So, as expected, Galway came through their Connacht semi-final against Sligo a bit earlier on this evening in Markiewicz Park. I didn’t see the match (neither did many, I’d say – it was the live game on Sky) and I don’t have too much time to dwell on it either. This is because we’re heading away on hols very early tomorrow and so there’s a load of last-minute stuff to sort before we leave.
I don’t plan to be all that active on here over the next fortnight, though I will check in now and again to make sure that the place is still standing. If anyone fancies breaking the monotony at any stage with a guest post or two while I’m away (the minors start the defence of their provincial and All-Ireland titles next weekend, for example, so if anyone fancies doing something on that it’d be particularly welcome), then just drop me a line via email and we’ll take it from there.
Take care, y’all.
Enjoy, Willie Joe, by the sounds of it, they’re well earned.
Galway looked good tonight. Walsh, Cummins, O’Curraoin, Hanley are fine footballers if let play. With Conroy and possibly Armstrong to come back in, they are a coming team.
That said, Mayo should have too much for them in the intensity stakes but it won’t be anything like last year, one would imagine.
I like the way Galway set about playing – not defensive nonsense – and it won’t be long before they’re adding to their haul of Connacht titles, in my view. Just hopefully not this year!!
Galway won’t set up as defensively minded as Roscommon – so it will make for a very interesting and hopefully free flowing Connacht Final.
cork were lucky boys tonight ,
Any chance of starting a discussion on “your best team for the final” before you go.
Enjoy your break, You deserve it.
Best wishes to you and yours,
UpMayo.
Galway looked good tonight. Midfield pairing very strong and all 6 forwards scored against a 13 man sligo defensive set up. Will be a very different game against them this year.
Enjoy the break WJ. By the time you get back the heat will have really built up for the final. It will be a great day – old rivals battling it out in a primal contest of passion, will and pride. Nothing much beats this in July. It’s part of what we are. Bring it on!
Thought Galway looked quite good tonight and are on the up but hopefully we ll be too strong for them in 3 weeks. Some good and interesting games this evening. Tipp desperately unlucky not to beat Cork. lead right up to last few minutes. Fermanagh running laois to a point and biggest shock of all Longford beating Derry in Celtic park and so repeating their exploits of 4 years ago by defeating league runners up which was us in the qualifiers. Wonder what brolly made of that . Perphaps his native county had an attitude and were looking down their noses at Longford. Isnt that what he accused us of. Well now derry for all their great performances in the league are gone from championship. Pity the same cant be done with that Sunday Game analyst.
Love it to win just once, love it ….
Hard to read much into that game as it was more like a challenge encounter than a championship contest. Very loose marking by both sides throughout little or no intensity. Galway lording midfield without a hand laid on Fiontán Ó Curraoin just one example.
You could see Sligo were low on confidence and out of ideas long before the end of that game. Early on the tried to set up defensively like Roscommon but didn’t have the workrate or know how to do it.
Galway won by 5 in 2nd gear have they improved from last years mauling in MacHale park? yes but by how much we’ll see in a few weeks.
Considering they were missing 4 or 5 lads through injuries and various other things I thought Galway were fairly impressive to win that comfortably up in Sligo. Bar 2 or 3 lads they have a very young side that seem to be improving. Don’t think they will be good enough to put it up to Mayo next month but they will be a coming team over the next few years. Shane Walsh is a serious talent.
Have to agree with Mayomagic, I was at the game yday. Very low intensity, poor marking, Sligo showed galway far too much respect and let them dictate the play from the start. It got even worse in the second half where they gifted galway huge amounts of possession from their own kick outs.
Galway have some decent forwards, Convoy, Cummins those two new fellas (can’t remember names) etc I’m not convenced about their mid field. No one from Sligo lay a glove on them. Hanley was solid enough at the back but couldn’t get a feel for them as Sligo going forward were poor enough and we’re clueless enough at times.
Can’t see us doing what we did last year to them but if Galway play like that again we’ll beat them.
Enjoy the holidays WJ, you deserve the break after the last few weeks that you have had, take care and have a great time.
Congrats to James Horan and his wife on the birth of their son, hopefully he’ll wear the green and red someday like his father did with great distinction.
In relation to the Connacht final we have to remember that at the moment our form is not great. If we get back up to the level we were playing at last year and play with the same tempo and intensity we should be good enough to beat an improving Galway team. But if we allow the Galway forwards to run through the heart of our defence like Derry and Roscommon did then I don’t think that their forwards will let us off the hook. We were there for the taking against Roscommon but they didn’t land the knock out blow. Thats the big question to be answered, can we get back to the level we were at last year? If we can’t then it could be a long afternoon in Castlebar but you’d expect us to play a lot better in this game. Its hard to beat a Mayo v Galway Connacht final in Castlebar, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be on that Sunday in July.
This could be a right battle, they have some fine footballers who if not this year will definitely win medals in the future .
I’d expect this to be very close. What has me worried more than anything else this year is teams have studied our gameplan very well , if you find a way to stop our half back line dashing forward we become pretty ordinary in terms of ideas .
Someone said Mayo are 1/7 to win this game , I find them odds ridiculous , I hope I’m wrong and we prove worthy 1/7 shot.
Best Wishes WJ have a good one
Think we’ll hammer Galway again to be honest. Gulf in class is absolutely massive
Cannot wait for it
The teams Mayo struggle to break down are well organised,defensive and physical on yesterday viewing Galway are neither. Galway have some fine young players in their side Martin,Walsh top talents and are certainly a coming team however Mayo have been given their wake up call already and are far too experienced and seasoned for this Galway side.
It will be closer game than last year but i would still expect Mayo with home advantage to win by about 6 points.
Actually, I think that Galway will put it up to Mayo in the final. They have a mobile midfield, some good forwards and Conroy and Kavanagh to come back in.
I was at the match, and on occasions, Galway brought plenty players back. Some of their defenders got caught coming out with the ball, which would be a concern for them. How they cope with the increase in intensity is the big unknown, but if they get a good start, then should be an interesting test for Mayo. Shane Walsh looks a really good prospect, hold him, and it will go a long way towards retaining the Nestor cup!
