Our unbeaten start to this year’s National League, along with our long-standing unbeaten run away to Kerry in the League, both came to an end in the rain, wind and cold at Austin Stack Park in Tralee tonight. Chasing the game for most of the evening, it looked as if we’d timed our run perfectly coming down the closing stretch but instead it was the home team who nicked it, the winning score coming from a pointed free by David Clifford deep in injury time.
The fine weather I’d left this morning in Dublin had given way to rain by the time I reached Limerick and it was fairly chucking it down by the time I reached Tralee. The rain spilled down heavily all afternoon but when I made it to Austin Stack Park – more than two hours ahead of throw-in! – a lull had set in, with no rain and very little wind.
There was, however, more adverse weather to come and those of us on the right-hand side of the stand – packed to the gills soon after 5.30pm – got a bit of a dousing as sheets of heavy rain blew in from the west in on top of us.
It wasn’t a night made for football but, despite the terrible conditions, this was a cracking contest between the two form teams in Division One this spring. While the game never had the cut and thrust of a Championship encounter, it was, nonetheless, a compelling tussle.
Kerry played with the wind in the first half and, after we’d opened the scoring with a Mattie Ruane free, they then reeled off three points in a row to set the tone in this game. We never led again after that opening score and we spent most of the evening in pursuit of them.
When they cut us open with a rapid attack, a move started and then finished to the net by the excellent Tony Brosnan, it looked like this might provide a difficult night for us. That put them four clear and it came after we’d started to get a toe-hold in the game.
We reached half-way in arrears by that goal, Rob Hennelly banging over a ’45 to cut the gap to three just before the break. That came from a goal chance – our second of the half – with Diarmuid O’Connor’s shot rather fortuitously deflected by ‘keeper Murphy out over his end-line.
The three-point margin was, though, a fair reflection of how the first half had gone. Kerry had showed more intent going forward and we’d made way too many mistakes, in the main misplaced passes and handling errors.
At three points down and with the wind now behind us, though, this game was far from over. Indeed, given our strong second half showings in previous matches this spring, you could argue we were well placed at that stage.
We made our first change as the teams emerged for the second half, with Enda Hession starting in place of Stephen Coen. We needed a positive start to the half but instead they bagged the first score on the resumption, a fine effort from play by Brosnan.
A free from Ryan O’Donoghue – who racked up seven points for us tonight in yet another hugely impressive performance – provided a response to that and the gap was down to two when Fergal Boland swung over his third point of the evening. Kevin McLoughlin, just on the field for Jack Carney, helped force the turnover that led to Fergal’s score.
The points started coming in rapid succession now, as this contest began to come nicely to the boil. Clifford for them, Ryan (a free for us), Moynihan for them, Aiden Orme for us, finishing a rapid move, with Robbie’s restart finding Jordan Flynn who fed Kevin McLoughlin, whose clever ball released Aiden. The shot was no gimme but the Knockmore man nailed it.
Barry edged Kerry three ahead once more and then they had a chance to put real daylight between the teams. Paudie Clifford made a total bags of a 14-yard free, however, and we went down the other end and won a free which Ryan converted.
The comeback was now on. When Robbie missed a long-range free, it looked like we’d spurned a good chance but Kerry were penalised for encroachment on the kicker and a free was awarded to us closer to the posts. Close enough for Ryan to bang over, which he duly did.
When Mattie curled over the leveller soon after, with seven minutes of normal time left to play, I really thought we had them. We were pressing high up the pitch, they looked a bag of nerves trying to work the ball out and the tide in this contest appeared to be flowing strongly in our favour.
Instead, though, Kerry managed to get the vital scores to edge the contest. They added two points to their tally – both frees converted by Clifford – while we added just one, Ryan’s seventh point of the night.
The free we conceded deep in stoppage time seemed a bit cruel, though, in truth, Aidan did stick the hand in and so we can’t really have any complaints. Once it was given – no more than fourteen yards out – a point was going to follow and it was equally obvious it would be the winner. Which it was.
