Today’s announcement by the GAA that next Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone has been postponed by a week, with the result that the final has had to be pushed back by six days as well, comes as a rude reminder that Covid-19 and its baleful effects are still very much with us.
We know ourselves what kind of havoc a Covid-related incident within the ranks can wreak. It’s one thing having to cope with a problem like that ahead of a Connacht Championship clash with Leitrim but it’s another matter altogether having to do so in the days leading up to an All-Ireland semi-final. It’s impossible but be hugely sympathetic to the plight Tyrone find themselves in right now.
It does, I guess, make their semi-final clash with Kerry – which has now been fixed for Saturday, 21st August, with the final scheduled for a fortnight after that, on 4th September – even more of a free shot for them than it already was. Kerry were strong favourites as it was to progress to the decider and, in light of the turmoil facing the O’Neill County, they’ll be fancied even more now to do so. Does that make Tyrone dangerous dark horses? Maybe, though maybe not.
With the final pushed back, this means that the winners of our semi-final against Dublin will have a three-week run-in to the decider. That will probably be welcomed by whichever of us emerges from Croke Park with the win on Saturday night but there’s no point in our giving it any more thought than that. Anyone thinking beyond Dublin and the enormous test they represent for us has too much time on their hands for rumination.
UPDATE: It’s now being reported that Tyrone’s continued participation in the Championship is in doubt even with the week’s delay to the semi-final – report here.
As the lads get ready to face the Dubs, you can support them in a practical way by playing the Mayo GAA Lotto. This week’s draw also includes the chance to win tickets to the game – details here.
And Conor lane is the man in the middle…again
It sure hasn’t gone away and that’s why I’m very suprised the GAA are allowing the Hill to be open on Saturday. I can see it thick with Dublin fans shoulder to shoulder
Any buses going up Saturday? Most people will probably wait the night.
I see Conor Lane hasn’t gone away either.
Very much here with us in fact.
Ah now Don’t be giving out about the referees.
Sure they never done us any harm….
Monday night, 9.45 pm and still no word of when or if tickets will be on sale. It’s worse than waiting on Santa as youngsters.
Incidentally, anybody have any idea why the Hill end cannot be opened? It would be easy to make each barrier a location for a pod – how may would line a barrier or how many barriers there are I do not know but surely a club group would not be breaching any rules no matter how many. Or what Ireland do the “authorities” think we live in?
It would also have made sense to erect additional temporary barriers for Two All Ireland finals and four semi finals. At, say, €30 for semi’s and €50 for finals per head. It would have to make sense to anybody who doesn’t work in Croke Park.
I’d imagine the risks of transmission in an open stadium is fairly small if people are screened correctly and they adhere to the public health guidelines.
I was at a formula one Grand Prix a few weeks back with 150k in attendance (everyone had to submit proof of vaccination or a PCR test upon entry). No significant upswing in cases locally as a result.
Love the title of this one Willie Joe.
I don’t have a problem with Lane reffing. We probably had a bit of an advantage with how he allowed the physicality of play the last day against Galway. It meant we were able to impose ourselves more in the second half. Yeah Ryan’s goal was a clanger on his part but it’s not like it cost is the game so I’d let it slide. I’d like to think he’ll give Ryan the benefit of the doubt in a similar scenario the next day. Or better, disallows any goals that Dublin might score on us. The last part is probably fanciful thinking on my part.
Willie Joe. Like the last poster I have no problem with Conor Lane reffing our game on Saturday. In fact I think he is a good referee and is well respected in his home county.If he wasn’t such a Good referee he would not be the man in the middle at the weekend. If we win, and I hope we do,can you imagine what the Dub supporters will say about him? He is a decent man and I hope we get him again…..against Tyrone
– One thing that stood out in the Leinster Final was how high up the field Dublin pressed Kildare mainly between the two 45s.
– This could have been a Dublin pre-planned tactic OR the Dubs got fed up waiting for Kildare to actually move the ball up the field.
– Relevant to us because a similar press will hinder our running game in that space will be at a premium.
– Payment for tickets via club had to be made by 1pm today, I would expect some tickets to go on sale. Go to Gaa.ie and select buy tickets and it will list what games tickets are on sale for….will save you having to enter a ticket master queue having no idea what you are queuing for.
It’s ok, I have a lift, stop looking!
I know we are not looking beyond Saturday but
I see from the indo online that the Tyrone co board would not appear to be confident that they will have a squad for the fixture on Aug 21. It will be interesting to see what happens if that pans out. Will the game be delayed further or will Kerry get a bye into the final.