I don’t care how good Galway’s forwards are, mayo have the best backline in Ireland by a distance^^^
Galway’s defence is highly suspect, reckon we’ll get great joy running at them unlike v roscommon who were well organised. Agree with MO2014 Ros was the wake up call, I expect us to win this handy. Especially as it’s at home
Galway though definitely look to be improving and should be a force in a few years. Into the last 12 now and who knows a nice back door draw and they’ll be playing in Croker on August Bank Hol weekend
I would be very cautious about Mayo v Galway game , I think James and the boys will be expecting a very tough battle and hope we can pick up some of the form we had last year . we so far this year have not shown to be in the mindset of a team capable of winning the sam this sept ember , . Talk of hammering , or beating Galway out the gate is not where i see Mayo a the minute . Also if we look closely at the other results from this weekends gaa games , Cork were lucky , Kerry scrambled home , Derry are out . so lets hope our boys pick up their game by 20% better than the Roscommon game .
I agree with you mayo need to be careful.
Liked that post ‘to win just once’!
Brolly is a prick.
To come out with that comment and not substantiate it with. any actual facts was shocking (but not surprising considering the usual lazy “analysis” that comes out of the clowns on RTE).
I wouldn’t mind if he backed it up with an actual comment that might have come from one of our players/management, but he just spouted some inane bollocks and was let away with it.
I wouldn’t mind but let’s face it, is arrogance one thing you’d associate with this current Mayo set-up?? Is it shite.
Delighted Longford beat them. It’s amazing how one individual can turn you against a whole county
Afew observations from the weekend.
! Galway / Sligo match looked pedestrian and lacked chamionship intensity.
2 Antrim in the first half put it up to Donegal but the second half was a different story. Cream rises after it settles.
3 Cork our kinda litmus match in the league, showed where they really are.
4 I honestly have not a bulls notion where Mayo are this year but I still have some hope. I spoke wih an Armagh man today, we’ve bandied out a few words over the years. I said that” so far Mayo have not unleashed.” He responded like a bullit,” maybe they have nothing to unleash.”
5 I I don’t hold the reins but I hope there are reins to hold.
6 Time will tell and I hate time.
7 On a more positive note. My son bought me two All Ireland semi final tickets. (Big big birthday present) He grew up playing baseball and American football. He believes.
8 He couldn’t give a rats ass about how Mayo fare.
9 Rachel Weis on Sky Sorts has massive German helmut like hair.
10 Mayo need to go to war.
.
Having played senior club football in Galway for the past number of years, I know as well as any the standard of things in the county. If Mayo go into this in any way complacent then we could be in for a big fright.
Galways forwards are better than ours – without a doubt.
Our midfield is more experienced than theirs and probably better.
Our defence is well better than theirs.
Everyone knows that its easier to manufacture a defender whereas a forward is either talented enough or not.
I expect Galway to go really close in this game. I hope our experience can pull us through – the dominance we have had at senior level in Connacht is coming to an end, hope we can pull through this year and give one last push for september honours.
Mayo need to seriously focus on young talent. Anyone who was in machale park v the rossies u21 will know what i mean!
Some of the comments here are crazy. I would be delighted with a one point win. We are nowhere near playing as well as the last two years. Few things for people to ponder in their spare time… before I start, I’m not looking to start an argument with anybody.
1 -we only made league semi by beating two under strength teams in the latter stages of the league, cork and Derry
2 – we could not win games against 14 men on two occasions.
3 – look where Derry are now
4 – our forward line has not fired so far in 2014.
5- our system of sending the half back line rampaging up the field is not the force it was last year
6- our big names that year so far have not fired, and it’s very difficult to just turn it on when required
7- we struggled to beat a team playing in division three of the league
Those unfortunately are the facts so far for 2014. Hard to see it changing, and any amount of shouting about gulf in class or where we were last year compared to Galway is ignoring what’s in front of all our faces!
By all accounts Andy Moran had the proverbial stormer when coming off the bench today to help his club win a vital championship game v Westport. By doing so he could have put his chances of playing in the Connacht final in doubt. He chose to play and I admire him for that. Those are the kind of players that will win an All Ireland. It’s a pity we have so many of the other.
After this week-end you have to say that apart from Dublin the championship is wide open. Cork and Kerry both really struggled this week-end but you’d expect them to improve. Donegal do what Donegal do, they are still a dangerous team. Galway’s win will give them great confidence, it was a really nervy game for them, it would have been a disaster for them if they had lost to Sligo again. So far this year Mayo have only played in patches but at times we have hit some high spots. We were top scorers in Division 1 of the League. We had lots of players scoring some great goals. We finished up with 9 points. But we also conceded a lot too. You’d wonder since the league finished was a lot of emphasis put on our defending with our attacking play suffering in the process against Roscommon. There will be no real pressure on Galway for the Connacht final, most people will expect Mayo to win so it will be a very dangerous game for us. This game could be a defining one for us, do Mayo still have the stomach for the battle after losing two All-Ireland finals in a row, we will find out on July 13th.
Delighted Derry were beaten, laughed my arse off looking at the updates on my phone…Brian Mciveer is some “genius” alright haha. Walsh looked very good for Galway, but still see us eeking out a win by maybe 3-5 points on the day, a poster above questioned whether Mayo have the stomach for another bash at sam come August, well i think just look at our players reactions at the the final whistle against the rossies and that answers that question!!!. I maybe a dreamer but i really see us having a big year this year, we’ve got the shoe in the hole that was needed and by this weekends results, we would be favourites against anyone in the country outside of Dublin. Whether we win the thing this year i dont know, but i sure as hell beileve we will be there on the 3rd sunday in September and have another crack at old Samuel. Keep the faith.
@Juan, I think that we do have the stomach for the battle ahead too. When you think against Roscommon, we were three points down with eight minutes left to play, against the wind and away from home against a very well drilled team. We showed tremendous character to come away with the win. At this stage of our development we should be still a better team than Galway. At the moment its just all about surviving until the August Bank Holiday week-end. After that all bets are off. Its going to be very interesting to see who will play at numbers 10 and 11 for us against Galway. I really hope that Kevin McLoughlin starts at no. 10, I remember that there was a stat from last year’s game that he picked up the breaks from something like 6 or 7 of the first 10 kick-outs, or something like that. When he is playing well he really sets the tone for the game ahead. Who do we go for at 11? A play-maker or a man with bulk? I’d prefer to see us using a play-maker. Cillan O’Connor was man of the match in last year’s game at 11, again I’d like to see him play in that position in this year’s game.
Congrats indeed to Mr and Mrs Horan. Hats off to the man, I have no fecken idea how he does it, 5 kids now, a serious job and running one of the top intercountry teams in the country. He should write a book on time management when he hangs up his Mayo inter county manager hat.
