
Just over an hour ago Dublin named their team for this evening’s clash with our lads at Croke Park. Like ourselves, though even more so, there’s a large injection of youth into the team they’ve named.
That said, there’s a decent seam of experience in there too, in the form of Davy Byrne, John Small, Brian Fenton, Niall Scully, Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Howard and Dean Rock. And, no doubt, they’ll be making a few changes ahead of throw-in too, which could see more of the battle-hardened cohort taking the field.
Here’s the team they’ve named:

Well if that team starts I’d be shocked. But if it does, it certainly gives us a chance. Baffling selections by both managers.
Re newspaper articles. It’s all about selling the newspaper. Boring articles don’t make waves.
WJ, maybe you should put a ? on this heading too.
Comment of the Day, Ah Now!
Safe travelling to anyone making the journey to Croke Park this evening, I hope the weather is kind for everyone involved. Best of luck to Mayo and especially any of our less established players trying to stake a claim to a jersey or making their Croke Park debuts. And hopefully we don’t pick up any injuries.. I suppose we will know the line out of both teams shortly before throw in. Com’on Mayo!
Our Westport man at full back against the son of an Aughagower man. ??
Is Basquell the son of an Aughagower man? Didnt know that.
You know Lord Haw Haw (Joyce) was the son of an Orangeman from Aughagower.
The plot thickens.
Have they named the subs?
Tbh It’s beginning to take on the look of a b game tonight considering the 2 teams named
Dublin have named no Con O’Callaghan, James McCarthy, Eoin Murchan, or Cormac Costello on the subs bench.
Johnny Cooper and Mick Fitz are named on their bench.
I can see some of the players not named coming in and even starting before throw inn.
Full Dublin squad from tonights programme is on midwest radio facebook page for anyone looking.
@Longball. Are you sure about your genealogy there?
Thanks TommieK
@Longball. I think Lord Haw Haw is buried in the old cemetery in Galway City.
Good luck to the team and management this evening. I hope the match is as exciting as what the eventual line ups might turn out to be.
I fully expect Dublin to beat us tonight quite simply because their need is greater they need the points also they have a better half and full forward line than us and a class act in midfield namely Fenton. I think Horan is right to give youth a chance. Galway are flying in division 2 and i think Horan has one on April. So expect short term pain in Croker tonight with lots of genuine learnings
Mayo even with so many new players should be able to beat that Dublin team with ease.
Eerily quiet still here in croker .. be nice to see how some of the young lads are measuring up win or loose, but win would be nice. Dublin look strong in the forwards but defence can be got at, should be an interesting game ,
Glory days
I don’t see how there need is greater.We have 3 points and every game is a hard one from here.Lose tonight and the next night and we are in trouble ourselves
2 from 2 for Mayo tonight.
Wet night now, slippery conditions
Monaghan v Armagh going down to the wire. Not sure whats the best result for Mayo.
Good luck to Mayo,we will hammer the Dubs
My prediction for man of the match is A Orme
Must be no one from Mayo capable of giving any views on the match on RTE
Good luck tonight, I hope ye beat them but I think the dubs will be really up for this one so I can see them getting over the line I’m afraid. As the league moves on the dubs will get some key men back and they will be as dangerous as ever come the Championship. Mayo need to fire from the off and not have a slow lift off again
Going fantastic so far, with such a young experimental team!
With our bench should be able to see this one out, young lads doing us proud
Superb by Aidan Orme.
He looks at home at this level.
Carney has settled well too.
Absolutely LOVING the new found enthusiasm for long kick passing
Time to get O Hora in for Plunket to mark McGarry
Nice start from Mayo,we will finish off strongly
@culmore
O’Hora not on bench, Mcbrien has replaced him.
With a much stronger bench Mayo should be closing out this match.
Weird to see a discussion on Lord Haw Haw of all people here! Have read a few books on him and seem to remember that his father was indeed a loyalist (albeit a Catholic one, making it impossible to join the Orange Order) and that they ran a pub outside of Westport (Ayle) before going down to Salthill, where he was eventually interred.
Back to footballing matters…
We should really be more than a goal up here, are dominating the kickouts and were a bit unlucky to have the goal disallowed. The Dubs are a bit more economical than us in terms of their shooting, so we need to limit them getting a run on us at some stage. Young guns are generally performing well so far, especially inside.
