Four days to go

Willie Joe
Graphic: @MayoGAA

I meant to do this one before now but I’m rather comically overloaded this week so it never happened. Instead, it’s had to take its place in the queue behind a few other pieces – including a wonderful guest post from Darragh Berry and another podcast episode – and a million and one other things besides. Lordy, is it only Tuesday?

The purpose of this post is to give you a flavour of the coverage that’s out there as the big day draws ever nearer. There’s now plenty of it.

The best place to start is close to home as the local papers hit the streets this morning, bulging with their All-Ireland final supplements. I’m biased, I know, but it’s hard to top the Mayo News with their stunning 56-page offering, rammed full of reading that’ll keep you going most of the way to Hallowe’en.

I had a flick through the digital variant this morning and then met up with Rob at lunchtime who had arrived from the west with a paper version for me so when I get a spare minute I know what I’ll be doing. I’ve a piece in the final supplement myself and will post that to the blog at some point, most likely tomorrow.

As for the dailies, the Irish Times is definitely worth a look. It’s got Kevin McStay’s column, pieces by Seán Moran with Alan Dillon and the September Road feature as well as a piece by Ian O’Riordan on Tyrone’s Niall Sludden.

The Irish Examiner, meanwhile, has that article that provoked discussion on here this morning about Oisín Mullin and Eoghan McLaughlin, with both apparently pushing for a place on the match-day panel. Indeed, it now seems likely that Oisín will start, which, if this happens, represents an enormous boost for us.

In the same paper, John Fogarty has a thought-provoking piece aimed at Mayo supporters and our part in the county’s inability to date to get across the line. He has a point – indeed, I have myself posed the question out loud in the past as to whether or not this blog is part of the same problem. It’s a question to which I’m still unsure of the answer.

Over at the Irish Independent, Colm Keys has a piece that also deals with the players returning from injury. That’s here.

There’s other clickbait stuff about the game online as well as scuttery old nonsense from pundits who are well past their sell-by date but I’m not going to link to those, nor to the other made-up scuttlebutt that’s been discussed here this evening. There’s more than enough to be doing than giving notice to that kind of malarky.

Sweet Lord, is that the time? I’m outta here, back tomorrow.

75 thoughts on “Four days to go”

  1. It’s all simmering nicely…. As Andy Moran said on the pod he does with Paddy Andrews, of course Mayo can win on Saturday, huge performance needed but it’s ok them and there to be won.

  2. Darragh O’Se backing Mayo in the Times this morning. Feels we’d enjoy the disruption Tyrone bring, unlike Kerry.

  3. There’s an assumption in most articles McShane will be a sub. He did damage before in the league especially taking marks. I would have thought if 100% fit he starts. McKenna people might think did well the last day, his first was finished well at the end of a production line of passes, a very good team goal, his 2nd was gifted by Kerry. Donnelly obviously plays but they mightn’t play him FF. I would think if they don’t play McShane (if fit) they’re handing an advantage to us. As for who marks him, to me Mullen is the man, good at both preventing marks and man marking. McShane is the one danger we need a dedicated plan for. All the Mayo backs can mark any of the 6 Tyrone forwards plus sub Canavan, just do your job and midfield and forwards can help our defenders just like Tyrone’s will help theirs. However yer man is different to the other Tyrone forwards because of his power. So there needs to be a plan for if he starts and if he comes on. The number one thing is stop him winning soft scores from marks.

  4. Goals win games but great defenses win AIs. Dublin have great forwards but their 6 in a row was based on brilliant defenders and once in a lifetime goalie. Hardly ever conceded a goal. Think our defense is stronger with Oisin back in training. My worry is that Tyrone backs will strangle our forwards forcing Leeroy, Paddy and Oisin up for scores, catching us in the break. It’s 60/40 in our favour if Oisin is fit to start.

