The Round 3B draw has just been made and we’ve drawn Kildare at home. Where, when and at what time this next do-or-next qualifier test for us will take place is set to be decided by the GAA’s CCCC later on today. More on the draw and what it means for us in a bit.
Jesus, you’re on the ball WJ.
Double header at MacHale Park with the Rossies.
Kildare are not the team mayo.wanted
They are a quality outfit
We definitely won`t kill dara!
Mayo stays on their feet for another round. Kildare are poor, very poor. No excuses.
Good to be at home again. Kildare will bring a big crowd.
With our form we cannot take any team for granted. It’ll be a tough one again.
Very important that we improve from the last day, otherwise we’ll be out. Simple as.
Home draw crucial and we’ve avoided Cork so I’ll take that.
Am I right in saying the last time we played Kildare in Castlebar, we lost??
Wille Joe your are on the ball early. Home to Kildare a pretty good draw. Will be interesting to see if we can make progress from Sat. This draw gives us a great chance to keep rolling on. Will they put us on a double bill with Galway Ros replay ??
Christ lads, steady on. Did any of ye see them in the Leinster semi against Westmeath recently?…..They looked a shambles. Even Offaly put up a big score against them last Saturday.
This is a great draw for us. Can`t see a double header with the Connacht Final though, but you never know.
What can Mc Hale hold?……Kildare crowd will be small enough, Galway won`t bring as many as they had yesterday, so it will be us and the Rossies mainly.
Kildare manager will know a lot about us.
We should win this one.
Ah if they can’t beat Kildare at home they’re better off out of it.
It was a great draw to avoid Cork and not have to travel to Kildare.
Whether they can put in a performance or not is another question but you couldn’t but be happy with that draw.
Interestingly the Official GAA Twitter account says matches will take place on Sat/Sun so hopefully the match will take place on Sunday. Really don’t want a double header.
Jon, Kildare are not a quality outfit. They were beaten by Westmeath in Leinster, and almost beaten by Offaly at home on Saturday.
That said, they have a good manager (well, he’s a good coach anyway, jury out on him as a manager) and some decent players.
If Mayo keep the upward trajectory we will win this one fairly comfortably.
McHale Park not big enough for double header but where else could it be?? Galway and Roscommon will probably bring 20000 that only leaves 10000??
Absolutely fantastic service Willie Joe …… thanks again!
Yeah, don’t want a double header. Firstly, capacity could potentially not be enough, there’ll be a big home crowd. Kildare normally travel well and the Connacht Final should attract 20,000. Apart from this, the latter should be a stand alone event. Also, if it is a double header, support for Kildare will hugely increase. The vast majority of Rossies would be up for them.
One game Sat eve, the other Sunday afternoon.
It’s a good draw, no doubt about that. Kildare will be a different test as they wont be as defensive and will be far more gung Ho. We need to keep improving. Get through this and we have 2 weeks to recover.
Can’t complain with that.
It would be good to see another step up in performance. this would set us up nicely for the quarters.
Did anyone think Monaghan would lose to Longford in Clones at the weekend?
Anything less than full focus and determination, suddenly you’re out!
Connacht final is a Connacht council game and back door is run by Croke park, so cannot see it being a double header.
The game will prob be on sunday, cant see a double header with conn final. Too many arguments regarding ticket availability, reserved seating etc.
Home advantage and Kildare only a middling team I think we’ll be ok. But these games have to see us improving all the time. Even if we win we need to do it with a bit of room….No use tripping or stumbling over the line. Still feel we be up in the big smoke for the bank holiday.
Won’t be a double header I don’t think so wait and see we’ll be potentially out sunday. Cian o Neill will know a lot about us. It’s time to abandon this sweeper shit! If you look at the damage fermanagh number 7 did… that was the man mcloughlin was due to mark. It’s time to go back to open football. We have lads like SOS and aidan among others thinking it’s rugby and trying to plough through and make yards instead of moving the ball. We got bottled up too many times saturday. AOS I think should be inside as I think his work rate drops out pitch at times and his fouling is risky. He was lucky to stay on Sat. Also the only diagonal ball (that is a feature of dublin and kerry and makes them so dangerous) led to the penalty so why do we still try walk things in and not use the diagonal ball. Anyway I hope we do have a plan next weekend and start well as we need to start playing or its good night. Also I was interested to read some comments about relying on dillon and barry. If you’ve been following mayo club football for last few years you’d understand they’re such a threat for their respective clubs so no surprise really how their cuteness is needed. I was disappointed in andy saturday…far too greedy and we could have beaten them by more if he passed etc. Anyway up mayo and let’s see when this game is fixed for but I’m saying sunday 😉
You could see one game at 2 and one at 7
A win against Kildare and assuming Dublin win the Leinster title we are looking at facing Donegal/Tyrone/Westmeath in 4B. The quality of opponents is rising quickly. A good win over Kildare should see us with a bit of momentum that will hopefully carry us into the quarters. The second half performance on Saturday was that of a team that meant business. More of it please!
