The team to face Donegal in Ballyshannon tomorrow afternoon (throw-in 2.30pm) has just been announced. There are four changes from the side that lined out against Down last Sunday, with David Clarke returning between the sticks instead of Robbie Hennelly, Peadar Gardiner replacing Richie Feeney in the half-backs, Seamus O’Shea replacing his suspended kid brother at midfield and Kevin McLoughlin coming in at half-forward in place of Jason Doherty. There a bit of reshuffling in the forward line too, with Alan Dillon moving from 10 to 12 and Andy Moran coming out to centre-forward where he swaps places with Alan Freeman.
On the subs bench, Eoghan Reilly drops out while Cillian O’Connor comes in. Notwithstanding what I was saying earlier in the week, I think it makes sense to keep Cillian in reserve for this one but it’s good all the same to see him back in the match-day panel.
Here’s the full list for tomorrow:
Mayo v Donegal (NFL Division One, 18/3/2012): David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites); Kevin Keane (Westport), Ger Cafferkey (Ballina Stephenites), Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis); Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina), Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe), Lee Keegan (Westport); Seamus O’Shea (Breaffy), Barry Moran (Castlebar Mitchels); Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen), Alan Dillon (Ballintubber); Conor Mortimer (Parnells, Dublin), Alan Freeman (Aghamore), Enda Varley (Garrymore). Subs: Robert Hennelly (Breaffy), Shane McHale (Knockmore), Alan Feeney (Castlebar Mitchels), Colm Boyle (Davitts), Richie Feeney (Castlebar Mitchels), Jason Gibbons (Ballintubber), Pat Harte (Ballina Stephenites), Jason Doherty (Burrishoole), Aidan Campbell (Swinford), Michael Conroy (Davitts), Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber).
Glad to see David Clarke back.
I hope Conor Mortimer stays inside , where he is supposed to be, and wins a few balls near goals and instead of looking for frees ,gets his own score’s or lay’s it off to his team mates.
A win here and we are back on track again, you never know what may happen against the big three, Dublin, Kerry and Cork.
It will be a hard game, a must win for both teams.
McLoughlin and Andy Moran should add some mobility to the half forward line that was missing against Down. Freeman is catching a lot of ball of late and could prove to be a handful at full forward if he has a good day.
Clarke back between the posts is welcome, I think he is a lot calmer under pressure and has a more “orthodox” approach than Hennelly.
Looking forward to seeing how Mayo cope with Donegal’s defense. I’m expecting a low-scoring, tight game.
i have seen keane and keegan play for westport i think they can become big players for mayo in the future keane at full back he has power and confidence on the ball what mayo were looking for down the years keegan at no 6 great player on the ball to get foward and take his score
Covey by name, covey by nature! Not a bad team. Good to see Clarke back in goal. Hopefully we will do enough to get 2 pts. That’s all that matters.
Gardener in ahead of feeney…hard to believe.
As far as I know, Ted, Richie picked up a knock in the Down match.
Gardner has been geat servant of Mayo.
Feeney tends to be a little loose.
Good to see the all Ireland mid field restored hope Harte gets some play time–we need his steel in the HFL
jr i hope your not serious about HARTE.
Absolutely serious
We need at least 2 hard men in our forward line–name me a team that won anything without hard men in their forward line.We have nobody like Galvin for kerry or indeed kenny for meath to win the breaking ball.Trevor mort is the best we have.
I still have faith in JH. Last year we were in a somewhat similar situation today. I remember JH picked the best performing of the players on his panel for the Cork game. They played early ball in to the forwards and put Cork on the back foot. We were helped along the way because the Cork manager did not play his full side until late in the game. At that stage we were on top.
This year we can win again, because we have to. He needs half backs who can defend their patch first. They need to be brave and stand their ground. When one goes forward to help the attack the others should stay at home, along with a midfielder. Our absent halfback line is one of our big problems. It is making the rest look bad
The ball needs to be kicked into the forwards early. The forwards need to win their own ball. I do not believe our forwards are good enough for intercounty football. They are good enough to win on Sunday. JH needs to find another half a dozen players if he can.
Ah yeah, half a dozen, should be a breeze :p