Hopespringseternal, completely agree that Kmac should be on the half forward line, along with his skill at sweeping up the breaks, he can deliver great ball into the ff line, which was lacking against the ros. Who id put at 10 and 11 is a tricky one, obviously im not seeing whos playin well an fit etc, but, i would love to try Jason gibbons at 11, i think he has the physicality aswell as pace and skill to make it his own, he can score long range points and his goal against tyrone in the league showed what he can do if he runs at defenders. I personally would love keith back at half forward, he really is a game changer, his speed causes seirious problems and i think he was brilliant against Dublin last year untill he went back on o’gara. it seems as though james is gunna keep him in the corner but ill keep my fingers crossed!! id keep Andy in reserve (as i think its the best way to utilise him) maybe give Sweeney a run in the corner along with freezer an cillian. Would like to see cunniffe move to 6 with barrett back in at 2. Cannot wait for the aul enemy on the 13th…bring em on!!.
Mayo may well have their eye on a big prize in September but Galway’s big prize is up for grabs on July 13. Anybody who does not see that is ignoring the role of the underdog. Mayo need to hit the ground running in August if we are still in the race. It is a difficult juggling act. Galway just need to carve out a win of any kind. Dismiss them at your pearl.
Shane Walsh is some talent. Not that you should be pining after your rivals players, but what Mayo would give to have him at number 11 for the year. I had a browse around the prices for him to get an All Star or win YPOTY, the bookies seem to have copped on – he’s short odds for both.
You’d have to think Mayo will have too much for Galway though. They play a very ‘nice’ brand of football and I don’t see the tactical nous or the intensity coming from them to beat Mayo. Having said that they have in my opinion (not Kevin McStay’s obviously) the second best set of forwards in Connacht and if Mayo give them the space they will do damage. Keep Shane Walsh quiet and put Bradshaw on the back-foot and your 90% there.
Sean Burke – welcome back – and some other make the point that teams are studying us and figuring us out. This is true and is my big worry.
We have to think about how our half back line can cope with the renewed attention that will be focused on it. Bit worried about Lee Keegan – all this talk about building back his strength. Colm B will need to offload far quicker – he’s not going to be able to break through 3 or 4 players.
Midfield will be critical here and Mayo will have to really work to gain territory. Plus the ‘pressing high up’ will have to be at full throttle.
Having said that the bit of the Sligo match I saw seem very loose – Galway had free shots for most of their scores.
have to say i thought SKY did a great job , the landscape shots were class , the replays of any incident was excellent, I enjoyed canavans analysis , the lads look well in their suits and rachel is an excellent anchor. top marks.
Walsh is the real thing alright. Both feet, very skilful, strong, quick. I got ‘the fear’ when I saw him in action at underage last year but fortunately Mulholland didn’t start him in Salthill in the senior match against us, and by the time he came on we were out the gap.
If Boyle is to be our centre-back for the year, there’ll be a height advantage to Walsh for starters. The tendency of Vaughan and Keegan to bomb forward is going to leave space in which Walsh can prosper, and a two-footed scorer doesn’t mind which wing he shoots from. So Mayo need to do their homework here.
On the flip-side, Sligo look a bit tentative at the moment, and may have made Galway look better than they are. Mayo will not afford Galway the space they got yesterday, especially in midfield. If Jason Gibbons is back and either he or SOS is used at 11, that gives us even more physicality in the middle for kickouts.
Galway, like Roscommon, are a coming team. They have flaws for sure and they’re probably still behind Mayo in strength and conditioning, but we’re going to get a real challenge in Castlebar on Sunday fortnight, and indeed in years to come. For Connacht Final 2014, we need to make home advantage count.
Have a great break WJ and look forward to seeing you on 10th July, rested and ready for battle!
I’m not even slightly convinced that we’ll give Galway a good battering in the final – they will still be smarting from last year, and will be coming to Castlebar with nothing to lose and everything to prove. The Sligo Galway game wasn’t the stuff of legend but they cleaned up in midfield and if there is a battle on the day, that’s where it will play out. It needs to start with Hennelly or whoever is between the posts on the day and I’d like to see far more variation in kickouts than we did in the Hyde.
It;s likely to be a far more open game than the last one. Galway on Saturday unfortunately reverted all too often to that horrible handpassing game that we’ve been known to indulge in ourselves, and instantly they looked like less of a threat when they did so. I would hope that on the 10th we will have done some work on our progression and getting ball into our forwards good and early. And more importantly that our forwards (or HF line in particular) will be showing for those balls – something I think has been lacking to date.
How well we do on the day will depend on our own preparation and attitude – I’d like to think that the Rossies gave us our fright for this year good and early on, and that there will be no complacency in the camp. And that if things aren’t going right for us on the day that we will adapt both on the field and off – a concern I have held consistently for the past three years (as anyone reading my blatherings here will know).
I second the call for Kevin Mc to play in the HF line – it’s where he belongs and where he excels, and I’m uncomfortable seeing him named in the FF line, firstly because he’s lost up there and secondly because his return to form during the league was so encouraging that this disruption unsettles me. But time will tell.
Finally, Rober, your comment above “Those are the kind of players that will win an All Ireland. It’s a pity we have so many of the other.” is unwarranted, frankly.
Playin kevin mc in the corner seems a waste of time to me but Horan obviously sees it different , he had a mediocre year last year in comparison to 2012 and maybe that’s why something else is being tried. I really hope to see him further out the field for the next day.
Are Galway capable of upping their intensity level to last year, by god I believe they already have and will up it more, they were pushed aside in Salthill last year , there is no way they will be as weak this year , every upcoming team has a learning curve . How far Galway have come up that curve , nobody will truly know till this Castlebar encounter has finished.
Kavanagh will be a massive addition to that forward line if fit too.
I spoke to people who were at the Ballagh v Westport game yesterday, Andy came on at the interval and didn’t Put a foot wrong, everything he did , he did right. If we go with our best 15 , he has to start but there is a case for him coming on too .
Enda Varley is supposed to have limped off 5mins in for Garrymore , hamstring maybe.
At the Roscommon game , I was stood with Freeman’s brother and it made me look at freeman differently in the sense I wasn’t goin to look for the bad but the good , when studying it from this angle, I thought the quality of ball in to him was ridiculously poor , I have not watched it on tv but I remember thinking , how in the name of fook are ya supposed to make them balls over the end line , I’m not sure he received one ball hop in front of him or even one that gave him an advantage over the defender , best ball in was 50/50 which in turn gives the defender a massive advantage to break it up.