Regarding the pundits, doesn’t Noelle Healy have roots in Mayo?
Lovely play from Diarmuid O’Connor in that half. Please God, he’ll push on more in the second half.
Lots of negativity on this blog since the team was named during the week.
Great to prove all these comments wrong.
Great win and we got to test out new players.
Brilliant win.
Massive win, the benefit that will be for players like Brikenden, McHugh, Carney, Towey, Orme.
Dublin a shadow of what they were
Oh all ye doubters, hang your heads down low. James is a superb manager, as I said already today.Having saiid that, we need to improve more for the Tralee game . My man of the match would have been Oisin
Great controlled result. Lots of positives. Especially Orme, DOC, Ruane, and great to have a strong bench to help close out.
Great win and Ryan didn’t even score! Loads of kick passing too. Oisín, Mattie and diarmuid my standouts along with hennelly ticking along nicely.
Great result. Proud of all the team, Any win against the Dubs is a bonus. Great blend of youth and experience. When I saw oisin down holding his ankle, I nearly cried but thankfully it looks OK. We’ll drink to that.
Great performance all round and for the younger guys to get the win, margin could have been more.
The best I ever seen from Plunkett in a Mayo jersey.
Great result and great to see the newer players doing so well. Building nicely
Great win but we made really hard work of it tonight. Lesser lights like Orme, Plunkett, Flynn put in trojan work. Really missed Jason DoC and Tommy tonight for that ball to stick in FF line. Ruane and Mullin are just quality
Delighted to be proven wrong, this team done very well and an outstanding result for Mayo. As for Dublin, you have to wonder, as bad a day for Dessie, as it was for his first cousin Séamus Coleman, the captain of Everton, Both staring relegation in the face unless serious improvement very very soon.
Very tidy win. Well done all
Anyone else pick up on Colm O’Rourke’s comments at the final whistle?? He said something along the lines of the glee shown by Mayo players and supporters is the kind of thing to come back to haunt you.
Then he had a little giggle for himself about us not winning in ’70’ years.
He’s some tool.
The game itself was pure league stuff. Open. Wouldnt read anything from it. Nice to pick up the points and no injuries. That’s about it.
Ya brilliant win & tactically Horan got it spot on . Let the older heads close it out. Aido & Kevin Mc very good when introduced. Great experience for young lads who did fine especially Orme & Carney I thought & Brickendan improving.
Will be interesting mom poll,I have about 5 candidates. We can now experiment a bit more
To clarify…the glee at retaining possession in final few mins to close out the game.
Big result, winning is a habit and we owe them several at this point. And as an aside, it’s nice to shut up some prominent Dublin columnists for the moment.
Massive shows from Matty and Oisín on their return, as well as the likes of Orme and Plunkett putting their hands up.
It could and should have been more, though.
Have been a big critic of Hennelly but he is in unprecedented form so far this season. If he keeps it up through to September I might end up eating a shovel full of humble pie.
Robert Hennelly, In Excelsis. Again.
Great win for what was basically a half strength Mayo team. A win puts the lads in a great position to regain the Division 1 title.
As for Dublin, how the mighty has fallen, they were woeful haven’t improved one bit from the easy win Armagh had against them in Croke Park. Speaking of Armagh the match in Hyde Park will likely be a sell out
Mayonaze……As far as commentary on Mayo football goes, O’Rourke is and always a bollocks…….
Great to get the win in Dublin which has been a long time coming. Scrappy game but conditions were poor.
Thought Brickenden looked out of depth. Never wanted the ball and looked slow. Flynn and Walsh didn’t do anything to enhance their reputation. Ruane showed just how important he is to Mayo. Strong argument to be made now that he is Mayo’s most important player. Diarmuid was the stand out player for me. 11 could be the best position for him. Worst game Ryan has played for the seniors but he is allowed have one bad game I suppose!
It Means Nothing to Me…………Robbie looks like a real leader of men at this stage, knows he’s the main man between the sticks and for the critical restarts and to be fair is certainly now stepping up. I was a big D Clarke fan but Robbie now inspires confidence……
Rock solid performance by Mayo, so many positives.
Well done to the Mayo team and management,we are in a very good position,hopefully we will keep improving
Any day we beat Dublin is a good day. Jesus Dublin look a shadow of what they once were. They have lost some brilliant footballers and like him or not a brilliant manager and their decline is plain to see.