  5. Not meaning to be negative but in my opinion Oisín Mullin is not a great man Marker he’s be more suited to midfield or the half forward line.
    Padraig O Hora is a class act but he had a poor first half against Dublin not singling him out as a lot more were poor against Dublin. Just trying to make the point that our defenders will need to stick to their men like glue especially in the first half and not concede any silly goals as we have done in previous all ireland finals

  6. ‘We are in this together’ ‘There is only one plan’ ,,are we going to be spectators or supporters on Saturday evening, what is our plan to lift the team when they need it most ? Make no mistake we will be needed. For those of us lucky to have tickets make ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ our fields of Athenry and let the team know we believe in them up to the final whistle, If you hear it, as a spectator you will listen quietly, as a supporter you will join in, be part of the plan, get out of the comfort zone, Lets do this together Maigheo abu

  7. Suggesting that Mayo fans feel that “To fight is much more alluring than to win” is absolute rubbish by Forgarty. He obviously has never seen Mayo fans after an All Ireland loss. Another clickbait article that misses the point. We’ve become sick of losing a long time ago. Do we as fans perpetuate the continued failure to get over the line? Perhaps, as it adds to the pressure, but what else are we supposed to do? Not follow the team? Not a chance. But to say we like the pain in some sadistic way is plain bonkers.

    We are desperate to experience what it would finally feel like to win! It cannot happen soon enough.

  8. Am I right to say if the match does finish level after normal time it will go straight to a replay no extra time ?

  11. We have two conflicting reports of what happens if the game finishes level. A well known official said last week that it would go straight to a replay but from reading the Mayo News, our county board secretary said that the final will go to extra time if required on Saturday. A replay would be 8 days later on Sunday 19th.

  12. It has felt like a very long week thus far, can empathise fully with the way Chrissy and Seamie (obviously sans footballing skills and ability) described how long the week in the lead up to the final is.

    The endless permutations of who makes the 26 and who starts would nearly drive you daft!

    My current favourite is “well a friend of mine saw player x in location y and he walked/talked/looked in great shape”.

  13. Rewatched the Dub match. If that first half performance is replicated Tyrone will be far more ruthless than the Dubs who have gotten lax without Jim Gavin. John Small cost them the game(gave Mayo breather&amped them up) and will avoid such stupidity.
    My only doubts are McShane being fully fit to start, then again ye have no Cillian. Mayo would be smart to concede frees in Morgan territory as his conversion rate isn’t good enough and has a demoralising effect on Tyrone& their support.

    Very nervous to be honest and no one in Tyrone wants to be beaten by a team seen as nearly men/chokers by casual observers.

  14. The gaa official website says extra time if necessary on Saturday. But a replay if level after extra time

  15. Thanks, I wasn’t sure I thought I hear was going to replay after normal time and I couldn’t find the info on it online

  17. Ah lads, is there any official confirmation on the status of extra time/ replay.. Willie Joe, maybe you could provide some clarity?

  18. @Liberal Role – I found the piece by Fogarty to be one of the better ones I’ve read recently. He goes a bit overboard on the losing streak comparisons, but I think the jist of what he’s saying is correct – which is essentially:

    “It is not the destination, but the journey that defines you”.

    Your point about fans after a loss actually supports his position. The process of dissecting a Final loss is an intrinsic trait of Mayo supporters. It’s a ritual, unique to them in it’s longevity. But once the dust settles, it’s the mental recoup, and the go-again mindset that re-emerges. That too, as much as anything, defines Mayo supporters.

    Have you stopped to consider the “what if” of that being taken away? It won’t be a *bad* thing, but it will be a very *different* thing. Think about it.

    Imagine Sept the 12th, and you wake up with a big mouldy head on you, but who gives a fuck, you’ve made it to the promised land. Another month probably of madness and bonfires, and meet and greets, and unbridled celebration in the county.

    But then what?

    There won’t be talk of what could have been done differently, or talk of changes to make things better. No postmortems under a cloud. You’re champions defending a title. Everything that has been written for seven decades is filed away in a drawer, and a fresh, blank page taken out, and placed in front of you.

    Now you ask “who are we now, and how do we navigate this brave new world?”

    Human beings are naturally reticent to change, and that’s a hell of a change for a group so defined by their shared experiences.

    And then think of how supporters from other counties will shift their perception of you. Most neutrals would be more than happy to see a Mayo title won, but every fucker will want to see you fall the moment it happens.