Play was also very pedestrian at times, there was like a lethargic attempt to solo the ball whilst nearly standing on the spot. Hopefully this was just a bit of early season complacency and not general tiredness from two years of hard slog, mentally and physically.
It is hard to read too much into the Galway victory as Sligo offered nothing in attack or defense in the second half of the game. The Sligo backs were giving the Galway forwards way too much space and their own forwards were starved of support when they did get the ball inside the Galway 45. The less said about the Sligo midfield the better. The only real conclusion that came out of the match, for me, was something that we all knew anyway. Galway have some very talented footballers that can certainly play, if you let. Sligo let them play, we will not, and that is the difference.
I predicted a 5 or 6 point win for Galway against Sligo and I expect us to beat them by the same amount. It will not be the hammering we dished out last year in Salthill, but I believe it will be high scoring.
Regarding Kevin McLoughlins positioning on the field I think we can get a little too distracted in where players are named on the teamsheet, and where the actually play on the pitch. Kevin had the attributes to play in both lines of the attack and he has the brains to play those positions too. An argument can be made for him in either line and if it were me I would use him in positions where he would do the most damage to the opponent. If that meant moving him constantly around the front 6 then so be it.
We all know about his ability to win breaking ball and indeed to carry the ball out of a ruck of players, but, what is not as well recognised is his efficiency in the full forward line. When Kevin is positioned in the full forward line, stats show that if you get the ball to him 82% of his shots result in scores. When you consider his excellent passing ability it makes for a very dangerous forward. I would use a “horses-for-courses” approach with Kevin. If, for instance, you are playing an opponent where you expect to them to crowd out the middle third of the pitch resulting in a lot of breaking ball then I would position Kevin on the 40 as he well scavenge and battle for loose ball and move it on quickly. If, however, you expect to dominate midfield then you can put him in the full forward line and his runs off the ball and accuracy will be utilised better.
I think the shirt number on a players back matters less and less nowadays.
A role I would like to see him in is a free-roving corner forward role. Give him the freedom to rove out from the corner to play either as a fourth half forward or to play between the half-forward and full-forward lines. Doing this puts his marker in the difficult situation of deciding does he go with him, man marking him, and leave his area? This leaves a 2 man full forward line with more space for O’Connor/Sweeney/Freeman/whoever to exploit. Or, does he hold his position and let Kevin off as a free man? This leaves an unmarked Mayo forward inside the 45! Kevin has the eye for space, intelliegnce of when to go and when to stay and more importantly he always shows for the ball, even if things are not working for him. He return to form has been a huge boost for Mayo and hopefully he can maintain it for the Summer.
“When Kevin is positioned in the full forward line, stats show that if you get the ball to him 82% of his shots result in scores”
If true, it just shows you how statistics don’t tell the whole story. Mcgloughlin is a bigger addition in the hf line , closed book in my eyes , won’t be convinced by any amount of stats.
Just read that post again. Monday morning typing I reckon. Typos galore 🙂
Interesting thoughts on Kevin Mc. I trust too that he will be utilised in the best possible way and regardless where he plays, he has instinct, intelligence etc as you mentioned Pebblesmeller, to make things happen.
Generally when he plays well so do the team. I’ll never forget last year in the league game in c’bar against Donegal. There was one movement over near the stand where he jinked and dodged in between a few opposition players, taking the ball out of a seemingly impossible position. It was just a small moment but one that really stuck in my mind. He can do amazing things on the ball with his speed, agility and elusiveness. He’s a joy to watch and we need him at his very best.
Would like to see Aidan O Shea tried at no. 6 (moving Boyler back to 7) Heard he played well for club there recently. Gibbons partnering SOS would be my choice for midfield, but would love to see how Jason would fare at no. 11. I can’t help thinking how Donie Vaughan would do on the HF line. His shooting would need to improve though.
@Pebblesmeller, I see where your coming from alright and I’d totally agree with you that Kevin McLoughlin is well able to score points and can score super goals too but I would not see him as a natural scorer. I find that when he plays closer to the full-forward line than to the half-forward, midfield area he does not seem to get into the games as much. For example in the Roscommon game Diarmuid O’Connor played in McLoughlin’s usual role but he is a young player and does not yet have the experience to play the role as well as Kevin. In time he will be a really big asset to the team. In that game Kevin McLoughlin only really got the ball into his hands coming up to half-time and chipped over a nice point. Do we sacrifice his ball winning abilities for a couple of cameo plays close to the opposition goals, compared to him picking up numerous breaks around the middle? He can chip in with a few scores anyway coming from deep as he did in the first half of the All-Ireland final in 2012 and against Dublin in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final or like the goal he scored against Cork in the 2011 All-Ireland quarter-final. I love to see him on the ball as much as possible, especially very early in the game. Added to the fact that we already have the perfect player in Mickey Sweeney to play at no. 13, he is a natural scorer. I also think that you should play your most natural forwards as close to the opposition’s goals as possible. My main point is, I think that we lose more that we gain by not having Kevin McLoughlin in the thick of the action from the start of the game. When Mikey Sweeney came on against Roscommon, Kevin moved out to the half-forward line and with Andy Moran on the field at that time too, we looked a lot more dangerous going forward and much more balanced as well up front. Galway’s main weaknesses are at the back so the earlier in the game we can put them on the back foot the greater our chances will be of not letting Galway build up their confidence early on as Roscommon were allowed to do.
Actually thought Tom Flynn was v good as was Walsh and Cummins.Kavanagh will add something.We need our best players on the field to counteract them.If we do that we will win.
Galway have given these lafs a few years to develop and it was right call.
We need Higgins in full back line and Kevin in Half fwd line with hopefully Andy starting with Alan to come in.Just my view.
The crucial thing about that stat Pebblesmeller is the amount of ball we get to him in the first place! 🙂 But I do agree that he is one of our smarter players.
I agree with Sean in relation to the point he makes about the ball going into the forwards at Hyde Park. Freeman was fouled for a couple of handy frees but on a number of other occasions he made a good run only to see the ball sail over his head or over the end line. The ball into him in the second half didn’t improve and most of our scores came from long range or frees.