From a public health point of view, I can’t see how Hill 16 is open for this match,. Pods would be a lot harder enforced than in the stands
Kevin McManomam quoted today as saying he has possible hopes of playing some part in this year’s championship, now that his Olympic commitments are over.
Could be mindgames or he could be dead serious. He’d be some impact sub to bring in for Dublin.
Far too many people here too forgiving of Conor lane in my opinion. This guy cost us an all Ireland by not giving a blatant free in to us at the end of the drawn 2016 final when bastick picked it straight off the ground. Stevie Wonder would have seen it. He handed Dublin that all Ireland by failing to do his job properly or by being biased against Mayo or by being biased towards Dublin – it’s one of those options. The fact he didn’t give Meath a blatant penalty last month and gave Dublin a soft one leads me to think he’s biased towards Dublin. Time for our media to start highlighting this in the buildup
I’m sure that would go down well with the rest of the squad if he hopped off the plane from Tokyo onto the Dublin bench alright…….
When we beat the Dubs Conor Lane won’t even be thought about :good or bad decisions.
Olive Kerrigan,
I took your advice and went to gaa.ie and was immediately warned that I was not on a secure connection and that info such as credit card details etc. were liable to be stolen. So that ended that approach.
Jim Gavin brought back Connolly, Mickey Harte brought back Stephen ONeill. It’s all about winning.
McMannamon is a real fan favourite so it wouldn’t be that strange seeing a return. Unlikely perhaps. He’d certainly improve Dublins chances. It’s all about winning.
As great a goal scorer as McManamon has been, he hasn’t been starting for Dublin in some time. Like Philly McMahon he was probably hanging round for the medal up til now (and unlike the former, he’d seldom cause any trouble with opposition players). I’d suggest there are more immediate threats around the field for us to be concerned with.
@Andy…..use Google chrome or Firefix as your browser. Then http://www.gaa.ie and select Tickets from the drop down menu on top right. That will bring you into a new screen select Tickets from the drop down menu on the left and it will display just the Munster minor football final now..as the only match tickets can be purchased for….
Philly mc mahon isn’t, hanging round for a medal, in my opinion. I think he’s been kept there to mark Aiden on the edge of the square with probably Cooper mopping up the breaking ball.
@Ah now: If that were the case, surely the Dubs would have brought him on in last year’s final when we threw Aido in round the house?
IMO he’s chasing the ninth Celtic cross and will probably retire if he gets it.
Bit of a nuisance cancelling hotels for the final weekend and rescheduling it for the following weekend but it’s all done now .
No doubt McMahon is a rough client . Amazing I dont ever remember him being sanctioned for the sort of infractions he committed over the years. If he was full back for mayo he probably have seen more red than a limousine bull
Sean Burke, Confidence is key 😀
The winner of Dublin V Mayo will surely have a major advantage going into the final, given the shambles with the other semi.
I think it’s time for us to stop putting pressure on referees. Conor Lane would have looked back at his decision to disallow Ryan O’Donoghue’s goal and I imagine he wouldn’t be happy with himself.
Playing Dublin now is like a contender fighting a World title holder in boxing. A split decision is always going to the current champion.
We need to be 10 points better to win by 1, and we just have to accept that as fact.
Sean, are you not close enough to Croker as I am ?, exiles in the big smoke, Willie Joe too maybe ?
Yep in the capital surely but myself and other members of the clan have gone with the hotel weekend for the games , ie Cf and semi , hopefully final too . Just makes things a lot easier in the present climate and we use it as a get together I suppose .
Sean I did the same last night. Cost me 20 euro 😀
I have until tomorrow evening to get a ticket for semi or cancel the hotel for this Sat night
Stick with it KM79 , in my life experience of following Mayo , it’s the morning of the game around the hotels you’ll pick a ticket up . Look out for the flash ones with the suit jacket coming from across the pond, usually big shoulders , most likely sub contractor originally from the erris region or Achill. Lol
It would make sense that some pods won’t get filled and hence spare tickets. My life experience is that people are really casual to follow on for a ticket someone else has available for them. Every pod would have been got by one person.
Will this years All Ireland be de-valued if Tyrone pull out. Will the winners forever have the tag, ” but sure Tyrone didn’t play, its not a proper win ” with them.?
If you look back the roll of honour there were a few dodgy all Ireland championships, with teams dropping out, results being appealed etc. Wouldn’t bother me to be honest.
I think it would if Kerry win it outright paddyjoejohntom but not if Dublin or Mayo win it as they would still have had to play the full quota of matches and A tough semi and final. Kerry with a bye into the final on the other hand….
Journal reporting, Tyrone considering pulling out of championship. They requested a 2 week postponement but were turned down by GAA.