    That’s what I think Mr Fogarty was getting at.

  19. Dont you be worrying about being beaten by a team of nearly men and chokers Cheer Owen. you’ll be beaten Saturday by a team of warriors and gladiators who refused to give in and give up, by a team with such determination to come back year after year and try again, a team that when their story is written will inspire millions around the world to never give up.

  23. @liberal role in the tie: Agreed, its absolute rubbish to blame the supporters for our failure to win Sam. You can hardly blame them for our failure to cut out Colm Coyle’s long ball in 1996 or the two own goals in 2016 or the red card in 2017.

    I would argue that the supporters gave the team a lift in some very hairy games in the qualifiers in the 2016-18 period. The likes of Armagh and Derry at home and Cork down in Limerick spring to mind there.

    @Cheer Owen: I would agree that it wasn’t a polished display by Mayo in the semi-final against Dublin, and had a few things gone against us we may well have lost. But I reckon we could say the same about Tyrone’s win over Kerry, particularly the lucky break they got from Stephen O’Brien’s brain fart in the square which cost them a goal with no-one close to him. Had Kerry fist passed one or two of the percentage goal chances they went for, we’d be talking about different opponents.

    Sometimes you need a break or two to win these close matches. And lord knows we have a lot of credit built up from previous Dublin matches!

    As for the chokers thing, don’t ye have plenty of practice in losing to us already? 😉

  24. Let’s not underestimate players like Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy. Not alone do they make the Tyrone team all three would be in their top 3 players. So we don’t really know how our first half Dublin performance translates to playing Tryone.

  25. @Jaden: I honestly don’t see much goodwill towards us from outside our fanbase, particularly online. It is fashionable to mock Mayo as bottlers/chokers/nearly men for losing all those games to Dublin narrowly.

    Yet Kerry, who we destroyed in 2017, who couldn’t get out of their group in 2018, who failed to beat 14 man Dublin in 2019, who collapsed against Cork in 2020, and who were beaten by a Covid-ravaged Tyrone team in 2021, are seen as the heir apparent to the All-Ireland champions every year. Simply because they are from an historically successful county.

    Very few of them have Celtic crosses, except for David Moran, Geaney and Paul Murphy, and it’s possible that one of them may retire this winter.

    Go figure.

    So tbh I’m not bothered at this stage whether neutrals are supporting us or not, and you can bet James Horan and the squad aren’t investing much time in thinking about it either.

    There’s no point in putting the cart before the horse in terms of thinking about what winning an All-Ireland would be like, either. Tyrone are a serious outfit and I expect them to test us physically, mentally and tactically to our limit on Saturday evening.

  27. Hi Jaden, I hear ya, and it is a good article besides, but come on man, you’ve seen your team win 8 of the last 10!!! The journey is fantastic surely, but we’ve experienced it enough by now. I’m sure most Mayo supporters feel the same. Plus, if we don’t take these opportunities they won’t present themselves indefinitely.

  30. Jesus they really are making it up as they go along now
    The GaA had already confirmed the Hill was closed and no extra time would be played :@

  31. @liberal role in the tie

    @It Means Nothing to Me, If you can’t see that goodwill, it might be because you haven’t looked. With the exception of the Sheep Stealers site, pretty much every county forum would be distinctly pro-Mayo this time round.

    I’m a Dyed in the wool Dub, Kickhams man, and a life long fan of GAA. After the semi defeat, I went out and bought a Mayo strip (the Alt strip in black,blue, red). I will be willing you over that line on Saturday with all the gusto a six pack of Belgian Ale can muster in me.

    You’re conflating Kerry’s opinion of themselves (via their plethora of journalists) with everyone else’s perception of them. No-one outside of Kerry wants to see them add another title. Ireland hates a winner. If, and when you get there, you’ll learn that first hand. May it be soon.