So that’s our nice unbeaten run gone but, despite this, I think we did much in this game we can be happy about. Despite the many errors we made, we more than matched Kerry on the night and we a little unlucky to come away from this game with no tangible reward.
Kerry are now all but guaranteed a place in the League final after tonight’s win. Whether or not we get there too is within our own control – if we win our final two matches, against Tyrone and Kildare, that’ll be enough to book our place in the Croke Park decider.
The first of those two takes place this day week, when we travel to Omagh to renew acquaintances with our All-Ireland conquerors Tyrone. That’s a contest we’ll definitely be up for – as we were for tonight’s too – and just the test we need, having just come up short against Kerry tonight.
Mayo: Rob Hennelly (0-1, a ’45); Padraig O’Hora, Lee Keegan, Michael Plunkett; Paddy Durcan, Stephen Coen, Oisín Mullin; Jordan Flynn, Matthew Ruane (0-2); Diarmuid O’Connor, Aidan O’Shea, Jack Carney; Fergal Boland (0-3), Aiden Orme (0-1), Ryan O’Donoghue (0-7, six frees and a mark). Subs: Enda Hession for Coen, Kevin McLoughlin for Carney, Frank Irwin for Orme, Conor Loftus for Boland, Fionn McDonagh for O’Connor.
Who was our MOTM against Kerry? Pick your top three performers
- Ryan O'Donoghue (35%, 781 Votes)
- Fergal Boland (16%, 352 Votes)
- Matthew Ruane (14%, 304 Votes)
- Michael Plunkett (7%, 147 Votes)
- Jordan Flynn (4%, 98 Votes)
- Aidan O'Shea (4%, 89 Votes)
- Diarmuid O'Connor (4%, 80 Votes)
- Lee Keegan (3%, 73 Votes)
- Rob Hennelly (2%, 54 Votes)
- Padraig O'Hora (2%, 50 Votes)
- Paddy Durcan (1%, 31 Votes)
- Oisín Mullin (1%, 29 Votes)
- Aiden Orme (1%, 25 Votes)
- Stephen Coen (1%, 20 Votes)
- Fionn McDonagh (1%, 16 Votes)
- Conor Loftus (1%, 15 Votes)
- Enda Hession (1%, 13 Votes)
- Kevin McLoughlin (1%, 13 Votes)
- Frank Irwin (1%, 12 Votes)
- Jack Carney (0%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,074
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Not disappointed and very hopeful. Made a few too many errors with a few too many turnovers but that can be remedied. Would wonder if Aidan O’Shea should have played full match. Silly foul by him at the end. We can improve more than Kerry and we will take them next time. Our backs were cut open the once but we are still looking for our optimum set up. Let Pat Spillane expound about Kerry all he wants. He couldn’t analyse a cock fight. But that suits us. If you read between the lines Mayo are in a good place. Fair play to all who travelled. But why oh why 7.30 pm on a miserable Saturday night. What time did people get home. Cute Kerry whorism?
Thought Kerry deserved it overall.They were very quick transitioning the ball and we made alot of handling errors and got turned over too many times and they scored off that.
Who the hell ever came up with the black Jersey needs the sack.
Black has nothing to do with Mayo
Why don’t we at them in traditional colours oe green and gold and red and green????.
Goals win games. How often do we hear this? We had 2 glorious chances in the first half but scuffed both. Kerry scored their goal chance We didn’t.
Mayo matched Kerry really well Tonight. It’s in the Forward line where we are weak. Cillian, Jason and Tommy are huge losses. Ryan was unbelievable Tonight, Mayos Man of the Match. A great Free taker and kept us in the game.
There was too many lads tonight not confident in taking shots at goal. Too many times we played the ball across the Kerry 40 and even back to our full backs trying to set up a score. We need to shoot at goal when in the opposition 40 going backwards gives confidence to them and ends up with Mayo loosing the ball.
Our Forwards are not confident in taking on shots. Why? Are we not practising this at training? Fair play to Leroy for taking that chance at the end. He deserved a score. Mayo deserved a draw at the least for turning around the second half but to no avail.
