The draw for next year’s Connacht Championship has – somewhat bizarrely – just been made on RTÉ Radio One. In it, we’ve been paired with Leitrim in the quarter-finals. If we get over that hurdle, we’ve got Roscommon (or London) in the semi-finals.
On the other side of the draw, Galway, once they get the New York trip out of the way, are paired against Sligo in the second semi-final tie.
Nice and easy again for Galway.
Assuming we beat Leitrim I’m looking forward to getting a go at ros in the Hyde. Bring it on.
Finally we get a game against Leitrim. Will it be held in Pairc Sean Mac Diarmiada I wonder?
Handy one for Galway.
Mayo will have to win away to Ross and then away to Galway in the final. Looks tough on paper. We have a good record at the Hyde though.
Good draw, we finally get a trip to Carrick on Shannon after 14 years. If we get over Leitrim, I would love a crack at the Rossies in the Hyde, we have a score to settle with them. If we win Connacht in 2020, we’ll play three away games. Roll on 2020.
Could be another tough Connacht campaign ahead and any slip ups lead to long qualifier route again. This draw hasn’t been kind to us in recent years.
Happy enough with the draw. If we make it to the final, we have to beat Galway otherwise it most probably will be the group of death for us, Dublin, Kerry and one from Donegal /Tyrone
Well its a good and a bad draw in a way for us.We have to beat Roscommon away in the semi and Galway away in the final,as tough as it gets in connacht.
It does however focus the year ahead for Horan and the lads.The option/idea of peaking in Aug/Sept is out the window now.As someone mentioned above if we lose in Connacht we are goosed with the permutations in the super 8s.
At least we know what we have to do,win Connacht.There literally is no back door for us in 2020.
I believe the lads will be up for this like we’ve never seen in Connacht before,exciting times!
Looking at that draw its hard to know if Mayo will have their first Connacht final appearance for five years? at least its a long awaited trip to Carrick on Shannon. All ticket affair no doubt and i think due to H&S it only allows around 11k nowadays?
Leitrim hard bet in Carrick but we’ll have enough.. Rossies will be licking their lips with a view to beating us in the Hyde .. Nothing easy about Connaught anymore.. IF we have all our players we should be good enough to win Connaught. Lots to look forward to !!
when will the dates be fixed ?
Leitrim in Carrick will be a test they are a proud county but we should progress to Hyde Park which will be a really tough test and if we aren’t at our best we’ll be in the qualifiers lots to look forward hopefully we’ll use the FBD and the league to rebuild a little
If anyone is ‘licking their lips’ ahead of the Hyde (with respect to leitrim) then it’s us, not ros. Mayo should be well up for it. And we owe Galway about 4 beatin’s at least!
Looking forward to this. Amazingly I have never been in Carrick for a game in all these years
Leitrim hard bet in Carrick!!!
I’m sure Willie Joe has the stats to prove that the opposite is actually the case.
It’s year 2000 since Leitrim had a win over any of the big three in Connacht – that was an upset over the Rossies who looked home and hosed that day at half time in the Hyde. Since then they have been going downhill in championship.
That includes a 2013 defeat to London in a Carrick on Shannon replay.
Carrick is the only ‘normal’ championship venue in Connacht we haven’t played in since the blog’s inception. Our last visit there – from where we only emerged with a one-point win – was in 2006, the year before I started the blog. Mind you, we’ve only played Sligo at Markievicz Park once since then either. Amazing that for such a small province how rarely we draw either of them in Connacht – a man would be driven to conspiracy theories if he wasn’t careful.
It took penalties took beat them in the FBD league earlier this year. So nobody be getting ahead of themselves we will have it all to do in Connacht next year.
I
“Hard beaten in Carrick”…. such nonsense is hard to read. “A proud County”… so are Wicklow, Carlow and Louth but we should, and would beat them out the gate. All this fake ” respect” is such absolute crap. We are playing the Rossies in the semi final we know we are… that’s when it starts. I suspect the game this year in NY on a plastic pitch in the lashing rain will prove harder than the game next Summer in Carrick. Kickhams Man i am sure that comment is said tongue firmly in cheek.
