. Now defensively we looked solid so I’m sure it will be looked at. More pressure on the ball carrier. Keegan kicked 2 outrageous points Nd showed done balls to take them on. Balls of steel. That’s the difference

39. Will Tipp even bring 10K? Hardly, you’d suspect

    Especially if (as I expect) the hurlers win Sunday.

40. Lads, I know Tyrone kicked a few wides the last day, but that was mainly poor shot selection. And but for a ludicrous refereree, they would have been lucky to have got 10 points. We kicked plenty of wides ourselves, let’s not forget.

    Plenty to work on, but we’re still in the championship. I was on the Luas on Saturday on the way to our match, and overheard a conversation between someone from tipp and a few Tyrone fans. The tipp person was fearful of Tyrone and not Mayo. Let’s show them we mean business on August 21st!

41. Lads will ye stop with the Tyrone coulda won if they took their chances, they didn’t, and we won, end of story.
    How many days were we on the other side of that for not taking our chances? How many times were we brokenhearted and told “if ye only had forwards”? and to suck it up and learn from it. Tis time we were on the other side of it for once.

    There are plenty of other counties with their name on Sam, when it should have been us, on days we coulda, should, woulda, but fecken didn’t.

    Doesn’t matteradamn how you win, just win

42. Reading some of the commentary here, I beginning to think we’ll be lucky to come within 10-12 points of Tipperary. It’s amazing that the same people who told us Fermanagh would beat us, then Kildare, then Westmeath and then Tyrone are now predicting a Tipperary win. All the usual suspects are creeping back after getting scolded once again at the weekend, talking Tipperary up to a level that even their most ardent fan would struggle to believe, all in the infantile hope that they can come back here and say “I told you so” if we are beaten. If we are beaten we will be beaten by the better team, nothing we say or do will change that.
    Tipperary will be treated with the utmost respect and will of course be a very tough challenge, but they are no Tyrone, Kerry or Dublin and lets stop trying to make out they are.

43. East Cork Exile – “There are plenty of other counties with their name on Sam, when it should have been us, on days we coulda, should, woulda, but fecken didn’t.”

    I think the only other day that happened was Meath in 06.

    In 89, 97, 04, 06, 12 & 13 finals we were beaten by better teams and not because we didn’t take our chances. In fact the margin in 2012 could have been alot higher had Dublin taken theirs.

    Anyways that’s history. Mayo are still in it and more than likely will be in final where there is a high possibility of playing a Dublin team who, in my opinion, have the best tactical manager in the game at the moment.

    Alot to look forward to..

44. 1996. A team from division 3 came from nowhere to beat Kerry (of all people) in an All Ireland semi final. Third division cannon fodder only there to make up the numbers. Third division cannon fodder who had lost a Connacht final to Leitrim just 2 years earlier.
    You’ve got to watch it with cannon fodder. Only saying like.

    I think we will be wise enough by now to go into this game with the right attitude and set up a Mayo v Kerry final.

45. I am believe without doubt that Mayo will beat Tipperary. No scolding for me then.

46. I believe without doubt …..
    .

47. I really can’t see anything but a Mayo win by 7+. Galway capitulated in the quarters. Tipperary won’t live with Mayo and their ability to run through teams.

    It’ll be a game similar to the Westmeath one I expect, even atmosphere wise it’ll be unusual with such a small attendance..

48. “It’ll be a game similar to the Westmeath one I expect, even atmosphere wise it’ll be unusual with such a small attendance..”

    That’s what I think too. For the neutral it could potentially be as flat a semi as seen for a long time. It’ll be strange to see CP so empty for such a big game.

    The build up will be funny too, as the media will have a tough time trying to hype it up for neutrals. You need a fair amount of straw clutching and belief in a large amount of intangibles occurring on the day to draw up any sort of reasonable argument in favour of Tipp winning

    We’ve had a ‘big 4’ of sorts in the last few seasons plus Tyrone, so in every year since 2010 4 out of those 5 were making the semis every year and we’ve become conditioned to it

    It’s a little unusual to have a new team come along but ourselves losing to Galway allowed it to happen.

    Wouldn’t amaze me if this match was used as a large basis for introducing the new system where both semis are played on the same weekend and where it’s unlikelier “smaller” teams make semis

    Tipp deserve their place no doubt, but this game feels more like the air of a potentially tricky qualifier on a Saturday evening, not a semi

49. A lot of people said that to I can only see a win against Galway see what we got for that yes I do think we can beet Tipperary but if we only focus on Tipperary only and I think the manager and the boys will do that to there best

50. Excellent analysis by Jim McGuinness again:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/jim-mcguinness-tactically-astute-dublin-still-hold-plenty-of-aces-1.2749617

51. Yeah Turnip Head. Small attendance with the top decks completely empty and even sections of the Hill closed.

    All the focus too will be on “the real final” in the other half of the draw the following Sunday. Again that suits me. No problem at all with that.

    Let “who ate all the cakes” and his chums concentrate on that “mouth watering” tie between the traditional great rivals etc. While we quietly go about our business.

    Slightly off topic. Said it before. Turnip Head is best name on here. What a name.

52. Bit off the subject here lads and lassies , was checking on line for tickets ,looking. For lower hogan , only showing lower 336 ,which is in the corner ,would i be right in saying that they sell off those ones first .?

53. Just a thought. If the hurling this weekend is a draw. Are we looking at the prospect of a double header?

54. @My ball,

    Keep checking. Tickets are allocated randomly. Probably sold section by section. Is there any way you can order through your club? Clubs will most likely get central sections.

55. A 3-4 point win over a good TIpperary side will do me. Looking at the Tyrone game we need to improve even further.

56. Here’s hoping some of the Tipperary lads that some posters have been chatting to are friends of the players. If that disparaging attitude towards this bunch of players is widespread in the Premier County then they’re in for a rude awakening.

57. There is absolutely no doubt about the result here. This team finish 1 spot above relegation from Div 3. Tipp got their shock result against Galway who were clearly over confident. I’d be expecting a 15 point win on this one and if u are a betting Mayo the -5pts on Mayo win is stealing candy from a baby stuff. Mark my words.

58. I have a feeling that before every Mayo game from now until the end of time we will have posters reminding us not to take the opposition for granted……..”Remember Galway”

59. Cantini, tipp beat Derry cork and Galway and they have some real talent in the team. They deserve to be respected because look at their minor team in the 2011 final against Dublin, laughed at and it was going to be dublins easy title until Colman Kennedy showed the dubs he didn’t care who they thought they were and Tyrone u21 absolutely mugged tipp u 21 last year I think it was. Mayo should have them on fitness and conditioning but the minds have to be right.

60. I fail to see why so many Mayo supporters give a s**t about what other counties/supporters/pundits think of us! It’s like we are seeking assurance from others, waiting for them to say that we are a good side? Personally, I couldn’t care less what other counties think of us. As I said previously, I hope we are the most hated, despised and criticized team in this years championship. As long as we win! Winners write the history books while the losers make excuses. Mayo supporters, most of all, know this better than anyone.
    All this talk of what they are saying about us in Tipp is totally irrelevant to what will happen on Sunday week. Let them, and the papers, talk away. The best thing that Rochford could do is to have the media night (if he is obliged to have one) this week and then disappear to keep the heads down and focused.
    Tipp will not have come up against a battle hardened, physically imposing team like ours. Do you think our lads are going to let them swan their way up the field, unopposed, inside our 21 to have shots, unopposed, at our goal? They are not meeting Galway or Cork on Sunday week. They are meeting Mayo. 6 semi-finals in a row. Beaten in each of the last 4 years by the eventual winners.
    Rochford always said that the football we will be playing in August is not the football we will be playing in May. Mayo now are a different animal to the Mayo that lost to Galway. Sure we will, and should, respect Tipperary for what they have achieved thus far, but fear them??

61. Cantini, I think we will win but give Tipp some credit. They are there on merit having “shock” wins over Cork, Derry and Galway, doing so playing some of the best attacking football seen all year. Saying a 15pt win is an insult to a talented hard working side who have been building up to this standard for some time now. They have their Minor medals and been to U21 final. people posting about the lack of respect shown to Mayo. ffs a little respect to a young team doing things the right way is in order I think.

62. Listened to Adian on Wolly’s show.I thought it was a pointless exercise imo but tis done now.I have spoke to a lot of Galway people and they felt they were too confident going into the Tipp game and was ultimately their downfall. I dont think we will and id think our experience will stand to us.However there is no pressure on Tipp.There going up to Croker to enjoy and embrace the experience in the hope of making history and thats what makes them dangerous.