This game will bring Mayo on. The Forward line needs to be overhauled before the Galway game. Get Cillian and Jason back. We are only a kick of a ball from bringing Home Sam.
We are not the finished artificial, we play the game at a crazy fast pace which can not control comfortably, and we get can get caught out very easy at the back concede soft goals
We need to tighten up considerably.
Feral Boland a very good score getter,
rewarded by being taken off
Our passing is way off, particularly our footpassing Kerry were a better team than us due to their cuteness and a shorter route to goal
We need a few forwards, ok Tommy and Ciliain are a major loss.What’s the position ‘re Jason Doherty
I think Jordan Flynn and Matty are doing well, Jordan needs to smarten his passing. He made a few daft ones today across the field ,but he will improve
ness
It was hard to explain why we didn’t go for a point at the end of the first half.
With injury time played we kept passing and recycling the ball and moving over and back the pitch. Kerry must have been delighted. I think the the ref even added another 40 or 50 seconds to allow us to take a kick for a point but no one would take the kick on. Were the players not aware that the clock was gone on to the red.
Ryan was outstanding again. I never get tired of saying that, and it’s always a pleasure to watch him playing. He always leaves every last drop of sweat on the pitch.
We didn’t play the ball fast enough into our forwards, instead allowing Kerry set and defend for most of the match with 15 men behind the ball. Weather didn’t help our cause either. I’m not convinced Kerry are all that, but they’ll certainly have themselves convinced they are, especially winning without Sean O’Shea. Aido should be retained as an impact sub.
Óisín Mullin to midfield. Let the lad play.
Battling performance probably deserved a draw. Unfortunately our forwards not quite good enough. Paddy and Lee dead right to go for equalisers at end. How often have those two bailed us out. Robbie very good in goals. Backs fairly good with Plunkett impressing. Aido and Jordan Flynn put in strong shifts. Ryan our top man up front and credit Boland with 3 from play. Decent performance in a good game in woeful conditions.
Good display by the lads things are on the up for the summer
I am not too bothered about the result and there were positives. We kept going until the very end and I was sure, from the tv, that Lee’s late effort was going over, but it just tailed off at the end. Good performances from Ryan, Robbie, Jordan, Aidan, Oisin, Fergal and the usual solid performances from Lee, Paddy, Aido and Mattie. But there is plenty of room for improvement-even allowing for the conditions, our handling and passing was sloppy and Kerry’s defence was much tighter than ours and their scores seemed to come easier and, my usual bug ear, we are still continuing to take the ball into contact, leading to turnovers, instead of releasing it before contact. We have the time and the games to improve in these areas. Spillane was praising Kerry for stopping our running game-I think that was more down to the conditions. As for the result-Kerry goaled from their one chance and we did’nt from two. PS. Well done to Boyler on his debut on RTE.
We are not getting the most out of Oisin Mullin at corner back. We have an elite, A-grade talent of the game wasted in the full back line marking the likes of Clifford.
Jesus at this stage – I’d be happy to see Oisin at 10 or 12 than back there hidden away from the play.
Surely it’s possible to find a lockdown player of some sort to play corner back and then free up Oisin to get on more ball up the pitch. Harrison, McBrien, anyone?
Opposition managers will be delighted to see Oisin stuck back there. Were we really getting all excited about getting a potential generational talent to stay at home from Australia, only to stick him in bloody corner back??
I get that someone needs to mark Clifford, but he’s always going to score a few points. He is a top class player after all. If we can get someone to limit him to less than 4 or 5 points in any game v kerry it’s a good days work and then up to the rest of the defence to do their job besides.
Outside of Ryan O’Donoghue I am finding it hard to find positives from that performance. The Kerry goal was a shocking goal to concede, they had four players against our seven (in camera shot) and they still scored. We got sucked towards the ball, nobody dropped off to recognise the danger and sit on the edge of the square. Prior to the goal, DOC had kicked a ball inside off his left to a mayo man marked by two Kerry backs. We then did well to force the turnover but ROD gave a sloppy handpass and Coen gave away a silly free for a push in the back, ROD was perhaps unlucky not to get a free for a push in the back. Still, it was three poor choices that lead to
Kerry having the ball. From the sideline, Kerry worked a goal from four players. Boland ran from deep out to mark Spillane but then never tracked the run. This switching off by players and poor decision making cost us and can’t be brushed off as “sure it’s only the league”, these are standards that shouldn’t be allowed or tolerated.
