Photo: Irish Times
A number of you have been chatting away today about Galway’s team for tomorrow, which was named earlier on today. If you haven’t seen it yet, full details of the team they’ve announced for the match are here.
There’s no sign as yet of our team for this opening fixture of the year (throw-in time 2pm) but, hey, it is only the FBD League so it’s possible we won’t name a team in advance at all. In any event, at this stage there’s not long to do ’till tomorrow’s throw-in.
The only notification about the game from Mayo GAA today comes in the form of this missive via Twitter:
Fans are advised that there will be restricted access to the main stand in MacHale Park tomorrow.
Following last Tuesday’s storm some lights & seats were damaged. A small section of the stand will be closed, fans are asked to cooperate with stewards are all times tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/CX7srZkdLA— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) January 6, 2018
This announcement goes some way towards explaining that odd claim the other day that the match was off. It turns out that Storm Eleanor did some damage to the place alright, though clearly not enough to stop the game going ahead.
Best of luck to the Mayo team tomorrow. Really looking forward to seeing some new faces represent the green and red.
Are the Mayo U17s starting their campaign tomorrow as well
Peter Cooke has been giving us problems at underage the last few years at midfield, last year at U21 level even with Matthew Ruane playing. I don’t see this as a weak Galway team. I believe Mayo can send out a strong team as well, with some of the speedy youngsters to get a run in the second half like Oisin McLaughlin, Ryan O Donoghue, Jodan Flynn , Nathan Moran who are all illegible for the U20s
I would go with
Padraig o Malley
Kevin Keane. Ger McDonagh Stephen Duffy
Michael Plunkett Michael Hall Sharoize Akram
Matthew Ruane Jason Gibbons
Nial Douglas Alan Freeman Adam Gallagher
Brian Reape. James Carr Ciaran Tracey
Seamus Cunniffe might get a look in at fullback it will be a tough fight with Ger McDonagh, Peter Naughton will have to fight it out with Tracey for a corner forward spot. I see must of the team hanging for the entire FBD campaign but the youngsters would have to do something special to climb up the ladder when the main panel comes back. I’m not sure if Barry or Andy Moran or David Clarke will be available tomorrow, for me they would be better off resting up and give these guys the test they need.
Mayomessi I agree that Andy David and Barry should be rested as we already know what they have to offer. Best wishes to the lads today who ever gets the opportunity. Looking forward to getting back on the road.
Barry Moran could do with games from the bench as he hasnt had much game time the last two years at county level. He seems fitter, could be an impact sub role this year.
I think Ger Mc is at this point a long way ahead of other fullback options, he’s bigger/stronger than Seamus Cunniffe and has more football played than Kevin Keane.
Peter Naughton I hope they retain looking to 2019, him being stronger a great prospect.
I think Patrick OMalley is the future reserve goalie.
Ciaran Treacy I think will benefit big time from the training and be retained. Looking at his speed and ability we need him.
Mayo, SF v Galway
FBD League, Elverys MacHale Park, Castlebar
Sunday, January 7, 2018
1. David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites, captain);
2. Steven Dufy (Crossmolina Deel Rovers);
3. Kevin Keane (Westport);
4. Jamie Oates (Garrymore);
5. Michael Plunkett (Ballintubber);
6. Michael Hall (Breaffy);
7. Sharoize Akram (Ballaghaderreen);
8. Mattie Ruane (Breaffy)
9. Jason Gibbons (Ballintubber);
10. Fionn McDonagh (Westport);
11. Neil Douglas (Castlebar Mitchels);
12. Adam Gallagher (Mayo Gaels)
13. Ryan O’Donoghue (Belmullet);
14. Brian Reape (Moy Davitts);
15. Peter Naughton (Knockmore)
Thanks Willie Mac.
That must be the youngest side Mayo has togged in the modern era.
Looking forward to that full forward line of ODonoghue Reape Naughton.
Me too. Is that the halfback line from the U21 winning team?