63. #mayomaningalway. Completely agree regarding the AOS interview. It served very little purpose if any at all. Can’t wait for the tipp game, we are too experienced to underestimate the challenge ahead!

64. Thanks MAYOMICK , gone from mayo 15 years so won’t be bothering my home club . Might call into county board office here in my mid land base , . Bit old fashioned and like to get the tickets early but not going to snap up ones in the corner when there will be nowhere near a full house .thanks again

65. That’s a great post Outside of Boot as always. Nice and measured.

    There’s some great stats analysis over on the ‘don’t foul’ blog that shows (now that we’ve come back down to earth), just how poor Tyrone’s shooting was versus ours. Edwin McGreal also makes the point that – unusually – our scoring efficiency versus theirs was what won us the game. It makes the point that we might not be able to afford to retreat into our shells versus a team like Tipperary who will have no fear of going forward.

    Ultimately however the main point here is, as others have said above, that we did take our chances, we won the game, and that should be the main narrative here. And I do expect our defence to be a bit more aggressive in their approach than Galway’s. Well worth a read. https://dontfoul.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/mayo-v-tyrone-2016-ai-quarter-final/

    Behindenemylines I think you’re right – we had little alternative than to play keep-ball but I would have been slightly more comfortable had we been even one more point ahead and if we were better at it! I know Leantimes you suggested fear might have prevented us going forward but I’m not convinced of that either – I think the lads knew exactly what they were trying to do. Mind you I’m not sure I could ever deal with another four minutes like that. Still laughing at the Tyrone fans booing us although I suspect some of those boos may also have been coming from our own.

    East Cork Exile if I were Tipp I’d probably be thinking in exactly the same way, you can’t really blame them. The onus on us now is to send them back down that long road with their tails between their legs. Really looking forward to this game – it’s absolutely tantalising. It’s just killing me that it’s 12 long days away 🙂

66. Reading some comments here about our chances is baffling.
    After what I witnessed from Mayo Saturday I would hate to be a tipp player on the 21st.
    How could tipp even think of leaving a man 1on1 with Aidan they’ll have some planning to do to stop our men.
    I think our sub’s situation is looking much better than most years,the main reason we have fallen short the last few years.
    Think rochford should start much the same team as against Westmeath see how it goes and change to suit the tempo of the game.
    Who knows maybe loftus full back

67. @My ball, ask around some of the season ticket holders might not be able to make it or have spare tickets. Central Cusack though.

68. This word flexibility is 1 that’s used a lot nowadays in regard to garlic football. We certainly have witnessed some of it this year. Previous years we lacked it. Every game brings it’s own requirements. A bit like weekly shopping list. Can vary from week to week. I’m fairly sure we won’t set up the same next Sunday week. With everyone that’s available fully fit we are in good place.

    I remember bring in clones at league game this year. This monaghan fella beside me asked me in his best monaghan accent ” what in the name of jaysus are ye feeding them o sheas their awful horses a men altogether “. They sure are and getting the best out of them is very important.

    We are now in semi final. 1 step at a time. Continued improvement needed.

69. There is an going situation developing in Tipperary at the moment,. ‘five Tipperary clubs have been thrown out of their divisional intermediate hurling championship for refusing to play without players involved in the county’s senior football panel’ That’s a quote from RTE, so reliable information, I would say!.Hardly what the Tipperary footballers need right now. The Tipperary county board want these intermediate hurling match’s to go ahead on the 20th of August,. Of course Tipperary are due to play Mayo on the 21st of August. Doubt if that would happen if the hurlers were due to play the following day. It’s not our row,!, One would expect common sense will apply in the end of the day! Their footballers deserve better! Mayo have to concentrate on being better than Tipperary regardless of what goes on in the Premier County!

70. Now that the heart rates and euphoria have subsided somewhat from the events of Saturday, a bit more reflection helps.
    As Anne Marie states, the analysis by @dontfoul makes for very interesting reading. I did have some exchanges with the man himself on how it would appear we had a rub of the green with Tyrone’s wayward shooting. He mentioned that he did not analyse how many of the shots by Tyrone were under pressure. I do know they were taking many of their shots from a good distance out, and most would have been under pressure, so good defending plays a part there too. All that matters is that we were more consistent and accurate, and they weren’t. On such margins games are won and lost. And we’ve lost many games having had a hatful of wides, the details of which the scoreboard never shows and the honour roll does not include.
    As regards the keep ball exercise, I’m not sure what else could have been done.
    Tyrone were defending heavily, as is their wont to do, and unless we had a clear cut scoring opportunity there was no point in going for it and conceding possession to them via their own kickout whether we scored or not. At that juncture we were only a point up so running down the clock while retaining possession, or taking a certain score were the 2 options available.
    Sure, it was a test of our coronary stamina, but we came out the right end of it. What ifs and buts are of no consequence now, we are in a semi-final and have to look to the next game. The team and management will do what they need to do to analyse our next opposition and improve on the areas we could have improved upon. For us, it’s a matter of finding our voices once again on Sunday week and making sure the team have the encouragement from us that the need to put Tipp to the sword.

71. As expected the Tyrone match came down to fitness in the end with little to choose between the two teams. We had the little bit more to give including fresh legs from the bench. Key to the Tipp match will be getting everyone up to full fitness levels with DOC crucial and SOS getting back to full match fitness. If we can get everyone buzzing, then Tipp will not stop this Team!

72. Tipp absolutely cleaned Galway out in the middle third of the pitch, when they got on top and this pretty much meant that it was one way traffic towards the Galway goals. You cant’s see us getting cleaned out the same way. Tipp do look vulnerable at the back when you get at them. Paul Geaney had a field day against them in the Munster final. That’s what we want to do get at their defence early in the game.

    It’ll be interesting to see how their hurlers will get on this weekend against Galway. If they win then all of the talk will be about getting two teams into All-Ireland finals and the county will be on a high next week. If they lose the hurling then the opposite will probably happen. It’s up to us to look after ourselves anyway, which I’m sure we will.

    At the end of the day, if we can’t cope with Tipp’s speed and running game then there is no way that we’d be able to cope with Dublin’s pace. If we can’t cope with Tipp aerial threat then we wouldn’t be able to cope with Kerry’s either. Tipp have very good variety to their play so it’ll be very interesting to see how we handle that and how we set-up accordingly. Roll on the game!

73. Tipp won a minor All Ireland and got to an U-21 final. An AI minor team will provide 2, maybe 3 players to the bigger counties and people expect the Tipp senior team be carried by one group of minors. How many of Mayo’s u-21 WINNING team is on their current senior team – but again Tipp reaching a final is something to be feared.

    I’m not being disrespectful but Mayo will win this game big. You can’t escape Tipps league form or the fact they have played beyond themselves up to this point. But this is an All Ireland semi-final for god sake. I had asked the question previously and someone advised that only 1 team ever from Div 3 has reached an All Ireland final – EVER – Mayo in 96 and that was after them topping Div 3 in the old provincial system – no 1/4 finals against top teams etc. Mayo people doffing their cap to Tipp is faux modesty in my opinion. Deep down you expect to beat them and beat them well – anything besides is lip service….and if that isn’t the case well maybe that says something more….

    Last week i saw someone suggesting that all weaker counties should take a trip down to Tipp to find out what they are doing to turn things around. I ask why – to see how you escape relegation to Div 4 in last game of the league – with a draw!?

    The truth of the matter is teams like this pop up every couple of years – go on a run and disappear again. Remember Laois (3 minors), Westmeath, Fermanagh, even my own Sligo 2002 – ultimately none of them ever get to the promised land and the effort and bit of luck needed for the big run they have had is quickly followed by going back to square 1.

    Dont’ get me wrong – i’d be delighted to eat my words and in particular if what is being said above about the way they players are being treated by the Tipp county board is true – disgraceful….but in truth that only adds to the impossibility of their task. Imagine Dublin, Mayo or Kerry not getting the absolute backing of their board with every need catered too…their fans wouldn’t expect them to be winning and yet there are some thing Tipp must win against that and the other odds stacked against them!

