The draw for Round 1 of the qualifiers has just been held and we’ve been paired at home with Monaghan.
Of the seven possible opponents we could have drawn, the Farney County are the only ones we’ve never met before in the Championship. They’re also – according to the poll run here on the blog – the team you voted to be the one we’d most want to avoid in this morning’s draw.
Fixture details have yet to be confirmed for the Round 1 ties but they’ll definitely be held on the weekend after next.
More on the draw and what it means for us later on.
Definitely not the draw I wanted. Better than being in Clones but it’s time Mayo started winning at home and I think a vocal home crowd could be hugely important – like Donegal in Castlebar a few years ago.
I will take it. Hopefully an evening game
You can be sure that we were the last team they wanted too . It will be a good game and I expect we’ll beat them by a small margin
Delighted we’re at home the next day, but make no bones, Monaghan is a tough enough draw.
Looking forward to it, Up Mayo!
Thanks Willie Joe.
That will be a tricky one. With our injuries and their superior forward line but dodgy keeper that likes to play fly goalie it will be intersting. If we dont impose ourselves from the first minute make no mistake we will be beaten.
Monaghan have always been difficult opponents for us in the League. It’s not the draw I wished for but best of luck to Mayo. The first Mayo match I will miss this year but hope to see it on the Costa Brava.
Will the cccc put this on Sat or Sun do ye think?
Strange draw.as divisions stayed apart. 2 of the heavy hitters will be gone first day out. Hopefully we won’t be one of them. A decent test for us to establish where we are at.
Nice test, Monaghan like Galway have 2-3 stand out players if these are contained you beat them. Lets hope that is one learning taken from the Galway game !..Crowd atmosphere will need to be good, hope everyone is g’d up for this one…
I’m not sure McHale Park is an advantage. Also, Beggan can be dodgy, but if we don’t handle him properly he could do a lot of damage. And then there’s McManus, and Jack McCarron who gave our full back line such a torrid time in Clones in the first half…
Decent draw, already beat them in Clones this year and home advantage now, should be rocking in MacHale Park and win puts Mayo back on the horse and in decent shape to face a provincial loser.
Thats a tough draw. Worst part being we’re playing at home. Hennelly’s fitness is crucial for us. Need someone who can spray it over the bar from 45’s etc. Very nervous already about this one.
Monaghan must be unhappy with this.Its great to get the home draw.We should learn a lot and be mad odds on favourites to win it.This gives us a great chance to get back in the Series and we probably wont meet any better in the next round.
Probably the kind of draw we need Monaghan will be a big test but we shurly have the beating of them they definitly didn’t want us , if we have any aspirations we need to be putting them away but home advantage hasn’t done a lot for us in recent years but a Saturday evening with a packed Mchale park would be something a lot depends on the fitness of the list of players we no so little about
If Sky have pick of games it will be us and Tyrone game on Saturday evening
Let’s not forget Monaghan have Donie Buckley in their backroom team, he knows a lot of the Mayo players well
The big 4 all drawn out against each other, the gaa will be lacking their lips. Tasty draw to finally kickstart the championship.
As someone above said this is a good chance to show what we learned from galway game as galway/monaghan are very similar in ways,ie both have a scatter of exceptional players surrounded by plenty of ordinary ones too.
If we fail to win 2 home games in a row we can have no complaints or excuses
Could have been easier, and a lot worse too. Overall, I think we need the prospect of a big gun visiting to wake us up after the Galway game. Monaghan are a very decent side and deserve our full attention. We’ll need to perform to beat them and a spluttering showing from us will leave us very vulnerable. But as others have already noted, we’re a very poor draw for Monaghan and we need to hammer this home.
Mayo 4/11 monaghan 11/4
See it much tighter than those odds myself. League game no indicator really. Very open entertaining game in clones, with an unfit mcmanus appearing in the second half and had a howler. Home venue is the key for me. Wouldn’t rule out the draw, as that’s pretty standard in our previous qualifier runs.
Very tricky, but could have been worse.
Not the easiest nor the hardest we could have got. Probably the ideal one if we are to be serious contenders but as seems to always be the case these days it’s all about our injury list.
100 free juvenile tickets to every primary school in the county , that’s 1570 free juveniles, no big deal , horse them out to the kids and hopefully they’ll drag their paying parents along with them .
Don’t mind drawing Monaghan. Although dangerous they’ve been on a downward trajectory for some time. They’ve backed up a poor enough league campaign with being knocked out of the Ulster championship so like ourselves their confidence will be brittle. Banty is no master tactician. I’m not in favour of the open draw to be honest. There’s a chance that last year’s All-Ireland champions and runners up could both be knocked out the next day whereas any 2 of the cannon fodder from Louth, Meath, Cork and Clare will make it one step from and All-Ireland semi-final!