As for Colm O Rourke’s comments..I mean what the fuck is he even on about? Unfortunately until we win Sam we will have to listen to shite like that.
I still have a sneaking suspicion that Dublin have not got that bad so quickly, have Dublin players downed tools for Dessie Farrell in the hope that he will get replaced?
Leaving the result aside that was a super super Game. Delighted our beloved Mayo was involved in it …lots of heroes tonight..my main man Diarmud O C
I said it before ,Plucknett is a forward
Never been so happy to be so wrong
Hennelly brilliant today, have been his biggest critic for 10+ years, he finally seems to have morphed into a proper all round keeper, hope he wins his all Ireland
Yea – – Noelle Healy does indeed have Mayo roots. Strong ones! Her parents are Tooreen/Charlestown.
Also ,,,,, Her uncla Seamus healy played for Mayo in his day,
One massive positive was jordan flynn. If he can work on his tackling technique there is a starting spot beside mattie for him.
Oisin was so good at the back tonight i actually dont want to see him in midfield.
GBX1.
I agree that Diarmuid was too drawer.
Disagree about Flynn not doing well. I thought he he did very well tonight.
I enjoyed that now. Very impressed with Orme And Carney, who did very well despite their inexperience at this level. Towey did ok as well but seemed to be playing very deep.
Robbie was outstanding, again.
Thought Jordan and Walsh were very good too- certainly did well enough to remove some of the doubts I have had on both of late. Diarmuid is some workhorse, got on so much ball, and was very clever in his play.
Ryan had an off day but he still did a lot right. I think the knock he got early in the game put him off quite a bit. Backs were good too, but certainly Dublin left their shooting boots at home, had a lot of wides with questionable shot selection.
Good to have 5 points after 3 games, 2 from the remaining 4 games would guarantee division 1 again next year, and 1 might be enough.
*top drawer
@Daveslad, Plunkett has two all Ireland medals playing at 11 for mayo, 100% he has something to offer further up the field. I also thought flynn did ok tonight.
DOC was my man of the match, closely followed by Robbie.
Michael Plunkett was outstanding taking those two points.
I thought Mayo looked full of energy and put together accurate movements from the start. Please God we can keep getting scores to keep a game moving forward.
It looked to me that Mayo’s defence worked hard from the start to keep the Dubs out of the scoring zone or at least forced to shoot from tough angles or from distance. For me, this is something to acknowledge for why Dublin didn’t score more.
Corick+bridge great prediction, well done!
I think you’re right there swallow swoops about our defensive setup. As Willie Joe alluded to in his post match audio, the dubs were uncharacteristic in how they used to just recycle recycle recycle until the perfect opportunity was on. Tonight they seemed to lack patience with that approach and took on some fairly ambitious but thankfully fruitless efforts.
Mairtinin,not far off though
Was it Fitzsimmons that had a Mayo players head in a lock between his knees, it looked very nasty at the time.
For info for club members, our Final Whistle pod is now up on Patreon. Rob, Ger Flanagan and me with some initial post-match thoughts.
I was wondering why they took on those speculative shots, FBDinashui.
Did they not have the personnel to play the controlled game of recycling around the D? Maybe that game requires strength and tenacity we didn’t even recognise.
Watching it, I was putting the fact that they were risking those hard shots down to our hard work of defending, that we were bearing down on them.
(That said, my appreciation of Dean Rock has been going up in the last few months. He’s very reliable, accurate and cagey from play).
MOTM poll up in the sidebar. Now for the match report, then beers and a re-watch of the game. It could be a long night!
@Mayo88. It was Diarmuid I think that had the leg lock around his neck from Fitzsimmons.
Mind you I think it was Fitzsimmons got a good wake up rattle from Aidan O’Shea. He lifted him off the pitch with the collision.
I thought diarmiud o’connor did very well tonight and if he keeps it up it bodes well for mayo going forward its the best football i have seen him play in the last 3 or 4 seasons and the other 3 contenders for best players for mayo were mattie oisin and robbie it was also a great experience for the young players getting a run out in croke park, also a mention for michael plunket who scored 2 exellent points int the second half could be another option in the half forward line
We had constant pressure on them thats why they missed chances.