Our forward play was full of lateral handpasses along the 45. A lot of the ball kicked inside was 50:50 at best, contrast this to other teams who kick into chest or a nice ball bouncing in front of the forward. This is a combination I think of poor execution of the pass but also a lack of speed from our forwards and lack of movement, ROD aside.
In previous games, we had better movement, and a seemingly better defence shape and plan. Our bench had little impact today, McLoughlin aside. We could really do with someone like James Carr finding some form and staying clear of injuries as he has pace inside to hurt teams.
Whilst defensively we were cut open again I am not too concerned about it, I think 1-9 we can pick a decent team. Would like to see Durcan, Mullin and Keegan as our half back line but don’t think we will as Mullin and Keegan are often robbed for full back line.
Our forwards concern me, outside of ROD and DOC, I don’t see any nailed on starter for Galway. I also don’t see any patterns or tactics for our forward unit, this contrasts with some of the earlier games, particularly Dublin where we made great use of quick ball. The conditions maybe had something to do with this where we tried to play safe through the hands.
Perhaps to leave on a positive note, it might give us a reality check.
Great watch on a Saturday night
In sheer footballing terms we’re definitely a good step below Kerry.. once again our attack was a bit pedestrian and predictable, we made too many handling errors out the field and decision making left a lot to be desired – with misplaced passes and panic shooting thrown in.. all in sharp contrast to the fluidity and fluency Kerry displayed when carrying the ball forward for the most part and creating chances (even on a wet day) – which mainly ended up being converted by the best player in the country
And yet it’s a game we could have won.. our intensity levels and physicality are not only a step above what Kerry showed, but are probably better than anyone in the country – and that will always give us a real live chance in every game. Our high press caused them lots of bother and we really rattled them at times.
Still, until a few more forwards can start troubling the scoreboard (our age old problem – last night alone should assure fergal Boland of a start v Galway), and until our attack becomes more cutting edge I just can’t see us getting over the line in enough games in the business end sadly.
Far too many are afraid to take on shots from distance -which makes us so easy to crowd out and defend against – and our build up is just way too slow and ponderous, we seem to just lose ourselves when we get into the middle third. How many times do we get into a great position and then end up coming back out the field to recycle to a lad in a non threatening position.. we really miss the directness of Tommy C. It seems that increasingly our default move now, instead of being a bit more patient at times, is often to just kick it in towards Ryan O’Donoghue – no matter how isolated he is – and hope for the best. And credit to him he’s an outstanding bit of stuff but he can’t take on a full defence on his own, and that’s what he’s left with when ball is played to him and he has no supporting teammate within 50 yards. He needs lads operating right off his shoulder – but it doesn’t happen enough
We’re the best team in Ireland by a mile without the ball, but with the ball – and with our usage of primary possession – we still have a way to go
And yet, there are still glimpses.. despite the error strewn stuff, we still pop over some outrageous scores every game and create some brilliant chances.. it’s just too isolated.
So it appears to me like it’ll be same old story for the most part this summer. We’re heavily relying on our phenomenal workrate and intensity to rattle teams and then hoping to thrive on the resultant chaos.. and you know what it may just work in a lot of games (like in the 2nd half v Dublin last year) but the top footballing sides will punish us…
Which finally takes me to the main positive I took from last night.. what actual real top footballing sides are out there now? Kerry are surely top of the pile overall, but they fall just short of that category for me – they still have plenty of their own issues. Not enough physicality in the middle third (although Moran to come back surely?), a non existent kickout strategy, and a heavier reliance on D Clifford for scores than they should have.
