I’d love to stay and chat, to chew the fat over how Meath today became the Third Best Team in the Country (seeing as Kildare apparently have the freehold on fourth), to discuss that uplifting win for the Rossies over Armagh in the qualifiers and all the other issues that the weekend’s action brought to the fore, including on the club scene on home soil.
But I can’t, I’m afraid, because we’re packed and ready to head off on our holidays in the morning. Once again, my timing in doing so is spectacularly bad from a Connacht final perspective but sometimes other things – notably family holidays – have to take priority and I’m really looking forward to the break. Not least from all this bloody rain.
Assuming the WiFi that’s meant to be available where we’re heading to is indeed working, I’ll be dropping by the odd time over the next two weeks but, as was the case in previous years, you can expect me to be more absent that present hereabouts for the coming fortnight. If anyone fancies filling in the time with a guest post or two while I’m away, then just email it to me and I should be able to pick it up and deal with it. Most likely, though, in slow motion.
Before we prepare for take-off, I’ve put another poll up to keep you all focused on the challenge that faces the county in two weeks time. We’re going to do it, aren’t we? Till later, y’all.
How will the Connacht final go?
- We'll win (79%, 111 Votes)
- We'll lose (21%, 29 Votes)
Total Voters: 140
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Well done Meath /
Delighted. Not often I cheer on Meath.
Pity Wexford collapsed when given a golden opportunity.
does meaths win over kildare mke them a better team than mayo wonder what spillane and co will come up with next how they ever rated kildare a top four side is beyond me the dubs dont seem to have the same hunger as last year lets hope cork start to believe the media hype about them theres bigger shocks ahead in the championship lets hope mayo can sneak in under the radar no danger of the sunday game panel gving us a chance this year could be a good september in the west yet
very hard to retain the title , only kerry seem to manage it in the modern era , the dubs will be caught its just a matter of who does it
donegal beat a poor tyrone side if tyrone had a half decent foward they would have beaten them sunday week will tell us a bit more about mayo as to where we are at we should be able to overcome sligo by a few points at the very least if not were in the much ado about nout section
I agree Peter. If Tyrone also had a decent free taker (& 45 man) they would have scored far more points as well. They threw away at least 2/3 which would have made it a totally diferent match. Not to mention the score their goalie gave away with a lame kickout.
Same with Wexford last Sunday. if they had a decent free taker they would have beaten the Dubs easily. But they didnt have the confidence to go out and grasp it by the scruff of the neck. They must have wished for Matty Forde to have come back outta retirement.
As for us we’re in a no win situation. We must beat Sligo or all the big talk about us here is really nonsense. Simple as that. On the flip side if we do beat them it will not be recorded as a fantastic victory as we were expected to beat them anyways. However a good reasonably close test agaisnt Sligo is what we really need.
It would give the players a heads up as to what the rest of the season would be like and it would put us lower down on the radar in terms of where we are placed nationally.
Personally this is the way I like us to be (coming in the long grass) as having the favourities tag in the past has ususally been of adverse effect to us.
Interesting piece on county boards on the front of the Western, coming from the men at the top of the GAA ladder:
“There was a big debate on committees and basically what the President has said is that the county chairman takes charge of everything …
It’s now the decision that every committee should be selected and not elected and that the chairman has the ultimate say along with the executive…
“Over the coming years you will find that every committee is a subcommittee of the county board whose chairman will be nominated by the officers of the executive”
Who is in line to replace Rob Hennelly as our back up keeper? Is Kenny O’Malley still on the scene or has the panel been limited to two keepers?
Not wanting to have a dig at the lad but this isn’t the first time he’s cried off when he has felt he isn’t geeting the status he deserves. There was an issue with him back in 2009(?) as well if I recall. We need two keepers competing with each other to keep the standards up. Often that involves one keeper training a lot and playing very little – and if there’s a lot of travel involved it can appear to not be worthwhile. But David Clarke has missed out on starting all four Connacht Finals where he has been involved with the panel (being backup to Ruddy, then Healy, then O’Malley, then Hennelly) and hasn’t walked away. I don’t think Rob does himself any favours longer term by not sticking it out and waiting for his chance to shine. Time is on his side if he sticks with the squad.