74. One game at a time remember what happened Galway. Hopefully Mayo will win.

75. I do think Mayo can win this. However there are alot of All Ireland medals in the Tipp dressingroom. The minor team of 2011 is the core of this side. If you look at that final they beat a Dublin side with John Small, Ciaran Kilkenny and Jack McCaffrey and came from behind to do it. Also have been in U21 final and we’re unlucky/ cheated out of it (by those who have sense had a road to Damascus conversion to sainthood).
    Now they are in an All Ireland semi having beat Cork and provincial champions Galway.
    This is not a fluke it is solid form and consistency. Also they come from a county / culture that know how to win in Croke Park and won’t need google maps to find it either!.
    Mayo have it within their collective to win this for sure but they have to show just as well as they did on Saturday. If we don’t however it is not the end if this team or management either.
    C’Mon Mayo!!

76. As I think some posts are too long ,I will be brief.
    ! think we were lucky to win given the easy scoring chances Tyrone missed and also
    playing with 14 for almost the last quarter.

    Question : how many possessions had J Doherty in the game?
    also,do we think all the right substitutions were made or not made.?

    Mayo will beat Tipp and finally Dublin are by no means unbeatable

77. Cantini, the core of this Mayo team over the past 6 years or more is based on the U21winning team of 2006. The majority of our players have come from that one minor team.

    I think everyone is confident that Mayo will win but I dont get your attitute about rubbishing Tipps chances. they are in a semi final and there on merit. You mentioned Fermanagh and laois. Well I was at those games, Fermanagh ran us very close and Laois brought us to a replay. It doesnt matter where they came from or if they build on this year or fade away, the Tipp of right now are a very useful side who have the potential to cause problems.

78. Cantini, to be fair, as far as I know there has been a proper effort made in Tipp over the last number of years to improve in football and start building a properly competitive team. I believe competing for a football All-Ireland by 2020 was the aim, so they’re ahead of schedule. Mayo should not fear Tipp and we should go out with intention of showing them a thing or two, but let’s not dimiss them or their achievements either. Tipp are going to be well up for this match and are going to take it to us. We should simply be on our guard and keep our cool. We have some wonderful individuals who love the big stage and we have all the experience, which is priceless at this level. Let’s take this by the scruff of the neck!

79. By the way, does anyone think that Mickey Harte and Sean Cavanagh (and Jim Gavin to an extent) whinging to the press about ‘targeting’ has pretty much guaranteed Lee Keegan will be under strict supervision from refs from here on out and may even find himself on the wrong side of a bad decision? I respect the Tyrone set up and some of the individuals in it, but they’ve been beyond hypocritical here. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.

80. I hope Lee gets fair play (and I think he will) because anyone in the Hogan last Saturday who was paying any sort of attention to proceedings was clearly aware that Cavanagh was the instigator, hence the crowd’s reaction when he was sent off. ‘Barrelling’ into Lee was the description used by one poster, and that captures it perfectly.
    Sean is an absolute legend of the game but he’s a very, very sore loser, as he showed by his comments about us after the ’13 semi. In fairness, most of the media opinion since isn’t buying into the Cavanagh as victim line. He got roasted by Lee in a fair and square way, completely marked out of it by a better footballer on the day and this appears to be the consensus. Mickey Harte is hurting, and by defending Sean, I think he has an eye on next year, hoping he’ll get one more year out of him, his most important man.

81. Time for Sean Cavanagh to stop whinging, I never thought he was like this, gone down in my estimation.

82. Tyrone our master at dishing out this type of stuff, its great to see them getting some of there own medicine

83. First of all congratulations to team and management,I fully believe that we have the brightest manager in the country,one who was not afraid to get a man who was as strong and good a manager as he is,remember Stephen has won an all Ireland as player and manager,as for those who fear that what we say on here will affect the players, well I have watched these players getting sledeged up and down the field, and it has not affected them, we have an outstanding team, who has done us proud over the last six years, and whilst form is temporary, class is permanent, these players proved last year that they had the stubborn a ruthlessness needed to win sam, finally to all those who say have respect for all the teams we meet, of course team and management have respect for all the teams we meet, and pay due respect after the match, I am not so sure all posters do so, as they say we have not beaten anybody, and the next match will find us out, I believe this is our year and we will beat oth Tipp, and Dublin up Mayo

84. That’s the spirit corick bridge, although I wouldn’t overlook Kerry, they have had some success in big matches in the past, I think?

    Sean Cavanagh was at it today in Todays Irish News, whinging on and on about being targeted and that’s not fair and all. I’m sick of listening to that bullshit from himself and The “Holier than thou” Mickey Harte. Look, I didn’t hear a word from Colum Macmanuss when he was poleaxed by Saint Sean. That man is a class act. Although it would be hard to get a word in edgeways past Brollyand his travelling soapbox. As far as I can recollect I believe both Cavanagh and Lee got yellows. Sean although a superb footballer has got away with shit his entire career because inalot of instances refs were a small bit intimidated by so called marque players. The man has more dives on his cv than Tom Daley and would give any self respecting drugged to the eyeballs chinesse diver a dive for their money.

    If the shoe was on the other foot and it was Mayo who had missed very scorable chances to win a tight match, what would the general consensus be? Hint, wrap your hands tight around your own throat and squeeze like fuck for answer.

    Mayo are where they need to be at this time of year. They are in control of their destiny. Let’s see where that might lead…

    Come On Mayo!

85. Well said Joe Ruane, well said Sir!

86. Two results for us to keep in mind:

    2016 All-Ireland Club Final
    Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin) 2-14 Castlebar Mitchels (Mayo) 0-07

    2016 All-Ireland Club Semi-Final
    Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin) 0-15 Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary) 0-10 AET

87. I believe this is our year,I lost faith after Kerry in Limerick,but we have found a few new players, we must also allow that we were under cooked against Galway,but who does not feel good when you give a trinket to your neighbour who at the moment is down on their luck,I feel that the players want to put sam on the table,great thanks has to be given to James Horan who said that he wanted to get rid of the bulls”t of Mayo football, which after the shambles he inherited from previous management was no mean feat, honorable mention must also go to Pat and Noel who departed with great dignity when they realised they had lost the players, but we now have a great management team in place, also I would hope that previous managers will lose their fear, and get behind this outstanding team and management

88. Come on Mayo and make this your year to bring Sam Home to Mayo

89. just Give Tipp their right to be where they are then let loose in the second half when your fitness and guile will come into being

90. Whats really impressing me this year is lads are beginning to come into form now we are peaking at the right end of summer. Teams have to really guess what our game plan is.Some posters used the words players having to be flexible and I believe we have that with this team.Another thing that is impressing me is that our subs are having an impact when they come on.What impresses me most is Andy.For 33 years of age and I have watched him closely for last games he is always out in front of his man he is very sharp. I dont think the game will be as open as people think. We are a very physical team and I believe this along with our experience is a massive advantage over Tipp.

91. There is a 100% direct correlation between the senior club championship in February and March and the SFC All Ireland Semi final in August. Christ, it’s like the reverse pisrogues of ’51. No doubt someone will pull out a tale that the priests first cousins cat from 1951 was once seen in Nenagh.

92. It appears to me that what we have now is the makings of a very flexible adaptable steely determined bunch of representatives.They may not bring us over the line just yet but I’m happy in the thought that such an eventuality is more likely now and in the future than it was in a certain past……in most of my lifetime ..just about! It’s a very good time to be living Mayo football right now when they have shown without much doubt that they are a new breed of animal.And at the moment when winning is the all imp target,the fact that they have discovered how to win,is to my mind a new territory for a Mayo team to be adventuring into.It hasn’t come easy and neither will it be so for our neighbours but the recipe is there for all to follow……if they will?

    How often since the
    early 60s did we have our faces in our hands, our haily marys said under the seats,our long head to tail convoys back into the county flat and sick and still having to find a way to live in the morning?
    No longer can Mayo be looked on as a soft touch. Have we left the fancy frilly stuff behind for good? I think so. Now it is a
    matter of cementing it into the psyche and
    moving along even closer to the top of the ladder!!
    A wonderful transformation has occurred in Mayo football fortunes since James Horans arrival and I think it opportune to acknowledge again this v imp fact.
    All hands on deck for another tough adventure coming up soon agus ar aghaidh leo go leir!

