It’s not the shock that has delayed me posting the details of who we’ve just drawn: I’m out and about and found myself in a coverage black hole when the draw was taking place.
What can one say? Worst possible draw, obviously, but that’s the reality facing us so we have to get on with it.
More later (maybe).
well I see the talk is of a Kerry Cork semi final already. I think a good performance to finish of the year, but who knows goulding is out now, so Cork down to bare bones on forwards. Down without Clarke are an ordinary team and Cork identified this and nullified him. So yes tough draw but lets give it a lash and who knows they may have their eye off the ball.
It was never meant to be easy. It will be a major step up of an ask. We should not fear them, but we should try to repay our debts.
So Cork it is. Remember we are in bonus points territory here. Best of luck to James and the lads, We will know a lot more about where we really are in terms of the top ten after this match. Nightmare draw for the GAA coffers
Remember 2004, we went to Croker to play the defending AI Champs Tyrone , never given a hope of beating them. Cork are as daunting a prospect as Tyrone was then.
Let every pundit write us off, it might seep through to a Cork team that are hopefully thinking ahead to Kerry in the semi.
Waving the white feather went out the window when the Ballintubber All-Black took the reins.Those lads wont bend the knee to any team.Lets rise up and rebel against the Rebels!
I’m not that concerned here lads (and I’m living in the heart of rebel land, albeit the hurling side), we have absolutley nothign to lose, a hammering would be bad for the development of this team but its what most people expect to happen so in some strange way it, for me, wouldnt be worse than our strange capitulation to Meath at this stage 2 years ago.
I at least fancy us to give them a fright, I reckon Keith Higgins is capable of handeling Alan O’Connor, and they have a shocking array of injuries in the forward line. I dont know if Daniel Goulding will be gone for our game but it looked to me like his achilles might be gone. His replacement barry O’Sullivan broke his jaw in two places and with Colum O’Neill and Sheehan allready gone, even with the big talented panel they have they are getting down to the bones.
Still anyone would want Pa Kelly, Paul Kerrigan and Alan O’Connor in their team so its not like they are resorting to calling up the Junior team just yet.
They wont rate us at all, and not matter what Conor Counihan says to them they will buy into the comments that are now appearing such as “why didnt they just put Cork straight into the semis”. We have never beaten them in HQ in my memory, in fact I remember being in the canal end in THAT day in 93 , one of our party was a girl from Skib who proceeded to read a book throughout the match. Summed it up really.
So they’ll firmly believe they will beat us pulling up, its up to us to disavow them of that notion.
If we put in that same work rate and determination that we showed in our games so far, we can do it. Look at the 2006 U-21 team sheets, theres alot of similar names on both sides, and who came out on top that day? That of course doesnt mean alot now, they have developed alot more than us since, but it shows that we have some footballers who can best them, the world and his mother (and all his aunts) dont give us a hope in hell, well thats always just the time to stand up and shut the world up, and theres only one way to do that.
I’m even going to go so far as to throw some money on Mayo to win this, yes, perhaps I might as well burn my money but as the black eyes peas might say “I’ve gotta feeling”
Let us remain positive – we have already taken out London and they have a much bigger population than Cork. Then all we have to do is beat Kerry and after that we’ll shove the Jackeens back in their box – -all things considered – – a handy enough draw.
Cork will be without Sheehan, O’ Neill, Goulding, O’Droscoll and Cadogan , plus the six players who have left the panel for their own reasons in the last 14 months. We will never have a better chance to beat the rebels
we have to be realistic, the best thing is that we dont get a hiding like last years League final,hate to say it , Cork by at least 12 points
Any team would have been tough to draw at this stage, be it Cork, Kildare or Tyrone. So as Sixpointsup has pointed out, we beat Tyrone 7 years ago when no-one gave us a prayer. Regardless of their injuries, Cork are fit, run directly at you, go for their scores quickly and can score from distance. We have dug out two wins in messy weather and haven’t had a dry day to show what we can do. Cork are overwhelming favourites but I thought Down were poor yesterday and McCartan didn’t hide his disappointment with his players, so backroom unrest must have plagued them all season. There’s a good spirit in the team and Connacht meant a lot to the young players. Trevor, Andy, Keith,the Feeneys and the O’Sheas have shown that they’re up for it and if you have to play the favourites, we are better off in the Quarters and the Semis, I can’t wait for the game
as bob says can we do it. yes we can .play them now they will most certainly be over confident after saturday and will be already looking to kerry ,this can onlybe a good thing.im actually looking to us and kerry in simi
the draw i wanted test ourselves against the best. we need a good croke park performance for sure the result will look after itself. we wont fear them. cant wait for the match , the ticket hunt begins again thanks be to god!
