All roads lead to Dr Hyde Park for this afternoon’s top-of-the-table National League Division One meeting between ourselves and Roscommon. The game throws in at 2.45pm, Kildare’s Brendan Cawley is the ref and it’s being shown live on TG4.
Although neither of us can yet be mathematically sure that we’ll even be playing Division One football again next year, both of us are, after four rounds of League football, the form sides in the top tier this spring. We’re heading into this afternoon’s meeting in joint top spot on six points, though we’re the ones who enjoy the better points difference.
Much has been made in advance about who really wants to win today, in light both of where it leaves the victors – shock, horror: it could mean a League final date at HQ on Fool’s Day for them – but also mindful that, in five short weeks from today, on Easter Sunday to be precise, these two teams will square up again, only this time in the Connacht SFC quarter-final.
The League is a great competition but the current scheduling for its final, rammed unceremoniously up against the start of the Championship, is both an insult to the tournament itself and to the teams competing in it. There’s no way any county team should be asked to take part in a Division One final seven days before playing their first Championship game.
It’s utterly insane that ourselves and the Rossies are in this position, doubly insane that we could even end up playing each other in the League final a week before meeting again in the provincial Championship. Were that to come to pass, then the only sensible option would be to double the fixture up and decide both in the one game.
I thought the debate about this very issue on the Final Whistle pod this week was extremely illuminating. Former Rossie captain Seánie McDermott gave a really interesting insight into how Roscommon might be thinking at this juncture and how, in particular, they could now well be opting to prioritise getting to a League final and winning the thing outright.
Were they to do this it would be their first League title success since 1979 and only their second ever. Seen in this light, the attraction for them is obvious.
By contrast, we’ve twelve NFL titles, winning it as recently as 2019 and we know from last year what it’s like to end up in a final you don’t really want to be in. In that sense, there’s much to be said for seeking to dodge that particular bullet.
But is there? As Stephen Drake noted on the same pod, momentum is a strange beast and you mess with it at your peril. We know that all too well from last year too.
I’d agree strongly with the lads on the pod – the only option today for both teams is to go for it. The season is an extremely condensed one, with no outstanding team anywhere in sight, and the momentum that can be taken into the Championship from a successful League campaign will be more important than ever.
With big home wins over Kerry and Tyrone in our last two matches, we’re coming into this one on a bit of a roll. They hit a bump last weekend up in Clones, but their home form has been excellent this year and the Rossies never, ever, fear us.
With a big crowd expected, this one has the makings of a cracking encounter, as no doubt the corresponding Connacht Championship meeting, back in Castlebar, will too. Both teams will fight tooth and nail for victory when they meet in April and I get the feeling that neither of them will be in any mood to take a step back today as well.
From our perspective, we’ll be looking for another organised display at the back, preferably with another clean sheet, dominance from our big men around the middle and plenty of mayhem up front. If we get all that, then there’s every chance we’ll be sitting pretty at the top of the Division One table tonight, with one foot planked in the League final.
Here’s to another step in that direction today, here’s to a third win on the spin in this year’s spring campaign. Let’s drive it on today. Up Mayo.
Adult ticket going to spare. Would ask that whoever takes it makes a donation of the face value (or more) to the “together for Ger” gofundme or to Irish motor neuron disease association. Or both if you are so inclined.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Byrne, Tommy, Paddy and Cillian started today.
Although I hope they aren’t at this messing with team listings nonsense, as if it makes a difference to opposition.
Regardless of this I’ll go Mayo -5, should have to much for them.
Don’t give in to the not wanting get to final, management have us far ahead of most other teams at this time of year, why wouldn’t you try and win it?
Championship not far away for us, Likes of Dublin do not need to be primed until around June the way Leinster is.
“The League is a great competition but the current scheduling for its final, rammed unceremoniously up against the start of the Championship, is both an insult to the tournament itself and to the teams competing in it.”
Couldn’t sum it up any better for such a great competition. Its a national title thats hard won and would be a major honour for any team or player to win.
Hard to believe its only 5 weeks til championship.
Rain has just started here in Roscommon. Nothing major yet. Up Mayo.???
There won’t be too many changes today.