Declan so he just spit the dummy and fecked off is that what your are tellin us
According to the papers it’s Paul Mannion, former minor keeper. Don’t know him myself now.
[Deleted – see House Rules 1 and 3].
A lot of very negative comments about Hennelly. If you read what he says, I don’t actually see what the problem is with it.
All the problems he’s been having have started since he got work in Dublin. It all makes perfect sense for him to drop out from what he says.
Dead right Dan, you can see from the article that it wasn’t an easy decision for him, and if it was at all possible he’d have stayed on the panel.
Easy to say his attitude is wrong, but he’s only out of college and is trying to make a living.
If any of the people criticising him here want to help, give him a similar job in Mayo! 😉
The article in question is in the Mayo News under the sports section.
with reference to rob hennelly the above piece was not done with my hand i dont knowthe lad or anything about him at the end of the day its an ametur game and his work must come first i would like to thank the roscommon donkey for hiding behind my name just glad it wasnt my wallet i left open instead of my computer i wish robbie all the best and sure we will see him back for mayo in the future
That’s a low WJs site never experienced before, a cowardly way to operate. Peter Murray firstly has used his own name which is a rarity. That some yellow coward snook in and pilfered it and then posted under Peters name is cowardly and low. No doubt he is reading this site and sniggering away to himself. Sad man and part of what made this nation the pile of shite we are seen as internationally.
john i think he means someone used his computer not stole his username…
Peter the Roscommon Donkey and yourself have very similar writing styles. No punctuation marks, non capitials to commence a sentence, same type of spelling mistakes. Me thinks its a case of me, myself and Irene.
Yes the writing styles are remarkably similar; one might even go as far as saying they’re identical!!
Another so called expert mr, donegal mchugh has high praise and nearly wets himself talking about meath football today in the star newspaper abit like messiah spillane on about galway football afew weeks ago in the sun.world before sligo put an end to that. I hope dubs beat tha royals out the gate in leinster final n long may they continue in div. 3…
Agree with johnny I hope dublin hammer meath dont like this misty eyed sentiment towards the royals that some mayo people seem to have been affected by in the last week or so, dont forget 96 and 09 lads, not to mention Colm O Rourke. There is still no other county I’d take more pleasure watching Mayo beat in the championship than Meath.
I always knew it…totally illiterate in the use of modern technology or ways I am. should have kept my mouth shut.
It always seems the way when it comes to a team from Leinster, total overreaction to one result. I suppose when there’s such a big population in counties like Dublin, Meath and Kildare you have to appease the masses.
All that Meath victory told me was how completely overrated Kildare are. They’re a top 10 team, no more no less. I’d love us to get a rattle at them at some point this summer.
McHugh is the same man who slagged off Meath after they got relegated, calling them wimps and spineless. Now all of a sudden they’re the next big thing.
Just checking in quickly – won’t bore all about the heat (it’s hot), the sun (it’s sunny) and the relaxation (I’m horizontal) on offer over here.
Re Robbie – as Dan says, it makes perfect sense to see where he’s coming from. It’s often easy to forget that these guys are putting in huge effort in an amateur sport and that work sometimes has to take precedence. Good luck to him and let’s hope we’ll see him back on the panel before too long.