We were simply better in every dept.I thought OConnor was fantastic and made first goal.
Pick up brilliant and hand pass under pressure perfect.
We got a bit of luck with the rebound.Really Carney should have roofed it.
Hennelley man of match and league so far without question.He must have put in serious work especially on his kicking place balls…and is benefiting from having a spot locked down.
Hennelly had a very good game, but I can’t for the life of me understand how Diarmuid was not selected as MOTM. He was awesome tonight. Got involved all over the pitch, fought like it was an all ireland final and showed some much needed leadership. Really led by example and looked to be back to his dependable self.
Mayo good not great, Dublin poor.
I think it’s there for us :@
And agree with auldstock about Hennnelly
I’m daring to believe!
I don’t agree on Flynn. Pace severally lacking and constantly giving away silly frees. Botched goal/point chance toward should have seen him hooked. Good foot passer though. I think our lack of mid field options will mean he will still be one of our first mid field subs on.
I’d love to see Boland start a game instead of Walsh. Hopefully against Armagh.
I agree on Diarmuid but Hennelley was massive again.Kicked scores from distance which is massive in close games and we didn’t have that before as Cillian seemed to lose distance.
That’s 2 or 3 points per game.Also he got massive saves which were crucial as the always are but especially against Dublin as a goal in Croke Park is worth 6 points in momentum.
Totally agree about Diarmuid – skill, vision, appetite, gymnastics.
And did I mention skill?
And vision?
Simply brilliant.
GBXI – nothing wrong with Jordan Flynn’s pace compared to other midfielders. Discipline is a slight worry but he saw out the last hour tonight on a yellow card.
Culmore Good job Horan wasn’t listening to you and your call for O Hora (Who wasn’t on the bench) to replace Plunkett Thought Plunkett did ok in defense but also kicked 2 great points. Overall well done to Mayo I didn’t expect them to win But then when I saw the named Dublin team my confidence improved. Dubs in a hole at the moment
The big plus for me tonight is the depth of the panel. The bench looked really strong and we had the likes of Paddy,Harry,Jason Doc,Cillian, James Carr and Darren Coen not even in the 26. I thought Diarmuid had a good game tonight. He had a big hand in both of our goals, scored 2 from play and got through a mountain of work as usual.
Plenty of positives.
Agree that both Hennelly & Diarmid were top men if for different reasons. I also thought Mattie played like a man posessed, finished the goal brilliantly,even if it didn’t stand kicked 2 great points & completely outplayed Fenton I thought. Oisin was class, even if a tad rusty but very composed and Aiden Orme had a great first half in particular. I also thought Flynn put in some great foot passes. I think he was unlucky to get carded. It didn’t start off a high tackle whereas Leroy got proper clotheslined and no card shown…double standards Mr. Gough.
All makes for interesting team selection going forward which can only be good.
Firstly, always nice to beat Dublin given the battles we have had with them in recent years, regression or not on their part, they wanted a win tonight.
Secondly, credit to Horan, he continues to bring players through but also trusts in them to deliver and to fight for their place in the team. Following tonight you have a situation where a lot of players will wonder how they get back into the team. O’Hora, Harrison, Durcan, Aido, Jayo, Cillian, Hession, Loftus, McLaughlin and McLoughlin all know it is a serious battle for a starting jersey.
Thirdly, credit to the players. Producing a performance like that in February is testament to how they live their lives and the dedication to Mayo. That’s years and years of hard work.
Well done Mayo but oh why didnt we play like that in the All Ireland final V Tyrone?
A very promising win tonight. With everyone fit bar Tommy this is as deep a Mayo panel as we’ve had. Aidan Orme had replaced Tommy with a different type of game and effective.
Aidan from the bench is like guaranteed late game momentum.
I must credit Michael Plunkett who had a fine game.
I thought it was Diarmuids best game since Newbridge.
2 hops I think Small was given a yellow for that challenge on Lee, it popped up on the telly as a yellow card given but the cameras didn’t show the card being given.
Lots of question marks over JH team selection… team and subs did well … expect a good few changes again the next day ..
Job done .
Michael Plunkett played outstanding he has 3 all Ireland medal’s and was brilliant tonight
Random question but I’d like to hear your thoughts:
Who else apart from Robbie can kick 45s or long range frees?