The most thing I’d like today to see is another clean sheet. Kerry built last season’s success on doing that and we’ve been fairly tight without seeming impenetrable whereas Kerry didn’t really look like conceding last year. A very tight defensive structure means we’ll always be there or there about. Our personnel isn’t as strong as last year in defence but while not appearing totally watertight we seem a bit more organised so long May it continue. If can we get a mindset of no goals tolerable into these new lads heads. Kerry proved last year that’s achievable. Throughout our great run in the 10’s we usually shipped more goals than scored. The last two weeks turned the tables on that stat and would like to see it become the norm.
Think Mayo will win well a rose tinted 10 plus !
No doubting this will be our toughest game so far.
I fully expect Roscommon to come charging out of the gate and we are in for intensity and physicality in equal measures this afternoon.
A real test for us but one we should relish.
Whatever 15 lines out we will have game changers on the bench and that could be the difference coming up the stretch.
We have seen in the last few games the difference that goals make. We need to keep our own back door locked and make sure we Mind the House at all times.
This is more of a test for management than the team. We are on a roll and should be confident going in. But we have to respect Roscommon. The balance between the two will determine the result. Management have a job of preparation to keep the lads confident but also grounded. It will also be a test of character which I think this team has in spades. Mayo by 3.
@Ros Town, before I put on my wellington’s,..do you think it’s too late to have the match switched to Castlebar where its positively tropical?..I was actually thinking that I might need a touch of factor 15 to avoid the Roscommon Sun burn…Ah I seriously doubt now that it will be switched to balmy Castlebar , looks like it’s the wellington’s and oil skin’s for the Hyde..I hope that it’s not like the League Game in 2016 when there was no need for the Maor Uisce on the pitch but Life Gaurd wouldn’t have gone amiss!
Great post @shuffley deck.. we always had good defenders… combined with an improved structure, should mean we might even get down to a 12 point concession average per game, we can score at least! 13 points in every game and goals make that even easier… up Mayo the gift that keeps on giving!
Great post @shuffley deck.. we always had good defenders… combined with an improved structure, should mean we might even get down to a 12 point concession average per game, we can score at least! 13 points in every game and goals make that even easier… up Mayo the gift that keeps on giving!
Best spot for some parking today ?
Best of luck to team and management today,I am extremely confident today I expect about an eight points margin for us, that said even though I that people on the border find it hard to shout for each other ,I have no problem with shouting for any of our neighbours when they represent our province,hopefully a great game with no injuries to either team and a good referee,safe travels to all enjoy our success because I am old enough to remember the bad days of the seventies,thank you again Willie Joe it is the most intelligent and informative site out there
Ticket for todays game for €20 I will meet at venue for further details text on WhatsApp at 0879190750
https://twitter.com/MayoGAA/status/1632366278324150272?t=wbR_x76SLj_tQabgerztHQ&s=19 panel for today
Good luck today guys you can do it tough test but fully believe you can do it but certanily am not underestimating the Rossies! Strong bench has been named also and same team from the Tyrone game.
All level from Tyrone & kerry game which shows that mayo are definetly still ahead of kerry in terms of fitness and that.
Hoping for a good game and no injuries from either side !
Strong bench
Looking like Paul towey will struggle to get game time this campaign. I’d love to see him get a full game but I guess we’ll have to trust management
Mayo going well so far but if any team can put a stop their gallop, it’s Roscommon. They will have aright go at Mayo today & it should be a cracker of a game. I think there is little or nothing between these teams. If Mayo ease up in second half & Roscommon push for a home win, it will be tense. Come on Mayo.
Tyrone have really upped the intensity since last weekend
Lots of changes just announced cillian o connor , Tommy conroy , Rory Byrne and padraig o hora all to start lets hope Rory Byrne holds up in goals.
JR proven to be correct on his predictions with multiple changes to starting line up …. What is that about?
And as I expected Byrne, Tommy, Paddy and Cillian starting.
Guess its good to give them game time and hope they go ok all amazing players and great to see them back but they might be a bit rusty ?..would have thought to get going and stay safe in first half then after this game change the starting team hope I am wrong but I am nervous now haha
Mayo will bed f…..d by referees this year, Kerry and the Dubs seem to playing to different rules and getting away with it.
All over in Omagj Tyrone won by 3 points I wonder will kerry be worrying about a relegation battle now..
Surely all Connacht league final now…
The west is awake!!
*omagh
I don’t think o hora starting. My reading is he replaces hession in the panel. Still a strong team
So much for not changing a winning team. Looks like we are taking that we are safe and getting some game time into legs for Tommy, Cillian and O’Hora. Could definitely be a bit rusty and might cost us in this one.