Beautiful and brave piece in the Mayo news this week by
Liam Gildea from Ballyhaunis on mental health and what following Mayo means to him. Well done Liam I’d recommend everyone read it
Wayne scales Mayo aren’t a team known to beat teams out the gate ok there are notable exceptions but the last time we played Leitrim in the championship we only won by a point and we have a habit of making life hard for ourselves in games we are expected to cruise through. We won’t have Andy Moran to bail us out next year but we will beat Leitrim after that only God knows how we will do
Backdoorsam… You are right, the 1 point win from what will be 14 years previous by the time the game comes around will have a serious bearing on what happens..I hope the players have learned their lesson from 2006
That was the last time we played them in Pairc Sean in the Championship, Backdoorsam, but the last time we faced them in Connacht was in 2012 in the semi-final at MacHale Park (one of the few years we did get a soft draw). We beat them – out the gate, as it happens – that day by 4-20 to 0-10, though, mind you, we only just managed to get by Sligo by 0-12 to 0-10 in that year’s Connacht final.
Why can Dublin not play Westmeath in Cusack Park which has a capacity of 11500. Mayo play Leitrim in Carrick which has a capacity of 9500. Why are Westmeath being deprived of a home game.
it’s 2012 by my reckoning since we’ve been in a bracket that doesn’t have Ros and Gal in our path to win Connacht.
14 Galway didn’t have Mayo/Ros till final.
15/16/17/18 Ros wouldn’t have Mayo/Gal till final
Galway 19/20 won’t have Mayo/Ros till final
Look we kicked 18 wides against New York in our first champo game this year. The writing was on the wall and it came to pass against Roscommon where we kicked a similar wide count.
I am only saying this team in the last few years has been Jekyll and Hyde at the best of times. Without going over old ground, Derry, Fermanagh, Leitrim is an ideal game for us to act the clown yet again.
A good draw with 3 proper games in Connacht. Would be great to get another crack at the Rossies (assuming we put away Leitrim!) after last year’s debacle. I can’t see us going into that one as complacent as last year! Rossies won’t have the benefit of division 1 football to help condition themselves going into the 2020 championship. Galway get a criminally soft draw which could make them dangerous opponents if we get to the final (no disrespect to Sligo). At least we get the chance to lay down a marker with them in the league beforehand!
Im very happy with that draw, 3 away games ideal for us. Its statistically proven we are better away from MacHale park. The Rossie game will be a right spice bag. They’ve had their 1 in 20 year champo win again us, when they caught us nicely on the hop last May….can’t see them backing it up if we have a half decent free taker playing.
Don’t think complacency was the problem against the rossies, the warning was given in the league meeting. The rossies might have been demoted to Div 2 but i see that have a number of tough fixtures (kildare,Cavan,Armagh) all away that should have them well prepared for the Connacht championship again.
Galway Gaa in absolute turmoil.. I wouldnt hold out any hope of us even beating New York..
Our County board are facing very serious allegations and this is having a huge knock on effect with management decisions in football and especially hurling.
While some are saying its a good draw I beg to differ. We tend to perform poorly early in the year because a large chunk of our players are away and can’t get the regular group training that kicks in when the summer holidays arrive.. Hence we haven’t reached a Connacht final since 2015. That’s why I was hoping we would get Sligo or Leitrim in a semi and let Galway and Ross kick lumps out of one another on the other side. Now to win Connacht we must win 3 games away from home. Not an easy task for us in May and June. Handy draws early in the championship are what we need but after Galway beating us 3 times in a row and Roscommon too good for us last year we have been dealt the difficult hand again.
Carrick after 14 years. Bring it on! Must remember to pencil in 2034 for the next trip after that. Wonder will Brexit be sorted by then?
Done Deal,
Carrick probably won’t be full to capacity even at 9,500 while Mullingar certainly would be. Is that reason enough for you? Carrick probably can increase capacity with minimal work around turnstiles where I doubt if Mullingar can.