He’s a great ball winner and is very clever at positioning his body in such a way that the defender must either foul or let him through on goal. O’Connor has similar attributes and we need to get serious about giving them the right ball in space. McLoughlin (and maybe Dillion) are the two players capable of giving them the service they require. The ball needs to be quick and direct. To be honest the running game of Vaughan, Keegan & Co doesn’t suit this type of forward.
Sean, I am not advocating that Kevin Mc is solely a half forward or a full forward, i.e. one or the other, but not both. I am advocating a “horses for courses” approach to use his positioning on the field in areas where he will be most effective for us. My use of stats is only to back up my argument that he can play in either line of attack.
We need a flexibility, a fluidity and an unpredicatability to our attack that will keep our opponents guessing as to the make up of the front 6. McLoughlin is crucial to that as he can play at 10, 12, 13 & 15 regardless of the number on his back. Think back to last year, the dogs in the street knew our starting front 6 and as long as this is the case it makes it very, very easy for opposition managers to devise a defensive strategy that keeps our attack quite.
For my money our half forward line could be made up of any 3 from the following… Higgins, Adam Gallagher, D. O’Connor, Feeney, C. O’Shea, A. O’Shea, A. Moran, Dillion, McLoughlin and C. O’Connor. All of these players have very different qualities ranging from blistering pace to power and height, from ball winning ability to defensive discipline, from experience and guile to youthful vigour. Now if I was an opposing manager trying to set up a defensive line against that group of players I would have great difficulty in trying to predict which 3 are going to start, and, therefore even more difficulty in organising my defense.
If you can keep your opponent guessing about what you might do, it means he is spending less time thinking about what he is going to do!
I understand pebbles and your points are well made but I’m just saying it as I see it, mcgloughlin is crucial to our game imo, how he didn’t get an all star in 2012 beggars belief and it is that form out around the 40 and even further back that I think he gives us most addition.
You mention about keeping the opposition guessing and unpredictability , this is where I get myself in trouble as this where I start to see flaws in James Horan and maybe his ideology of the how a team should play even. Before I get slatted from the heavens, let me state for the record, Horan is the best thing to happen Mayo football in the modern era, he has brought belief, professionalism, steel and determination that I have never seen as complete. I just believe we have a predictable set up , our forwards are all of the same caliber, very good footballers and unbelievable hard workers . Cillian has the ability to become a great one , he’s nearly there , I believe there’s even more there , that left and right sideline points in cork last year . I long for the day I see Adam Gallagher one side of him and Evan Regan the other , now that’s a hf line for the future that could do damage.
Congratulations to James Horan on the new baby, now that’s a busy man,
Manage a top team, manage to do his own job and still keep a house of little kids and a wife happy
Well done.
Don’t like saying this but I genuinely think Galway have great chance of beating Mayo in Conn Final.
They have in my view better forwards and Mayo do not seem to know their best team.
Beware folks- I hope Im wrong but form seldom lies.
Just to draw attention to an excellent tweet earlier by Club Mayo Sports – if we win the Connacht Final, in the quarters we will play one of:
Laois, Tipperary, Longford, Limerick, Wicklow, Sligo or
Loser of Ulster Final – one of Armagh/Donegal/Monaghan
Loser of Leinster Final – assuming Dublin win, then Kildare/Meath
Potential semi final opponent would be one of the above and the winner of Cork/Kerry Munster final.
Can’t make sense of draw at all as long as mayo get win over galway will be happy one game at a time also think that shane walsh could win ypoty and take it of mccaffery
Come again Cait?
Sorry for an offence caused can’t wait for c final should be a cracker.
I was just checking the betting for the All-Ireland Minor title, we are well down the list at 20/1. Galway are rated at 7/1. The top three teams are Kerry, Donegal and Dublin. Are our chances as bad as that I wonder, have we any hope of causing an upset against Galway minors next Saturday, will we have many starters from last year’s winning team?
Far from concerning ourselves with Kevin Mcloughlin and what his best position on the field might be, a far biggest challenge is how we get our centre field motoring again. Aidan, once a dominant force who lorded this area of the field and struck terror into the opposition looks to have lost a yard of pace and seems to tire very quickly. Maybe it’s time James bit the bullet and left Aidan on the bench for a while – having to fight for your place could make all the difference !!!
Digits i don’t think that tweet is right.
Loser of Ulster Final – one of Armagh/Donegal/Monaghan
Loser of Leinster Final – assuming Dublin win, then Kildare/Meath
Go into the B pot while Mayo having reached the Connacht final would be part of pot a and the most likely quarter final would be against the loser of the Munster final.
Hope Springs, I think there are seven of last year’s minor panel on board again this year. I’d be hoping some of last year’s crew will progress at U21 level now.
Can someone please explain the GAA’s reasoning for Pot A and Pot B and also, is it only a new thing? It must have completely passed me by last year if not….
trevor it is just this year that the pots have come into the qualifiers , i think the idea was to prevent teams meeting twice .
i dont think club mayo are correct though about the potential quarterfinals , i believe the pots will only exist until the qualifiers are over , then the four victors of the qualifiers will enter a draw for the quarters to be drawn against the four provincial winners , i am only assuming then that provincial finallists could not meet again , its a strange one this year.
Good point Mayo Mc Hale. Apart from the Donegal game last year, Seamus was the better midfielder throughout the championship, I felt. And again the last day against the Rossies when we badly needed to be driven on, Seamus was the man in the engine room. Aiden seems to be almost playing like a defensive midfielder.
You’d wonder whether he has the legs and mobility to play midfield, particularly in Croker and now that people have seen how the Dubs kept him out of the game, others will do likewise.
With the return of Gibbons and the serious form he has shown throughout the league and Barry Moran fit again, midfield competition looks healthy.
I wouldn’t mind to see Seamus and Gibbons play midfield and push Aiden forward into that problematic number 11 shirt.
Thanks a mill for that Roger
I’ve tried to understand the sorta premeditated draw of sorts, I obviously got it wrong though. This is what I thought going by a tweet I seen .
Mayo v Galway ….Mayo win
Cork v Kerry….Kerry win
Both Galway and Cork win there qualifier.
Q/f pairings. Mayo v Cork and Kerry v Galway
Semi final Mayo v Galway
Final Mayo v Dublin
Champions ……Mayo
@Anne-Marie, thanks for that, hopefully those 7 lads will add some experience to this year’s crew. Its a big game for them, if they lose then their season is over. With Galway having played a game already, it will be a tough one for the Mayo Minors. We are the current All-Ireland Champions at this grade so you’d hope that we can put up a good defence of this tile.