Conroy, Beirne, , Durcan, COC and Callanin in
Callanin in not O’Hora
Paul Towey seems to be getting better with every game he doesn’t play now . We have serious options in that full forward line now. He has done nothing to show he should be in ahead of any of them. Sure this is Cillians first start !!!!
Hard to figure the rationale for not starting Aido and ROD today, did they pick up knocks?
@Justoutsideballagh exactly my thoughts to I thinking it will cost us bit over confdent of them if they think were safe but I am going to just think that management know what they are doing have done a good job so far haha.
Think I need a glass of something for this one now haha goof luck guys!
Tommy’s back !
Justoutsideballagh-Id say the management don’t want to give Roscommon any practice marking O’Shea ahead of Easter Sunday.
Mayo’s biggest challenge the next few weeks will be keeping the hype train in check
Absolutely cruising to a league final and probably a league title
Tommy and that are actually doing well thought they would be rusty after not much game but holding up well so far..
Conroy was the ideal replacement for OShea. Great to see him get a start
Carr needs to step up…his shooting is autirous
I would say we will see some changes in 2nd Aido Ryan o D etc cillian seems back to his pre injury form!
He’s missed two BazHam but he’s scored two as well, the second one of which was top-class. By the way, that’s not how to spell atrocious – you could do with stepping up in that department!
Carr is interesting. When he has time to think about the shot he misses but when it’s a snap decision he usually scores.
half of two halves. if we can get more time into those starters and o’hora, get the win and not tip our hand for layer that is a great weekend out
Carr doing fine
GAA need to so something about the naming of teams/panels, or scrap the printing of programs.
Mayo should only have one sub left at this point, 2 actually seeing as Hession seems be a genuine dropout for injury or other reasons.
ah jez WJ., I’ll take note just my observation.. the spell check not working!!!besides all that we are playin to great stuff defensively
Exactly @Exile. Let these lads finish the job. All doing well. Complacency the only danger here.
An easy enough challenge for the best team in Ireland at the moment,Ros not in the same league,we are playing excellent football,Mayo for Sam
@km79 my towey reference is just i would like to see what he can do but I wouldn’t rate him any better than who’s on today. As regards posters saying we taking a chance resting players i reckon the starting team is not much if any weaker
What happened,a shocking lapse
Terrible goal let in!
@Corick bridge dont be codding yourself despite being beaten today Kerry will lift Sam we will do what we always do concede daft goals and flood Croke Park with tears. Bit harsh maybe but sad reality.
Cat stuff towards the end regarding game management and being our own worst enemy!
Hard to be angry at them though after their performances so far this year. Up Mayo
What was needed I think. Will bring us back down to earth a bit
There’s a time to foul.
When you get way ahead you foul if needs be to stop goals. Mayo teams never seem to learn this
I’m delighted! A win, but that second half sloppiness will dampen the hype.
We should have won by 10+. Most Ross scores came from appalling turnovers from us.
One worry though. Are Mayo simply incapable of being ruthless????
Those two goals were criminal. Very reminiscent of past Mayo teams. It’s better to foul than let someone waltz through like that. Why isn’t this being drilled into defenders?
On the plus side for Ross,Davy will be doubly glad today.
Great learning experience for us.
This game will do is the world of good.
Well that was a poor match. We seem very disjointed. Our hand passing, shot selection, and general play was poor. Maybe that not surprising with number of changes on team. But was not impressed with changes, but a match will bring them on. I would play same team next day. We need to have a plan B
MOTM poll is up.
Now that was close……..Nearly feckin blew it !
Plenty to work on
Very naive again
But we have lost a lot of experienced players
This will be good learning
Corick Bridge………certainly Mayo for Sam if full potential of our new squad is realised, all shooters on form, and lads die with their boots on……..But certainly not on today’s display.
Glory Days, I don’t share your done and dusted pessimism there…..there’s massive potential in this new squad.
Fairly sloppy game. Good to get game time into cillian and Tommy.
Ros fairly cut through our centre time and again in that 2nd half, not only for the 2 goals but several points went down the middle too. No.6 is a very important position. Number one job is to defend and organise. Its just the league, but I’d be a little concerned about the inexperience of our back six.
Jeez that was close my heart.. but knew it would be once it wasn’t the same team from the last 2 weeks. We did need to give the guys game time but colm reape is the number 1 goalie atm thats for sure 2 bad goals let in there.
Great to get the win though and at home to the Rossies to lots to work on and they will learn from it still only early days!