  32. Cheer Owen, I am sure the excitement is bubbling well in Tyrone and I can see you feel it too from your posts.
    You are extremely proud of your team and want to see them over the line on Saturday. We want this too for our lads on Saturday.
    I am quite interested in the idea that some in Tyrone might underestimate Mayo given the fact we haven’t won any of those finals since 2012. I’d be absolutely delighted if ye did underestimate the team and I’d love if that seeped into the Tyrone team. I pondered a bit on this last week – Tyrone were concerned about the dangerous Kerry forwards, but sure Mayo don’t have any of them, they might think. Tyrone might therefore decide to attack more.
    This feeling of satisfaction could build on the fact that you have won the All-Ireland recently and think it is your legacy to go on and claim it again now.
    It would be an important factor to consider Mayo’s experience and, in my humble opinion, it would be wrong to discount that.
    All of that said, it is a novel final and that makes it very exciting.

  33. Then let us be hated!!! Sport in every country is the same, not just Ireland. Winners are hated all over, there to be knocked off their perch.
    If we lose on Saturday, ask us then if we’re happy continuing the journey, ask us if there’s more allure to that than winning. It’s simply not true.

  34. I’m feeling a little uneasy at all the Irish Times journos tipping us to win, that’s mcstay, mcguinness, dara o’se, Michael Foley all tipping us to win so far

    I agree that oisin mullin not a man marker, his strength is athleticism and hard running out the field. With that in mind he is almost certain to pick up conor mckenna who will be a de facto 3rd midfielder

    Don’t think mcshane will start, it has giving them a huge lift having him come from the bench in every game so far so they will stick with it. We should do something similar with AOS in my opinion

  35. Just referring back to Stephen Rochfords podcast with Billy Joe. Very interesting point that very few if any have referred to. And that’s Darren McCurry. Top scorer from play for Tyrone and a top class forward for years now. A player (like Kevin McLoughlin) who doesn’t get the national headlines when great players are being talked about but are so key to their counties successes. I, like Stephen am fully convinced if we can keep him quiet we will win the game. And think back to our wins against Tyrone (league included), we managed to do that.

  36. Glorydays u mentioned that padraic o hora was poor in first half against dublin. Can u elaborate on that please ?

  37. It’s funny how predictions are working out in the media, every dub and northern pundit I’ve heard has tipped Tyrone, every Kerry and mayo pundit has tipped mayo. I think their personal dislike for the teams in question has informed their decision. Sure no one has a clue really

  38. Don’t sign up to the”winners are always hated” lark. I have admired most of what Dublin have done over the past decade. I haven’t always agreed with some of their tactics but in Jim Gavin they had an outstanding manager. Any final they played where Mayo weren’t involved I took delight in them winning. If we do go on and win on Saturday I’m sure many neutrals will be looking forward to see what we can bring to the table next year.

    Winners (fair winners) should alway be applauded and congratulated not “hated”.

    Mayo Abú.

  39. Agree Liberal.

    As someone said to me recently:

    “It’s past-time to win the damn thing so we can all go back to work”.

  40. Jaden – thanks for your kind words. After all the heartbreak on the journey, I’d gladly take my chances and arrive at the promised land next Saturday.

    Cheer Owen – nice to see some Tyrone posters and enjoy the build up. However it offends me that guy would call this team bottlers. For the last decade, we have put it up to the greatest team ever to play the game and have come very close to winning. Yes, we have never got over the line but there is no way you could cal our bottle into question. We turned up each and every time.
    You have experience against that team in 2018 and the game was over before half time.

    Nerves building now. Can’t wait for Saturday. Andy Moran is great on the Football Pod. His excitement is palpable throughout the pod.

  41. Really, who gives a sh1t about what other counties fans think of us. Its not a popularity contest.

    It actually grates with me a bit when I’m told “ah ye deserve one after going so close” or “ye are everyone’s second team” etc.
    Smacks of pity and condescension, do you think the Tyrone lads gave a crap what people thought about them when they were hoovering up all Irelands in the 00s. Kerry folk are the worst for it

    When we win on Saturday hopefully all that plamasing will be at an end

  42. @supermac You’re spot on. Feigned Sympathy is the calling card of a certain co-hort of Kerry supporters. it is the most grating experience one can endure. And I speak from plentiful personal experience in that regard.