Was the half back line for the U21 semi-final against Dublin. Hall and Akram played the wings for most of their games. Plunkett played in half forward line in final. Best of luck to Kevin Keane on his return to action today.
I really like the look of that team. It would genuinely fill you with confidence to see the kind of talent we can put out when our entire squad is on holidays!
Hugely important in my opinion that Clarkey
is starting behind that full back line, with KK at full back it will be invaluable experience for the young lads around them.
Can’t wait! Up Mayo!
Half back line Akram Coen Hall sometimes. Surprised to see Keane in from the start I was expecting him to be a sub.
What are Ger McDonagh’s chances of making the championship squad?
A big, strong full back is surely something Mayo could do with on their panel?
Like the lineup, I believe Jamie Oates last game for Mayo was in a minor league lost to long ford in 2014. Best of luck to him and the rest of the debutants. It’s tha audition that some of these players need. Full forward line is interesting, Half back line will be busy today. Galway very big up the middle. Looking forward to it
I think McDonagh should be on the championship panel this year. Keane and Cafferkey have had serious injuries over the last 2 seasons and we’ve yet to see if either have recovered fully.
The one thing I like to praise Rochford in this panel selection as its the first time for me anyway that a group like this has ever been brought together. Most interesting mike Solan has been praised for bringing in players that didn’t represent Mayo at minor but he selected them in his U21 panels yet Tracey was U21 in 2016 and Oates and Naughton were both U21 in 2017 but none made his U21 panels in either year. This panel has been picked on merit as these players amongst others have stood out in the club championship. Looking forward to it and hoping some forwards step up to the plate.
Mayomessi I my opinion we have always made a big mistake of picking our U21 team from looking backwards at U18 U16 squads. Big mistake. How many times have I watched 20 year olds shine for their senior team that had nothing to do with the underage county structure.
Good looking starting 15, and hopefully bench will be given game time. Barry Moran capable of making impact. Hopefully we can get plenty of ball to lethal looking FF Line.
Best of luck to this Mayo Team and I hope that they will see further action in the FBD league as there are some seriously good players here
They need more than one outing to show what they have to offer
I hope that young Tracey from Ballina Stephenites gets a run at corner forward as he is a good distributor and excellent scorer but needs to bulk up a fair bit.
Happy New Year to all and also a successful one to our wonderful team and management
Congrats to Tom Maughan on his appointment as President of the County Board
I soldiered with Tom and Ardnaree in the sixties.
@PJ, very valid point re u21 selection. Clubs know best and should be nominating players for an u20 panel. Hughes I’m balance in the amount of money spent on senior team in comparison to underage development. Did the Martin Carney report ever get to publication. Anyone familiar with the findings/recommendations?
Could be a big crowd today. Don’t aim to get to pitch at 1.55 pm and expect to stroll in. Get there early.
Very excited for da nxt 3 games.
Regardless of underage appearances most have performed really well in club football ovr da past couple of years. And the standard of club football is very high in mayo. Castlebar a bit a head if the rest at snr but mayo clubs have win numerous connaught titles at junior and intermediate over last number if years and made All Ireland Finals on occasions. The age profile of this squad is excellent for development and from talking to a few of them the training is from a completely different world which will only benefit them all and will sort the men from da boys.
And for those who make it past FBD in to national league dere is da small matter of training wit the likes of Keegan Boyler Higgins etc on a weekly basis so best of luck.
Regardless of wat we see ovr nxt few games and even months most important thing is patience…….
It’s All about May 13th.
Enjoy the year and safe travels to all.
Game delayed hour an hour after pitch inspection. Officials waiting to see if ground conditions will improve due to frost on pitch.