93. I posted last week on my thoughts leaving Croke Park after the Westmeath match. See Below
    “Delighted to see Diarmud back. Cant make up my mind about us this year. Left Croker feeling fairly down last Saturday thinking is that it . But now I’m totally optimistic thinking we might be just about the cutest hoors that ever took to Croke Park since our friends in the south West.
    I hope it’s the latter but hard to believe Mayo Management /Team would have this in play since early in the year. If not the big gamble of last year will have back fired. If and it’s a big if we are about to pull off a big one here happy days. Otherwise they owe us nothing best of luck boys fortune favours the brave Hon”

    Delighted now to see that we did such a number on Tryone and our tactics were so spot on .It looks like we have a management team that these lads deserve. Still plenty to improve on but I’m looking forward to see how we manage Tipperary and who knows after that .whatever happens it’s great to be a Mayo fan on days like these.

94. Ah Liam don’t be like that!

    It’s gas when you log onto this site sometimes, after the Westmeath match the mantra was that it was the end of an era, we were finished, the management were clueless etc. Now after beating Tyrone, the mantra is that this is our year, our name is on the cup, our management team are geniuses etc.

    When in reality everything is always somewhere in between these two extremes. That’s why I put up those two results, you know maybe to keep people’s feet on the ground. As you said yourself in the past we’re either world beaters or the worst in the world! A bit of perspective is always good I think anyway, when some people are getting carried away………. Roll on the next game!

95. Couldn’t care less if Tipp dont respect us….let’s face it nobody outside Mayo respects our tradition because they see it as a loosing one. Until we win Sam again that is going to be the way. We all feel bullish about it at times. I know the players will be focuses. Think us fans should keep the powder dry too. I for one am glad not to be seeing all these Msyo 4 Sam bandwagoners on board…yet

96. I really dont get all this hype with “sledging”. As far as I was aware it has always been part and parcel of the game. I remember playing as a youngster and the lad I was marking was trying to ryle me about my mother. I grew up hearing of county players in the 80s being brought on in a game to not worry about kicking a ball but to kick and thump and intimidate the oppisition. Im not condoning this but trying to get an edge over your man has always been in the game. You do what ya can to win every team in every soort does it. Harte and Cavanagh need to suck it up and move on with it

97. Would I prefer to be in our position or Tipp? Definitely Mayo’s.

    Tipp are an up and coming team, on a great run and will have gained confidence. Plus, as has been said previously, they will not be overawed by us.

    We have experience, players coming into form, and I think a great hunger to reach another final. It is difficult for a team like Tipp to beat such an experienced opponent.

    While they beat Cork, t(he definition of flaky), Derry (hammered by Tyrone), and Galway (potential but complacent and poor record in Croker), we are a step up, and will not be complacent.

    Do we think that the Dubs, or Kerry would be overly worried? We need to think like winners to be become winners!

98. Good man pebblesmeller, shooting from the hip, no bullshit and that’s as it should be. You’re dead right there, we shouldn’t cares what people think or say about us, just keep our heads down and focus on the next match. The only thing that would worry me is that ref’s would be put on notice to keep an closer eye on our man marking and might be more inclined to give soft frees against us or God forbid, start flashing cards. Rochford though needs to counter any negative comments that may be making headlines, same as the very streetwise Jim Gavin does at every opportunity.

    I must say I’m surprised at so many on here warning against overconfidence or that the team might underestimating Tipperary. I have no doubt there will be a spring in their step this week, but we must trust and give some credit to Management and indeed the players who have been around the block before and will well know that anything less than one mighty effort won’t be good enough. These Tipp guys didn’t just appear out of nowhere, most of them have AI medals in their pockets and know how to win. Let’s hope this match might be a year to soon for them.

99. @Mayomaningalway,

    It’s become a big issue now because a certain Mr. Connolly has got himself into trouble a few times and there has to be someone else at fault when that happens.

100. MAYO for SAM!!!! Cmon Mayo!!!!!!
     Sorry, yew tree, I couldn’t resist. You’re spot on when you say that about our tradition, to this point it has been a losing one unfortunately and until we actually win Sam, we are seen as galant losers. Our record this year alone in finals is 5 Mayo adult male teams in finals, 1 win.
     That’s 3 club finals , 1 under 21 final and 1 junior inter county.

     It’s hard to defend ourselves with a record like that since March 2016, That’s 5 months of a window and we will likely be in another final in 6 weeks time, I will add my few prayers to the cause in the meantime and keep the faith. No matter what happens, you’d have to give great credit to Alan dillon and Andy Moran for keeping the faith and battling back all this time. It’s a lesson for anyone in any line on hiw to be resilient and I really hope they finally get their All Ireland.

101. Ah I know HSE, your on the button with your posts usually. I just feel that sometimes people should just enjoy a win for what it is, a win. It doesn’t always have to be analysed to the nth degree. We’ve enough experience losing tight ones so let’s savour the feeling of winning one.
     We can focus on Tipp in another day or two.

102. We have every reason to believe in our team, and we do. But, we are still the only top tier county who haven’t got over the line and until we do we can not be over confident about any match, regardless if it’s a division 1, 2, 3, or 4 team. We’ve incurred huge losses in big matches and it is relevant to mention the Club final this year, because it was still a Mayo team.
     The fact that the Cavanagh’s, the Harte’s, the Corrigan’s and the McGrath’s come out with stuff like that after a defeat by Mayo could very well stem from the fact that they don’t respect us. It might not be a coincidence. It’s likely they fully expected to turn us over.
     We are playing Tipp next and we should take them very seriously. They have an excellent manager in Liam Kearns. He’s a Kerry man and do you think he’ll respect us? Ha! Not a chance. He will do anything in his power to give his lads an edge and he is absolutely right to do so. It also helps that they are playing terrific football. I can hear the message he’ll be ramming home to his lads, and I can bet that some of that will include tapping into perceived weaknesses in Mayo.

103. can i just say that i found the GAA’s price for the semi final at 40 Euro per head a bit steep considering that the vast majority of people going will be Mayo supporters . i understand that it is a semi final however it still is asking a lot . the only good thing is that juveniles get in for five Euro . its going to be far from a full house and should they consider lowering the price no doubt it would attract more supporters .

104. Currently writing this in south Tipp.The GF’s family lives down here but she is a Kilkenny supporter so there is no rivalry for the semi thank fk.

     On saying that I do know a bit about the local scene of football here.There is a bit of talk about the football down these parts since the Galway game but hurling is obviously number one and I’m not sure how much of a Tipp crowd will be at Croke park, some of the hurling fans hardly bat an eye lid regardless of how well the footballers have been doing.So I think the result of the hurling will have a big role to play.

     The strangest thing about this Tipp team is that it could be a lot better than it is. I’m sure many here know this but there I think if I remember right one lad telling me 13 players are out from that Tipp panel due to hurling and leaving the country for the summer etc.The hurlers aren’t allowed to be duel players so it tells you where the alliances lie.

     I had a few drinks last year with the Tipp goalkeeper Evan Comerford and remember him telling me something about the state of affairs regarding the hurlers not been allowed to play football unless they choose only football which is a mortal sin down these parts .I don’t think is fair considering the footballers are not that far off being on par with the hurlers this year.Not too sure about this but that could mean a few of these duel players might be released to play on the football panel which wouldn’t be fantastic from our eyes, but none the less I can’t see them beating us if like we did the last day.

105. I agree Mayo McHale that there is a chance refs will start making calls against us now that Cavanagh and Harte have done their whinging. Despite it being the height of hypocrisy coming from them it has generated a wider debate about “targeting” and has already gotten a response from the referees development chairman. I expect an eye will be kept on Lee Keegan in the next match and we are going to have to be a lot more disciplined in the tackle than we were the last day. Jim Gavin is also firmly working the media and pushing an agenda with his most recent comments. Suggesting that a team like Dublin who play the game “the right way” deserve more protection is an attempt to influence officials in the build up to the latter stages of the competition, no doubt.

106. It’s just like soccer if yer already on a yellow don’t do anything stupid. Don’t even slap a lad on the stomach like O Gara did or tap a lad on the cheek like K Keane did or clip a lads legs for manhandling you or throw a messr to the ground as SOS did. Learn from lessons (our own and others), play hard and fast, hit hard going for the ball but don’t be petulant. Lot of players getting the line for petulance but they’re the rules right now so play them. In fairness we’ve been better than most of our rivals in avoiding silly sending offs especially this season but keep it up. Don’t do lazy high tackles either, it puts ref into decision which can go either way. Hope management talk to players about this. Let opposition be stupid if they want.