They are getting there – some of their scores are mesmerising and they have the best footballer in Ireland, and in my view (I was surprised so many disagreed so strongly when I touted this before on here) one of the other top players in the country in Sean O’Shea to return. That alone makes any team formidable
But I don’t know if they’re fully there yet (granted they still have a few to come back in, but those few – with the exception of the absent okunbor – couldn’t get them over the line last August either). So it may well be the case there’s no serious juggernaut out there this summer and that gives us strong hope. Our physicality, stamina and will to win, along with our genuine flashes of footballing brilliance, gives us more than a puncher’s chance.
I think Clifford and O’Shea (with perhaps one or both of brosnan and moynihan to really stand up come champ also) will likely carry Kerry over the line just about, and I expect Dublin and for sure Tyrone to have a say yet but I definitely feel our 2013-2017 vintage would be strong favourites.. it’s a pity we’re probably a step below that level at present
Anyhow the last 2 or 3 games should be mainly about trying to nail down a 15 for the Galway game – a match taking on ever more significance the nearer it approaches. If we were to pip Kerry in a league final in croke park along the way then why not sure!
It’s unlikely Tony Brosnan will prosper against us in the same way the next time we play them. He’ll be a marked man now and will be locked down by the likes of Paddy or Lee. But with Sean O’Shea returning it does mean more headaches for opposition teams to worry about. Kerry now have 3 or 4 players who need serious minding.
Putting Oisin Mullin on man marking duties is a waste of his talent. He isn’t a man marker, full stop, and he’s not a corner back. One of the best players in the country and we’re utterly wasting him.
hi Willie Joe, I thought we were a bit ponderous at time . The ref gave us plenty of time to have a shot at goal before he blew for half time. what do we do ? Pass back to our own half! We played well in the conditions and one feels that next July , with Cillian back,we can beat them when it really matters. Kerry are cute hoots! They knew how to wind down the clock. Even the steward in front of me,presumably a Kerryman,not just allowed but encouraged kids to run into the pitch causing the ref to bring the match to a premature end. As i say , the result doesn’t really matter. Finally, the jersey was awful. Why weren’t we wearing green and red?
@Ciaran… Great post, very indepth knowledge there. Very hard to disagree with anything you are saying. Séan O’Shea is definitely a contender for best player in Ireland, on a given day !
One area Jason Doc would make a difference is to take on those 45 m point attempts against defences like Kerry’s setup last night. He’s one of the best long range point kickers we have had in the last decade
7 points from 10 is probably about the correct position for our league so far.Rotten wet and windy night and cold even in the stand.Very entertaining game considering between two different but evenly matched teams.Very little talk about Boland with half our scores from play on his own.His first start of the year away to Kerry on a terrible night and he started the game very nervous with a couple errors to be expected.Considering the 10 and 12 spots are crying out for a scorer he must get the next two games there.
Not to worried about the result although I thought we deserved at least a draw. We badly need Cillian back and also Jason. It has to be worrying with only two regular games left that there is no sign of Cillian. Jason should why he is so important in his comeback match yet has not seen action since when he must clearly need match practice. Is he injured again.
Delighted to see Fergal Boland do so well and was surprised when he was taken of . Still on to Tyrone next week, a match we are well capable of winning.
Mullen might as well have gone to Australia, playing him at corner back as far as possible away from the action is silly and an awful waste of his talents. He is a natural footballer play him out the field and let other teams try and mark him . Find corner backs not Mullen and Keegan. Boland scoring from play a plus from the game, but then taking him off silly unless he was injured.
Boland didn’t seem to play as a 10 or 12 in fairness. Certainly wasn’t tracking back at all. He’s probably not athletic enough to play in the half forward line at this level.
An option in the full forward line is probably best for him.
Would agree with all of the above
. Not overly disappointed and tbh I think we might even be better off not making league final and not having to play another tight game against them before the summer …….
We really really need Cillian back fit though. We are as good as what is out there and if we had had Conroy I’d have us as favorites now .
On a seperate note we stayed in same hotel as the team. And once again they went over and above to make sure every youngster got the autograph or photo they wanted . They represent the county so well
Wideball i thought he played mostly at wing forward last night and we were hitting a two man full forward line inside.He does track back but not as much as the wing forwards that dont score and play as half backs.He may not fit the managers profile for a half forward but its an option we need where we are struggling for scores badly.