If tyrone pull out I wonder does that mean the final would be put back to original date ? Fook me booking.com will think I’m trolling with all the choppin and changeing and back again
They haven’t a notion of pulling out .
tickets going on sale online at 3pm, so better try to time it to be at top of the queue at that time! Only 1000 available, less when pods taken into account i presume
2500 people attended the Mayo Leitrim game, 600/700 of them were leitrim supporters. It is great to see all the sun shine supporters back.
Where did you see that Tubberman?
12534 people in the Q, how did 12533 people hear about tickets going on sale and I didn’t, I havnt being off the phone in 3 days in anticipation ?
Our time has come. Just a clarification I would like to make on the obvious Bastick pick up in the 2016 final. I was sitting a few yards right behind the Goal at the Davin end that day and had a perfect view of the incident. When Bastick picked the ball up off the ground I looked straight at Lane…Because of the quick kick out lane had his back turned to play running back out. I still have nightmares about it. The real culprit that day was Deegan as linesman. It was his call but he bottled it…
Look on ticket master there now lads. Tickets going on sale at 3 according to ticket master
https://www.ticketmaster.ie/gaa-all-ireland-football-semi-final-dublin-v-mayo-dublin-14-08-2021/event/18005B0A9DBE2B6A
Que no. 12983
That’s the main site is it ?
Not the am.Ticketmaster
It’s such a stupid set up
We’d have better chance of winning the Euromillions tonight
It is pure pot luck. I actually got in after 3 hours around noon. But you can only stay in site for 30 minutes it seems. So those in long q now since around 9am may get in a but too early .
The young lad is currently around 400 so if he gets in too soon before 3……..
I bet it will crash anyways
Do ticket master still have a stn line link in the super values?. Would skip the que I think I stand to be corrected on that I hasten to add but f### it she’s going in a yway. Like it or not.
He is in !!!!!
Too early I fear
He tried to buy u21 tickets as a test.
As soon as he clicked into the buy option he was sent of q
What kind of a system are they running ???????
@km79 , if he/you are logged into your account, it will allow you back in again at front of the queue. You press “buy now” and it puts you back in.
At least it works for me, I logged in at 9 this morning, got in around 1pm and still there….fingers and toes crossed.
Just tried that and I am 13326 in the q sadly
Thanks all the same
I got to the front of the queue this morning but there were no tickets up for Dublin Mayo, just minor games.
Logged on again now but just says I’m in line.
Why is the match showing on the main ticketmaster site with a countdown timer to 3pm…….
I think the key might be to be logged in from the outset i.e. at the very start. I know it is no good to you now but maybe for future reference.
I logged in at 8am!
Off topic re tickets but I’m being JH for a few minutes here, I’m going to start with a FF line of 13 – Conor O’Shea, 14 – Aidan O’Shea and 15 – Ryan O’Donoghue – 13 & 14 will play at each edge of the small square for the first half and 15 with move either side of them and scoop up the breaking ball to pop over.
13 & 14 wont come past the 20mt line with diagonal balls to be played in.
The half forward line are to keep beyond the 45mt line so a clear line of site in. Let the Dublin FB line make the decision to stick with their men and go one on one and the Dublin HB back will also need to decide if they stick to their men or leave them free to sit in from of 13 & 14……. if so the Mayo HF can go in to disrupt the sitting back HB and pull him left or right as he can leave the Mayo HF free inside.
Then bring on T Conroy with 45 on the clock to eat Cooper alive with pace.
JH signing off.
Mayo Dublin match has just appeared as an option but still 23 mins countdown.
Im also in que, is this a waste of time, hard to see to many tickets ben left for this one
@MYLeftFoot – did it appear as an option on the GAA Ticketmaster portal or the general Ticketmaster page? Thanks
General page which is the confusing part.
Not a single update or info from MayoGaa pages. Sure just let the Dubs have them. Less hassle than sending a tweet or Facebook message
Never mind they sent a facebook message at 230pm
“Tickets for the All Ireland Semi-Final between Mayo and Dublin will go on general sale at 3pm today.”
No link. No mention of where/how?
Thanks for the info 😀
@fgd: Under the am.ticketmaster.ie website.
That brings you back to the main ticketmaster site though…….are they going to try and solve the big q by selling from the msin site ?!
454 people ahead of me. Fingers crossed
saying no tickets available
yesssssssssssssssssssssss
People will be ripping mad after that.
They went through the main site
Can’t wait now
Got them!
Won’t be able to get to the match myself as I’m based abroad, but good grief, this seems to be a fairly backward system for allocating tickets.