107. When Tipp last won All Ireland in 1920 they beat Mayo in Semi final and Dublin in final. 🙂

108. Mayo have enough experience to get through against Tipp. I think both teams have had their own reasons to celebrate their quarter final victories and there is an argument that they both could be getting ahead of themselves. The fact Mayo lost to Galway and Tipp beat Galway gives no indication of where either is at. It seemed Mayo were setting up a new system to beat the power houses when they played in the provincials, maybe even casting doubt on themselves when it wasn’t working and didn’t seem to go for one set formation, they rather ended up caught between a new set up and what beat the teams previously. Mayo are seriously improving tactically and this seems like a top mgmt team developing as the year also does so. I’d go for a Mayo win in the semi’s as the competition for places will be driving them on, Tipp I think will come up short. If mayo can pick off scores and transition A.O’Shea into the forward line and out again a bit cuter then with the possession stakes in mayo’s favour with the hunger and fear of failure they’ll have, they’ll get over the line. But it’ll be a game they’ll have to bully from the start to boss the game and control the tempo. If they manage to do this anything can happen in the final, I’d expect if Mayo get to the final that they’ll be tested severely in the full back line early on and personally when I seen the chance that tyrone got for a goal I thought if I was an apposing mngr my eyes would of seen gold. It might not be an issue but it was a swift reminder. D. O’Connor wasn’t as prolific as usual but put in a massive shift and used the ball well. I hope the stadium is 3/4 full at least for the semi’s.

109. Yeah Liam I was actually feeling the same way at the weekend too when I seen some posts about Tipp almost straight away after the win over Tyrone. I was thinking that we at least have to enjoy the win for a few days anyway. It was great to have a pep in your step going into work on a Monday morning!

     Then I think it was when I seen talk about a round of clubs championship games been fixed for the 28th of Aug and people been worried about players getting injured for an All-Ireland final, that brought be back down to earth again.

     You can understand why people would be talking about this but I was thinking we seen the way us been written off and it was same way with the the Galway hurlers been written off, both of us produced massive performances against Tyrone and Clare. So the point I was trying to make was that you wouldn’t want Tipp to get the vibe that we were taking them lightly and that the biggest worry in Mayo is a round of club games a week after the Tipp game. Sur we always have something to be worrying about I suppose as Mayo supporters.

     One thing about the match against Tipp, I thought that Cillian O’Connor looked to have a lot more pace to his game against Tyrone. That’s great to see and you’d love to see him do something similar to Tipp that Paul Geaney did to them for Kerry in the Munster final.

110. I see the bookies have us 1/5 to beat Tipp. And the bookies are rarely wrong!

111. Have just read a brilliant piece by Darragh O Se in today’s Irish Times headlined “Tyrone want sympathy – don’t make me laugh.” In his column – which is always spot on – Darragh says Tyrone ‘need to go easy with the horrified nuns act.’ He goes on: ‘especially since they did plenty of it themselves on Saturday. Aidan O’Shea got no better treatment from Tyrone than Sean Cavanagh did from Mayo.’

112. Plus (surprisingly!) more along the same lines from our friend Beheny in the Indo today……

113. The bookies were wrong on us last Saturday John McHale! THey can be wrong, and well wrong at times in GAA

114. Lads and lassies, can everyone settle a little? Talk of winning that heart-breaking, sole destroying cursed Sam Maguire is way too premature and, if we are to be honest and face facts, fanciful at this stage.
     We are no further along the road to winning Sam than we have been at any other point in the last 6 years. We are in a semi-final. As we have been in each of the last 6 years. Nothing more, nothing less. We are a battle-hardened, experienced unit that has been consistently playing a higher standard of football than Tipp for the last 10 years. We will be favorites, are steadily improving physically and tactically, have an experienced successful management on the line and have the benefit of an extremely tense, tight victory under our belt. So, all the indicators point to a Mayo win. Great. But indicators, like those on a car, only give a signal of where you want to go to. They don’t give you the right of way to get there. Just because you have your indicator on doesn’t mean you have the right to cut across traffic. You have to wait and take your opportunity when it arises. That time is NOW.
     There is work to be done. We were a little reliant on Tyrones poor shooting towards the end of Saturdays game, we did leave a couple of early scores behind us in the first half, and, Higgins got caught badly, ball-watching, while his man spun off him free inside to shoot at goal. Higgins has Clarke to thank, big time. So, we have work to do but we have time to do it and another day out. But, as supporters, we need to ease up on the hype and excessive emotion of the journey. Kerry or Dublin aren’t bouncing in the streets just because they are in a semi-final so neither should we.
     Anyone that has had the misfortune to read my ramblings will know where I stand on the whole thing. We are good enough to win the lot. We were good enough in each of the last 3 years but we failed to take our chance when it presented itself. And it DID present itself in each of the last 3 years! We need to play ugly, because ugly is successful. We need a sweeper and a defensive style because we concede too many goals in big games. We need to change our play/style to allow for each opponent and not be too stubborn to do so. We need a bit of luck. We need to stop this bullshit argument that “playing a sweeper isn’t our natural game”. Our natural game has been unsuccessful for 65 years so it is well past time that we changed our “natural game”. Whatever that is? We need to do whatever is necessary to win the next game. It’s as simple as that. Then, and only then, can we talk about a Final. So please, focus on the next day only. Hold the heads and remember that it’s Tactics, not Passion that wins the big prize.
     Hon Mayo.

115. eastcorkexile, I’m not a betting man and never bet. But 6/4 for Mayo that last day was too good to leave behind, so my day was paid for 🙂

116. To All the Mayo fans please go out and support the Mayo ladies next Saturday against Westmeath in the All Ireland Quarter Final as ye did for the Mayo Men last weekend.
     Keep the Mayo Flags Flying
     Up Mayo

117. That’s it Pebblesmeller! Hitting nail on head as usual.

118. Great article by Darragh O’Shea alright.

     For any that feel the Dubs are whiter than white when it comes to off the ball stuff and tactical fouling, they should have a read of this too.
     http://www.the42.ie/dublin-donegal-3-2918618-Aug2016/

119. Pebblesmeller,
     Very well put,
     I totally agree, with all your points.

120. Absolutely spot on Pebblesmeller great post

121. eastcorkexile: You’re spot on. But I did say RARELY wrong.Let’s hope last Saturday was the ONLY time they are wrong!

122. Fully agree Pebblesmeller

123. John MacHale, I just read that piece too. From this side of the fence it is easy to enjoy! But Darragh has a way with words and I loved the line about the sledging “creeping” into the game”.

     “Creeping! It’s been going on for decades. That’s some noisy creep. A man trying to creep in like that would wake up the wife, the dog, the neighbourhood and the Gardaí.”

     For what it’s worth I don’t think we will be under any more scrutiny from refs than we already are, or any more than any of the other teams left in the championship.

     Maigh Eo Abú! Let me hear no-one describe Mayo supporters as “long-suffering”. If we never won an All-Ireland I’d sooner be at the business end of the championship for the next 50 years and have days like last Saturday than not be challenging at all. (Mind you, I’d prefer to win the All-Ireland all the same.)

     Aidan O’ Shea’s contribution to Colm Parkinson’s GAA podcast on Joe.ie is worth a listen by the way. Honest and measured, and proof positive if it was ever needed that players have their ear to the ground in terms of what is being said and written about them by their own.

124. Forget about Tyrone and lets concentrate on Tipp. I would like to see Barett or Vaughan in for Boyle—he must avoid a black card. Keane will need to play and we must have a sweeper. AoS at FF to ensure they need a sweeper.We will needto bring our usual intensity to our game.They have nothing to loose and may get some decisions from the ref as the Fermanagh goal against Dublin last year. Bring them on.

125. Just got an email from Croke Park re the Bord Gáis Energy Legends Tour .

     https://crokeparkmuseum.tickets.ie/Listing/EventInformation/30672/bord-g%C3%A1is-energy-legends-tour-of-croke-park-with-brian-mcguigan-croke-park-20-August-2016

     Obviously Bord Gais or Croke Park or both weren’t expecting Mayo to be there !

126. “When in reality everything is always somewhere in between these two extremes”

     +1000 HSE, the best I’ve ever seen was the Dublin game last year. Hyped up to the max going into it despite being underdogs and then the reaction afterwards beggared belief. I mean, how shite are we, taking the best team in the land by a distance to a replay!!! It’ll be the exact same this year before the final if we beat Tipp but what can ya do. Thankfully the players surely avoid online media in the build up

     That said, I’d imagine most counties fans are like that we just have more access to our own. I do think the majority of actual fans do lie somewhere in the middle though, the internet generally does attract more knee-jerk and extreme characters, not to mention a few wind up merchants. Facebook in particular is farcical altogether with the most clueless opinions you’ll ever see!!