  43. @Spectre i think its fair to say Padraig struggled in the first half first on Con O’Callaghan and then switched to Ciaran Kilkenny who were both tearing it up in the first half it looked liked Kilkenny would have a field day in the first half even though he made a textbook tackle on Howard towards the end of the first half. but Padraig’s second half performance was immense and we need that from him and all the lads for 80 minutes on Saturday if we are to win Sam which incidentally I think we will win

  44. I think Cheer Owen is right in all fairness. Who would want to lose to Mayo in an All Ireland final?…thats a massive pressure in itself.

    Agree that Mullin should start at number 6. We need him driving at pace all day. Aido has to start, if nothing else he will take a bit of heat off Tommy and Ryan. If Aido positions himelf to the right of the posts he could chip in with a few marks. An early score for him in a final will do wonders for his confidence i think.

  45. Glorydays in that first half we sat off dublin preventing goal chances. Its not pretty but to keep a team like dublin goalless is vital. They’re gonna score points as they are that good. Its hard to keep up that high intensity for 80 or 90 minutes. Like a good race horse just stay with the pace then in final furlong up the speed.

  46. Horan is probably held in same regard as Harte up here, cause we can see there’s something special in what he’s achieved. If we had Horan post 2008 I reckon he’d have done a better job and many feel Harte stunted a generation by trying to recreate old glories& all the tragedies left atmosphere v heavy. You can see guys smiling enjoying their football again & the RTE/Harte baggage is gone. Unfortunately I think it’d have been better to have a season under new mgmt out of the way and feel Mayo just have that critical experience to remain calm and see it out. Going to be very interesting viewing and I might even stay at home to be able to better see the actual game. I just pray the referee isn’t being talked about, neither of us like him.

  47. I live in the Midlands… loads of Mayo flags about and some of them with no connection to Mayo … Whole it doesn’t matter who’s up for us. The majority would love to see us win .
    Plus Tyrones off the ball stuff doesn’t appeal to many Gaa heads

  48. @Jaden: Ah now, I’m sure that the Galway fans and especially Tyrone supporters won’t be shouting for us either! I’ve also had the dubious pleasure of living in Co. Meath and from experience I doubt that many of them will be willing us on.

    That said, I appreciate the gesture of solidarity, am not sure I would ever go so far as buying another county’s jersey!

    I personally embrace the hatred though, given that it usually means we’re relevant. No-one hates something that they don’t feel threatened by.

    Would also echo the discomfort of some here at being widely tipped to win the damn thing, last time I remember that happening was in 1997, and what a let-down that was.

  49. The not-wanting other teams to win is often reserved for close-neighbours, who you can often meet in the first rounds of the championship. Then there’s “you will have to listen to them” argument. Apart from GAA, we have the neighbour thing with England’s soccer or rugby team.

    On one podcast at the start of the championship : Oisin McConville (Armagh), Paddy Kelly (Cork) & Keith Higgins (Mayo) were asked this question.

    I will paraphrase it below.

    Question to Oisin: do not all northern counties support the Ulster county once they come out of Ulster?
    A Oisin: you must be joking, Tyrone changed all that.

    Keith: when you see your neighbours going the wrong direction in the league (referring to this year’s Div1 outcome) , you smile.

    Paddy Kelly:  people ask how many All-Irelands Dublin can win, before it is okay for Kerry to win.  ……
    Kelly’s answer was brilliant
    “That number does not exist”. 

    What Dublin have done these past years is ensure anyone who is to win the All-Ireland would have to earn it.  Kerry mention the term “handy All-Ireland”,  but are now finding these harder to come by.

  50. Fair play to yea cheer own.
    Yea even delayed the AI final so that we might have a chance to get Oisin Mullin back fit again.
    Sportsmanship of the highest order.
    The only thing that’s bottled in Mayo these days is craft beer and whiskey in Lahardane.
    Enjoy your week and the build up, as we are all doing in the Wild Wild Wesht.