Can’t have any complaints with that draw..Kildale will be well up for it and no doubt Cian O Neill will have them well prepped..However after all the uproar at the wend I feel a siege mentality will have taken seed with the boys..A massive weekend in Castlebar and I’ll be walking the camino..Just my luck.
I’d prefer to come through another testing contest where some of our lacks could be pared down a bit. Not much point in walloping the Lillies if it doesn’t help to develop this system! Let’s not steep ourselves in illusions….not a good place.
Happy with that draw. They will provide us a test we will learn from the game, playing at home means it’s not going to be as big a draw on the bank balance so a lot more of us will be able to shout them on, i’m hopeful it wont be a double header.
If we were to loose, It will give us clear direction and it will make it an easier decision to turn our team building towards integrating our youth.
Currently and most importantly, I would wonder why we are not putting more faith in the likes of Barry Moran and Donal Vaughan and giving them starting places. I’m glad to see that Rochford used Dillon and Andy Moran as impact substitutes and that Higgins was brought back the field as the game went on against Fermanagh it gives me some more faith in this season as I think Rochford is still trying to figure out the best setup, a bit late in the day some would say but we are far from out of it.
Mayo abu
Good draw, it was the draw I wanted.
they will bring alot of physicality and high ball into full forward aswell as big centrefielders and roaming halfbacks.
the perfect physical test to blow out any remaining dirty diesel, Kevin Keane will be well tested as will our sweeper system prior to a run out against Tyrone or Donegal .
It will also do Clarke the world of good as kickouts will have to be accurate and he will have alot of high balls to deal with .
We should have too much for them up top and should be an opportunity for our inside forwards to express themselves but it will be physically tough.
Seeing as its Kildare I would start Barry Moran with Seamie in midfield, despite not setting the world alite the last day Evan Regan should have more space against Kildare, his agility should see him shake of the larger Kildare men .
Barring that I would like to see Vaughan start at 7 and either give Freeman another run or give Andy the nod.
Freeman really disappointing as if his freetaking was good you could excuse his outfield play but he almost looked disinterested .
Andy will give a penetrating edge and as he tires give Loftus a run out too .
Any word on Aido’s knock he got at end of the game?
Interesting draw. Cian O’Neill will know most of our lads well, but they will have developed a lot as footballers since 2012. As well as that, I’m not convinced that his knowledge of Mayo was a critical factor in the loss of the 2014 semifinal replay to Kerry. If Mayo play 70 mins in the style of the 2nd half last Saturday, Kildare will.struggle to stay with us.
On the potential for a double header, the qualifier match is organised directly by Croke Park, while the Ross/Galway replay is organised by the Connacht council. The proceeds from the 2 matches go into two different GAA coffers. As there will be two big crowds if they are separate matches, that might be enough to push our match to Sunday.
Buen Camino Regina. I was in Muxia in 2014 for the Roscommon game relying on my brother to let me know what was going on with texts. Needless to say given where I was and where I’d been the previous seven weeks I asked the Big Man for an intervention. And it came in the form of Andy Moran. Make of that what you will…….;) 😉
And buon Camino Regina…lots of Vaseline on the toesies!!
On paper the easiest draw Mayo could have got and at home too. Unpredictable cork best avoided and Longford with the qualifier record.
Not sure how a double header with the Connacht final will work? That game would bring 20k plus and mayo over 15k. Galway might get the replay back in Pearse yet?
Cian O’Neill knows our lads as well as any other coach/manager. You’d imagine he’ll set out defensively. A gung-ho approach, ie: a more attacking game would suit us better.
Kildare minors play in Leinster final on Sunday will hard hardly agree to have they senior also play on Sunday.
Buen Camino Regina. It is a fantastic experience and hopefully Mayo still around when you get back. Enjoy.
Lots of criticism of Andy and while I was disappointed at some of his choices on the day he still has a vast amount of experience which will be crucial if we are to continue. Look at the way he used hid head by taking the ball to the penalty spot. Soaked up the abuse from fermanagh players and calmly handed the ball to Cillian when it all settled down. We all can have a bad day at the office so give the Man a break.. Looking forward to next weekend.
Mayonase…the prime purpose of the game ought to be to bring us on. The result is secondary.Indeed I hope Mr O Neill packs his defence for that will provide us with a welcome opportunity to exorcise one of our big ills. How do you think Tyrone will set up?….the way we ask them to?? Hardly.
