That definitely was better. It always is when we win – and we won comfortably enough in the end against Kildare today – but as well as the result the performance was much improved too. And, along with it, our chances of surviving in Division One as well.
Despite all the snow that had fallen on it of late, the pitch at St Conleth’s Park looked in fine shape in the bright spring sunshine when we reached the ground well before throw-in this afternoon. We opted for the terrace across from the stand and had a close-up view of the lads as they went through their pre-match calisthenics.
Shortly before throw-in came the announcement of the changes we were making to the team we’d named yesterday. We made two switches before the ball was was thrown in, with Tom Parsons starting instead of Michael Hall, but lining out in midfield, and Cillian O’Connor on for Seamus O’Shea, but taking up position in his customary forward position.
We started brightly. Points from Cillian O’Connor (free), Andy Moran (a sweet one squeezed over from well out on the right) and Robbie Hennelly (a long-range free that he boomed over the black spot) put us in the ascendancy right from the off.
It would have been great to see us drive on from there. Instead, however, Kildare played their way back into the contest, winning plenty of breaking ball out the field and running hard and fast at our back line.
They opened their account via a Feely free and followed this up with one from play by Flynn. Then they cut us open at the back and only a brilliant point-blank stop by Robbie prevented them from rattling the net.
We upped it again, Cillian bagging his second from a free and then Diarmuid – finishing a rapid downfield thrust, which had begun with a marvellous turnover by Kevin McLoughlin – popping one over from play.
We looked well in control of proceedings at that stage but then Kildare, with 1-2 without reply in three minutes, got their noses in front for what would turn out to be the only time today.
Points from Feely and Brophy had cut the gap to just a single point before Flynn – who was giving Ger Cafferkey a torrid enough time – grabbed possession close to goal and then looped across the square, evading our entire backline in the process, to give himself a better angle at the target before lashing the ball to the net.
It took us a few minutes to stabilise ourselves following this setback. When we did, however, we quickly got back on terms. A third Cillian free pared the deficit to the minimum and then a monstrous score from beyond the ‘45 from the same player hauled us level.
With half-time approaching Adam Gallagher guided over a point from over on the right to put us back in front. It looked then as if we’d be taking this slight advantage – a bit undeserved but welcome all the same – into the break when suddenly we broke through for a goal that really put us in the driving seat.
Jason Doherty did the unselfish stuff to win the ball and feed Lee Keegan who in turn brought Andy Moran into the move. Andy claimed possession under pressure and slipped it back to Lee who then delayed playing in Aidan O’Shea until the big lad was in the perfect position to palm the ball to the net.
Worse still for the home side, Diarmuid then belted over a screamer from out on the left to stretch our lead to an improbable five points at the break. For sure, our lads would have been the happier at that stage, with Kildare left to wonder how on earth they could have ended up five adrift in a game where they’d had so much of the ball.
The Lilies did come at us with a brief gallop after the break. Feely opened the scoring for them on the resumption before Adam, with his second of the day, and then Andy stretched our lead to six.
They got two on the spin then and for a short while it looked as if it was game on once more, as they were still gaining plenty of possession and coming at us through the middle at pace.
The difference now, though, was that we’d got our defensive shield set up – with Colm Boyle sweeping with effect – and the so the chance of Kildare getting a second goal was remote. Once we were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over with points at the other end we were always going to be safe.
Points weren’t a problem for us and we ended the day with nineteen of them but we butchered four goal scoring chances in the second half. Cillian, Jason, Seamie and Lee all had opportunities to rattle the Kildare net but all of them failed to do so. We won by seven at the finish but, in truth, it should really have been by more.
Overall, though, you’d have to be happy with the performance. The bottom line today was that we had to come away from Newbridge with the win and that we did, with a good bit to spare.
What was encouraging today was that, with the experienced players getting back on board, how much more fluent our play often was today. Lee was central to much of this improvement – we’re, for sure, a different team when he’s on the field – but the return of both Tom Parsons, who put in a strong first half shift, and Seamus O’Shea, who replaced him early in the second half and played a stormer from there to the finish, also had us marching to a different beat.
So too did the lively performances from both Diarmuid O’Connor and TG4 Man of the Match Kevin McLoughlin. Both had their best displays for the county for quite a while and both played a major part in helping to secure the win.
So too did the understated but hugely steady shift put in by Stephen Coen, who hoovered up an amount of ball in the half-back line and who was always on hand to take and then give ball to keep a move going.
Boyler was his usual brave and buccaneering self, Eoin O’Donoghue was steady, finding time in the second half to raid forward and shoot over his third point of this League campaign, Caolan Crowe did fine and Ger Cafferkey, once we’d re-set the defence after the goal, did okay too.
Up front, Andy was a great outlet and his old fox tricks are getting better all the time. Cillian looked in much better mood on his return, he was steady from the frees and also weighed in with a super effort from play. Jason worked hard too and Adam Gallagher – who had to retire with a slight knock midway through the second half – did more than enough to justify his inclusion, bagging two important points. Conor Loftus also got two off the bench when he replaced Adam in the second half.