Referee Paddy Neilan is inspecting the MacHale Park pitch at the moment with Connacht GAA Council officials. We’re hearing that he feels the surface is not playable right now due to frost overnight. Inspection due again around 2pm. #mayogaa #GAA https://t.co/qBucE51BZa
Mayo news just tweeted this
The FBD LEAGUE MATCH BETWEEN MAYO AND GALWAY CALLED OFF
Match Cancelled
Frozen pitch
Based on the twitter feed looks like it’s been postponed. Sorry to hear that for everyone who made the trip out!
UNPLAYABLE PITCH
Damn winter.
What a joke, if pitch was unplayable at 1pm then it wasnt going to improve by 2pm. Pitch should have been inspected at 1and decision made. They were still selling tickets at 1:50 when I arrived. Im 5mins away from McHale Park so im not put out that much but people travelled large distances. Adequate notice should have been given much sooner. Not good enough Mayoga.
i agree with mayomad its not rocket science to know if the pitch was unplayable at 1pm ,the game should have been called off why did they wait till 1pm to inspect the pitch it should have been inspected at 12 noon.i rest my case
Very disappointing that officials havent the cop on to check a pitch at 11/12 o clock and make a decision..Supporters on both sides deserve better.
Yes match should have been called off earier in the day, lots of people traveled far distances for that game today! Wed 17th is when it will be replayed now i hear.
Its a con btw, again youll get people giving you all sorts of fake seemingly plausible reasons but there is no genuine excuse to not having an early morning pitch inspection other than its a con, no refunds, a free entry to the next fbd . Zzzzzzzzzzz
Absolute joke.How was the pitch going to be playable if they done inspection at 1pm .They take our money anyway .
Yep decision could have been made as late as noon in time to prevent Galway and some Mayo supporters from traveling. Public announcement could have started with an apology and imo refixed game should be free to all rather than the further inconvenience of asking supporters to join long cues for tickets.. very amateurish performance by officials
Don’t know maybe not that fair blaming mayo gaa is the fbd league not a connacht council gig. Agree it should have been inspected and called off earlier, it seems they preferred to leave it and take people’s money a lot of people wouldn’t bother with the hassle of going out through the turnstiles and queuing I know I didn’t bother I was frozen having been sat in the stand since 125.
Fundraising for a bigger diamond for Prenty’s ear ring !!
Might serve them right. Surely Mayo should take ONE game out of MacHale Park.
I dont know what people are giving out about .everybody should have known this game was not going to be played today with the frost in castlebar last night.The GAA are all about the money.that is why they did not call off the game ,they knew a good crowd would turn up and everybody knows that the gaa do not do refunds if matches are called off late. thats my rant over .
When I was leaving, one of the teams was training on the back pitch. Now surely this must have been unplayable as well. The reason given for game postponement was player safety. There was no consideration give to supporter safety on the way out with the crush for refunds. I saw a few people getting very heated about only a ticket refund. Connacht Council have made a big error again. They contiue to treat fans poorly. The irony is that Salthill is playable, there were doubts about Castlebar all week, wind damage, too much rain and now frozen pitch.
Jimbo, its not for the supporters to know if a game is going ahead or not. If no official word is given through radio announcement of social media then supporters are entitled to believe the game is going ahead.
While I would understand waiting until the last minute to make a decision if it was a league of championship game, I really cant understand why a decision wasnt made earlier in the day over a meaningless pre season friendly. There was no reason why this game couldnt have been called off at midday.
What really sticks in the craw is the fact they were taking in money right up until throw in time then offering a refund in the form of a ticket to the next match which is I believe is on Wednesday when alot of people wont be available to attend. This is very poor form from both Mayo and Connacht boards. The very least they could do is offer a money back refund, the cash was right there in the ticket offices.
Who is going to refund all the petroel money. It’s one joke saying no cash refund for tickets but there are other expenses incurred as.well.
Last night’s temperatures were forecast almost a week ago. This match should have been called off no later than Thursday. I feel sorry for.all that travelled from both counties today.
It’s also ideal weather to force major injuries on players. Poor start to our year.
Farcical setup from the Connacht council today but not surprised.