Monaghan no great shakes, Banty isn’t getting the best out of them either. They were wide open defensively against Derry conceded 3 could have been 5 goals. Good draw for Mayo i feel and am i right in saying Mayo have never lost All-Ireland qualifier game in MacHale Park?
Not the best draw we could have gotten IMO, but we have to get on with it now. I think we were a bit fortunate to beat them up in Clones in the league, Monaghan hit a fair few wides from scorable positions that day.
Kerry very successfully pressed Rory Beggan as he went up the field in their NFL tie against Monaghan, so hopefully we can look at replicating that tactic. They got two goals from turnovers while he was in their half.
It will be interesting to see what Mayo team takes to the field, given our rather chronic injury list.
Post-draw pod recorded. Mike, Billy Joe and I are on it, in which we reflect on the draw and what it means for us. Mike also has an update on the injury situation. It’ll be available to club members on Patreon within the hour.
That’s correct, MO2021, though we came perilously close a few times! First time we’ll ever have played Monaghan in the Championship too.
I’m negative about McHale Park, but that’s a good record to have and a better one to keep.
We have to be able to beat teams like Monaghan at home .Injuries a concern though ..
we are either very unlucky or something fundamental wrong with our training regime.
@itmeansnothingtome, yes a tough draw but I’m confident we’ll come out on top. Watched a half hour of a training session last week in Mchale park while waiting on my young fella – 2 different sessions happening simultaneously but injures not near as bad as people seem to think, I reckon based on what I saw we’ll be very close to full strength for this game. Also, all seemed in great spirits. Up Mayo.
A home draw is a good draw, we have had plenty of time to prepare, if we are not good enough to beat Monaghan in Castlebar then no point in going any further this year….and leave the excuses aside
Probably the toughest team we could have drawn at this point (I think Tyrone are there for the taking after the Derry hammering) but I suspect we will have a bit too much for them – I think we’ve a better all round team across the field
I don’t see us losing to any of the provincial losers (unless Kildare pull off a huge shock which I can’t see happening and I assume we would avoid Galway?) so any win will do here
Big incentive now for both Galway and Ros.. the qualifier draw has become very lopsided, there’s a higher chance they could now face someone like Kildare or Cork in their quarter if they win Connacht which they would bite your hand off for
Wow. 4 best teams in the qualifiers all playing each other. What a surprise
Great draw for provincial finalists. Some easy round 2 and QF opposition likely for them
The Monaghan game was one of our best in league. We won it it with fantastic game management. It is what it is and if we win it we are back on track..
A tough but good draw for Mayo. No more excuses or Learning , time for both players and especially Management to get the job done or move over and let someone else take over.
@JamesM83: Good to hear. Are they holding open training sessions these days?
Culmore you could say the exact same thing about Monaghan. We don’t have a divine right to win, nor do they. Two really equally balanced teams from Div 1. Its grand saying “no excuses no excuses” but whether we like it or not if we or indeed any other team are missing a slew of good players it makes the task more difficult. Anyway i think “reasons” is a better word than excuses. One of the reasons we lost to Galway was that we were hit hard by injury. The main reason we lost is we were not good enough on the day. Two big hitters out of the championship after that round of matches. The draw has been good to the lower division teams.
Anyone watch how the bowl was hidden on the Rte news channel earlier, he’s sitting down with his hands hidden taking out the balls, A pure fix of a draw.
Pity it’s not in Clones, our record in McHale Park last 10 years is not great. Seems to be the expectation or fear of losing from the crowd or something, I dunno.
Still if Horan can’t beat Banty then we’re at nothing anyway.
Definitely a draw to focus the minds for Mayo. After watching a few very flat performances on the hurling field at the weekend by Waterford & Tipp in particular it is clear that momentum can be huge in how a team performs. Players just can’t find the energy or spark to snap our of it.
I’m just hoping Mayo can rekindle theirs after a series of losses. The break would have been welcome and it’s good to hear that Hennelly ,P.Durkin should be back, hopefully Oisin & Diarmuid too. It could just kickstart our season if we find our best form again. Here’s hoping.
Our post-draw reaction pod is now live on Patreon.
I think the “record in McHale” park excuse needs to be shelved. This is a new bigger field now so no excuses on that front.
If Patrick Durcan and Jordan Flynn are fit to start and if Jason Doherty is refreshed inside along with Cillian O’Connor then I just can’t see us being beaten. Out the gate job is what we need to spur us on, none of this 1 or 2 point shit.