@Trevor, as far as I know the reasoning behind the A and B pots is to have a more stream-lined championship. In the past some teams had to wait 7 or 8 weeks for a qualifier game while others might have only a 1 or 2 week break. So the idea is that all teams will have at most a 4 or 5 week break between games. Its meant to allow County Boards to be better able to organise their Club games too, as teams have a better idea of when their qualifier games will be played.
What’s all this knocking of Aidan O’Shea about?
Was anyone at the league match against Dublin? He was awesome. Completely obliterated Dublin. Michael Dara who, Cian… something or other – he swatted them.
He may need to be replaced after 60 minutes, but so what? That’s what we have a panel for; in any case he lasted a hard game against Ros pretty well.
Management may well be adopting a policy of gradual peaking with him – to have him in top condition for later in the year – if we get to later in the year that is, which is by no means a given, but it would seem to be the policy of the top teams – look at Dublin, Cork, Kerry, even Donegal.
This is high risk area of course and leaves teams vulnerable to up and coming outfits
Trying to make sense of the qualifiers thing. Here’s the best I can make of it…
My assumptions: Mayo to beat Galway, Cork to beat Kerry. This would leave Mayo playing the winner of round 4A in the quarter-final. Round 4A would then be:
Galway v 3A winner
Kerry v 3A winner
Round 3A is made up of:
Round 2A winner v Round 2A winner
Round 2A winner v Round 2A winner
So here’s Round 2A as things stand:
TBC v Limerick
TBC v Laois
TBC v Longford
TBC v Wicklow
And for reference, here’s Round 2B:
TBC v Carlow/Waterford (we’ll know which one by Saturday night)
TBC v Tyrone/Louth (we’ll know which one by Saturday night)
TBC v Cavan/Westmeath (we’ll know which one by Saturday night)
TBC v Down/Leitrim (we’ll know which one by Sunday night)
I assume the 8 losing provincial semi-finalists will make up the ‘TBC’s above. They are:
Roscommon
Sligo
Clare
Tipperary
Antrim
Armagh/Monaghan (Ulster semi, this coming Saturday)
Kildare/Meath (Leinster semi, this coming Sunday)
Wexford/Dublin (Leinster semi, this coming Sunday)
So come Monday we should have a much clearer idea of what’s happening here. I assume that the GAA will want to keep teams from the same province apart as long as possible too…
Re new backdoor.
It is a complete load of BS. The main reason (excuse) given was that it would allow the beaten provincial finalists more than a week to recover, therefore the pre scheduled Q/finals draws like we currently have.
The futility of it all will be evident over the next month, especially in the “A” group, with all due respect to other teams involved, the Q/finals on Sunday August 3rd will be Mayo/Galway V Kerry/Cork, pretty novel pairings don’t you think. When the world cup hype dies down, some informed media pundits, (an oxymoron I know) will latch on to it.
It reeks of overkill/panic when trying to solve a simple problem, by making it worse. In footballing terms, it reminds me of John Maughan’s efforts at replacing Dermot Flanagan in the All Ireland final in 1997.
The simple solution would be to play all championship games to a conclusion. It is something I have been saying for years, there is little or no excuse at this point, other than extra revenues. With all the excellent marketing of our games and concerts etc, paying off stadiums,this argument is nowhere near as strong as it was. What other sport I ask, allows their penultimate game, i.e. All-Ireland final to be a draw, I know tradition etc, but remember 40 years ago you still had the bishop, parish priest, local TD’s throwing in the ball and then hightailing it to the sideline. It would also eliminate all the issues surround club football or the lack thereof. If the NFL in the US, can draw up a fixed schedule six months ahead of time, surely the GAA can. It would also allow a potential open draw/other championship format, while also keeping provincial championships.
Not to completely digress, but I was watching the end of the Tipperary V Limerick hurling game with my 15 year old daughter on line last month, just as the games finished , Ger Canning announced “and now Limerick go on to meet the winners of Cork and Clare in the Munster final in six weeks time” My daughter said “did he just say six weeks”, I said “yes honey”, her response “that’s insane”, my response “you are right”.
No need to say anymore.
No player should be above criticism if and when it’s warranted, and this goes for all members of the panel. We all know what an influential player Aidan can be and no better sight than seeing him in full flow. It’s just of late that spark seems to be missing, bringing him off the bench at a crucial stage in a tight match would surely be a plus, as no team would fancy seeing a player of Aidan’s ability coming on in the last twenty minutes. It should also be noted that we have three or four very good midfielders who could benefit greatly from getting the nod from James to start a game and if nothing else, would keep the opposition guessing.
Galway have greatly improved from last year. From round four of this year’s league they defeated Down and Armagh drew away to Louth and in their final game lost by one point away to Monaghan played the last fifteen minutes with fourteen men and they had no Shane Walsh.They defeated London in Ruislip by nineteen points (Kevin McStay predicted that Galway were vunerable going into that game) They were very impressive away to Sligo without Paul Conroy and James Kavanagh and Armstrong, Conroy has just returned from injury he is a very good footballer. How can Liam McHale justifiy the following headline from his column in the Western People ” Galway are too naive to trouble Mayo just yet”. Mayo will have to be at their best to defeat Galway on the 13th July, the warning signs are there I hope they are heeded
joemamas, I’d certainly agree with you re. replays. In championship, there just shouldn’t be any. I’d go further and say we have 32 counties (not including NY, London) – why not just ape the Champions League/World Cup format? I know it would mean dropping the provincial championships but it is just ridiculous that:
– Mayo play their first game in a 7-team competition at the start of May and it takes another two months plus to play two more games!
– Some teams will get out of their province with 2 games (e.g. Cork/Kerry in 2014) while others will need 4 (e.g. Donegal 2012)
Split the country into 8 groups of 4. 3 matches in each group (which should quieten those who whinge about ‘9 months of training for 1 match’ etc.) – then a round of 16, QFs, SFs, final. No replays. No back-door messing around: when it’s knockout, it’s knockout.
And it should be more than possible to get all this done between June and end of August. Apart from anything else, that would help club football get its championships on the road before the autumn.
If there really have to be provincial championships, have them as stand-alone competitions early in the year instead of FBD, O’Byrne Cup etc.