I don’t think they get to say what suits them, mayomagic. Back in 2010 I recall that the same awful evening the seniors were losing to Longford the minors were in action at MacHale Park against Roscommon. It wasn’t a final, I accept, and that is relevant but I don’t think Kildare will be given a menu of choices for when their match against us will be played.
Mayo magic, I think the easiest draw on paper would definitely have been Longford at home.
Also I’m getting a sense already that people are looking at this one like we did ahead of Down… And we know what happened that day! Skin of our teeth.
The reality is we haven’t played anywhere near our best in quite a while and unless we suddenly click into gear next wkend (I wouldn’t bet on it) my prediction is that this will be another dogged and tight affair. Hunger will play its part.
I expect Rochford to go with a similar set up. Vaughan could start. Ideally we need to give some championship game time to Loftus and the Grim Reaper.
Delighted with a home draw. Nothing like building momentum in front of a big home crowd. More of the same this weekend please, big atmosphere and 2 big crowds for 2 big games in Castlebar!
Inbetweener, Im not sure of the point you’re making. I was responding to an earlier comment from NiallMc1983 saying Kildare will be ‘less defensive’ and more ‘gung-ho’. I think that would suit us, therefore I’d be surprised if O’Neill adopted such an approach. If it were me I’d pack a defence and try a counter attacking game…just like Tyrone. It’s easier said than done.
Also, the result is key! If it’s not in our favour we cannot be ‘brought on’. We’ll be out!
Have to be happy with home draw but if we can lift it another notch we should be ok. The signs are positive based on last 20 minutes on Saturday. Need to treat them with respect as they beat us in our last 2 league encounters.
Finally the fog is lifting and we are staring to see the road ahead. Get over this and we have 2 weeks to prepare for next game which will give our injured time to be back.
I dont imagine too many changes to the starting line up. Possibly Vaughan replacing Durcan as he hasnt gone well so far(did he pick up an injury on sat) if freeman is again going to operate at hf, then I would prefer Jason picked as he is more mobile around the middle.
The ball going in to Regan will have to improve greatly. He doesnt have the physicality to deal with the type of high ball thats going into him. He needs quick ball into the space infont of him or balls into the corner which he can run after. We need to play to his strengths which are speed and running at people to get the best out of him. O’Donaghue would look average living off the service Evan is getting.
If this was an AI Final we would take it. In some ways it is, so onwards and upwards ?
With all this Mayo cheating stuff, I think this and the grit we showed the last day to beat Fermanagh can bring this team on no end and recreate the bond that was there before if not even strenghten it.
I would imagine Mcentee to be the Jose Mourinho type and creating an “us against the world mentality”, there is no doubt tat the last game will have done wonders to the bond within the squad and just to reaffirm when we had to go to the well, there were plenty of lads who put their hands up so this theory of them being tired and mentally worn out was quashed in the second half .
Kildare pose a new threat and cant be underestimated but it s a physical test that will stand to us and again harness that team bond, get the shooting boots back on, get used to the sweeper approach (be it Kevin Mc/Higgins or Boyler) and get us in tip top shape before taking to the field v Donegal/Tyrone or Westmeath .
I would not be confident of beating any team including London based on our first half performance against Fermanagh. We are playing very poor par odd spurts and darts. The second half was a huge improvement but come on lads Kildare will beat us if we produce 70 mins of bull again.
Pretty happy with that draw, I don’t think we can ask for more.
Mark my words, Kildare will bring their A-game to Castlebar – they may be no great shakes but with O’Neill on board they will fancy their chances against us (particularly with that gaping hole we seem to have in the middle of the field) and they have a lot to prove. Remember the day we drew with them in the league in 2013?
A month ago, I was utterly confident we would beat Galway; now, I can’t be convinced we’ll beat a division 3 team. Maybe it’s no harm to be brought back down to earth. I’m rather enjoying this tightrope we’re walking even though it’s not good for the heart.
Can’t see this being a double-header either, even though I’d be happy with one, but the extra day would do us no harm at all. A Sunday game for us would also bring more of a crowd and make the place even more of a fortress than it was on Saturday.
Ye will beat Kildare. Fermanagh probably a better side at the moment than them.
I don’t really understand the qualifier system this year (the 2 sides to the draw) – if ye come through to reach the quarter final do you know yet which province you would be meeting or is it that an open draw or what’s the story?
I would not like a double header. Reserved seating and Mayo fans would be left out in the rain. We would also be forced to pay extra for a game many have no interest in. Kildare Minors are playing in a Leinster Final on Sunday so many of their supporters will want to go to that. Mayo/Kildare at 1. Roscommon/Galway at 7.