  51. @It Means Nothing to Me, you took the words right out of my mouth!
    In ’97 all we had to do was turn up, sure it was the worst Kerry team in years and we had romped our way through to the final, dancing in the rain v a very good Offaly side and came bounding in to the final. Then our own incompetance beat us when we made five, FIVE!!, postional switches to cover for a plainly injured Dermot Flanagan. Flanagan “passed” a fitness test on the morning of the game and lasted as much time as it took to lace your boots. Horan, who had scored 8, EIGHT!!, points from play in the two ’96 finals was benched for Flanagan to get his medal. Then our management stood back and watched Pat Holmes be destroyed by Maurice Fitzgearld, while the best man marker in the game, Kenneth Mortimor, stood marking no one as Maurice Fitz kicked Kerry to victory! You couldn’t make it up.
    Green and Red tinted glasses can alter events over time, but that Mayo performance, both on the sideline and on the pitch, was shambolic.
    So, to anyone getting giddy or cocky or assuming victory on Saturday, they’d do well to look back to ’97 and know that this Tyrone team is far better than that Kerry one.

  52. With regards who does or doesn’t want us to win….I actually couldn’t care less. I think the rossies are worse than Galway supporters, we definitely live rent free in their heads. Plenty of Tyrone flags flying high in Roscommon i believe lol.

    But as said above, I also enjoyed watching Dublin win the finals that didn’t include us. Finally that great Dublin team will probably get the recognition they deserved. They had a once in a lifetime group of players who came along together, and a top class manager to steer the ship. Did I hate them when we were playing them, absolutely I did. But always respected them, 6 in a row will never be repeated.

    If we get over the line on Saturday, I won’t care what the new world will bring. Winning is all that matters, had enough of the gut wrenching heartbreak. Is 2021 the year? It’s hard to know. But I do know we’ll perform and be ready for whats thrown at us, whether that’s enough no one knows.

  53. God this dissection of winning and losing and historical losses is worse than the ticket talk.
    Won’t be posting till after the match.
    Stuck for a ticket didnt come up in club or Chairde draw. Will donate 250 euro to Mayo Roscommon hospice in name of anyone with a spare ticket. I won’t pay over the value on principle, but face value with charity donation I’d feel good about that.
    Pjbrady1@gmail.com for contact.
    Let’s enjoy this, I likely won’t be there, but life is not some journey to specific moments, living, now, the present this is the moment Relax everyone.
    Let’s win 🙂

  54. My first line was meant in jest just left out a smiley face at the end regarding being worse than ticket talk. Tongue in cheek, not trying to judge what others post.

  55. @Pebblesmeller: Indeed, 1-7 in an All-Ireland final tells its own story. How Horan wasn’t selected to start, Christ only knows. I seem to remember he got a point with his first touch once he was brought on? Liam McHale was also started at full-forward when he was one of the best midfielders in the land.

    I have a lot of respect for teams north of the border, what they go through to play gaelic games is something we can’t even imagine. A few years back, the Cavanagh’s club was petrol bombed by loyalists in what is supposed to be peacetime. No way are these Tyrone lads going to lie down, for us or anyone else.

    I see that Anthony Moyles and the boys on Off the Ball plumped for us today too. Jeez won’t someone tip Tyrone, lol.

  56. It means nothing to me. Your respect for northern teams is somewhat based on outdated perceptions. In present times, GAA clubs are no more targeted by loyalists than cricket clubs are by republicans.

  57. 3 score and 10
    A lifetime for some
    On September 11th
    Mayo’s time will come

    Galway, Dublin, Tyrone
    Big beasts of our game
    These young Mayo lions
    Are determined all to tame

    As the big day approaches
    And hope mixes with fear
    For the warriors of Mayo
    Destiny draws near

    With steel in their bones
    And ice in their blood
    Famines and curses
    They’ll banish for good

    To Tyrone our respect
    But our intentions are clear
    Sam’s coming west
    For this is our year

  58. Willie Joe, before I post I wanted to check with you. Would you consider posting a specific post for people to sell/swap tickets for Saturday in the comments section? I understand that this site is not Done Deal but an awful lot of genuine Mayo fans on here and much safer I believe. Thanks WJ.