Peter – I’m going to email you separately now about managing comments from your identity in light of the issue raised. I’m also going to delete that comment criticising Robbie’s motives as it’s obviously the wrong side of the house rules.
would have no fear of meath or kildare but i would have loved to have faced the “top 4 kildare” of last week rather than the new version that might come out of the qualifiers…
it would have been fun to have seen spillane big them up before our game with them , now of course his view is tempered by their ineptitude last week
test
Gee James don’t be insulting to the poor auld donkey; especially to compare him to a ‘sheep stealer’. Did anyone ever hear tell of a donkey falling dead under its rider or getting stuck in a soft spot in the bog?; no siree
Shut you up Willie Joe with all your talk of sand and sun; we pure buggers here no nothing of them things
Well Lads, don’t mean to interrupt your discussion. Does anybody of any public travel going to the game on Sunday? The train times are not really suitable, any ideas would be greatly appreciated,cheers lads!
i reckon that depends where you are coming from DC 🙂
Hello Roger, Castlebar. A few of us would like to forget about cars and parking and have a few pints and relex.
Hi DC. A train leaves Castlebar at 10.02, arriving in Roscommon at 11.15. It departs from Roscommon at 4.25. Booking is said to be essential. Enjoy the match
Hope mayo do to sligo what galway did to killkenny and i mean beat them well that was so game yesterday
Hi Grainne Uaile, your fucking excellent. Just seen it, it must have updated it from Friday, thanks very much!
Time sure goes slow waiting for a Mayo championship match. I will say it again, what other serious sporting competition would you have such lop sided set of fixtures with some teams having played 5 matches and other counties 1 match. Ridiculous. There has to be change.
Meanwhile, the wait continues …..
I agree facetheball, the long wait is ridiculous.
Not long now though, whats the sceal on AOS?
How do ye boys and girls think he’ll line them out? FF line and midfield could be manys a combination esp if you’re throwin aos into the mix .
It can’t be a good thing either not to have a fairly settled team at this stage, competition is always good but i think it would be better to have our central positions settled anyway.
Still maintain the opinion we will easily dispose of the Sligo men but on the day , the best team don’t always win i suppose.
Lets hope there is plenty of green and red in the hyde and lets all be there for the minors too, no sense slouchin down in the hotel, when our minors are above in the field.
Maigheo abu, lets get this show on the road.
I would start the team that started against Leitrim, but would play Andy No. 11. Play Freeman at 14 with Doc and Cillian either side. Surely either of the O’Sheas are not fit enough to start. The problem with AOS is that he is not naturally fit and is probably way behind fitness wise as this stage. He might well be just a 35 minute player for us this season.
Galway – v- Kilkenny ; An astute Galway supporter had fifty on Galway to score first, lead at half time and win the match at odds of 20 to 1. Expenses for games for the year???
In the pram there is nothing to suck,
All the rattles are thrown in the muck,
With the sun you’re beguiled,
You’ve abandoned your child,
Willie Joe, they’re all playing puck !
Stand tickets sold out for sunday already .
Hi Grainne Uaile, your fucking excellent. The times must have been updated from last week, thanks very much.
Sean Burke, the stand isn’t very big, I would imagine all those tickets have gone to clubs.
THE Mayo senior football team to play Sligo in next Sunday’s Connacht’s Final will be released to the general public tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1.30pm via the Mayo GAA twitter account.
The squad were put through their paces in a final ‘A’ v ‘B’ trial game on Sunday morning in Castlebar with Seamus O’Shea (groin), Peadar Gardiner (foot) and Aidan Campbell (hip) all sitting the practice match out due to injuries.
The Mayo News understands that all three will not be considered for selection for next weekend’s game as a result of their respective problems, but Aidan O’Shea and Chris Barrett both lined out and are in contention for places in Mayo’s 26-man squad.
Ballinrobe goalkeeper, Kenneth O’Malley, also looks set to be part of James Horan’s panel next weekend after he was unexpectedly invited to return to training last Friday evening.
The 2006 All-Ireland U-21 winner was not involved in Mayo’s championship squad last summer but has been recalled after Robert Hennelly’s surprise decision to leave the panel two weeks ago due to work commitments.
Horan and his management team will finalise their team selection after a training session tonight (Tuesday) in Castlebar.
