Photo: MichaelMaye.com
Another game in this year’s League campaign and another Man of the Match performance from goalkeeper David Clarke. From the second match in a row, he’s the runaway winner in the MOTM poll, this time securing 56% of the popular vote. Here are the main vote-getters in this week’s poll:
It wasn’t a trouble-free performance from our All-Star ‘keeper last night. While he brought his incredible shot-stopping skills to a higher high – that triple save from the penalty was out of this world stuff – his restarts were a problem area for us all night.
This wasn’t all down to David, of course – Dublin pushed up on his kick-outs and precious few of our outfield fourteen gave him good options in getting his restarts away. That said, the contrast between the speed at which Cluxton was able to get the ball back into play time after time, not to mention his effortless kicking technique, and our man’s more laboured approach was pretty stark.
On a night when virtually nothing went right for us, though, David’s heroics between the sticks – which definitely helped to limit the beating we got – makes him a worthy winner of this week’s MOTM award. Well done to him (again).
It was easy for cluxton last night because of the really infuriating tactic of half pressing kick outs. Andy Moran standing between Johnny cooper and Philly mcmahon is utterly pointless, and it takes both him and, in most cases, regan out of the game. Either press fully or drop off
Clarke is not responsible for other players losing their men or getting into space. In most cases last night, his best option was a 50/50 kick.
In saying that, the goal came from a bad decision from him from a kick out, and that can’t happen against these guys. They will punish you
But the saves – world class. And he actually made an unbelievable save just before the penalty was given as well
I think I counted 7 top class saves from Clarkey last night.
If Clarke gets motm 2 games running there’s a reason for it. We are allowing him become our savior instead of being there for kickouts from shots at points only. We make a genius out of cluxton, sinfully, as we made him look like a normal goalkeeper when we don’t allow him the free man or men to aim for in previous games. We could put a good junior b keeper in the Dublin goal and let him have 2 free men to aim at and he would be the same hero as cluxton is shown as. It’s easy be a genius when you’re asked easy questions. From here on, we should mark man for man on all opposing kickouts and let our forwards mark as though they are the last line of defense instead of being there just to take a score if the opportunity arises. Total football if you like.
We done it before, we can do it again.
Well done to David, keep up the great work. Now sorting out the defence, midfield and forwards in front of you is the next job!
Seriously impressive saves alright again this week but don’t think it was a man of the match display by any means. His wayward kick outs in the first half left us with an insanely high mountain to climb and without any platform to climb it. Clarke is an expert shot stopper and definitely our number one keeper but kick outs are half the job and they need all sorts of work. This is not entirely up to the goalie though, needs to be a full team strategy. Dublin pushed right up on our kick outs and we weren’t able to cope. Seemed impossible for us to get the ball up the field at times and there was a sense of panic as the ball was kicked out.
Was tony mcentee on the line yesterday.
Well done David again. That was a great days work. The steel this man shows, do not throw away the mould. I do not blame David for the couple that went astray. From where I was sitting 6 or 7 Dublin players were going man to man with his intended targets. When we went long Dublin had a strategy to win that ball as well. It was similar to the one they employed in the Final and Replay to great effect. I watched those game again over the winter, and it is not rocket science. David’s restarts against Roscommon were world class as was his goalkeeping. I guess some people are only happy when pointing an accusing finger at someone else.
Clarke was outstanding between the posts. However he was left with few options when it came to kicking the ball out. Dublin pressed up constantly and there was little movement from our backs or midfield. Sure, some of his ko’s floated too much but he must have better options and his mates just didn’t step up Saturday.
It was insane watching him look for options, like they hadn’t trained together in weeks!!
Anyway, it’s March…carry on…
Clarke did well again but there were about 4 or 5 who played well.
The pick was Kevin Mc who played well followed by Boyle, Vaughan, Durcan and Boland. Keith did well too and Regan did OK apart from the right footed miss.
Most of the rest way below par.
In the first half Gibbons barely featured with just 3 or 4 possessions and Coen was very quiet. Donie very much pushing ahead of Coen for the 6 shirt if that game anything to go by. Coen got a bit more ball and a point in 2nd half when moved to midfield but compared to the driving running of the Dublin pair it was a long way off. Parsons tried hard .. got on an OK ammount of ball but they got the better of him too.