Getting a bit worried by McHale and his column in Western People. Hes obviously trying to make a name for himself by making controversial comments. He made some idiot of himself last year with his comments about Ger Brennan before AIF. Brennan then had a great match scoring a crucial point in the second half. Respect please Liam for both players and counties . I used to be annoyed when people didn’t respect him when he was playing for Mayo. Its enough to have some of the clowns on The Sunday Game showing disrespect to individual players and the counties they play for without someone from our own county doing something similar. Galway should be respected because they are an improving team and also have beaten us on many occasions in the past when we were hot favourites to beat them, 1990 , 1998 and 2005 spring to mind. In each of those years we had played in AIF the previous year..
While he contributed as a player and I respect that, Mchale should keep quite. In his column a few weeks ago, Tomas a Se mentioned the Mayo team leaving Knock on Way to an all-ireland final to play Kerry, and how someone was wearing shorts and Mayo looked like they were going on holidays, guess who.
Unfortunately there is not much the ordinary Joe on the street can do about the likes of Mchale, Maughan, Brady and other past players, managers and so called experts blowing their trumpets how they want.
Perhaps a strongly worded letter into the western by a fan would help although as far as I can see it’s up to the likes of the county board to speak to these guys and ask them why they belittle the likes of Galway and Roscommon.
We all know it doesn’t help the cause but really someone in power should make more of an effort to come out and have strong words against reports with these sort of comments.
I remember Ger Brennan doing an interview on the radio after last year’s All-Ireland final, he said something like (We do our talking on the field). I wonder who he was referring to when he said that, I reckon he had Liam McHale in mind when he said that. We’d like to see Management and Players learn from their mistakes. Surely its time for former Mayo Players who are now pundits learn from their mistakes too.
Agree completely with posters re McHale. Is it a Ballina thing? McHale, Brady? Opposing managers must view them as a Godsend.
James H as usual gets it right. Galway improving and have good players. Sligo at home no pushover no matter what. And last year is last year.
I didn’t like how McHale dismissed Galway either not that I am a fan of the cautious self-effacing platitudes we often get in the run into big games. I DO like someone who puts their neck on the line from time to time.
One thing is absolutely certain – there will be no 17 point victory for Mayo this time around. One point would satisfy me just fine thanks very much.
Galway are proud people when it comes to football and they will do their damndest to avenge the terrible shame of last year in Pearse stadium. Believe you me. And we will need to be very wary indeed. I reckon we will win but if there is any hint of complacency we could get the finest kick in the arse since Fr. Ted did the business on the bishop!
I foolishly predicted a big win for Mayo in the Hyde – and if I’m not mistaken JH himself was thinking along similar lines but boy did we learn a lesson that day. A lesson I hope we do not forget too easily – that any team on the day can throw a big ugly spanner in the works!
Any upsets this weekend in the leister semi finals can Kildare dethrone dublin
I hope Meath defeat Kildare because they have less fear and are more likely to put it up to Dublin in the final.
Anyone know what happened to Adam Gallagher?
He was impressive in the opening games in the league.
I presume he got injured?
I recall a report before the Roscommon game where JH and some of the panel were expecting a big battle at the Hyde and to scrape a win at the end. We need to be fair to everybody in hindsight. Very few people were expecting it to be easy
Cringe article from McHale…thankfully the team won’t be taking Galway lightly but former Mayo players have a habit of hyping us up and giving fuel to the opposition. In a game of inches, every little helps.
Could we not just annex Ballina into Sligo which obviously would solve all our short comings on capturing SAM??
Maybe it would also have the effect of quieting the Rossies on the whole Ballagh thing too!!
Maybe it would also open up the full back slot for Seami O Shea as well which was being touted for by many during the league??
( Applogies for my childish tongue in cheek post but I just want to put our worries about Laim McHale/DB’s rambling in the media into context).
Exactly Crete boom, it’s not worth worrying about what Liam McHale says in his article .
It’s obvious there are a few bucks out there who fancy the Mayo job when Horan decides to leave and some of these bucks seem to think if they oppose a few things Horan does through media , this is goin to give them licence to say if Mayo don’t win Sam ” ahh I told ye where he was goin wrong” .
As for Brady, I just find him comical, so does most of his colleagues as far as I can make out from the pink g string to his Walkie talkie whisper last year, he’s a bit whacko if ya ask me.
Sport physcology has moved on quite a bit in the last 10 years, if Galway players need quotes from a couple of ex Mayo has-been’s to rile themselves up for a connaught final, then there is something quite wrong in there camp. It doesnt really matter what they say, it is’nt going to make them want to beat us anymore than they already do.
agree totally Juan.This dressing room motivation totally hyped up.Dont think Brennans point in AIF had anything to do with comments made.This type of motivation is largely irrelevant now.God knows Mayo being written off in All Irelands is proof of that.
Far more important is getting the match ups right and frankly we have been poor at that in the past.James needs to work on this or we will go on losing in All Irelands.
Best of luck to the Mayo Minors this weekend in Tuam. My Galway friends tell me they are expecting big things from their team this year. Connacht Minor teams play against Ulster champions and runners up in the quarter finals. The overall betting is Galway at 7 – 1, Mayo and Roscommon at 20 – 1, and Leitrim at 33 -1. Mayo have 3 lads from last years team with a further 3 from last years panel.
The days of the manager putting his fist through the dressing room door, screaming until he is blue in the face and putting mugshots of your opponent up on the walls is long gone. If any side needs that type of motivation then they are half beaten already.
It’s tactics and skill levels that win games, not passion.
Pebblesmeller…completely disagree. In a game where inches decide the outcome, giving additional motivation to an already motivated opponent is just plain stupid imho.
Good luck to the Mayo Minors, there is a link below to a preview of their game against Galway on Saturday evening.
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/2606140932-electric-ireland-minor-football-previews/
That which players use to motivate and drive themselves to succeed is many and varied in the modern day county lads. But the power that passion brings cannot be underestimated. If Galway hurlers play with the same amount of passion on Saturday as Andy Smith did last Sunday then might they beat a tactically stronger Kilkenny outfit? They might. If Limerick play with the same passion as they did last year when they face a Cork team with much more technical ability in the Munster Final might they win? They might. And if Galway footballers play with the same passion as Tipperary footballers did last week when they play us on July 13th might they succeed. Lets hope not but don’t rule out the influence it might bring to it.
I couldn’t disagree more pebblesmeller.
