Our lads are still enjoying the pleasant 20 degrees and above weather in Dubai but in their absence the 2014 FBD campaign got going this afternoon. Defending champions Leitrim got off the mark with a 1-14 to 1-11 win over GMIT at Cloone while the other Group B match resulted in a convincing 3-10 to 0-8 win for Galway over Sligo at Tuam Stadium. Ex-Kildare player James Kavanagh made his debut for the Tribesmen in that one and by all accounts put in a MOTM performance for them.
In Group A, meanwhile, Roscommon could only manage a 1-11 apiece draw with IT Sligo in their match at Kiltoom. This means that our lads will top the group after the first round of matches if they get the better of NUIG in their opening match this coming Friday evening.
A brief round-up of today’s FBD action by RTÉ is here and a similar report from The Score is here.
Heard that it was so wet in Tuam that the players had to warm up in the car park.
And Tyrone got zero black cards today, poor Joe Brolly.
Impressive win from Galway, I know it’s only FBD but Galway can only improve from our Salthill drubbing of them last May and it does look like they will make the Connacht final as I believe Sligo have lost their way ( not because of today’s defeat,but in a general sense) .it would probably be better for us if we got an intense test in a Connacht final anyway tbh.
Listening to some comments earlier on RTE, the black card is already a farce, with different referees appearing to have a much different interpretation of it’s intended use, and opting instead for the more familiar yellow card. It seems the more things change the more they stay the same, or something like that ?
Im not one bit surprised.they have a young team and there on the way up .only way they can go really after last year.gareth Bradshaw is back with them.I cant see anything other than Galway and Mayo final.I have a bet on with a lad that if Mayo beat Galway he has to wear my Mayo jersey out in Galway that nite 🙂 Hon Mayo
Good score from Galway. They could improve a lot by summer
I’d say Bradshaw upset a few when he walked off the panel during last years championship. Meehan remains their best forward the other good forwards are all young and will need to another few years to develop. Conroy looks like a senior midfielder something Galway haven’t had for a few years.
Sligo seem to be in bad shape alright. Evan Regan scored 1-3 for IT Sligo against Roscommon.
Don’t know about anyone else but I’d be a lot happier if, instead of bringing in the black card, they would try to do something to make the refereeing more consistant and to a higher level. Introducing another “rule” only adds to the pressure on the ref.
the fact is that very little in sport stays static for very long , galway improved over the summer last year. I expect them to be strong. I have no idea how the rossies will be this year, we’ll know plenty by the time we meet them , if we meet them…
We will either regress or improve, if we improve then connacht is ours again as no other team was close last year. if we regress it may still take a lot of improvement for the other connnacht teams to catch us ,
winning the connacht championship is the ideal method of entering the all ireland series. despite our fantastic results in all three games I would argue we were unlucky each time under james horan in drawing first cork , then down , then donegal when weaker teams ( on paper) were up for grabs.
This year i would like to see us peak in late september !
I understand exactl what your saying about there being weaker teams we could have got for the quarter final, but i think we were very lucky to get cork and donegal in hindsight, two of the most enjoyable games i have been to as a Mayo fan, realistically we had no hopes for an all Ireland in 2011 and that was such a great win which brought imo Mayo football back to life after the disaster of longford, and of course the Donegal match speaks for its self.
Good post Roger.
However in relation to weaker teams and easy runs, Dublin blew all of that out of the water last year. O’Byrne Cup winners, peaking in the League it seemed, with a suspicion of a dip after the final win over Tyrone, an easy enough Leinster, then Cork and Kerry. Surely Kerry had to be the peak in terms of prep. On that basis who would have backed them against Mayo, who had hardly broken sweat?
There just is no magic formula. Echoing the remarks of JH recently, I would take another run to the final similar to last year’s if it was going.
The big question concerns ourselves. Can we, will we improve. If the word from the camp means anything, the signs are encouraging so far. That’s all we can ask for at this stage. FBD will be interesting, but may be deceptive; until the ground hardens, tog a bog e, and if Club Championship, U21 or FBD throw up some possibilities all the better.
I wonder what sort of team will be out come Friday night.
There are a couple of obstacles in the way of getting new faces in, the 21s are involved in the Hastings cup and I presume Castlebar and Kiltane players are unavailable for selection.
The few names we’ve all been floating the last while would mainly come under them two categories 21s/c/bar and Kiltane ,it sort if limits your experiment options but sure not a lot can be done.
Any updates on fitness levels of players that were carrying knocks last season ,ie Andy Moran ,Cillian , where is he up to ?
wonder will cillian be back for the dubs match n croke park does anyone know would be great if mayo beat kery this year though.
Ye’re like kids waiting for santa, the year is long and maybe we should stay in the present for a bit and let things unfold as they may.
Well said Mayo Mchale. It’s not tomorrow morning yet!!!
Hahahaha this is true .We are starved of county football action.We’re mad to get at it 🙂
Great to see such appetite for action!!