I actually think we played really well for the large majority of the game, winning away In the league is never easy as proven already this year, just a few lapses of concentration which let roscommon back into it, lots to improve and that’s the way u want it during the league.
Too close for comfort in the end. Should have closed the game out better. Could he a good result though. Mayo know theyl have to perform well to beat them in the championship.
How many changes had we before throw-in? So very encouraging that the lads who came in did so well.
But my god, those silly mistakes, time and time again, mainly the misplaced fist pass that Ross intercepted. We won’t make as many mistakes again.
But look, overall our shape was excellent again today, and we’re doing 90% right. Hon Mayo.
@Glorydays don’t agree with you there at all entitled to your opinion but its early days. We had to give cillian& Tommy and the 2nd choice goalie more game time.
Kerry will not lift sam this year they are an average team without David clifford. Don’t think we will cross the line but kerry certanily will not.
Mayo have lits to work on but a lot of positive stuff.
We won the majority of breaking ball and overall destroyed them on kickouts.
A win is a win , even if we did try our best to throw it away , mind you the first Roscommon goal should not have been given as technically he hopped the ball twice before he scored
If that new Mayo squad continues to evolve and develop, stays alert through every game, kills off the silly errors and and dies for the cause on the field I reckon we’ll be a strong force in the business end of this year’s Championship…..
Marty K & Clare I hope you are both right but I am tired of seeing Mayo concede soft goals it has cost us all Irelands
Overall happy with the result but disappointed with the 2 goals. The mgmt team should plan to get 2 clean sheets in our final 2 games. Good that lads needing game time are getting it so no issues with the changes. 1 or 2 player were a bit off today as well – Jordan very quite by his standards
Still we are now sitting pretty at the top of the division and safe as houses for this year. Mayo are taking learnings from each and every game but the game management side of things is a little worrying I must admit.
However only one competition really matters so we can truly experiment now until league is over. Looks like Monaghan and Donegal are in trouble. Jack O’Connor must be getting concerned now as well. They have Galway on game 7 in Salthill so they are not out of the woods yet.
I noted an old Mayo failing creep back in when we were well up in the first half. We started to turn the ball over cheaply and had by my count six consecutive visits to their half where we came away scoreless. As McStay said in the post match interview, that gives the opposition oxygen.
I think it’s down to a bit of showboating and taking the wrong (riskier) option instead of continuing with what put you in control.
Jack Carney is turning into a huge find for us, and I liked what I saw from Callinan as well today.
Understood Glory Days……I agree with you there….. Those two goals today were cringeworthy. Hopefully video will be closely reviewed and lessons learned…….
Some of the late substitutions were strange. Someone like Swanee or McLoughlin who have the physical strength to foul tactically, if needed, up the pitch would be of more benefit I’d feel.
Agree with your sentiments Mayonaze. Goals conceded YTD seem to stem down heart of defence, including the Tierney goal when you break it down.
Agree think Jack kearney is turning into some player! Awful 2 goals we let in .. in saying that guess Rory Byrne has not had much game time wonder if Reape was there would they have gone in but also not just the goalies fault they where let in ..
Some point by Tommy c great to see him back seems pretty fit and good to see himl last nearly a whole game!
Lots to work on but only early days lots of positives but say we will be in a league final and prob against the Rossies kerry are in for a relegation battle now.
Roscommon could have and should have goaled at the end and won game. 2.11 is a big score to conceed against Roscommon, it appears nothing has changed for Mayo very good for part of game and then very poor.
Kerry are deservedly AI favourites despite today’s loss and the point is they have Clifford and players like him are worth a helluva lot.
People getting carried away and doing down Kerry in March. Today was a good win but with several below 8/10. McBrien and Mattie gave a few needless passes away as did Ryan so far from perfect. Cillian won several frees which he then converted so good day for him. We botched a couple of goal chances and made the game hard by shipping 2.
Carney deservedly MOM and Diarmaid another 8.5 /10 was only a fraction behind. Very pleased with Callinan 8/10 and Coyne especially Callinan who did everything right until conceding a late free. Coyne very disciplined which is good. Fionn was well involved but conceded a few frees as did 1 or 2 more. Flynn below recent very high standards for 2nd week but played his part. Byrne kickouts excellent but the 2 goals seemed a bit easy. Would another goalie have shortened the space? Hard to tell. I would credit both Ros forwards with well taken finishes and I think one could have been from a turnover as was our goal. I’m revising early optimism on McBrien, I think long term he will be a great addition but one of the culprits on frees today. Slippery conditions led to a few Ros scores. Ros will not be a pushover for anyone this year and they fight to the end.