     “I see the bookies have us 1/5 to beat Tipp. And the bookies are rarely wrong!”

     Gutted to see that Dublin are 2/5 in the semi, was hoping for a bit of value. Not a hope they’ll lose to Kerry. Pity the bookies aren’t falling for the daft Kerry cliches and giving them some faux respect for achievements a decade ago

     We’re 5/2 for AI, so given our odds against Tipp this goes to show much much chance we’re being given of beating Dublin. Hopefully it at least cools the hype in the run up, no harm being completely written off. 2013 still gives me nightmares

     “I hope the stadium is 3/4 full at least for the semi’s.”

     Jaysus not a hope I’m afraid. Won’t be half full. Tipp will bring sweet shag all, particularly if they win the hurling. Gonna be a strange atmosphere for a semi, hopefully that doesn’t translate into a peculiar match

127. I enjoyed that link fdb. Dublin have always brought the dark arts to games. They use whatever means possible to knock u off ur stride. In the final 3 years ago we saw connolly holding keegan and dillon at once. I guess u have to be able to mix it up. I think we are experienced enough now in croke park to know that naivety will be punished. This week we have micky harte and Jim gavin complaining about players being targeted. As fr Ted once said ” They can go now and count their sour grapes before they hatch”. These guys have won all irelands. Well they know that nice guys don’t win all irelands. Sure they had great players and still do. But u must be able to mix it up and our guys certainly can.

     The use of Aiden the last day was very good. I don’t think he is bringing the ball into traffic as much now either. Would anyone agree?

128. Agreed Toughnup, Aido seems to be looking for the support as soon as he gets the ball, and thankfully the cavalry doesn’t seem to be too far away when it’s needed. He’s a great man to draw a marker away from the others to free space for them.

129. In 2004 Mayo defeated Tyrone (All Ireland Champs 2003) in the quarter finals,in the semi final against Fermanagh we were favourites and it was a miracle that we escaped with a draw on the day, we were complacent.The omens were not good leading up to the Galway game this year, Galway were been written-off by Mayo supporters…..complacency set in and we got the result we deserved. Are we going to make the same mistake twice in the one year? Tipperary won the All Ireland Minor Football Final against Dublin in 2011, and they were unlucky not to win an under 21 Title, a lot of these players are on the present team. Tipperary this year,defeated Cork, lost the Munster final to Kerry in Killarney, defeated Derry in Breffini Park and scored 3-13 against Galway and won by nine points. That win against Galway will probably give them great confidence.They have four heavy scoring forwards in Quinlivan, Sweeney, Fox and O Halloran,and a very good midfield.
     Hats off to Stephen and the Team for a great win last Saturday.

130. Fdb that’s it. Last year against dublin he was drawing lots of markers. We need to box clever and expose this. I believe he does great work deeper in midfield and I have said before he ain’t a full forward but I’m willing to be proved wrong of proper game plan us used. Not just pumping in ball for sale of it. Andy always makes big difference. He clever and makes great runs also reads game well. I’m not sure where I read it recently but it’s not only about what u do when u have the ball. It’s about what u do when u don’t have it. It’s a good one. Creating space and openings. We’re getting to point now in season where good bench is crucial. Hopefully we won’t be found wanting

131. I would not write Kerry off at all against the Dubs and with a bit of luck the winner will peak for that game.

132. I see people on about Fermanagh in 04.dont forget Fermanagh bet us in 03 qualifier and were not a bad team.they bet Armagh in the quarter final before they played us in 04 and Armagh won all Ireland in 02.
     This Mayo team won’t be complacent we got caught possibly by a bit of complacency v Galway so it won’t happen again.this Mayo team knows what it has to do to get to the business end of the championship even though we have went the long route this year it definately has being a huge plus.
     Want to see people get behind the team and not question or give out about players.

133. If one thing is certain after this championship run in 2016, posters on this site wont be taking any opposition for granted. We’ve been warned about it enough times!!!

134. Behind enemy lines I think ur right. Galway game taught us major priceless lesson . maximum respect to all opponents. Tipp is next team we must take down

135. The new Mayo ethos::
     When we score,Mark it down, no celebrating till something’s won.Watch the kickout!
     Toughnup! Aye” we re inventing the wheel again? Kevin Heff was one to have two cameras on a game….one on play and one covering the rest! What the rest were up to was as imp.as what those in possession were doing…., a reading the game exercise!!It’s an indication of where he was at that he should find it necessary to do this then.Its assumed that players know this naturally… some do but most need reminding … everything is on the table…the rewards can be great! Andy Moran was always ‘a little flier’ and would run all day for a team. He had to, to gain possession against the odds and he learned to read the game out of need! Long may his little legs carry him! I trust all the players are well versed in this aspect.I do recall one time when you could have been having a chat with your opp number with the play up the other end….and you would get told !!!

136. I view Tipp kinda like how people viewed Leicester City….nice story, a few great players, but inevitably will be exposed when it gets down to the business end of the season.

     And we all know how that story finished

137. I dunno lads, I think it’s a bit simplistic to say we took Galway for granted. It was our first real Championship test so I’ve no doubt the lads were chomping at the bit for it

     We were just worse than useless on the day but that can happen.

     It’s very unlikely we’d be that bad again Sunday week. We have decent momentum built up at this stage too

     I think some people are still expecting leicester to slip up Whitey 🙂

138. Mayo didn’t take shalwar for granted but just had a bad performance…these things happen. I suspected at the time it’s was more about us being bad than Gajway being good.

139. Shalwar – I meant Galway 🙂 indubningow precdictive text managed that one.

140. Does anyone know why there is no U16 tickets for thr Upper Cusack on tickets.ie? Only seems to be adult tickets at the moment

141. Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but the main thing is, for the love of God and all the ancestors of the yew plains, please let’s not take Tipperary for granted.

142. Ciaran ur disdain for Kerry is palpable. Happy the bookies aren’t giving them faux respect for feats over a decade ago? ! Last I looked they won the all Ireland 2 years ago and are always at the business end of the championship. If Mayo manage an all Ireland presume u would expect they are still respected for it within 2 years? ….even if it’s for beating Tipp in a semi and maybe a brutal Kerry team in the final? The team u are happy to laud has achieved less than the one u mock as overrated has beens….go figure!

143. Good news according to Edwin McGreal, The Mayo News:

     Mayo manager Stephen Rochford has reported a clean bill of health for his squad at All Ireland semi presser tonight

144. Lee Keegan got home on Saturday night and emptied his pockets, he had his wallet and phone in one, and Sean Kavanagh and Diarmuid Connolly in the other

145. The hype is fairly building in Tipperary. Great to see 🙂

146. @NiallMc, don’t forget his MOTM award!!

147. City West: The legends tour of Croke Park is on Saturday, August 20, and we’re not playing until Sunday, August 21, if I’m not mistaken.

148. Clean bill of health sounds good. Our mental health should be good too.

149. “Clean bill of health sounds good. Our mental health should be good too.”

     That’s the players, some of us supporters are in need of check ups after the last day!!!!

150. Mayo mick the anxiety levels were sky high in last five minutes by god the nerves were at me lol

151. After the past five years the squad’s focus is only on beating Tipperary to reach the final. The squad know better than we will ever know the pain of not achieving your aim. Whatever happens, it will not be be due to over confidence.
     How delightful to take a back seat and allow the Dubs and Kerry to display their wares? So far, we have appeared a hotch porch, as few saw the potential in management’s thinking. If we get past Tipperary then we will be the equal of anyone. Physically, Mayo are a match for anyone.

152. I got the feeling that SR and the management had been planning for a potential game with Tyrone long before it was decided we would play them last weekend. It stands to reason as if we’d won Connacht, it would’ve been the Ulster champions on our side of the draw for the semis. However, I’d be fairly certain they wouldn’t have any work done on Tipp before now.

     How does everyone think we should set up against them? I reckon Harrison should be able to handle Sweeney and I’d put Keegan marking Quinlivan. It would restrict Lee’s attacking qualities but I think if we can hold Quinlivan it’s almost half the battle. Durcan and Vaughan could then pick up Fox & O’Halloran. Parsons should start with Seamie and they’ll need to have big games in midfield because Galway were cleaned there. They kicked a lot of ball in on top of the Galway FB line the last day so Clarke will need all of his ability in that department.