We do, Galwayman – if we beat Kildare then Round 4B is against either Westmeath (assuming Dublin beat them) or Donegal/Tyrone. Win that one and our quarter-final is against either the Ulster or Leinster champions.
Another home game, against a medium rated opposition is just the tonic. Another chance to clean out the engines! Kildare aren’t as good as fermanagh but could be still tricky! I think Vaughan showed why he should be starting last Saturday as did big bird. Coen is not a midfielder, but is great cover for the back unit!
Thanks Willie Joe.
Dublin/Tyrone/Donegal would be fascinating fixtures.
Westmeath shouldn’t pose any difficulties for Mayo.
Think the momentum was with Mayo so would have won regardless of the penalty decision on Saturday.
I really think Tyrone are the 2nd best side in the country right now and would trouble the Dubs.
Kildare Will be no pushover. Mayo will have to improve again from last Saturday. If we play like we did in the second half for the full 70 minutes, I would give us a great chance. The fact that Kildare conceded 2-14 to a poor Offaly side bodes well for us. Can’t see them getting anything like that against us. Was very happy with the second half performance against Fermanagh but there is still alot of work to be done.
Looking forward to this game and great that it’s at home too. It will be a good test for us if we can’t beat them we don’t deserve to go any further but I expect we wlll win I hope our forward play improves would be great to see Conor Loftus get a run and score a few
So Mayoaze …you agree that a Kildare attempt at a blanket would be a suitable set up for us to have to contend with. T’would give us a further chance to deal with something we re not too good at and prob at a less threatening level. Hope I’m reading you right this time…cheers!
While we are certainly not firing, coming back from a 6 point deficit will stand to us. In these qualifiers, its only the result that matters. I’m not expecting a performance from us this weekend that will scare Dublin/Tyrone/Kerry but we will beat Kildare.
What doesn’t kill us will make us stronger!
We’re very much (and this isn’t just yerra-talk) in one match at a time territory now, Galwayman. You lads narrowed in our horizons for us! If we keep clearing the hurdles in the qualifiers then the toughest of challenges would face us in the quarters: either Dublin or Tyrone. I’d agree with you that they look the best two teams around right now, even if Kerry are still lurking there as they always are.
For the Fermanagh Goal last Saturday how come Colm Boyle was left isolated in the square with Sean Quigley. Would goal have been scored if Boyle was where he should have been and Keane was where he should have been. Did Keane get caught out of position or was this intentional.
I reckon we will be playing Sat evening with the Connacht replay moved to Sunday.
I have two comments to make, one about the AOS penalty and the resulting aftermath the second relating to the use of AOS during a game.
Taking the penalty first, Kiernan Whelan comments were a disgrace, this was the same panelist that was very ‘diplomatic’ in his description of PMcM head butting, feigning injury, Eye-gouging incidents in last year Championship. J.Cooper tackle on D.O’Connor and his involvement in getting SOS sent off, I could go on….. The video shown by RTE was inadequate to say the least as it shows AOS falling to the ground but does not show what happened prior to the fall i.e. it did not clarify the referee decision which was based on a tug of the jersey. All the comments were on a push in the back but the ref. indicated there was a pull of the jersey.
The second and much more important point is how best to deploy AOS?; I have watched a number of managers play him in numerous positions but with little success w.r.t to his ability.
To get the best out of AOS two thinks should happen;
1. His is played in the full forward line (not necessary full forward); this I hear you say is not new but the second point is;
2. He is coached to break the ball to supporting players around him who are moving at speed with constant communication with AOS. At FF AOS will be double teamed but AOS would still be favorite to break the ball in the path of an in rushing forward. Thus AOS would be taking out three defenders i.e. his two markers and the marker of the in rushing attacker.
SOS & AOS need to be coached to be team players, understand that not all balls require to be caught or toe taped in order to advance the teams cause. If this simple ploy were to be perfected it would transform the team both in attack and from a defense stance. In defense mode the opposition would require two double team AOS even when they are in attack to defend the long ball approach in the event of their attack breaking down.
– Kildare will play ultra defensive probably for first 50 mins. They are mobile and have pace, Tommie Moolick, Niall Flynn with Niall Kelly some of their main men with Bolton if he starts always a handful.
– I hope to see some resemblance of a Mayo attacking strategy appearing this weekend and starting with at least 5 natural forwards will help.