  59. Re the match going to extra time or a replay. The Official Guide – Part (2021) at paragraph 3.5 states that extra time is obligatory, save for in respect of “All-Ireland Finals (Sam Maguire and Liam MacCarthy Cups only)”

  61. Supermac, we (who are we is a good question) should be able to cope with the tag of favourites. James said as much when he talked of not trying to beat the jungle. However, it’s the sideshow shit that I’m worried about – Aidan in the Sunday World, and all the talk about Oisin, and Eoghan making the starting 15 if you don’t mind, not to mention Cillian. All media now running with this; so how is it that the previously impregnable wall of silence is not being maintained? Remember, we got absolutely no details on: who is actually on the panel for 2021, who was affected by COVID, the injuries to Jason and Harry, and, needless to say, challenge matches and training sessions.

  62. Still not a sniff of a ticket here. Its really disappointing at this stage, after all that’s been invested following the team down through the years. All the more galling when I hear of some with multiple’s of tickets. I live in hope however, and I’m going to give all me cameras a good cleaning and oiling, and make sure all the batteries are fully charged up. Just in case………..

  63. Several people asked some days ago about a date if it went to a replay.
    If it has been answered already, my apologies, answer below:

    Mayo News print edition this week says:

    “If it’s still level (after 2 periods of extra time), then the game will be replayed eight days later on Sunday, September 19”.

    It is possible but probably unlikely, given extra time will be played on the day.

  64. Bacon Factory/all – I’ve now put up that post which can be used as a central repository for ticket offers, swaps etc. I’ll see if I can pin this to a prominent place on the blog (on a panel on the right) so it’s easily accessible over the next few days.

  65. If aiden is getting heat about publicity it takes heat away from everyone else. Well thats my theory. He likes limelight. Im not impressed myself but it might do some good

  66. I go along with some of that Spectre. I don’t like it, but better a 30 year old panelist, than a 20 year old doing this kind of thing.

  67. It’s been said a couple of times Oisin Mullen isn’t a man marker which is complete nonsense. Doesn’t dive in and when he does he takes man and ball, rarely a score got off him. He’s the man for McShane if he comes on or starts. All our backs are very interchangeable, they’ve practically all played in all the positions.
    There another line that says we need him driving forward from CHB. The argument has merit but we’ve loads of attacking half backs. There’s another line that needs must and if he’s needed to play McShane then he should.
    I agree also with posters who said McCurry needs watching, he’s their Tommy C, if ours goes well and theirs doesn’t then it’s advantage us. Quiet enough the last day, let’s hope for the same Saturday.

  69. Big opportunity for Aidan to prove his doubters wrong. Hope he takes it. There may not be many more opportunities given his age. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I read a piece yesterday by Colm Keys who noted that when training commenced after the restrictions, Aidan had a query ACL rupture that turned out to be a false alarm? I hadn’t read that previously. But even if not ACL, he may have sustained a significant enough knee injury back then if ACL was queried.

    Heard Peter Canavan playing a touch of mind games re the Referee today (podcast included Cora). He cited Dublins win against them in the ’95 final where he felt Dublin got the favourable refereeing decisions because the “consensus” in the capital was that Dublin should win an All Ireland. Haha. Good man Peter. He’s relating that to the seemingly broad goodwill now towards Mayo, and inferring that the ref might favour us.

    I like Canavan, and you can’t blame him for doing what he can for Tyrone especially with his son involved. Mayo won’t forget the sore losers Micky Harte and Sean Cavanagh following losses to us previously and their sour and unwarranted comments. So we might have a point or two to prove.

    I also read today that Niall Sludden feels Tyrone felt aggrieved about the way the Mayo players celebrated their win against them in ’16. Gas stuff altogether. You gotta love it.

    You’d wonder does all this nonsense really matter…
    Either way, I find the build-up intriguing and exciting.

  70. Maigh Eo go deo, Maigh Eo gan stró,
    Ag bogadh ar aghaidh
    Le bearna faighte sa bhlaincéad gan fhadhb!

    An t-uafás chúilín ag an nGlas ‘s Dearg,
    An iomarca don Lámh Dhearg agus iad i searg.

    An bua ag foireann Mhaigh Eo sa cluiche ceannais,
    Faoi dheireadh a mórchumas tugtha i ngrinneas!

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