     I saw Danny Cummins caused a lot of trouble against them early on from quick kick passes into the FF line. Looking at that would this be a good game for Regan to start? That would probably mean Cillian having to drop slightly deeper into Dillon’s role from the last day.

153. Article in the examiner this morning confirming DOC is fit and in training. Great boost ahead of next week.

154. On great news hopefully will be back to himself. Up Mayo do they need the blanket for Sunday week are play direct

155. Sweeney and quunlevin are very tall. Would have height advantage over keegan and Harry. Barry moran might sweep in front of back line? Horses for courses as Roch says. Sure who knows what plan our men have. Galway had 3 goal chances in first half and took 1.. it may have been different had they knocked them in. Tipp could have had 10 goals. Personally I think we will get few goals early on as they are pourous enough. If we bring high level of intensity they won’t live with us. We’re talking about a hardened div 1 team against a team who narrowly escaped the trap door to div 4. We shall grant them respect but when the hands are shook and the ball is thrown in we should be too strong and experienced. Continual improvement with no complacency

156. great news about DOC,

157. I’d be in agreement with a lot of that toughnup. We may look to play a taller man at the back, Barry sweeping could make sense, but I’d have more of an expectation of Aido going back there if we were looking vulnerable based on what happened in the Kildare game. We are a hardened division 1 outfit and I’d expect that at times they’ll struggle to live with us, but all that being said, isn’t it fantastic that we have a link from 2004 in the squad in Dillo to remind the players of what happened in a similar scenario v Fermanagh? A close friend of mine was on that panel and he tells me that key players within the starting 15 were most dismissive of Fermanagh having a chance against them, as they and the management team, were being lauded in the press for their performance against Tyrone. In fact I recall an article written by one Joe Brolly who was anointing a certain sweet left footer as that year’s footballer of the year, before a ball had been kicked in the semis! Without naming names there were a lot of egos in that set up in 2004, looking back is it any wonder their minds wandered to the final prematurely? This squad are too battle hardened and have had too many narrow misses to fall into that trap this time round. I firmly believe that, but isn’t it great that Dillo can stand up and tell them as much if he senses any bit of complacency creeping in? And he is doing so as an active member of the squad, not some has been who’s place is open to question? This is their time to take what’s theirs and I fully expect them to do exactly that.

158. Effin Eddie / The two Johnnies have one up already …. Musically.Tipp are winning matches! A bit borrowed but worth a look on Hogan Stand.com.

159. If football matches are decided by what people say on blogs. How do we explain the Dubs & Reservoir Dubs. If we meet them in the final we will walk all over them as they have no respect for us.

160. Exiled in dublin. I think what we are trying to say us that no cups are given out in august lol if we win the next day we will have booked a place in the last 2 lol

161. toughnup – in a nutshell, yes! 🙂

162. Respect for ur opponent means no complacency or ego. Do ur home work but when the ball is thrown in rip into them like ur opening bale of silage lol

163. I couldn’t give a monkeys what the dublin fans or the keyboard warriors that support them on that reservoir site think about us. I have some good Dublin friends that know their football and they all respect us as a good side. They know last years games could have gone either way.

     Anyway, we have another battle to worry about before we get near the dubs and so do they.

     There were a few posts above about Keegan taking quinlivan which I don’t agree with. Quinlivan is really good in the air and Tipp would bomb high ball in if we did that. Keane is the man for the job but will need protection as quinlivan is too fast for him. We also need to watch for Sweeney coming into ff when quinlivan moves out. He’s a tall guy too as we saw from the goal vs Galway and bigger than our corner backs. Think Keane should be asked to man the square and we should have another plan for quinlivan when he drifts out. We will have a spare man back there as they bring fox back and Austin plays around the middle.

     We also need to hammer the hammer and go at them in the middle of the park and attack the spaces their wing backs leave when they bomb forward. They are quite poor defensively as we saw for Comers goal and vs Kerry.

164. Not having seen Tipp play, apart from the few minutes you see on highlights I really can’t comment on how and where they are strongest but is there not merit in simply preventing the ball into their forwards?.
     Admittedly that was the aim in Limerick in 2014 and David Moran nullified that plan considerably. I’m not sure that Tipp have anyone of that caliber in their midfield. That being the case, crowding the midfield with Vaughan, Parsons and Seamie, and keeping Barry as replacement (perhaps to drop back as sweeper if needed) might be the way to manage the threat posed by Tipp’s tall forwards.

165. FDB – that will absolutely be the plan but they will undoubtedly win some ball in the middle and we need to be wary of their forwards when they do. They have 2 very good midfielders and hammered Galways much lauded duo in that area of the field.

166. A lot of talk about Barry playing sweeper but I don’t see it. Rochford has stuck with McLoughlin sweeping through the championship despite the critics. I would say the team named for the Westmeath game will start except maybe parsons in.

167. I’m in Kerry on break at moment and was chatting to one of the many football maestros today. He reckons that Kerry have,at present one of the worst managers in Gaelic football. But he’s convinced that one of their best is presently managing Tipp. He really wouldn’t be surprised if Tipp were to beat us. His only ‘fear’ for them is that they might have given it all in hallway game. But he’s convinced they play Kerry style football and will take some effort to get past. I truly see no reason we won’t win but I hope we are fully loaded focused and ready to take them down. Forewarned is forearmed. Maigheo Abu. Go deo.

168. 1 man I’m very proud of is Brendan Harrison. He rarely gives a free away. Very composed. Kniws when to attack the ball and when not to. He allows his man to have it but then won’t let him turn him. Kevin Keane tends to do opposite sometimes. If u can’t win the ball then stop man making head way when he gets it

169. one man than deserves a lot of credit during our qualifying campaign and quarter final is Clarke.

     He had been written off by a lot of people, but has made vital interceptions and saves and in my opinion if he plays well in the semi final he is inline for an All star.

     Agree with toughnup Harrison has been very impressive.

170. I was surprised that Tyrone didn’t try to isolate Sean Cavanagh and Lee Keegan in our full-back line by playing early ball into Cavanagh. It actually suited us when Cavanagh came out the field and it allowed Lee to play an attacking role. When Lee was moved to full-back in the Galway game, Comer stayed much closer to our goal, which meant that Lee was chasing around our full-back line late in the game rather than going further up the field. The same happened in the league game against Kerry when Lee was marking Darren O’Sullivan.

     I have great time for Brendan Harrison and he did very well against Tryrone especially but those Tyrone forwards were actually quite inexperienced. The Fermanagh forward Tomas Corrigan gave Harry a much tougher time in Castlebar. I remember in the league a few years ago as well when Harry came up against Alan Brogan, Brogan really got on top of him that evening. Harry is still learning his trade, he is a really game lad and is probably a better half-back than corner-back so it’ll be interesting to see how he will cope against the really top forwards, the same goes for Paddy Durcan. Both players are improving with each game, which is great to see. Durcan’s height is a big advantage too as well as his pace. It’s great to have Barrett as an option back there as well and Vaughan can play in the half-back line also to give us another option there. I was very surprised that Tyrone didn’t start McCurry, who has a lot more experience, he was outstanding against us in the 2013 semi-final. He is a much more reliable free-taker than Morgan as well.

     It’ll be very interesting to see how we will set-up against Tipp, will Barry Moran get more game time. Comer caused a lot of problems anytime he got the ball for Galway against Tipp so Aidan O’Shea should be well able to do a lot more damage than he did. Getting on top in the middle of the field will be key in this game as Tipp do look great going forward but look vulnerable at the back.

171. You know Axle when I saw Tipp against Galway I thought they were like the Kerry team of a few years ago before they started dabbling in a blanket defence of sorts. I believe Mayo will shade it but it will be a tough game and they will certainly ask questions of us but isn’t that a good thing and it will help us if we progress to the final

172. Backdoor Sam, if someone had come in and told us that Galway would make Tipperary look like the great Kerry teams of yesteryear we would have had some laugh! Such a statement says a lot more about Galway’s performance than Tipp’s, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse defensive showing from a team since Kildare were tanked by Kerry last year.

     Tipp are a coming team and will surely be competitive for years to come but can anyone seriously say they are predicting a Tipp v Dublin/Kerry final this year? It would be a bigger shock than Down reaching the final in 2010. I know it’s politically incorrect to say such things in here but I am gearing up for another final appearance.

173. AxleM – don’t believe everything you her down there. Every man, woman and child is employed by the propaganda dept. Kerry did beat Tipp quiet comfortably this year already.