Robbie Hennelly has taken plenty of stick here and elsewhere but I felt he did very well for us today. There was a period in the first half when five restarts went astray but the fact that this happened wasn’t wholly down to him and, aside from that, he contributed a fair bit to the win. That first-half save was top class and the two frees from long-range placed balls (the second one, a ‘45 is here) were nice as well. Apart from that he dealt confidently with everything else that came his way.
Heads and shoulders above everyone today, though, had to be Aidan O’Shea. He bagged 1-1 of our total – the goal effectively sealing the win just before the break – and was a total menace as he rampaged forward but he also spent plenty of time stationed further back, breaking up Kildare attacks and repeatedly forcing turnovers. Style on you, Aido.
So, with four points on the board and a much nicer look to the League table tonight from our perspective – where we sit fifth, with Kerry and Donegal, as well as Kildare below us – our chances of retaining our Division One status now look much brighter. Indeed, a win over Tyrone next weekend and we’re almost certainly safe with a match still to play.
But for this team it’s never been about how we do in the League. In that regard, the flashes we showed today of the kind of football we play in high summer was, for me, the most pleasing aspect of today’s performance.
It’s this we now need to build on over the next two weekends. Providing we do, we’ll do enough to stay in Division One while at the same time help to sharpen our minds ahead of the sterner tests that await us once again come summer.
Mayo: Robbie Hennelly (0-2, one free, one ‘45); Caolan Crowe, Ger Cafferkey, Eoin O’Donoghue (0-1); Colm Boyle, Lee Keegan, Tom Parsons; Stephen Coen, Cillian O’Connor (0-4, three frees); Kevin McLoughlin (0-1), Aidan O’Shea (1-1), Diarmuid O’Connor (0-2); Jason Doherty (0-1), Andy Moran (0-3), Adam Gallagher (0-2). Subs: Seamus O’Shea for Parsons, Conor Loftus (0-2, one free) for Gallagher, Fergal Boland for Doherty, David Drake for Diarmuid O’Connor, Barry Moran for Cillian O’Connor, Shane Nally for Boyle.
Audio report:
Man of the Match poll:
Who was our MOTM against Kildare? Vote for your top three performers
- Aidan O’Shea (35%, 430 Votes)
- Kevin McLoughlin (21%, 250 Votes)
- Andy Moran (8%, 96 Votes)
- Leeroy Keegan (6%, 68 Votes)
- Diarmuid O’Connor (6%, 67 Votes)
- Robbie Hennelly (5%, 57 Votes)
- Adam Gallagher (4%, 49 Votes)
- Colm Boyle (3%, 31 Votes)
- Jason Doherty (2%, 26 Votes)
- Eoin O’Donoghue (2%, 24 Votes)
- Cillian O’Connor (2%, 21 Votes)
- Shane Nally (1%, 17 Votes)
- Stephen Coen (1%, 16 Votes)
- Tom Parsons (1%, 16 Votes)
- David Drake (1%, 13 Votes)
- Conor Loftus (1%, 9 Votes)
- Ger Cafferkey (1%, 7 Votes)
- Seamus O’Shea (1%, 7 Votes)
- Caolan Crowe (1%, 7 Votes)
- Fergal Boland (0%, 3 Votes)
- Barry Moran (0%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 781
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Good performance. 3 missed goal chances the only negative.
Eight 1st half Kildare wides plus a brilliant Hennelly save could be added to those negatives Wide Ball.
We had a good opening 10 mins, shocking next 15 but in the championship minutes (10mins either side of half time) Mayo were dominant, clinical and relentless. Responded to the Kildare goal brilliantly and controlled the tempo and direction of play once we went 7 points up in the second half.
However, had Kildare been more accurate in that 1st half we would have been in serious trouble. The repositioning of Boyle and O’Donoghue tightened things up and once we had a settled shape we drove on.
Good stuff. Now for Tyrone.
Good win well done all.now to beat Tyrone and give us a real confidence boost ahead of championship
Hennellys kick outs were too slow and Kildare got a lot of scores from winning our kick outs in 1st half. Great save a 2 good 45’s on the positive side for Robbie. All round a solid performance with the team we had o pitch. Good to see some of the new faces holding their own!
Great win. Fair play to them they lifted it a notch or two today. A o’shea some man. Big one next week. Hon Mayo.
Well done to all. Great to see hennelly hitting the long range frees off the ground. Hope he keeps it up and practices like a demon on that aspect of his game. He could become a serious pain in the ass for a team that likes to foul Mayos forwards outside the 35 yard line.
Dublin are killing kerry as expected in Croker so it’ll be a galway dublin league final I’d say. Other than that it’s interesting to see the progress of Tipperary, they have some serious talent and might be in division 1 next year.
Well done Mayo. No reason why we shouldn’t finish the thing with eight points.
Only five posts here since the game finished! If we had lost I’m guessing there’d be a damn sight more. A win gets us two points and should keep the whingers at bay. A good day all in all.
Seamus missed the other goal chance.