– As someone who has watched the Sunday game since it was first televised I cannot remember a player being targeted on it like Aido was last night it was un-precendented. The irony of Ciaran Whelan condemning Aido when he punched Nigel Crawford in the jaw at the throw in of a Leinster Final and nobody from the Kerry OShea Family has any authority to talk about cheating and dirty play just ask Nicholas Murphy.
– AOS had a great second half and I for one will be giving him a standing ovation when he takes the pitch this weekend. Time to #standbyaido to trend.
Kildare are average, if we cant beat them at home we have no business going any further. But we shouldn’t under estimate them either as they can score if given the space but I don’t think they will match us physically
Yep Inbetweeber, I’d agree that it would be a good test for us if Kildare set up defensively, but what I said was that it would suit us better if they didn’t….because i think our chance of victory would increase if they leave gaps at the back.
I was thinking that too Donedeal… We were horribly exposed for the Fermanagh goal! Where was our defence???
Happy with that draw, won’t be easy at all. But if concentration levels are right, we should progress. One game at a time.
Spillane and Brolly united us even more after yesterday, I was lapping it up and im sure Rochford was too. Theirs something brewing within Mayo football, you could sense it in the last 20mins in Mchale park. Against Galway Keane was down with cramp with 15mins left, on saturday he ran the length of tbe pitch in the 66th min to support Aido, who fisted it over the bar for the insurance score…..that my doubts about hunger and desire answered.
Galway will be kicking themselves today, should have closed that game out. Hopefully they finish the job next week.
Yew tree, conn final wont be moved due to tv schedules, there are big games on sunday so its saturday for conn final on rte probably.
A sunday game for Mayo would make the most sense as a double header simply wont work. It would be a problem however for those who cant attend as more than likely it wont be televised
Olive X Logic….a fine combination!
Angelina Nugent ?@AngelinaNugent1 2m2 minutes ago
Connacht Final replay Sunday at 3.30pm! Looks like Mayo game stand alone Saturday-not confirmed yet.
Replay is sunday im hearing frm rossies
It doesnt matter the venue or day,so long as we get the right result and get to the quarter finals,but we have to focus on each game and take nothing for granted,and play as a team,it takes 15 to win!,as they say there’s no I in the word team! Hon Mayo .
Nothing’s officially confirmed as yet but I can see it’s being widely reported that Galway/Roscommon is on Sunday, which can only mean we’re playing on Saturday. 7pm would seem to make the most sense if so. Official announcement likely to come shortly.
Happy with home game .. Still positions up for grabs in half back line , mid field and forwards so whoever starts needs to perform . Good start crucial the next day but feel big barry should start . Does anyone know how long tom parsons is expected to be out for. ?
Sat evening. 7.00 pm. Unconfirmed
My ball, I was told from a reliable source that Tom has a ‘6 to 8 week’ injury. 🙁
Well if true thats 3 weeks up since galway game already. Be back for quaters of we were to progress.
Considering the Mayo CoBo missed out on our Conn final, does the way it actually worked out mean more $$$$$$ for our CoBo? 2 home games of 12-14k and a Conn Final replay?!
Thanks brendan .
Mairead
GAA need to take a stance on all this abuse on Aiden. it’s horrendous and unfair. Worse things have happened in GAA games. I say let’s all stand to Aiden and the team next weekend no matter what the result. Shocking the fat pay checks the rte pundits get to dish out such tripe. These are amateur footballers who have to live their lives too.
We’all in this together. I for one will be standing and be heard. We’re fired up now.
Mayo forever.
Don’t think it will be a double header connacht council will want their own gate takings qualifier is an all Ireland fixture the replay should go to Tuam and leave us our own ground
Mark, am not a 100percent but I think Mayo board will only get a flat fee for the use of the grounds for championship games. Croke park keep all funds from ticket sales. League games the counties participating get a percentage of gate reciepts.
For Aido who has taken horrendous physical abuse for years without retaliation and without getting the frees that were due …. it is indeed rich for paid pundits to jump on their high horses now when he eventually catches a break. We’re not listening.
Connacht GAA have confirmed on Twitter that the replay is on Sunday at 3.30pm so I guess an official announcement on the qualifier dates and times can’t be long coming now.
I’ve just watched the two flute’ experts’ on with Cahill last night.The Dub not only got the OShea pen wrong but chased him around the field to get him a red. He has an obvious unhealthy obsession with our man.Closer exam of incident shows that there was a trip as well as a pull/push. The Cillian pen was a double..the pull down and then the push down when he tried to get up!
Experts don’t base opinions on the evidence that was at their disposal last night. But sure that’s RTE…second rate all around!
Whelan and O Se are fine men to be standing in judgement on anyone and ably assisted by rte’s urangatang of a presenter.