Hi Done Deal,
I believe it’s because the Leinster Council have only signed off on Port Laois, Tullamore and Nowlan Park for these games. I think it’s a disgrace as the spin off for businesses in Mullingar for the day would be a great boost and 11,000 means plenty of room and us Dubs would still travel without a ticket and watch the match in a local pub anyway for the craic.
Kind Regards
Martin the Dub
I see on twitter this morning Tim O’Leary has declared his interest in Commercial Sponsorship of Mayo Gaa!!
Martin Breheny strangely silent regarding the Galway financial saga when you compare the coverage he affords our county in similar circumstances. Regarding our own CB, it looks like they are trying to rush through a new sponsorship deal before the next meeting on the 16th without advertising it or seeking offers from new potential sponsors.
Who tweeted that Chris Kelly?
Liam… look at the Irish Independent this morning, he has an article regarding the Galway fiasco, in fact it’s his third this week!!
So it’s not just Mayo ….
Tubberman – Look at the thread under Ah Ref’s tweet last night.
Ah ref twitter account and the letter was addressed to Tom Reilly and sent to all Mayo gaa club delegates last night
Thanks Wide Ball – that’ll put the cat among the pigeons in Elvery’s MacHale Park!
Elvery’s (and Staunton’s Intersport as they were previously) have been long-standing and loyal sponsors of Mayo GAA since around 2000 I’d say, but there has to be an above-board and transparent process to the sponsorship agreement. I’m not suggesting there was anything wrong with the current or past Elvery’s deal but you’d like to see that there was a tender and real competition – you’d imagine that’s how Mayo GAA will get the best deal.
You’re right, Martin – the entire blame for how match scheduling has evolved in Leinster can be laid at the door of the Leinster Council and, by extension, counties in in the province who have allowed this to happen. If you’re drawn away in other provinces, you play away, end of story, but the Leinster Council have sacrificed this principle and, with it, have killed off their Championship completely.
Tuamstar, I think you will find Martin Breheny writes about Mayo, I havent seen him directly write an article about Galways financial woes, he delegates that to the other sports journalists, but have an enfatuation about Mayo. Todays article about Galway was written by Donnacha Boyle in the independent.
I think we have enough problems in this county without worrying where the dubs are playing.
Team i want to see v the underdogs and in the league with a few changes depending on games.
1-Rory byrne
2-Oisin mullin
3-Rory brickendon
4-Keith higgins
5-Sharoize akram
6-Cathal horan
7-Cian hanley
8-Evan o brien
9-Tom parsons(needs game time)
10-Gary boylan
11-Ryan o donoghue
12-Diarmuid o connor
13-Kuba callaghan
14-Liam Irwin
15-James carr
Need a new goalkeeper
We need to start trying new backs every good thing comes to an end.
Evan o brien and matthew ruane could make a serious midfield pairing next year .
Ive gone for youth in the forward line because to get back to where we are we have to have serious depth.
You then have the cillian o connors aidan o sheas lee keegans colm boyles to come back i feel that the transition in mayo is going a lot better than expected.
My championship squad would then be
1- David clarke/Rory byrne
2-Chris barret/Oisin mullin
3-Rory brickendon(needs to get championship experience)/brendan harrison(not a full back)
4-Keith higgins/Sharoize akram
5-Lee Keegan
6-Paddy durcan
7Colm boyle/stephen coen /fionn mcdonagh
8-Mattie ruane
Aidan o shea
10-Fionn mcdonagh/Gary boylan
11-Ryan o donoghue(Future star)
12-Diarmuid o’connor
13-Cillian o connor
14-Darren coen
15-James carr
Anyone agree or disagree please comment
A very small championship panel ?
All good there Itsonly68, but I take it we won’t be seeing Jason Doherty in 2020?
itsonly68 – what about Seamus Cunniffe? Seems to be a major plus for Ballagh and they are in the county final.
Padraig O’Hora?
Jordan Flynn?