Hope there’s not a repeat of the Mayo minors last year, beating Galway twice then finally losing to them in the All Ireland final. Imagine we beat Ross in the league final then lose the first round of the championship to them…. the horror.
Callinan was immense today btw. Tons of potential.
A win is a win but nearly every game there is evidence despite the narrative that we are not rebuilding, but we are and that team will take another season or two to become serious contenders unless they drastically drop the naivety. There was one prime example where Ros I think were trailing by four at the time and a sideline was awarded , Conor cox I think it was stupidly was trying to play silly beggars with the ball and our buck can’t remember who it was was chomping at the bit for the ball back instead of letting the Kerry native kick it down the fookin town if he wished.
No way on earth you can blame the keeper for those goals. The centre of defence was opened up…far too many times in that 2nd half. Defending like today will win you nothing. Fortunately our mgnt will know this I’m sure
What was wrong with pointing out that Enda Smith hopped the ball twice before he scored Roscommon’s first goal !
Still letting in silly goals. We’ll never learn. It’s going to be our achilles heel going forward yet again. But one thing is for sure we have the best middle 8 in the country.
I hope Flynn picks it up again he’s dropped off the last couple of games.
Are we still a little suspect on the high ball into the square ?
Still letting in silly goals. We’ll never learn. It’s going to be our achilles heel going forward yet again. But one thing is for sure we have the best middle 8 in the country.
I hope Flynn picks it up again he’s dropped off the last couple of games.
Are we still a little suspect on the high ball into the square ?
I agree with Revellino that this is a very good result and just what we needed – a win by the skin of our teeth with lots to learn from.
I thought we looked very good at the start and showed our strength and the work we’ve already done – those stylish interplays and passes, those accurate kick passes. We were also able to take scores from more challenging positions and that is a good sign.
However, we made a lot of mistakes in the form of inaccurate passes. (So did the Rossies). The smart interplay hasn’t bedded in 100% yet and some passes didn’t come off. Ros just snatched the ball and these nearly always led to opportunities for them. When they had chances close to the goalposts in the second half they always looked dangerous.
Enda Smith is a quality player.
The real problem for me – amid a good Mayo display in general – was Mayo players passing the ball to a player in traffic. Time and again Mayo players did this as they drove forward. They made elegant, brave though risky passes over the shoulders of Roscommon defenders to a Mayo runner. Very often the Mayo player would be in traffic and the opposition would get the ball and counterattack. Then opportunities came for Ros. These were brave moves but I think it’s wise to move out of traffic more often than moving into it. I hope we cut this out or control it better.
Overall, there’s evidence of brave, smart, substantial work done by Mayo but there’s more to do and this game will be a wake up call offering lots of opportunities to learn.
I’m proud of the lads and my heart rate has come back to normal about now, thank God.
Up Mayo!
P.S. Lovely post-match interview by McStay.
Stupidity is creeping back in, Horan made the same mistake after beating Armagh in 2022 ,made 5 changes after beating the form team ,changing the goalie and ROD
Today , v Roscommon was not very bright, the team will be well muddled come Easter Sunday , this is horse manure naming a team and then making changes.
How can you gel a team if you are making changes to it, one in -one out , will
they ever learn .
I don’t want to be overly critical of the keeper but notice how he twists his body for both goals, if he faced the kicker the ball would have more than likely hit him in the body. It’s worrying how we’re letting teams back into games.
Only Tyrone have conceded more goals than us this year. I wonder what the reaction would be if Horan was still the manager!
Great to come away with the points but lots to work on. Agree with post above that Mayo often hand passed into spaces that were simply too tight for the receiver causing a number of turnovers. We know the goals will be scrutinised by management and hopefully they’ll be able to sort out.
Thought the ref gave a number of soft frees to both teams where it looked like players had run into traffic but the defenders unfairly penalised.
Well done all.
Well analysed Swallow Swoops
Plenty to work on after that game but remember it’s only the first week of March. I wouldn’t be too critical of the 2 goals ok a different story if it was happening consistently but they had good defensive performances b4 this and the rossies are no bad forward unit. Every team gets opened up now and again it’s just about learning from it and tightening up. I also thought carney was outstanding today and though sean burke’s young lad missed a couple of scoreable chances he can be happy with a 3pt return and always excites when he is on the ball
An ugly win. Division 1 status secured…..however, there’s a serious amount of work to be done in the next 4 weeks. The changes probably destabilised the team a bit, but important to get game time into those returning to competive action. It will be very difficult to make a Connacht final this year, so at least our league status has guaranteed us a spot in the qualifiers no matter what happens in April.