I’d say the 2 lads had their tongues firmly stuck in their jaws when cahill couldn’t remind them of their own misdemeanours. Whelan is just an oul windbag anyway. Kerry-Dublin=axis of evil. They don’t mind you coming to their party once in a while but don’t dare hang around or they’ll turn on you. Sure Spillane has just barely finished crying about Tyrone and Ulster puke football.
We’re bigger than them so ar aghaidh linn le cheile.
If Dublin were playing Kildare next Saturday we would expect them to win by 10 points or more. That is the standard we need to aspire to and produce. If we scrape by with just a couple of points then our team has slipped dramatically. This after all is the team that had dublin on the ropes last August.
There’s talk about systems etc but I cannot see the emergence of any system. Rochford may be experimenting but I fail to see what he is trying to achieve but then I may well be dumb in these matters. As far as I could see our victory the last day was the result of the lads themselves in the second half reverting as best they could to what they were familiar with under Horan – hard running by attacking half backs and stubborn intensity. You might well say it didn’t get us over the line in previous years but it got us a hell of a lot nearer the line than what we are at right now. The FBD and the league is the place for experimenting, not the championship.
So I say for the Kildare match; put Higgins in defence, McLoughlin at 10, AOS at 14 (and leave him there), Barry Moran and Seamus O Shea in midfield, Vaughan at CB with Boyle and Keegan on the wings. Bring in Loftus if fit, otherwise start Alan Dillon and replace him when he’s tired with Andy Moran or Jason Doherty. I think Freeman has had his chance and Jason Doherty needs to re-focus on getting scores which is the main job of any forward. Talk of bringing in u21s at this stage is probably futile – they couldn’t be ready unless they were involved much earlier.
Then take the shackles off the players and let their footballing instincts loose and see what happens. We don’t need a sweeper against Kildare and we didn’t need one against Fermannagh or Galway for that matter. It may have worked against in fact.
Why not play football the way we are good at? Get Loughlane once famously said ‘men wanted now!’ Well we need that and common sense football now. We have the men. We know that…… now what about the football?
If we beat kildare not taking thst as definitive do we get a week off before potentially 2 of donegal Tyrone Dublin in a 7 day turn around. Hard to be confident in that senario. …
Kildare are crap. Division 3 winners, beaten by Sligo in the league and Westmeath in the championship, and struggled against Offaly in league and qualifier.
But… we have yet to play, and as Willie Joe rightly puts it, it’s this game only. Any team I feel will fancy their chances against us, thinking we are a beaten docket.
We have been patchy, have done quite a lot of good things, but haven’t yet got rhythm. The qualifiers can be beneficial in that respect, no matter whom we play, as long as we win. The more we win the better we’ll get. In that sense they could be a better bet than route A. But we’ve got to win them and focus on winning. Beating Kildare is all we need to think of for the next week.
We should study the Tyrone qualifier template. They know how to do it.
Ciaran Whelan against us in 2006?
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/mcgarrity-says-the-tackle-was-too-much-1.1044228
Hyperbolic hypocrisy at its finest to criticise Aidan O’Shea like he did last night
Just checked the aul season ticket attendance page and see that my attendence has not yet been registered for last sat (again) anyone else checked theirs?
Diehard I’d be inclined to agree with you based on my one watching the game, much of it in the first half through my hands. It was only when we cast off the shackles that we began to play, and I don’t know who was behind that, the management or the lads themselves.
Mine hasn’t updated either Mayomad but I wouldn’t panic just yet – it tends to take longer from Castlebar.
Kildare will be happy with the draw too, nothing to lose against a creaking big name team (mayo). This is another game that we can lose if we aren’t set up right from the start, we need to really focus on one game at a time with the way we are playing. A 6 point lead is not something we want to be giving any team from here on in, Fermanagh just lacked the fitness but Kildare won’t and it would be a bastard to go out because we were thinking ahead of ourselves.
still, it’s nice to have the week to contemplate the different scenarios.
I agree with you Diehard but Rochford is a tactical man and he knows his stuff.
What he was doing the last day in my mind was we were playing against a strong wind and he dropped in Kevin Mc as sweeper in to assist Keane and Harrison and to allow Keane and Harrison to concentrate on breaking the ball .
It worked to a degree Kevin Mc played well but we did see their no.7 score 3 points.
It will take getting used to but playing against a big fullforward like Quigley and Fermanagh being aided by a gael force wind I thonught it a logical option.
Second half the sweeper stepped up to the halfbackline/ middle as Fermanagh werent going to kick it into the fullforward line against the breeze .
Kevin Mc and Higgins alternated and both played really well I thought .
I think it a little unfair to say the players done it rather than rochford having an influence.