I’ve seen Towey kick some but he’s probably not going to be a nailed on starter. I’m not having a cut off the O’Connors here but neither of them are capable of kicking long range frees from around the 45 yard range or greater off the ground or 45s (I’ve seen enough attempts by both for Mayo to have come to that conclusion). Ryan doesn’t have the range either. I think it’s crucial that we have someone other than Robbie who’s a reliable kicker in the event of him picking up an injury. I also have no faith in Byrne as a replacement for Robbie in that event but I hope to be proven wrong.
Great to win, esp in the Croker – good to see Diarmaid in form. Ryan should work on left foot shooting – would open things up for him – double marked tonight. Some off the new guys were muscled off the ball at times – more strength work needed there. Robbie v lucky with pick off the ground when he got into trouble. Up Mayo.
Best performance in a long long time and credit to them all. Bar a 10 to 15 min period in the second half when we kicked 3 bad wides and were scoreless for 11 mins, we controlled the bulk of that game. Mullins and Ruane looked sharp given it was their first run out, and Orme and Brickendon grew into the game and got more confident as it went on.
McHugh won a heap of dirty ball and it was O’Connors best performance since Newbridge 2018. Flynn maintained his discipline despite the early yellow (which was harsh) but for once the use of our bench, the timing and players introduced, was excellent. O’Shea and Loftus maintained possession in the middle third and McLoughlin stitched things together up front.
Our defensive shape was terrific while not relying on our half backs to be creators! The ball will always move quicker than the player and we moved it well tonight.
Now. Remember, there’s no Celtic crosses handed out tonight so can everyone remain calm. Dublin are a shadow of the 17 and 18 teams but if I had to bet as to which side has regenerated best, I’d have my money on us.
Won it hands down, both on the field and in the dugout. I tipped a loss, for reasons I still stand by, but delighted to be wrong. Bigger challenges ahead but our best performance in over 18 months.
Also Eamonn Fitz is getting a lot of praise for his co-comms and don’t get me wrong, it’s a major improvement on Dessie and the likes but he makes some strange calls. Diarmuid was clearly more influential than Rob – 2 goal creations with brilliant vision, 2 from play, and loads of link play. Also, the call where Plunkett stood his ground and got shouldered in his chest as “soft” was ridiculous, should have been a yellow too!
I thought Mayo protected their goal well today. Only one goal conceded in 3 games is unusual for us!
Happy to be corrected@Ffb.i didn’t see a card issued.
And yes @pebblesmeller no getting carried away but a first league win against the Dubs in 50 years (amazingly)up there is remarkable.
There looks to be more emphasis on kick passing this year. I think the management have realised that we needed to move the ball quicker and although there are times when we will be running off the shoulder the increase in kick passing has been noticeable. Refreshing to see us having another option.
We have some very good kick passers. The likes of Diarmuid, Kevin Mc, Ryan,Paddy Durcan.
Yes overall it was very good especially given the poor conditions. Diarmaid set the tone for the game with Championship intensity throwing himself into the game and winning 40 60s. We were the better team apart from a few spells in 1st half when they just looked more efficient. By the end though the Dubs had lost shape but we were somewhat keeping them in it.
As for individual performances from newer players I thought most were ok without dominating, no one was roasted and we conceded no goals, the one concern being 1 on 1 loss for Dubs goal chance. Orme probably the best of recent additions because as well as bagging 1-1 he set up some scores and his decision making was again good bar 1 wayward kick. Flynn starting to prove me and others wrong, overall I thought he played well and is a good kick passer. Maybe his best performance for Mayo.
Our subs impact is probably a bit over stated but they kept our momentum going with Aido the pick of them. Robbie is a top 3 goalie in the country and continues to improve. I liked the kick passing and on a drier day we’d have bagged maybe 2 more and given them a right tanking all together. Much deserved win. The Dubs are in trouble, even allowing for some quality players returning no one is afraid of them now.
Mind the House, on kickpassers, I can add Aidan, Conor Loftus and Lee to your list. I also saw Eoghan McLaughlin give a nice long kick pass in the Sigerson Final. That put a big smile on my face as Eoghan showed there that he can kick as well as carry.
Stephen Coen not bad at picking out a kickpass either.
Mayo45,dont agree with you re long range kiicks-Cillian kicked 45s for fun against Dublin in years gone by.