A poor enough Kildare side hammered these boys in the league. I know they are Division 1 and all but they are just about a Div 1 team.
Can we have an update on the injury situation WJ for the non podcast subscribers? Does Mike have any new info on injuries or what?
This is an ideal draw no time for soft games now, we need a good test. Let’s embrace a home fixture and stop blaming Mc Hale park for dodgy performances surely the tactics and late substitutions were more to blame for the Galway defeat
Bit of a stretch the Sam Og, almost zero chance the draw was rigged.
I think Tyrone is the only team it’s would be nice to avoid in round 1. The rest we should have no fear of. Monaghan have 1 consistently top player and another who is sometimes a top player. Stop 1 of the 2 and it goes a long way. Some very honest lads in the Monaghan backs but I think we have more balance after star players are set aside. We have a star player of our own Ryan OD and some top lads now back like Jason and Cillian who could well be now up to championship pitch after 6 more weeks so it could be a great contest. One thing I’d like to see apart from a win is some emerging players like Eoghan Mc, Darren McHale, Aidan Orme make a big impact , emerge as a star or find a bolter or 2 from somewhere. James Carr still has a lot of potential too if he can stay injury free.
The other thing I’d like to see is a defensive system similar to Galway who adapted, Tyrone,Kerry. Kerry have put a lot of effort into this and it’s paying dividends, when they keep the scoreboard ticking and opposition struggles for a period they can get a gap and then shoot the lights out with confidence that their backs won’t let them down. A few years back defence was Kerry’s Achilles. If we adapt our style it could make us 5 or 6 points better per game. The other missing template is the beating of mass defenses. Jim Gavins Dublin had this figured out with triangle passes between 3 players running not always at goal (avoiding contact) and patient switching sides. The other way to beat it is get ahead early forcing defensive opponents to attack, pick their pockets and counter at serious pace with kick passing.
A fully fit Paddy Durcan would be a big bonus to Mayo as he’s one of the very best defenders in the Country. In the presumed absence of Jordan Flynn , Aido is an option but I’d like to see Diarmaid in midfield as he offers huge work rate, height and ability to man mark. Conor Loftus can complete with Aido and others for a half forward slot. Or Diarmaid and Aido could alternate or play 3 in midfield.
As for McHale park, I really enjoy back door games there, we’ve never lost one and we’ve a new bigger pitch.
Very interesting draw for the neutral, it’s hard to know which of the other big three would have suited Mayo better. If Mayo got Tyrone Horan would have had little to do to ignite an unquenchable fire in the Mayo men and ye have a history of beating finalists the following year. Armagh would have a point to prove having lost a game they would have felt they should have won in your most recent encounter but Monaghan are a difficult team to beat when their back is against the wall. Banty will definitely clog up the attack lanes to stymy the Mayo running game. Derry beat both Tyrone and Monaghan with a strong defensive setup with an huge emphasis on fast transition with early running and kick passing to create a bit of chaos in the oppositions defensive setup.
Monaghan will be hurting from their exit from the ulster championship but I think ye should win the game if ye have a few players back off the injury list. Saying that if Horan doesn’t freshen up your running game with an introduction of kick passing to get ahead of the retreat after a Mayo turnover then ye will struggle to win the game. DOConnor and O Shea are two very good kick passers and I hope they are well positioned on the day to deliver early ball to the inside line. I hope ye come out on top in this one and I hope Armagh beat Tyrone as they are a team I have little grá for.
I thought Monaghan were very unlucky not to beat Tyrone in the 2021 Ulster championship and we all know where Tyrone finished up.
I see this as a very very tough assignment.
Any update on the injury front. Ie carr.rod.flynn.henelly. mullin. Plunkett. That’s alot of updates plus definitely out for the season Tommy and brendan.
Hard to believe the 4 division 1 teams came out against each other. They must have forgotten to mix them up. If there is any common sense in the gaa then they should put the minor final on beforehand as a curtain raiser. Wouldn’t it be great if these lads got to play in front of a crowd of 25 thousand or more
Tough draw, in my opinion.
Lets face it we wouldnt beat Monaghan in an all ireland final we would invaribly find a way to lose so there has to be plan A plan B and Plan C put in place to beat them. The days of we have only one plan must end
Good idea Sean Burke with the kids tickets.However i would think your out on the numbers maybe missing a zero.I like the idea though.