brolly reckons ‘cork will wipe the floor with mayo’.. only one answer to that shite.
I’m glad we got cork, this is what its all about, we need to find out where we are, and how close or far away we are from the big boys. I think Cork will win, injuries or not, they’re further on in their development than we are and are have too much for us, unfortunately we’re lacking in a number of key areas.
On saying all that, I’d love us to work or holes off give an absolute honest effort, don’t bend the knee and come out of croker with a shock win or give Cork one hell of a fright, but above all, no absolute capitulation in Croke Park again…. Mayo Abu
the more I think of it as others here have said it is probably a good draw for us to test us and sure there are a lot of counties gone out of the championship who would give anything for the chance we have .. I think if we get 12 men behined the ball for 3 quarters of the game and for the final quarter go at them and hit them with everything. no other way im afraid
I think its a great draw-99% of people expect us to lose by a cricket score. No pressure whatsoever.
Remember Tyrone in 2004 and the Dubs in 2006. Mayo have a record of pulling off the big upset.
So far this year they have played like crap and have come from behind 3 times. I would prefer that to leading for the entire game then giving away a soft goal at the death like we have done before.
Finally-in 1989 we had Fitzmaurice, in 1996/97 we had Sheridan, in 2004 and 2006 we had MacDonald. Any time Mayo have done well they have had a top notch freetaker.
Unfortunately I had the pleasure of being in the Canal end in 1993. Time to erase that memory.
I dont think Brolly even mentioned Mayo – we are so far off the radar – in his view! The assumption during the Sunday Game was a Cork v Kerry semi-final. And I think that is a fair assumption from a neutral’s perspective.
But from our perspective and above all else we need a credible performance (whatever about a win) where our lads can come home on Sunday evening with their spirits and dreams of future success in tact – not shattered beyond repair like has happened in the past. This is now the most critical thing that will impact on the future of this team. The stakes are incredibly high in my humble opinion. This could well make or break the team.
Lads, didnt want the draw we got but I am very quietly confident about this now.they are not the team they were last year..pretty sure though Goulding will fit in time for next week was only a grade 1 ankle strain
“so far off the radar” and rightly so. We are not going to get within a whisker of Cork, why..why…why …why some people are talking thriugh their ass is beyond me, Cork will destroy us, end of story. Worst draw possible
Cork are a fine team, but any team that loses a few players have to have weak spots. I just think we have put them on a pedestal because we havn,t beaten them in the c’ship!! We need to get up to croker and support the lads and (hopefully) they will give us something to shout about.
Sean I wonder how you get out of bed if you’re always that pessimistic.
Brolly did briefly mention Mayo, Cork will wipe the floor with us apparently.
Maybe they will, but I’m not so sure. To be honest I’m not sure how this is going to go as our results so far have been hard fought and dug out affairs. Maybe that will stand to us.
The main thing is to have no fear and to give it a go.
Up Mayo!
Sean Burke get a fukn life. Jeez if I was that miserable……….
theres a tweet in circulation which sums it up:
“Ross and Mayo are so far under the radar they are going to come up the canal to the match in a submarine”
You hit a sore spot there Séaneen……….
Anyway, having heard its Cork Two thoughts come to mind
1. In preparing for a challenge of this kind ie David V’s Goliath
Expect the worst and hope for the best.
2. We can try to fool everyone else but please lets not fool ourselves.
So best of luck in the battle boys
I dont think we can fool ourselves albany coz I dont think anyone genuinley knows what kind of team we have.