Among those believed to be pushing hard for inclusion are half-back Richie Feeney and inside forwards Conor Mortimer, Michael Conroy and Enda Varley.
Sligo, meanwhile, have some concerns over corner-forward, David Kelly, as they count down to their second provincial final in three years.
The Tubbercurry attacker has been nursing an ankle injury recently and Stephen Coen, who missed the semi-final win over Galway, is on standby to start in Kelly’s absence.
Connacht GAA Council officials are expecting a crowd of approximately 20,000 people to attend next Sunday’s double-header at Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon.
FROM THE MAYO NEWS
I see in the Western as well that Aidan Kilcoyne has taken up full-time employment in the UK now, another Mayoman gone, although it says he’ll play for Knockmore in their remaining matches this season.
The three out injured Seamus O’Shea (groin), Peadar Gardiner (foot) and Aidan Campbell (hip) wouldn’t have started if fit.
It’s nice to have a full deck to choose from & no excuses. Mayo by at least 6pts i reckon.
Potentially and statistically we stand in a strange place. This is a rough and unscientific view open to challenge . Any time Mayo win 3 Connacht titles in a 4 year spell , they tend to make All Ireland finals.
The run of 1948-51 saw us make 3 finals. The run of 1996-99 saw 2 finals. This Sunday if we win we will have 3 since 2009. What odds on a win, what odds then going all the way to a final if we do win. Me? Not a clue but whatever about beating Sligo I don’t see September Sundays in the tea leaves .?
Why not John? We have a pretty strong settled team with only
3 places up for grabs. The back line is as good as we have had since 96/97.
We could well meet Dublin in an AI semi final as that is the way the draw is set up.
Now that would be fun. I would not be able to bring my two
Dubs to that match . Ok for a league match but not for a
big match like that.
Where is a good place to watch the final in London, over for a few days, I think that we will win, anywhere between 3 – 5 points, if we had the Sligo FF line would be even more confident, apparently David Kelly is a doubt, would actually prefer that he plays as would like to beat a full strength Sligo team,
Looking back on the 2010 Connacht final (Sligo’s last final) Marren scored 0-3 two from frees while David Kelly was held scoreless. Why are the media hyping them up so much?
MO2012 says:
Did you see Marren against Galway? He was unbelievable, we have to cut supply off, we won’t beat that ff line goin toe to toe with them.
I think the whole business regards David Kelly is just spin. There has been mention of an ankle injury but there has been no mention of a doubt in him lining out. One think about Kevin Walsh is that he is shrewd. He plotted the downfall of Galway well and he has the experience of beating us too.
The area that has to be won is midfield and the breaks coming out if it. Sligo dominated here against Galway and this gave them the platform to provide Marren and Kelly with good accurate ball. Result was serious damage. It will be the same for us if we allow them to dominate here. The fact is we have to win 80% of on our own kickouts and contest at least 30 – 50 % of theirs.
So Barry Moran needs a big, big game here. In the last one he was MOTM. But that was against Leitrim and (with all due respect to them), they were not a serious test in the second half.
Also Kevin Walsh will have a plan B. He may vary the kickouts to go short etc. and gain possession that way. Tackling hard up the pitch will be important so a big defensive effort is also required from the 1/2 fw line.
One final thing to say about Sunday is that we should expect nothing from the referee. Sligo will probably get more that hte majority of 50/50 decisions. Thats the way it goes in these matches. Refs generally see less auspicious teams as minnows (Sligo on Sunday) and give preferential treatment as a result.
No point complaining about this. It happens across the country. Take Wexford V Dublin as an example. Wexford got a serious amount of soft frees in that game. Refs are human and they generally don’t want to see an annihilation early on. So they are lenient on the so called weaker team.
This will work big time in Sligos favour and they know it !!