174. Sean Cavanagh should have been given MOM for holding Lee Keegan to 1 point while he was on the pitch.

175. Tipperary are a more dangerous team than most here seem to realise. I was watching one of the Tipp players expressing absolute disgust as to how they had let themselves down badly in the Munster Final. They came into that game clearly believing that they were going to topple Kerry and the reason they had that mindset is that they are being managed by Kearns. He is able to wring every last drop of sweat and blood out of his players and coupled with this he is tactically very astute and will identify weaknesses in your game, one of which might be Mayos ability to organise defensively from a quick turnover.

     Mayo are a wonderfully experienced team, that experience and the fact that they are operating at a different altitude to Tyrone is the reason that I thought that ye would beat them on Saturday last. The last five minutes was strange in that I couldn’t figure out if ye were intentionally teasing them by playing keep ball or were Mayo paralysed by the fear of going forward and going for the jugular. The tension in Croke Park for all supporters from all sides must have been torturous in that tornado of semi controlled chaos.

     Seems to be an unhealthy percentage on here that think the Dubs will simply swat Kerry to one side as if they were playing Wicklow or Leitrim,, I know that Dublin have a fantastic team but this Kerry team are watering at the mouth to have a crack at them. I have never heard so little from a Kerry camp before a sizemic game like this Semi Final and that silence is giving me the urge to purr.

     At this end of the Championship there is precious little room on the battle deck for the aged I know but experience is a critical weapon to have in an arsenal, last Saturday Tyrone lost that experienced in Cavanagh and they sank into oblivion for 2016. Kerry are carrying a few old boys, Gooch, Donaghy, O Mahony and O Se being the obvious coffin dodgers on the intercounty game. The thing is that while Gooch and Donaghy have the milage they are still lethal if they are feeding off each other in the forward line and can still cause untold chayos to back lines in a moment of genius. The other two have lost that vital yard but they will both feature against the dubs at some stage or capacity in my opinion.

     I think that Kerry might just do Mayo a favour this year and beat the dubs, if they do there is a very strong possibility like the salmon after spawning they will die slowly having achieved their ultimate goal of beating this unbeatable Dublin team that has turned them over the last three times we played them in Championship. I think Mayo will beat Tipp but I think they will make ye sweat and quicken the heart of all in attendance. If ye trash Tipp ye will not win the final in my humble opinion, I think ye need a right fright and then the minds will be sharply focused, the all knowing scribes will cast doubt on ye’r credentials and then ye will be ready to knock the towering walls of your footballing enemy and breach the Kingdoms hypnotic hold over ye, finally.

     Of course I hope I’m just mostly correct in my musings,,!!!

176. Gamechanger, would I be right in saying that Liam Kearns was the manager of Limerick, those years that they nearly beat Kerry in Munster? I seem to recall Darragh O’Se catching a ball or even two above the Kerry crossbar to secure the win. I think they beat Cork one of those years as well.

     Looking at the overall picture, with a Tipp team winning the Munster Club championship and giving the Dublin champions a lot better game than the Mayo champions gave them, it shows that Tipp football is on the rise. They have a couple of players back from injury as well for the semi-final.

     In saying that with Tipp losing a few of their better known players in the last couple of years, for us, it would be nothing short of a disaster if we don’t beat them. We made all of our experience count against Tyrone and we should be able to do the same against Tipp.

177. Hse you are correct and right, Limerick should have beaten us twice that year and we had no right to take that game in limerick to a replay in Killarney, even at that we were lucky to beat them the second day. Kearns is a bloody good manager and he’s not particularly worried about the oppositions opinion of him !!

178. Thanks for that info Gamechanger, we do really need to be on our toes for this game so! It’ll be an interesting one alright.

179. I would put Lee on Josh Keane the next day. As I said in another post, Keane makes them tick and is a very clever player and could cause potential havoc. He is going to move all over the place so this will suit Lee to pick him up. It will give us the secondary benefit of Lee finding himself in attacking positions from this.

180. Tipp beat cork. Put 2.10 past kerry. They then beat derry and showed a lot of composure doing so. Then galway fell foul of the premier county. Their championship form is very good beating opposition in higher divisions. As I said earlier today we shall grant them respect but when ball is thrown in I expect a level of intensity they have not faced before.

181. @gamechanger10 great post and funnily enough, a close Kerry friend of mine has told me for years that the only way Mayo will ever win an All Ireland is by playing poorly and getting to the final because we always have one big game in us. you seem to be towing a similar line! Whilst I can see limited logic to it I actually dont think it matters how we get there as long as we get there. If we win we’ll be the underdogs in the final, as will Tipp if they win. If you were to offer me a choice though I’d go for a win with another step up from the Tyrone game, continuing the theme of incremental improvements since the Galway game. But if we go out and smash Tipp that will do too, they are our only concern right now, and the most important thing is getting over them, the manner of how we do that is far less important.

182. I have to agree with gamechanger, to achieve our ultimate goal we need a tough semi, if we went and blew tipp away(and I don’t think this will happen so I don’t need to be reminded not to underestimate tipp) and think it would soften us a bit after everything the team has been through this year. Whoever comes through the other semi will have a huge amount of momentum after beating one of the favourites. I don’t think tipp will be a walkover but I expect our class to show and a superior bench to make a big difference. I don’t think there will any rabbits pulled out of the hat in terms of team selection this time.

183. WJ,
     Just a quick question . You mentioned on another thread that Mayo had a plan for fullback . Do you think we saw it on Saturday or is it still under wraps.

184. I’m still sayin’ nathin, Nephin!

185. What I’d like to see more than anything from Mayo against Tipp (aside from winning the game of course) is for us to be able to develop further our ability to control or manage the game. I thought we took a massive step up in this area in the game against Tyrone in that we never allowed them get away from us on the score board. Its kinda like Muhammed Ali on the ropes taking the body punches to see what the opposition has got.. and when you have them weighed and measured you try to knock their block off.. I was a little disappointed we didn’t push on in the last 15 against Tyrone so to make the nervy ending a little easier on the ticker but I would put a lot of that down to the Referee.

     If Tipp turn out to be a really serious challenge then we need to stay with them and go in at half time a point or two up or down… have a good chat in the dressing room .. go he’ll for leather in the second half and put the game beyond them with 10mins to go.. then play keep ball and be cynical and horrible and kill the game off.

     If it turns out that Tipp are not able to live with a high octane game and we blitz them like Westmeath in the first half then we need to be able to manage that better also by keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

     Don’t want to sound like a padantic pat but could people put a plug in this all star crack.. I doubt there’s a player out there who wouldn’t give up every single gaa award the’ve ever got to just have one Celtic cross in their back pocket. That should be our teams sole focus.. As a neighbour of mine said once.. everything else is about as much value as tits on a goose

186. Thanks WJ, that says all I need to hear.

187. I suppose it tipp are playing kerry style football,the way to beat them is set up the blanket in front of them and slow them up, then kill them off with fast direct kick passing into full foreward line.
     I wouldn’t like to see us do what we did to westmeath and then have to hang on for dear life in the 2nd half. Hope the full back line is in good shape and stays awake for the full game !!!! Like everyone’s saying. ..we should do it but we still have to do it…like !

188. I don’t see why everyone is so worked up about the Tipp vrs Galway game. Galway were just absolutely awful. When they were only a few points behind instead of holding the head and building from the back they just went all out full steam ahead trying to rush the situation. They left their backline so exposed any under 21 side in the country would have had a field day. There is not a chance Mayo would do the same, experience would shine through. If Mayo take a halftime lead this game will be all over by 65 minutes. Yes Tipp are dangerous in front of goal (they take something from all their chances) but that’s only if you don’t close them down fast. Can’t see that happening too often against Mayo. They probably will get one goal at least but I can’t see them scoring any more than that. But their back line are easier to unrivalle than a columbo movie if you missed the first 20 minutes. Mayo should have the gist of them after the first 15 and know what is working and what’s not. After that it will be how many before half time. If Mayo are 6 or 7 points up by the break it will be just about how many Mayo will concede before they suss out their changes and get going again! If Mayo are still five or six points up after 60 I would suspect we will have it wrapped up by 65. If however it is Tipp that are on top after 60 they still won’t have the experience to close it out. They do not know how to play keep and the inexperience will cost them going into the final five minutes. Tipp have done well this year but they are literally not in the Same league as Mayo. Hon Mayo.