Cillian was super today. What a servant he has been for Mayo. The experiment at No. 6 is just not working, how can our 5 strong management team not see that. It beggars belief at this stage. We are leaking goals through the centre despite having bodies back. I’d have Towey or Orme way ahead of Conor McStay. He is a great club player but he just hasn’t got the physical strength for inter county football.
Surprised the goalie is getting the blame for the goals…sorry but where was our number 6? Ros walked through the middle of us on several occasions with barely a hand left on them. It’s the old failing.
I’m not saying both could be stopped but Clarke in particular would have made the angle really tight. Robbie with now buckets of experience probably would have made it harder than our 2 new guys. They’re definitely options for the future but if Robbie is fit in time, I think he’s back in for championship. Both the new lads are very good at footballing aspects but need one of them to show up as a top shot stopper if they’re to ice Robbie out. I see the point of others in saying we were opened up too easily. Ros have been a dangerous final quarter team for years now regarding goals so we are now warned. Their subs bench did just as well as ours so Connaught QF is close to 50 50. We will ultimately resort to experience but with new options capable of adding punch. IMO Carney will make it in ahead of Tuohy and McDonagh. The latter caught some good ball and covered ground with some decent tackling but Carney does the same with a bit more composure and is younger. Tuohy kicked a lovely point so he’s not far off either. All are behind Flynn because he’s a horse of a man and any of FF line could come out to fill the 3rd HF slot ignoring competition from Jason, Kevin and Loftus moved up being possible. Someone said Callinan was immense in defence, bit of an overstatement but he had a very good game which is encouraging. O Hora will be lucky to get back in with all the young guns now coming on. The no 6 experiment is having some hickups but overall Loftus is doing reasonably well. I actually think O Hora could be another good option there going by seeing the club final where he was excellent.
I think the goals were not the direct fault of our no 6 but collective drop in intensity from our strong start. Rossies 1st goal gave some confidence. We held out after 2nd and despite a scary moment at the end, Diarmaid was very well positioned to stop it. The same player was pushed aside by the attacker for the 2nd goal although a free is rarely given for that offence.
By the way what planet are people living on saying we shouldn’t be changing the team. Lots of lads who would be no 1 if fully fit needed game time. We gave them loads and still won the game and are now 100% safe so the decision was a success going by the result. Two of those changes Cillian and Sam Callinan did very well. Cillian won about half the frees he scored as well as the point of the match from play. Ok he was quiet for spells but always posed a threat on the ball and his pace is back to pre injury level. Tommy had better days but the crossbar and upright denied him of 1-1 to add to his very nice opener so not a million miles off either.
People giving out about the 5 changes to the team. Do people want us to keep playing the same 15-17 players every week. What happens then when as we go through championship we start losing players to injury and suspension? Do we start bringing on lads like Sam Cullinan, Bob Tuohy etc then when they have had no match practice for weeks.
Any player on the panel that is playing well deserves game time in the next two weeks. There is no guarantee that the lads that are playing well and on the team now will be playing well in 8-10 weeks time. Look at Jordan Flynn’s performance today for example after some great performances. Give the panel game time and keep everyone on their toes.
I try not to get over excited when we win well in the league and certainly don’t get depressed when things are not perfect. Every game and training session are about learning about tactics, match-ups, combinations, defensive strategy and attacking nous including shot selection. Management will pick over today’s performance and will find loads of things to improve on. We’d be in a bad place if there wasn’t.
I was at the match today. In my opinion a lot of the late replacements did very well including Rory Byrne. His kicking out was very good. I would say the statistics will show he had over 90 % success rate. As for a question on an earlier Tweet asking would Colm Reep have saved them. I think not as the back line opened like the Red Sea.I have attended the last 4 games that Colm has played in and he has done well enough , but it’s hard to say whether or not he might have blocked the two goals today. Just remember that Colm
Has not had one shot to actually stop in, those last few games.So we can not judge how really good he is. I do however remember watching Byrne play a blinder in the league final just last April v Kerry.Also I would question Colms roll in the Galway
Goal. Inside the small square is a goalies ball in my opinion.