The sweeper will be needed and needed v Kildare where their big men in fullforward line will see high ball pumped in, if we escape Kildare as we should then a sweepr will also be needed v any of the possible opposition
– Donegal, Murphy and McBreathy or just McBreathy in their cant be left in 1 on 1 situations
– Tyrone have smaller but faster men who they will look to isolate in 1 on 1 and I dont fancy either HArrison or Kenaen in 1 on 1 situations against such high quality players.
Then if we win the above games
Its Dublin or donegal/Tyrone and we will need sweeper for them too .
SO I dont think there is any sense is looking to deploy a sweeper off the cuff in an All Ireland Quaterfinal, it needs to be bedded in by then.
Its not perfect what we are trying to do but there are good intentions there and I would prefer not to be at the peak of our powers in July rather in August or Sept
Amen to all of that, diehard.
You’ve been reading my mind again.
We do not need to be copying other teams & their systems.
We need to play the ‘Mayo’ way & let other teams worry about the ‘Mayo’ system.
We have the best runners in the game … unleash them … draw the frees for our top class freetaker ….. make sure the ball goes dead so we don’t get hit on the counter attack.
Focus on getting defenders in behind our own attacking half backs.
Push right up on the opposition kickout & scare the opposition with our sense of adventure.
A ‘hell for leather game’ best suits this Mayo team.
Agus aris agus aris eile borderboy.
Thanks Anne-Marie, was thinking as much. Still fired off an email to them about it, been caught too many times in the past at this stage.
Also agree with you regarding throwing off the shackles. Seems like we are getting too caught up in systems and tactics that are designed for when we play other teams than playing whats in front of us on the day.
@Outside the boot, agree with you completely. I noticed that our half backs attacked alot more against Fermanagh then they did against Galway which I hope is proof that Rochford is learning game on game. Our injury list in the league made it very difficult to perfect any game plan which I think is why we are behind where we should be. People need to remember this is Rochfords first year and he deserves some time.
@Lahan man, we will have 2 weeks off if we beat Kildare.
@inbetweener. .first thing in my case? Enjoy all the ruminations folks..Hope we have many more weeks of them!
Hey lads, great site here.
I was confident Saturday evening that if we play with the intensity we played with in the second half v Fermanagh that we would beat Cork, Kildare or Longford. I’m still confident, provided we play with that intensity and hunger. This “we should beat them” and “Kildare are poor” stuff doesn’t help. Nor does statements such as “if we can’t beat them we’re as well of out”. If we don’t beat anyone at this stage we’ll be out and that’s where we deserve to be if we lose.
In terms of Saturday evening, I’ll start from the beginning. Alan Freeman in for Jason Doc prior to throw in. I have great time for both players, two genuine guys. Freeman has huge potential, although over the years we have only seen flashes of that. I think Jason is a very intelligent and under-rated player, his passing, work rate, spacial awareness and forward’s brain is second to none. When I heard the change prior to the game I was indifferent because I rate both but was happy in that I assumed this meant Freeman in the full forward line, I was mistaken. Freeman played in the half forward line, why? Why make the switch? Jason is a better wing forward, with a better engine and work rate. Freeman is arguably a better full forward, moves around the D a lot and doesn’t stray far from goal, also can catch. Why make the switch? so that’s Alan playing out of position.
Then we start “as selected” with a full back line of Harrison, Kevin K and Zippy. From our full back line last year we are missing two/three players. Ger Caff out for the season, Tom Cunniffee unavailable due to travelling and Chris Barrett will hopefully be back soon. What do we do, we move the only other player that was good enough to start in our full back line last year and an all star in that position, namely zippy, into the forwards. Why? I have great time for Zippy, and I believe he can play anywhere, and thought he had an excellent second half v Fermanagh. But the issue is this, Is Keith doing anything in the forwards that Kevin McLoughlin can’t do? I don’t believe he is. Likewise, Is kevin McL doing anything as sweeper that Keith can’t do, I don’t believe he is. So why have Keith up front, away from the half of the pitch he’s spent the guts of 10 years in and Kevin in Defence. I think Kevin Mc deservedly was man of the match v Fermanagh, exceptional second half, when he played predominantly between the two 45’s and going forward. I think he is wasted in the defensive half of the pitch, his ability to thread a pass, wriggle out of trouble etc, and he usually always chipped in with a point or two from play. Keith has the ability to punch holes with pace, Kevin can punch holes to a lesser extent but his play making ability and scoring ability is greater than Keith’s. I see no reason why they can’t be switched. If we are to persist with a sweeper, does anyone really think Zippy can’t play that role? I believe he would be just as good.