Toss up between Clarke and Mc for our MOM.
Bar Coen’s shot at the end I thought heads didn’t go down and in fairness we were well beaten at that stage, it was a bad beating but no one gave up. Don’t really think we had the fitness to counter the Dublin show boating near the end.. result was not in doubt by then.
Don’t think (apart from midfield Cillian and Andy) individual players got beaten too badly but it was Dublin’s style of play and movement and purpose that did the damage allied to some wastefulness by us. I think management trying to get the kicking game further improved as part of the armoury but Dublin’s defense was just very good. Notice Dublin also do this thing of turning back if they’re afraid of turnover but unlike other teams get the forward momentum moving very quickly again. This stuff is all coached part of “the process”.
Notice more of their scores came from driving runs not as much from kicks inside and they really go for it if opposition makes a mistake like for the goal. We had that killer mentality from turnovers in 2013 up to the Tyrone game when the standard of opposition jumped up a gear.
Philly Mcmahon shows great football intelligence when choosing his attacks as pointed out by Billy Joe on the TV, any team that beats them should make a plan for that lad and the 2 midfielders.
Saturday was a reality check for everyone …..
One silver lining I suppose.
To beat Dublin this mayo team need to play with only 3 players inside the 45 when Dublin have the ball. Mayo are not athletic enough for Croke Park to match Dublin.
Mayo need to play mcgloghlin as sweeper and a permanent no 6 (as S o Shea played brilliantly in the ai final replay last year)
Mayo are too easily got at without this.
Also mayo need to play their besf half backs as half backs .. Keegan (when fully fit) Boyle & Durkan.
Full back line of Harrison, Vaughan (GC when fit) & Higgins.
After Saturday evening people should see the importance of seamus & aidan o Shea.
Also Clark need to to get his restarts sorted out.
I think it is obvious now as to why he was dropped last October. For anyone who doubts this, watch the last 10 minutes of the drawn all ireland final 2016 & Saturday nights game.
look Clarke has been our best player in the league so far ………….. 3/4 games as voted on this blog and no 2 behind Andy V Kerry
ok his kick outs were not great at times v the dubs at times, I was at the game and was shocked how static our backs and midfield were, literally gave him no options
it was like a training game for cluxton he could pick his man anytime he pleased, what have management been doing to accommodate work with his kick out
Without doubt he is the best shot stopper in Ireland and definitely no 1 keeper in Mayo
Mayoman …..
If the mayo players not giving options then the default should be to kick long and hard. …
Not to give a slow, high looping ball to a corner back being hounded by three Dublin players.
Look, for a number of reasons we were hammered on Saturday night. Clarke poor kickouts were part of the problem, but his command of his area and his shot stopping was close to miraculous. No doubt he was MotM for Mayo, his third such award in four league match’s to date, it’s time to smell the coffee, the reason David Clarke has won three out of four MotM awards is not because of his restart’s but because his incredible shot stopping performance’s. We are conceding far too many goal chances’s to our opponents, only we are not being punished as much as our opponents would wish for.. Several issues need to be addressed going forward, our restart’s, definitely our defence, we definitely need someone else other than Andy to make the ball stick and make things happen in the full forward line. By and large Andy has done very well, but if the opposition target Andy with two defender’s, someone else needs to step up… I think our attempts at developing a kick passing game didn’t work on Saturday, but I think Rochford should persist with this ploy, true we are a very good running team, but we badly need to develop another string to our bow, our lad’s will have learned valuable lessons on Saturday night as to exactly what it will take to do this. I expect these lessons will be worked on, and I expect we will see improvements in all areas as the season moves on. Last June, Mayo were being heavily criticised for their use of the Kevin McLoughlin in the sweeper role, by September those same pundits were lauding Mayo for their incredible collective defence. Bernard Flynn even said that our defence was even better than the Donegal defence in 2012, but we still had five Foward’s up front to play the ball to, when we won possession back. So this Mayo team truly had a collective shocker on Saturday, but several things are being worked on, including developing a kick passing game. We will I believe reap the rewards in the coming months, Rochy and Co have started to change things earlier in the season this year,. The nessary evolution of the Team is month’s ahead of where we were at this time last year. We need patience and persistence. We will get there. Kerry are another team that aren’t exactly setting the world on fire at the moment, but I expect them to continue with their own particular plans to bring on all their youth. It won’t work a treat every day but it should deliver in the future. It will be very interesting as to what the Kingdom do for their forthcoming match V Dublin. The All Ireland champions will hardly take the foot off the pedal for the Kerry men either. It’s Cavan in McHale Park on Saturday week, I will be fully expect a Mayo reaction!
im sure management have told him not to kick long and retain the ball,
RiseAgain and Leantimes , do you think hennelly should be given a chance again or what ??