Disagree on Boland not being athletic enough for 10/11/12. I mean that’s where AO’S played for 70 bloody minutes! Boland is as fit as they come, he’s brave, and great for picking up breaking ball. He should be one of first forwards named every game.
Totally agree with all the posts about Mullen. What a waste in the full-back line. He’s also not a good man-marker. Clifford roasted him. Play him at 6 or 7 with Paddy and Eoghan Mc.
Coen is a bit of a problem at this stage but we have lots of options at the back when everyone is fit.
That game should me how much of a loss Tommy C is. We’re so lacking pace in the FF line now and Cillian certainly won’t solve that. Will probably be the difference later in the year in we met Kerry in a final.
Please let Mayo wear black or any colours that precludes them from wearing the awful white shorts with the red edging – grotesque.
Now to the match – the usual mix of extraordinary intent diluted with pass-the-parcel stuff. Had goal chances but as usual bereft of that bit of composure exhibited by quality forwards, ala Gooch & Clifford.
Players can ‘pull-up-trees’ in training but it’s those individuals that can consistently deliver where/when it counts that should get the nod.
Balancing that with blooding newly emerging talent (which in fairness to James Horan is central to his mòdus operandi) with results is the dilemma, so I guess we should cut James and the team some slack, as demonstrated each week by our supporters.
The good: pace all over; athleticism; ability over 75 minutes; scoring quality -Fergal, Mattie, Aidan Orme; great free-taking – Ryan and Robbie.
The bad: unforced errors (not turnovers) – McGeeney said Armagh gave the ball away against us; we gifted Kerry a number of scores; lack of quick ball in; would have to say we sacrificed Diarmaid’s game to give Aido 75 minutes; as others have said, Oisín wasted.
The ugly: ten wides. This can’t be dressed up: our shooting is mostly erratic.
I can’t believe people are complaining about Boland not tracking back. He’s one of the very few players we have who can consistently score from play so I couldn’t care less if he never tracked back, let one of the other forwards pick his marker up if they tear up the field.
Hopefully Boland does get more time, the Tyrone game in particular would be a key one. Would agree that DoC didn’t have as much impact – couldn’t properly see from the TV on whether that was due to him being moved out to the wings more or if he was marked out – great skill again for the step over before picking ball. RoD’s mark was great.
I’m not too despondent based on the all the factors that went into last night’s game. Away to the form team of the league, missing several players, playing on a glue pot of a surface and having them hanging on to a minimal lead in the final seconds? Not too bad in the great scheme of things.
The main thing is to be primed for the Galway game in five weeks’ time. Grand if we get to a league final, but not the end of the world if we don’t, either. Remembering the reaction on here when we lost Tommy Conroy, Eoghan McLoughlin and Paddy Durcan in close succession, and it really hasn’t been a bad league campaign so far, albeit with a lot of improvement (and first XV players) still to come.
Kerry will be right up there competing for Sam and are a stronger unit than last year, especially once SOS comes back. As much as I might find him taciturn, Jack O’Connor knows his onions and has definitely managed to tighten up a leaky Kerry full back line, even if we could have pilfered two goals on them last night.
One possible concern we have is a lack of goalscoring in the league, I reckon that we gotten four in five games so far, but we only managed majors in two fixtures (versus the Dubs and Monaghan). Tommy and Cillian are big losses in that sense.
Personally, I think also that for a man who hasn’t played much big ball recently, Boland was quite impressive and is worth persevering with the rest of the league, especially given that we are safe.
I didn’t criticise Boland for not tracking back. Just it seems clear that Horan doesn’t see him as a working wing forward like Diarmuid and Jack Carney last night.
Boland will be competing for one of the other 4 forward positions. Certainly deserves to start the remaining league games anyway.
I’d hold fire on saying Jack O’Connor has solved Kerry’s defensive issues. People seem to ignore the fact that Tyrone only scored 2-11 in normal time of the semi final last year, 13 scores. We got 14 points last night in dreadful conditions and missed 2 good goal chances.