Now the sweeper system. I have some sympathy for Rochford on this, he’s trying something different. My impulse is to say we should abandon it but I don’t wish to be hasty either. Where it starts to annoy me is it prevents the team from pressing hard on other teams up the pitch. It prevents us covering for their kickouts and pressing hard when their coming out with possession because, yes you guessed it, there are extra men back there. So we have Cillian/Evan/Aidan running their back sides off trying to pressurise the defenders coming out, but its all in vein. Thus greatly reduces the number of turnovers in the opposition half, needless to say their the dangerous turnovers, their the turnovers that really leave teams exposed and under pressure.
The sweeper also seems to play havoc with our marking, their appears to be runners all over the place that we can’t get to grips with. We also appear to drop back too far into our own half, employing a time of zonal marking which results in ball carriers having far too much time. This resulted in Fermanagh’s number 7 kicking three points in the first half. That man is either Zippy’s, Freeman’s, Diarmuid’s or Kevin Mc’s. PROBLEM FOR MANAGEMENT. We’re playing a sweeper, we’re zonal marking, you look at the stats to see number 7 has scored three from play, but you can’t make an old fashioned switch (keith off him and diarmuid on to him), why, because we aren’t man marking. Putting it more bluntly, when management look at the stats at half time they don’t know which of our half forwards to blame.
It also appeared to me, and this goes back to the galway game to, that Zippy isn’t maybe suppose to get back and defend as often as the other forwards. Perhaps their hoping to exploit his pace on the counter attack. I see the merit in that. However, what about the wing back on Zippy’s side of the pitch. That was Partick Durcan on Saturday. I, like most people rate Patrick highly, he didn’t play well Saturday, lost a number of balls etc. However, he was caught on a number of occasions by overlaps, I felt slightly sorry for him in that regard because it was mission impossible to stop them. (nevertheless management were correct to make the change and bring on Vaughan)
Vaughan and Barry Moran were impressive. Particularly Barry. We seemed far more stable around the middle when he came on, able to fetch ball at will. Also in the second half a lot of people criticise the Fermanagh kick out tactic, or lack of. They constantly hit balls out to mid-field, old fashioned 50/50 balls. WHY? why do that against the breeze and with the breeze go short? Is Pete McGrath an idiot? No he is not. The Fermanagh keeper was forced to do that because we pushed up, we went man for man, he tried a few short but they were put under massive pressure coming out so he had to go long, we fetched ball, broke ball and battled hard. We couldn’t do this in the first half because we were playing a sweeper and therefore not going man to man.
Sorry for the long post, I could go on for ever. Will we win v Kildare. You cannot answer that yes or no, it’s based on if’s and maybe’s. Playing to potential etc. There are a lot of places up for grabs however, Freeman’s, Coen’s (who played well and tried very hard and is a good footballer, but is he ahead of Barry Moran yet in terms of midfield play, personally I don’t think so). You also have Evan Regan, who I imagine management will persist with and who is trying hard but we aren’t seeing a return on the scoreboard. Then there Is Patrick Durcan, we all know what he can do but does Vaughan’s physical strength get is further.
Then there are also the tactics, sweeper system, zonal marking, Zippy v Kevin Mc positionally etc. I don’t know where it will take us, I see the merit and how it may be needed against certain teams but it’s playing with fire a little in these games because it allows the opposition far too much time on the ball, gets their confidence up etc.
Any way, that’s a long rant.
RTE Sports confirm Mayo’s game at 7 p.m. on Saturday with the Connacht final at 3.30 on Sunday – both games at MacHale Park. Please note spelling of MacHale Par, RTE, it’s not McHale Park, but named after that great nationalist Archbishop John MacHale
Dave and Outside of boot – good points there. I mentioned it too that other teams will see us as has beens, and the media will be pushing that line now. We may well be, but we’re still in it and the longer we are in it the better we’ll get.
Our defensive performances overall have not been bad and the scores against by Galway and Fermanagh were reasonable. Think Barry could have a role at the back too a la the Donegal QF last year.
And, aside from Tom P, we are getting our players back and hardened. On that front does anyone have the latest on Chris Barrett, Brian Reape and Conor Loftus?
Good post we’regoingwell, we’ll keep you!
We’re Going Well
John Divully was on radio last night and in his summary he more or less algned with what you are saying and also what I was thinking. SR took over a finely tuned machine that just needed a little tweaking but he has gone and done a Maughan 97 on it and made a raft of alterations.
I think Anne Marie alluded to it in an earlier post but how much was the 2nd transformation attributable to the senior players as opposed to management decisions.
These are just some thoughts but I want to take the positives from the latter end of the game and move on in the hope of more improvement.