Jp2 – thats only off the top of my head i cant remember a time where we had such a pool of players in mayo
Paddyjoejohntom -well i couldnt tell you i hope we do but thats anyones guess?
Catcol-Again as i said to Jp2 its off the top of my head but yes I was at all the games over the weekend and padraig o hara is a good defender
Havent seen Jordan flynn
Mayomanindublin, plenty going on for them all to write, but the article is there today from Brehony, where he goes through the whole situation regarding, football, hurling, and finances.
Looks like a bad scene there Tuamstar. Still, even without a manager, Damien Comer or Paul Conroy could take them over and still get to the Connaught final 2020 at least.
Fuly agree – Seamus Cunniffe must be given the opportunity to establish himself at FB over the coming months.
@Done Deal, Dublin to play Westmeath in Mullingar???… As the quietly spoken Tennis Player John MacEnroe used to say ‘YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS’ There’s a far better chance Mayo playing Galway in Limerick, as the CCCC organized for us a few months ago, Dublin have won an Unprecedented Five in Row, playing 30 of the 37 Championship match’s in Croke Park.. Only on 3 occasions have Dublin played an opponent in the Five in Row run in the home ground of their opponent. Once they played Longford in Longford and twice Jim Gavin’s Mighty Dub’s’ played Tyrone in Omagh… and that was with the rather serious Caevat, that Dublin were already qualified for the All Ireland Semifinal on both occasions, the last of the Super Eight’s Match’s… The last one was dubbed the ‘Coma in Omagh’… The Dice is now more Loaded in Dublin’s favor, than any Dice ever was in the most crooked Casino in the the World!
Tuamstar I would not exaggerate our situation. Yes we have financial problems but ironically we will be far better in 2020 in terms of playing pool given the injuries we had in 2019 plus the constant chopping and changing of key positions like the goalkeeper. As examples Damo and Paul Conroy back to full fitness. Cillian McDaid back to full fitness with a year behind him plus a few more. Also if you think about it the support we had for the u20 Connacht final where we had 2/3 the crowd was greater than the previous Saturday in Limerick against Mayo. That says it all really so if PJ and and his proposed backroom team get the mgt role we will see a different Galway in 2020.
For the record Mayo are not without their financial issues either with their huge expenditure on their senior team plus the after affects of the McHale park development. I am aware of one or two big hitters who believe in Brand Galway so the current sponsor themselves might have to justify themselves in their quest for more transparency.
Mattie Ruane…aussie rules trials?? Last thing we need is another lad leaving us.
Personally I just don’t get it.
Hopefully he doesnt venture to oz mayonaze. But its very easy to see the appeal really. Geting paid good money to play football as a proffesional. Sunshine all year round. Being able to go out to a local pub during championship season and have a pint without people wondering why youre not fully dedicated to the county cause. Chance of a lifetime really.
Fair enough Dave but for me none of trumps that chance to play for Mayo and potentially win an All Ireland. Sean Cavanagh and Ciaran Kilkenny, examples of two lads who put their county ambitions first!
Surely Hanley going was enough for us. A gigantic loss.
I can’t see Ruane heading to Australia. It’s teenagers that Aussie clubs usually go for, not 22/23 year olds.
WJ – I think perception is belied by reality on your comment on how little you guys meet Sligo in first round championship by comparison to expected. In the last 20 years Mayo and Sligo has met in the first round 4 (20%)times – which is just 1 less than the expected 25% (excluding London/NY games) – so i don’t think it is a statistical anomaly. Mayo won in 2001 and 2003, Sligo in 2000 and 2010. The Leitrim one looks a bit out of whack a bit more with just 2/3 meetings…but i would suggest that a 20 year timeline is not really long enough to see probability of getting one of leitrim, Sligo, ros or galway regress to the mean.
I also note someone said its hardest possible draw in Connacht – i do appreciate he was talking from a Mayo perspective but i would suggest having to beat Mayo, Galway and Roscommon is the hardest possible draw in Connacht and as witness to beating both Mayo and Galway and still having nothing to show for it i can attest to how sickening that can be.