Photo: @MayoGAA
Right, the polling stations are closed, the votes are in and the winner of our first MOTM award for 2015 is Kevin Keane, who put in a storming performance at full-back for us against Kerry down in Killarney yesterday. The popular Westport player – who also claimed the TG4 MOTM award yesterday – was the clear winner in the poll, with 35% of all votes cast (328 in all).
The battle for second spot was great fun altogether, involving as it did a three-cornered tussle between Michael Conroy, Jason Doherty and Keith Higgins. Zippy’s pace got him out in front early on but then Doc’s tenacity and strength came to the fore but it wasn’t enough as Mickey C jinked this way and that and, like he did in Fitzgerald Stadium, got the vital scores when it counted. The Davitts man claimed runner-up spot on 17% of the vote while Jason and Keith couldn’t be separated at 16% each.
Well done to them and to all the lads on a great performance yesterday.
Well done Kevin Keane, great to see him having such a solid game. It’ll be interesting to see if Tyrone will play Sean Cavanagh at full-forward next week, that would be a good hard tough battle for Kevin. Its now time to forget about Kerry for the moment and to forget about Cormac Reilly as well. We cannot change the past but we do have an influence on the future. It would be great to see a really big crowd in Castlebar for Noel and Pat’s first big home game. Tyrone have got the better of us the last few years in the League so it would be nice to get a win over them.
I’m delighted for Kevin Keane and I hope he can leave the nightmare of Croke Park and the Donegal game far behind him now. He needs a few more good performances to really build his confidence. And indeed Management probably need to see this too before they consider replacing Caff at FB. Keane is a tough bit of stuff and his return to form is nothing but good for Mayo. Perhaps there’s room for both Caff and Keane in the back line.
I wonder are pat and noel thinking of Donaghy when devising the defensive strategies. The problem for the FB line is that you have to have a defensive plan that covers most games and then you have to have a different plan for Donaghy. He is unique and requires a different approach. If I was pat or noel I wouldn’t worry about him at this stage and I wouldn’t plan too much for him either. We may never even face him again for a variety of reasons. If we do then I hope we will know what to do. In the meantime there are lots of dangerous forwards out there to worry about and both Kevin and Caff will have to prepare for them first and foremost.
Just out of interest how tall is Kevin? and Caff? I wholeheartedly agree that its got to be horses for courses, if donaghy is played at ff or walsh or murphy from Donegal we need heft and power to combat them. forget football skill, just physical power.
Well done to Kevin yesterday, keep it up.
Belated congrats, Willie Joe, on the site’s eighth birthday. What a huge commitment and what huge faith in the early days when nothing seemed to be going right. I only came on it in 2011/12 so cannot appreciate it’s earlier days.
I agree that it is time to get 2014 and Cormac Reilly out of the system and look forward to the future. Although I’m afraid if we find Cormac with the whistle in any of our games in the coming year that may be a little too much to ask. But abusing an opponent, player or supporter, for Cormac’s failings is totally unjustified.
Regards the Tyrone game I think the team from Killarney should be chosen again with Mickey C starting of course. Give them a bit of continuity, esp. the newcomers. We then have the usual two week break and after that a few others could be drafted in. We will be very close to the U21 throw in by then and Stephen, Adam and Diarmuid should be allowed concentrate on that. Lots of older players to be given their chance.
Class act Kevin. Keep it going lad.
It is not just horses for courses in terms of opposition in my opinion. The day has also got to be considered. Will the player stand up in an AIF or indeed a League Final in front of 80 thousand people or will he go missing? Does a player have the mentality to score a maximum break under the the lights? This is something in my belief that has not always been taken on board in Mayo football. All Ireland Finals are not rehearsals. The player regardless of age or experience should be the one who can do it on the day.
It’s very difficult for a management team to watch a player perform all through the championship and then drop him for a semi or final because they suspect his temperament might be imperfect.
You often only find out on the day if a guy can handle the pressure. Sometimes a kid thrives because he simply can’t contemplate the enormity of the experience. Most will go for experience but there’s no guarantee there either.
Would like to see Kevin pitted against some different challenges to really test his mettle for the No.3 spot – see how he gets on with a Michael Murphy, Brogan or Kavanagh each of these players have different strengths and the full back needs to win with brains and brawn!
Fair play to Kevin for a very strong performance on Sunday. However, I thought it was clear enough that Mayo’s best player on the day was, the much maligned, Michael Conroy. David Moran was the next best player on the pitch for me – what a player he is turning into!
Well done to Kevin Keane on his mam of the match performance , good at any time and especially against Kerry, away.
I hope he builds on this and gets better and better.I am happy to admit that I have been wrong about Kevin, I would say, full back is his best position, he can be exposed in the corner.With two good corner backs, he can really grow in confidence.
I would add ,that David Clarke is needed in goals, to give the physical presence in the square.
Ger Cafferkey is still an excellent footballer and will be wanting his jersey back, what a healthy position for Pat and Noel. Ger is a very tight marker and would slot in to the corner with ease.
Another player that impressed me ( along with Higgins and Conroy) was Mark Ronaldson, I was pleasantly surprised with his aggression and hunger for the ball.
He is not a big guy but he has buckets of bottle and football skill.
Looking at the game, it appears that the slogan on the new jerseys,( this year is different) appears to be accurate. I believe our team , with all the hard knocks they have taken , recently, and down the years ,coming so close, they are in a place now where mayo teams in the past were not able to go or were not prepared to go, they are prepared to do whatever has to be done , to get over the line.
Kerry, may have done us a favour, down in limerick without realising it, and change the mindset of Mayo football where we will go on to win, several All Irelands.
Interesting piece from John Fogarty re. the blood sub rule.
For what it’s worth I agree with him!
We haven’t broken any rules but for once, we’re showing a little cynicism in implementing it!! We’re not the only ones mind. Hard to sort out to be fair.
Well done Kevin, We are all very proud of your achievements
I think people are realizing actually the difficulty of the corner back position. Often a good corner back will barely have touched the ball but neither will his man. I don’t mean in being dirty or physical I mean in never having allowing his man be open for a pass. The corner back has to be thinking one step ahead and if he does get posession he really has to make sure of his passes.
Keith Higgins versus James ODonoghue in the replay was quite a treat last year even for neutrals to see two players on the top of their game battle it out.
Looking back at the game Mark Ronaldson actually did quite well as was mentioned above. Got on a lot of ball, took the correct option and made most of his passes.
There is still the U21’s to look forward to. You wouldn’t know who could be a bolter from that group. It would be good if they could get an extended run so some of them can show their hand in competitive games. I’d be hopeful TJ Byrne could show something. He has the nack of laying on scores for other people close to goal. Good to see unselfish play in a young player.
Well done KK, watched it again and he gave one tough performance and fully deserved his MOM treble, here, tg4 and midwest.
Many earlier have discussed their concerns about our footpassing but it was refreshing to see Durcan and Doc’s execution in that catagory on Sunday.
MaighEo Abu