Go via the main GAA website link I give above earlier. I tried just now and only 18 ahead and I got the option to but tickets but dropped out because I already have tickets….
looks like they are sold out already – i tried to get some there told me none available
i whized through the que, still no tickets
sold out
Got tickets within a minute or two of them going up. It seems that the link we were all queuing in earlier today wasnt the right link. Very poor communication which has left a lot of people disappointed having wasted a lot of their time. Hopefully as many as possible club members / regular match goers got the tickets but it should have been handled a bit better. Up Mayo!!!
Go to the link that was metioned by oliver, fair play Oliver. I got tickets but i had to buy 4, i didnt want 4 so ive to ask one lad if hes interetseted and if not you are welcome to other 2
Congratulations to Mathew Ruane on his well deserved Player of the Month award for July.. The athletic, free scoring Breaffy midfielder probably Mayo’s best player in 2021 so far!
I can confirm, having met the good lady in person, that Olive is indeed Olive and not Oliver.
@up for the match,if olive does that your spare two tickets I’ll gladly buy them! My num is 0876350855
Glad you got sorted Up for the match and thanks for the offer off two tickets but I am sorted. Seems you have a taker for them in FW ….and thanks FBDinashui !. Up Mayo
Missed out on tickets. Big ask but if anyone has any going spare, let me know. Easier get tickets to an all Ireland final in a normal year!
We won the league in 2001. Tyrone were ‘disqualified’ because of foot and mouth. Just sayin’
Same here, was logged in for hours and hours over the past couple of days, got turfed out at about 11.30 and was 11,000 ahead of me when i got back in, it’s a pain not having the season ticket the past couple of years, a long shot i know but if by any chance anyone has any spares i’ll gladly take them off yer hands, thanks
Mayo 13bg I was thinking of that plan too. Jim McGuinness once mentioned such a tactic with barry Moran and aiden on the square with cillian hoovering around the d. I think it was 2016 he was on about it. Certainly 2 big men in there would give them plenty to think about. But I’m not sure if they can track back if they had to
Spectre – we did try that in 2016 when Barry Moran came off the bench. I don’t think Dublin are weak under the high ball anyway so playing Conor and Aidan in the full forward line would be silly. If you look at the goals Dublin have conceded recently…
Kildare – Daniel Flynn turned the ball over high up the pitch, ran through and scored.
Meath – Donal Keoghan hard running up the wing, pass off the shoulder to the Meath forward who got a goal.
Kerry in the league – Stephen O’Brien running towards goal, Philly McMahon fouls, penalty.
The last 3 goals we got against them in championship were from Lee Keegan’s running off the shoulder.
So from what I can see teams get far more joy from direct off the shoulder running, than high balls into the square. In theory that’s our natural game, so we should stick to it.
Well done to those that got tickets online today, anything is possible after that.
Of course that’s not to say Aidan shouldn’t start full forward. I think Galway were spooked by him in the second half the last day after him being involved in winning the penalty. It meant they dropped back a sweeper leaving more space in the middle third for our runners from deep.
Didn’t manage to get a ticket myself today but well done to everyone that did please shout a bit louder for us if we don’t manage to get tickets by Saturday
New podcast episode is online! It’s a good one too, Rob and Ed with special guest Seamie O’Shea.
Sorry to hear that backdoorsam , you’re a top drawer mayo supporter in my book . I just completely fluked one myself . Hope you get sorted .
Backdoorsam, I wish good luck to everyone and hope some more people manage to find tickets by Sat. For everyone else, I hope they have a special memorable occasion watching from the plum surroundings of home on Sat evening.
That was quite a nerve racking experience queuing for tickets today but I suppose there are variations on this story for every big game.
The main thing is – let’s try to bring our best game for Sat.
@Upforthematch, if you have ONE or TWO tickets to offload, I will take them. Doesn’t matter where they are for but this time around would like to be in the Mayo scoring end, Davin stand.
Remember that dream I had in early 2019 it was A O Shea and another Mayo player holding Sam maguire aloft. He is the Captain this year.
I’ll take a ticket if anyone has a spare one…or two. Like others I spent the guts of the last two days in the virtual queue and even got to the choose ticket numbers option but then got pushed back. Good luck to all that got sorted today! Maigh Eo Abù!
Seamus Thornton, I got to that option too today from the queue (and like you, I’m sure, felt lucky to have timed it well). But no tickets were left.
Meanwhile my friend who joined Ticketmaster queue on the dot of 3pm managed to get us tickets within 15 mins. It was pure luck and inspiration from her but it felt deflating having queued all morning to no avail, and I felt the lack of fairness of it, in a way. It was nerve racking.