We could win the next day or get hammered and neither would completley surprise me.
“Cork will wipe the floor with Mayo” – Quote from Joe Brolly last night on the Sunday Game….
At least thats James Horans pre-match team talk sorted again!
They will wipe the floor with Mayo. Any team but Cork, i would of given us a chance.
The sheer size of the Cork team and the robust nature of their play, will kill us.
Too late, Sean – Joe Brolly used that line last night on The Sunday Game. How about “they’ll beat the living shite out of us” or “they’ll bate us up a stick” as alternatives?
I wish people would realize i’m not joking. Got off the phone from the aul fella there, he say’s ” you never know, they’re not unbeatable, we’re on a hiding to nothing anyway”
I asked him was he for real, i’m baffled by any angle taken to give us any chance at all as there is no angle, oh unless you use the ” we beat them in the league” surely people remember we beat them down in Cork last year only to give them a ” light training session” in the final as one of the Cork players said.
It’s physically impossible i think, it men against boys in every sense. They are also twice the men our boys are, i really believe they could kill us, throw us around the pitch as if we were rag dolls.
The lack of bacon and cabbage in this Mayo team will be very evident on Sunday.
For fuck’s sake Sean would you ever catch a grip on yourself? It’s our seniors that’s playing Cork not the minors or the women. Sure, they’re red hot favourites to beat us and beat us they may well do but with that kind of attitude we may as well not turn up at all.
Lads, don’t be giving Seanín a hard time, since whatever he says, the opposite is most likely to come true. Give it socks Seanie!
Some choice quotes by one Sean Burke on July 11th, 2011 prior to the Roscommon match …
I don’t think we will beat Ros, they are bigger, faster and better conditioned…
We are simply awful, f/b line will be destroyed…
We will be bullied all over the park…
The noise from the Hyde will be electric, our lads will not be able to handle it…
I think Seanin is suggesting that we all bring the bacon & cabbage to Croker on Sunday as he fears it’ll be the only Green & Red on display !
Lads if ye were favourites for a match i would be more worried as like our hurlers the favourites tag does not suit Mayo football. I think seriously ye have a chance. Cork missing three 1st choice forwards and if they had scraped by Down i would be more concerned. Brolly is a fool. I would not worry about him. He called Cork comical characters pre the Down game. He is the type of guy like Spillane that will never admit he is wrong and is too proud to alter his opinion. Spillane for years balmed Tyrone and Armagh for the ‘puke’ football since 2002. What he could not see is that Kerry as good and successful as they are were just as physical and dirty and they got away with unreal stuff in the last nine years. Gooch was throwing elbows at Limerick defenders in those years as quickly as he was firing over points. Go out and knock this Kerry/Cork rubbish on its head.
Remember the time the brothers of a certain Mayo footballer surrounded the press box in Croke Park to give Spillane a hiding. I think he had to be smuggled out in the boot of Martin Carneys car-
Until Mayo win Sam we will have to continue to listen to this tripe!
Surprised by the level of negativity on here. The Cork view is that you have a good chance, given the level of injuries we have. We’re not fooled by the Down performance, as Down were rubbish on the day, and we’re not fooled by the allegedly poor standard of the Connacht Final either, as Spillane’s Kerry would have struggled in that gale. (I wouldn’t listen to a word Spillane or Brolly utter, btw). This is a very dangerous game for Cork, and I’d see it as being similar to, but much closer than, the 2007 QF vs Sligo (Cork won 1-11 to 0-8).
Best of luck to both teams!
I think it’s more realism (forged by too many bitter letdowns in the past) than outright negativity, LondonRebel, and is maybe also a reflection of the 5/1 odds the bookies are offering on a win for our lads. But it’s not all negative – the poll here on the site is currently showing two-thirds support for a possible upset. I think it is potentially a dangerous game for Cork, not necessarily because of the injuries (given the sheer size of Cork’s panel) but maybe because thoughts are already drifting to a possible rematch with Kerry in the semis. We’ve never yet beaten you in the championship and have taken a fair few scutchings off you down the years so it’d be nice to have something on the other side of the balance sheet come Sunday evening!