When it comes to winning matches, Passion will always be the catalyst that makes the tactics and skill levels relevant. All the tactics and skill levels in the world will be rendered impotent unless they are bolstered by passion and spirit.
Sorry about that pebblesmeller me own skill levels are lacking.
I am responding to your comment, “It’s tactics and skill levels that win games, not passion.”
Im sure all the Mayo teams that have contested finals have had all the passion in the world…why would’nt they? But it still never got us over the line Joe.
all this hunger , passion , fire in the belly etc etc talk is overdone imo. its the difference between 2 similar teams , its not enough to turn a poor team into a great team , only proper coaching and good management can do that.
Yes I agree this particular egg is well over cooked. Speaking about eggs, the pot and water are neccesary for sure but it’s the fire under the eggs hole that will makes it boil.
I think I’ll have a boiled egg and watch reruns of Costa Rica’s, USA and Chile’s recent games and then get back to the vacumme.
Two big matches on this weekend where tactics, no small amount skill and a good helping of passion should all be in evidence. The winners of these two matches (Monaghan and Kildare for me) will surely be a handful for some of the more fancied teams before the year is out – well worth a watch….
MAYO MINOR FOOTBALL TEAM – V’S – GALWAY 26/06/2014
The All-Ireland Minor Football Champions Mayo open their 2014 Minor Football Championship campaign when they travel to Tuam Stadium this coming Saturday evening 28th June where they will take on Galway in the Electric Ireland Connacht GAA Minor Football Championship Semi-Final. Throw-In time is 5.30p.m. Mayo Minor Team Manager Enda Gilvarry has selected the strongest possible side for this clash as the loosers will exit the competition. Only one player from last years starting All-Ireland Minor Football Final, Sean Conlon, remains in the side along with Conor Byrne who came on as a sub in last years Final. Cian Hanley of Ballaghaderreen who was injured for last years final captains the team. The Mayo Minor Football Team to face Galway is as follows:
1
Matthew Flanagan
Balla
2
Mikey Barrett
Belmullet
3
Barry Duffy
Balla
4
Eoin O Donoghue
Belmullet
5
Jason Forkan
Kiltimagh
6
Sean Conlon
Castlebar
7
Conor Kilkenny
Aughamore
8
Gary Walsh
Breaffy
9
Matthew Ruane
Breaffy
10
Sharoize Akram
Ballaghderreen
11
Cian Hanley (Capt)
Ballaghderreen
12
Oisin Horan
Kilmovee
13
Conor Byrne
Moy Davitts
14
T J Byrne
Kiltimagh
15
Brian Reape
Moy Davitts
16
Scott Kilker
Belmullet
17
Stephen Brennan
Claremorris
18
Dylan Cannon
Breaffy
19
Gary McHale
Balla
20
Keith Hopkins
Crossmolina
21
David Hanley
Burrishoole
22
Fionan Duffy
Crossmolina
23
Liam Byrne
Moy Davits
24
Jack Reilly
Charlestown
Will be there.
These lads deserve support.Great to see Hanley as capt.He is real talent with great future.Needs to be minded and brought on.Not sure Mayo all that good at doing this.Throwing young lads onto team for experience and forgetting about others is not the best way I feel.
Interesting how Meath believe in serious consultation among management team.That is good imo.
mayo only wins minor titles with Kiltane men in the team.. 🙂
actually that holds for the seniors as well 🙂
Fantastic to see young Oisin Horan named. Hon the shamrocks.
Best of luck to our minors tomorrow evening. Let’s hope they can defend the title with the same attacking play and belief that saw them win it in the first place. These are our future stars and deserve our support as much as the seniors.
Reigning All Ireland champions.
Hon Mayo.
The very best of luck to our minors tomorrow evening. Here’s hoping to see a big crowd making their way to Tuam to cheer on our All Ireland champions ! Give ’em hell lads !!
One thing that I really admired about our Minor team last year, was that they never let any set-back get them down. They just came back down the field and kicked on usually getting a score themselves, if they conceded one to the opposition team, especially at important times in the game. That is a very good sign of a well managed team. Lets hope to see some more of that this year. If they can win tomorrow then they will be guaranteed at least two more games, if they lose, their season is over. So this is a very big game for them, best of luck to all involved.
Mayobornandbred,
Tell us more about Meath’s management consultation, please. As far as I can see Meath have done so much chopping and changing of senior management since Boylan retired that it’s difficult to see much consultation and they have been flirting with Div 3 more than threatening to gain promotion to Div 1. At underage whatever may be happening does not seem to be bringing much results either.
Good luck to our minors. Unfortunately I will not be able to see them but here’s hoping for Connacht Final day. A double would be nice.
Good piece in today’s indo from tomas o se about kerry fans . Worth reading as they sound very much like some mayo fans On their reading of games we have played this year
Get to tuam tday! This is a very important game
Super win by minors.Dug it out…edge of seat stuff.Smashing.
Absolutely brilliant stuff by our minors this evening. They looked completely out of their depth against a Galway team that looked like they were going to run away with it in the first half. I thought the penalty call was a little fortuitous to be honest but it gave us a lifeline going in at half time only 3pts behind. But what a turnaround in the second half – our mid field were heroic. They Galway red card certainly did not help their cause but credit to our lads for their superb running play and their perseverance in grinding out the goals. A couple of players really caught the eye this evening – really looking forward to seeing what they can do in the connacht final. Gilvarry is a very shrewd manager and I thought he played the extra man very well in defense. To come out of Tuam with a victory against a very fancied Halway team was a massive achievement. Well done lads!!
I was in a great position to see the penalty call and it was definitely fisted on the ground by a Galway defender. Without doubt a penalty.
Apart from that we were hugely fortunate to be still in the game by HT. Galway hit 3 goal attempts wide but the breeze began to pick up as HT approached and when we scored the penalty we actually dominated the final 5 mins of the half but didn’t take any further scores. Squandering two easy close in frees (needs to be seriously addressed for conn final).
Galway scored first pt of 2nd and got a few soft ish frees in that 3rd quarter but we closed the gap and started to win more possession in middle third. Galways influencial midfielder red carded, Mayo’s equalising goal came soon after.
Galway replied with a counter attack goal but we went back up and got another.
Mayo finished better and got the dinner but will certainly need to improve.
Hugely impressed by Mayo spirit and hunger. This was our 1st championship match and hopefully they’ll get better.
Haha! Dinner. Obv I meant ‘winner’ but it ties in well with Mayo’s ‘hunger ‘!