Mayoman …
I am glad you mentioned retain the ball, …..
especially within 21 yards of goal.
Surely nobody should be safe and complacent regarding their position on the team. I’mean sure you would agree with that.
Mayoman, I would pick whatever goalkeeper is deemed the best, I believe that, David Clarke is our best goalkeeper, despite reservations about his restarts. Hennellys is a very good keeper, excellent shot stopper as well, his restarts are better than Clarke , but I’m not convinced that his restarts are good enough to merit him starting ahead of Clarke in a big match. Cluxton has it all in terms of goalkeeping, superb shot stopper, incredible restarts taken very very fast. But he has great runners out the field going with conviction for the ball time and time again. If Gaelic-football was to end now, Stephen Cluxton would be regarded the best gaelic-football goalkeeper ever to play the game in my opinion. Rory Began of Monaghan is an incredible goalkeeper, his restarts are brilliant and he has that incredible range that pushing up is not the same option as Dublin employed against Mayo. Paul Durcan of Donegal had similar range and Dublin paid a very high price for pushing up the last time Dublin were beaten in the championship, in 2014..Niall Morgan of Tyrone, is a Jekel and Hyde character, on his day he’s unbeatable in terms of restarts and shot stopping, but I think he has needlessly suffered because of Tyrone previous failure to develop an outfield place kicker. It’s just too much responsibility, even Cluxton has found that to be the case. Of this coincided with Dean Rock coming of age. So that’s where the bar is, that’s what Mayo need to aim for in terms of restarts, the responsibility lies, not only with our goalkeeper but also with our outfield player’s.
So maybe we had one of those awful off days that made us look second rate. We may be trying out new approaches ie kick passing, and new players in the hope of improvement. We may be behind in terms of fitness and team play at present because so many of our players are based away from home. And we will no doubt improve but it seems to me that this Dublin team are actually getting better and better and will be even more difficult to beat in 2017.
David Clarke commented after the Kerry match that when we play with full intensity we can beat anyone but when that intensity level drops off anyone is capable of beating us. Maybe we are only capable of delivering that level of intensity once or twice in a season! Maybe that’s at the root of Saturdays display.
What is certain is that if we meet Dublin again it will have to be a savage battle of will and determination the likes of which is rarely seen on a Gaelic field if we are to seriously compete with them. I hope we survive that long and that our lads can dig that deep – just once – just once!
This year has been poor in the extreme culminating in last Saturday night drubbing but then again last year was mediocre – despite having home advantage for qualifiers we scraped through them and Tyrone presented us with that game. We bucked up for remaining three games but invariably operating at the limit of our ability. The team is reminiscent of Leicester soccer team – spiritless, and rudderless and nobody on the field capable of taking the bull by the horns when the going is tough.
To me, many of the selection placement are mystifying and pointless, for instance where is the future in playing a full-back line as we did in recent games – not enough height/ physicality in key positions and ironically lacking the athleticism outfield to trouble Dublin.
Good teams usually assert themselves irrespective of the opposition when the class players do what class player do – we are a long time waiting for that in Mayo.
Finally a plea to the relevant posters, please desist the palsy walsy, aping other codes with their Rochie/Clarksey etc – surely each deserves their full name.
Mayoman. …
I can see every reasonable team push up on mayo in future who have a half decent midfield. Dublin squeezed the life out of mayo when theye felt like it …. 11 players beyond their own 45 and 7 inside mayo 45.
I can see Galway doing it in Salthill ….
& if easy scores come from it … all bar Clarke will be blamed.
A keeper needs to be able to get the ball down the field and give the advantage tof his owname team.
For an exapmle …. watch mayo’s goall v Dublin in the replay.
Dublin did not lay a hand on a Mayo player from hennelly to keegan putting the ball in the net.