Jpm,
Sligo do a lot of pulling and dragging , so i hope the ref is fair tbh, they got away with a lot of it against Galway and he could of showed a couple of yellows to the culprits too but didn’t (the red head fella, harrison, was one of them at it all day long).
So i hope you’re wrong about the referee .
I don’t want to seem like im obsessed with the crowd but i feel we will be outnumbered and outshouted by a mix of Sligo and Rossies as one, this will create a home atmosphere for Sligo, that can have a bearing on ref decisions too unfortunately.
Could i do i quick survey type thing here , just put at the end of your next post , if you’re going and is there any extra travelling that weren’t with you for Leitrim .
Going…plus three
Half hour till team is announced , any surprises predicted?
If theres a surprise of sorts, id go for Varley to start.
Darragh O’Sé has a brilliant piece in todays Irish times on what it takes to be a successfull team. He nails in (in more ways than one). As honest and an accurate a piece of GAA football jouranilism as I have ever read.
I have seen team announced. big change is Varley coming in at left corner FW.
team
Clarke
Keane, Cafferkey, Higgins
Keegan, Vaughan, Boyle
Moran, Geraghty
McLoughlin, O’Connor, Dillon
Varley A. Moran, Doherty
James Horan has made one change to the team which defeated Leitrim in the Connacht Football Championship Semi-Final with Enda Varley coming into the team at corner-forward replacing Alan Freeman. The Mayo Senior Football Team to face Sligo this Sunday 15th July at 2.00p.m. in the Connacht Senior Football Championship Final is as follows:
1. David Clarke – Ballina Stephenites
2. Kevin Keane – Westport
3. Ger Cafferkey – Ballina Stephenites
4. Keith Higgins – Ballyhaunis
5. Lee Keegan – Westport
6. Donal Vaughan – Ballinrobe
7. Colm Boyle – Davitts
8. Barry Moran – Castlebar Mitchels
9. Danny Geraghty – Ballintubber
10. Kevin McLoughlin – Knockmore
11. Cillian O’Connor – Ballintubber
12. Alan Dillon – Ballintubber
13. Enda Varley – Garrymore
14. Andy Moran – Ballaghaderreen (Capt.)
15. Jason Doherty – Burrishoole
James Horan – Manager
Cian O’Neill – Trainer
James Nallen – Runner
Tom Prendergast – Selector
Dr. Sean Moffat – Doctor
Caroline Brennan – Physio
No AOS , not fit enough?
1
Philip Greene
St.John’s
2
Neil Ewing
Drumcliffe/Rosses Point
3
Johnny Martyn
St.Mary’s
4
Ross Donovan
Eastern Harps
(Capt)
5
Charles Harrison
St.John’s
6
Mark Quinn
St. Molaise Gaels
7
Paul McGovern
Eastern Harps
8
Shane McManus
Geevagh
9
Tony Taylor
Eastern Harps
10
Alan Costello
Coolera/Strandhill
11
Pat Hughes
Geevagh
12
Brendan Egan
Tourlestrane
13
Mark Breheny
St.Mary’s
14
Adrian Marren
Curry
15
David Kelly
Tubbercurry
A O’Shea is on the bench from what I hear. Pat Harte is out injured.
Thought Doherty was lucky enough to hold onto his place, maybe he’s been showing up well in training.
Agree with JPM
Darragh O’Se article in the IT should be read by all the members of the Mayo team and Management. Very insightful view on the ‘dark arts’ of football that Mayo team’s have struggled with over the years.
i thouhght mayo were very physical and very cynical against both cork and kerry last year in the championship , i bet they will have learned from the cork game in this years league final as well , i bet cork wont bully them as much the next time
sean burke says:
July 11, 2012 at 2:19 am
MO2012 says:
Did you see Marren against Galway? He was unbelievable, we have to cut supply off, we won’t beat that ff line goin toe to toe with them.
Yes however that was more about Galway’s back line than anything else. Mayo’s full back have faced better forwards than Marren or Kelly.