Ciaran Absolutely top class post. Couldn’t really disagree with anything you said. Really on the ball. Our fantastic strengths, courage resilience and bravery take us so far each year. We just lack the finesse up front to get us over the line. In contrast Culmore your constant carping about players and management gets a bit tiresome. Yes I agree with you that Oisin would have been better not marking Clifford and playing out the field, so yes it was a risk that failed. We may meet Kerry again this year and maybe management are looking at potential guys to mark Clifford. You were calling for Plunkett to be removed v Dublin, then he pops over 2 points and had a fine game again last night. Marking Clifford and O Shea are going to be major headaches for any defence. Even Tyrone, the serial man makers struggled with him in AISF last year and his injury cost Kerry a place in the final. Constructive criticism is one thing but continuous whinging about players and management is of little value..
to win just one. yes Plunkett is playing fairly well, in the first half against Dublin as corner back he got the run around, had a good second half, if he is picked as a corner back he should be able to mark the corner forward not have to put someone else in there to mark the corner forward. Did we learn nothing from playing a corner back in a final years ago , who was injured and had to come off after a few minutes and caused numerous changes all over the field to replace him. Horan is the best man for Manager at present but repeating the same mistakes year in year out is not progress. Pick players in their best positions and not make positions for players.
Well you can’t say Horan is not trying out every possible combination in the league but with only two games left before the championship , he really needs to pick a settled team and give them game time together
Boland and orme were scoring forwards taken off ?
Rossie winning at half time, against Derry. While only half time. They are going really well in league. And watching league sunday for past few week, and the seem to really have bulked up. And way thing going now, fear them more than Galway for Connaught. But that getting ahead of myself
I believe that James played a very cute game last night,on a softish night in Kerry we were very unlucky not to get at least a draw,he kept a lot in reserve for the championship,we certainly don’t need to fear any team,Mayo for Sam
I thought our delivery into the inside forwards wasn’t good enough at times turning possession into 50 50 balls and a few wild shots at the end of the game let a possible win or at least a draw slip away.
I think oisin will learn a lot from last night.
You would swear the boy wonder scored 6 or 7 points from play the way people are talking.
Oisin is needed to mark the likes of Clifford and Rian O’Neill for the time being they are just to pacey for anyone else on the team.
As we found out with Con O’Callaghan and Keegan in 2019.
Lots to work on can only be good at this stage.
I was fairly salty after that loss, I won’t lie, but watching it back set my mind at ease somewhat.
If Fergal Boland doesn’t start against Tyrone, I must just set fire to something.
Hope all the good Mayo folks made it back safe and sound up to The Heather County.
As a Kerryman, while I think we just about deserved it regarding a teak tougher defence, easier transitioning of the ball, less handling mistakes and better finishing,
I thought the referee was poor. Huge Mayo support and way more vocal, all we had was a version of the Rugrats / tellitubbies/ Seasame Street fan club followers of lots of kids at the game, terrific to see, but I think we deserved to be fined, if the referee’s report or Mayo issue a formal complaint on the pitch invasion by Seasame Street supporters with seconds still to play, may seem unusual and funny, but a crowd cannot dictate when a game ends, I wouldn’t like that to happen to us. Fair is fair, I call a spade, a spade. Honesty is best policy.
I seen Kevin McLoughlin, my favourite player, one of the nicest fellas you could chat to, throwing his hands up when that happened as if to lip read, WTF! He’s right.
I thought the game was not as free flowing, it seemed disconcerting at times, an element of shadow boxing with the possession based fist passing, that’s not our normal games, two teams not showing their hand perhaps, knowing they’ll meet in a potential League Final.
I do think that this Mayo will improve more, if, as we should now meet in a League Final. I was surprised we actually won, Mayo are a better wet ball, physical team, we would be more a dry ball, sun on our backs type of team.
I just hope you all enjoyed your time down in my county and my crowd were good to you.
Best of luck! To Mayo in their remaining matches.
If we meet in a final, so be it. Take care.