@Gamechanger 10. Some very good observation there from a ‘Neutral’ …Banty will know exactly what to do,. Monaghan and Tyrone are probably the two teams most like each other and Monaghan natural game would seem to already be a very well rehearsed tactical game plan that seems ideally suited to frustrate Mayo…The question is, Have Mayo a rehearsed game plan for Monaghan..If so when and where was it rehearsed?.. But we did beat Monaghan in the League, we are Strong Favorites with the bookie’s, and Monaghan have been going to the well with mostly the same playing panel for many years now…Mayo have an injury list as long as your arm.. It’s an intriguing Game… For me it’s a 50/50 game… given all that I officially don’t know about Mayo.. Whoever has learned the most will probably win the game, of the 14 various outcomes we could possibly have from this mornings draw…7 team’s X 2 (either home or away) it’s probably the third worst outcome… Tyrone in Healy Park or Monaghan in Clones would be more difficult in my opinion!
Very true Declan of course but I’d still go with it but with a reduced amount , 20 tickets per national school , which is around 3140 free juvenile, it’s a hit of €15,700 or something like that . It also generates interest , bit of a school raffle or whatever for the tickets .
Hard draw but still very winnable. However until we get some clarity on the injury front and what team we can put out making predictions is a bit of a fool’s game. I do think this Monaghan team best days are behind them but can still be very dangerous.
A great idea Sean Burke, but it makes too much sense so won’t be happening.
Their’ll be about 15-18k supporters there id say. More than likely will be a Saturday evening on Sky. Its all about the start for us when we play in Castlebar, a good start (going a couple of points infront) gets the crowd going and momentum really builds. A bad start like Galway ‘22, Roscommon ‘19, and the energy is sucked out of the crowd, which really translates onto the players. I know it shouldn’t be like that but we all know its true.
Theirs one aspect of the current game that is really p****g me off, when opponents play us the amount of feigning injury when we score is off the charts. Tyrone got away with it last year, everytime we scored in second half they slowed the game down. Reffs do nothing about it,, physios and doctors are racing on to the pitch and all momentum is stalled and teams get a breather/reset. Its blatantly obvious that Galway copied that tactic in April and you can bet your house Monaghan will employ the same tactic next weekend. If any of these former Mayo players actually care about the current team, one of them will raise this in the media and put a bit of pressure on the reff to clamp down on it. The reason it grates me so much, is the way Conor Lane waved play on when McLaughlin was assaulted by Small and Dublin almost scored a goal…theirs no consistency anywhere.
People give out about defensive systems and hand passes ruining the game, for me this tactic is completely killing the game. Maybe we should go a bit like soccer. If a player is dowm requiring treatment which stops the game for 2minutes on average each time, then that player must go off to the sideline and not return until the ball is out of play etc………I’ll live in hope..
We can’t do anything as supporters to clear up injuries but I’m very strongly opinionated on the influence of crowd at a game like this , 25k in mchale park giving good vocal support and it’s worth two points in any language . 14k show up for the sake of turning up in negative mood and it impacts team performance. I know a lot of people will disagree with me but in the context of where we are at as a unit I truly believe it has substance .
4pm sat , 4th of June .
There might be something to the negative vibes theory. A good example yesterday is Liverpool game where all the fans are on radio and web to track the other game. Had Liverpool put their game to bed earlier, the City fans would be Uber nervous translating vibes to the team and mightn’t have gotten 3 goals.
Because of our 100% back door record in McHale Park I think it comes down more to us fans supporting our team very positively. View it as 50 50 with no arrogance towards Monaghan and vocally support our team all the way. Mistakes are part of all sport. If we hear more of the positive fans voices than the negative it will help us win, definitely worth a few points.
What type of a draw was it ?
Bank holiday weekend, I will go to the game, will it be hard to get tickets
Where did ya hear that Sean or are you speculating?
No it won’t be hard to get tickets and bring all ya can along with ya Mayo88, free ice cream is the word on the street but the spoon is 50p .
Speculating of course
I’d say 7pm Saturday and all upto to mick byrnes for celebratory pints after
Yep, Saturday June 4th at 4pm
GAA website has it down for 4 on the Sat.
04.06.2022 (Sat)
GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship
Round 1
Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork 14:00 Corcaigh v Lú GAAGO
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary & Winner on the Day)
Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, 16:00 Maigh Eo v Muineachán Sky Sports
Castlebar Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary & Winner on the Day)
Cusack Park, Ennis 17:00 An Clár v An Mhí GAAGO
Referee: TBC
(E.T. if Necessary & Winner on the Day)
05.06.2022 (Sun)
GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship
Round 1
Athletic Grounds, Armagh 13:30 Ard Mhacha v Tír Eoghain RTE
In fairness to you, Sean, it was more than speculation! Post up now with link to confirmation of the Round 1 fixture details from the GAA.