I hope those who want to go to the game get sorted. I am thinking of ye.
As someone lucky enough to have got a ticket today I still stand say it was an absolute shambles .
They set up a dedicated GAA portal on Ticketmaster but then decide not to use it ……presumably because the q was too big .
And don’t send out any information ?
And the county board tweeting half an hour before hand that tickets are on sale at 3pm
No where or how !
Shambles
Got a ticket by pure fluke. I had spent most of the last few days logged into the gaa ticketmaster account on the phone. Was logged into my normal ticketmaster account today without realising it and that’s where the tickets went. I got on at 3pm and there was 400 ppl in front of me. They were gone by the time I got my tickets, I’d say only 1000 went online.
Yes wideball I see what ur saying. Just a thought really. But of course its gotta be practiced and practiced.
That was a disaster altogether. ? Might chance going up and see how I fair around croker. Does anyone have any idea if a special train will be put on for the match?
Look for any of us lucky enough to have got tickets, we have to shout louder than ever before. We are not the most loyal fans, only the lucky ones. And much like the players, We have a job to do, and if we don’t do it, someone else should take our spot, simple as! So shout and scream for Mayo!!!!!
Safe traveling to and from Croke Park for those of us lucky enough to have secured a precious ticket.. I won’t be there myself, it will be the second All Ireland football semifinal involving Mayo that I have missed in my life, the first being 2020.. Hopefully, and I am certain that it is the case that Mayo even with smaller numbers will be heard loud and clear as is always the case in Croke Park… Now those lucky enough, have to make up for others who would love to be there, but unfortunately just can’t be.. Do yer training, gargle with honey and lemon for the throat, have it in perfect working order for Saturday, it is a long day, the women take the field 3.45PM, they deserve the support just as much as the men.. Hopefully when ye are returning West, and the Toll Plaza, the horns of the car’s will be blowing full pelt and then us at home might have started our quest, to see if we can this time pip ye to the post in our quest for an All Ireland final ticket… Here’s hoping anyway.. Safe traveling everyone, enjoy the day, we will be with ye in spirit and absolutely certain that the Mayo fans there won’t let us down, they never do!. Mayo ABU.
Hi fw and mayo 88, just waiting on lad to come back to me, your welcome to them if he says no
They are in davin by the way
What do ye reckon lads – put Carr in on the day – big and strong and a bit unpredictable – might put another dimension to the forward play – Dubs would be watching him in case he upsets their plans
@down under. That would be madness. He hasn’t offered a threat all year.
I definitely believe that James Carr is a serious threat.. I’ll bet his scores per minute of playing is ahead of any other player in the Mayo panel this year.. But we might have to listen to those who tell us about his taking a point when he had a goal for the taking v Galway.. Ciaran Tracy got a goal v Kerry in the last minute of the 2019 League final, and it seems that the majority of posters taught the point was the sensible option there.. Definitely Carr is a serious weapon.
I’m with you there JP. I do think Carr has oodles of talent but he’s a bit rash and his decision making is something he needs to work on.
Case in point – he took a pot shot at the posts that went wide vs Galway the last day when the team were clearly looking to control the game and keep the ball. In that scenario you either
a – put it between the posts
or
b you keep it until you can put it between the posts
or
c pass it to someone who will
a – keep it, b – put it between the posts or c…you get the picture.
Boring, yes. Effective, absolutely at that stage of the game.
My eagle eyed match going colleague spotted Kevin Mc giving Carr some verbals after that pot shot and I’m fairly sure he was chastising Carr for not going for the high percentage shot. I’ve no doubt that was going through his thought process when he took the point instead of going for goal at the end.
He needs experience and I get that he won’t get that experience without game time but I think for the moment there are others ahead of him in the pecking order for a starting place.
No doubting Carrs talent but I would question does he defend as well as some of the other forwards – that’s what James Horan needs – fellas who can attack and defend with good speed and stamina
I’m team Carr . I just see so much talent in that man , I remember the first time I seem him he was so slight , it was in ballagh pitch , might of been under 17 but crikey did he stand out . Hes a footballer for sure, I really hope he gets a slice of luck and gets called to action sat .
Sean Burke, you can have all the talent in the world. But at this level you need ruthless discipline and commitment and he has not shown that to date. Against Galway we all know he opted for the point one on one. But he also had a wild swipe of a shot with the left foot before that. He kicked a number of wides in last years all Ireland final. If he gets his head tuned in he could be a top top player…
Lads, Keegan and DOC have been sleepwalking too many games over the past two years. They need to really step it up on Saturday if we are to have any chance