Still over thinking our kick outs even though when it was the 50/50 ones we were winning them.
With Zippy back we are still a force this year.
Just back and happy with my day. Mayo beat Kildare in most areas. A Kildare that knew they were relegated from early in the game. We dominated midfield Aido impossible to stop. Great introduction back for Tom Parsons. Bad memories for him on this pitch where he picked up a bad injury last time we played here. Some good scoring. Mighty point for Cillian from 50m out. Diarmuid, Jason, Kevin Mc, and some nice points from Adam Gallagher after a nervous start. Loftus with his first touch over the bar. They ran through our defence a little too easy early on. Well done to Robbie. Controlled his square, found his men well and scored from distance. Dubs hammering Kerry. Galway to play them twice before our meeting in May. One more win and keep training lads.
And our season is up and running!! Colm o Rourke said once, and at this stage he’s the only analyst I take seriously on the Sunday game, that it’s always the last 2 or 3 match of the league that you find out about teams!! So keep it up Mayo, win next wend and I think we are safe. Hope Adam GALLAGHER continues to push on!!
The ground is firming up and the winter coat has been thrown off. Do the job again next Saturday and we will be motoring nicely. Galway lucky Kelly got a rush of blood today as they were in real trouble up till that point. Jack Reilly scored 1-03 from play today for Charlestown against Moy Davitts. Brian Reape scored 2 points from frees.
Great result. Aidan is playing massive stuff.
Way ahead of this time last year. Adam Gallagher showing well and Cillian had a return to better form.
Jeez Galway are flying.
Well done to the lads. Much improved performance all round and Aido showed his mettle. Coming on nicely and getting in the groove. Positioning well for the championship. Hon Mayo!!
The tribes men are until they meet the dubs. I don’t think the dubs will show their hand next week. They will wait until the league final. I just get a feeling they will do damage to galway in the final remember cork a couple of years ago. I might be wrong?. I just feel mayo will bet Tyrone next week. I think full back position needs sorting for mayo.
Sean
They are flying but they will be beaten at least twice before May. Guaranteed.
I get the feeling Hennelly may start against Galway……….to beat the blanket a team needs a long range free taker to punish fouls about around the 45
I believe Rochford is of the mind Hennelly is the man for this job
Exactly km.
Hennelly is going to be a major weapon if he keeps at the frees off the ground. And dublin aren’t worried about showing any hand, they’ll beat Galway on both occasions for sure. I just watched the mayo Kildare game, aos definitely man of the match.
Any word on young Hanley?
Beginning to wonder if Zippy is ever coming back 🙁
Aido is some player..man of match for me. Great to get win. Onto Tyrone now and they were good last night.
-Mayo much more cohesive and team like today.
– Aido MOM he was all over the field. McLaughlin had one of his best games in ages and Andy also performed well. Great to see Parsons back, he put in good shift. – Of the Newbies Gallagher nervy first 10 mins but settled well after that and did well. EOD steady and drove up the field to good effect, tendency to hand pass very high leaving it open to interception. Loftus should have been in earlier great point, spilled a ball, pulled for pickup but took watching.
– The negatives were how poor Kildare were converting possession to scores some brutal bad wides in first half, if it was any other team we would have been 6 down at half time.
– We missed three cast iron goals by hittiing straight at Mark Donnellan who to be fair is a big unit. In addition we dropped a few sort into his hands
– Daniel Flynn won every ball except one that went to him, stats don’t lie.
– Kildare were shapeless and heartless in the second half so it turned into little more than a training spin for us. Important to bear that in mind as Tyrone will not be so accommodating next Sunday.
Kildare did miss a fair few chances so that’s something for us to work on. Much better from our forwards. I voted for Aidan, Andy and Kev Mc as MOTM. Hard to separate those 3 I thought. The Kildare fans beside me were in awe of Andy’s intelligent runs and his ability to bring others into play. He certainly has a bit more finesse than their full forward.
There is still loads to work on. Kildare created opportunities, they just weren’t able to convert. Better teams will take those chances. We, on the other hand, need to start converting those goal chances.
KM79, I think your spot on there chief! Robbie is a seirious asset, good to see Rochford focusing on the real competion…the championship. Vital win today, this game was targetted far more than the Dublin game, the workrate was up another notch or two. Yes Kildare are no World beaters, but the points still had to be bagged and we were away from home, so solid effort all round. Our destiny is in our hands now, feel we need to up our conversion rate and work rate by a notch or two to beat the Ulster men. If we bag 2 points next Sunday I think we’ll be safe, then they can put the heads down, away from the spotlight, and prepare full tilt for Galway.
Great analysis Olive Kerrigan .
@ Willie joe ..,why Won’t you put up my comment ??
I thought this is ment to be a blog and am stating my opinion
I think Steven another week or two o,possibly but not necessarily so,for the record I believe Stephen and management are the best out there
Will take it on its merits. Kildare weren’t great but I could see signs towards the end of the Dublin game that Mayo were improving and they certainly built on that today. Very pleasing how we racked up a good scoring tally and a lot of nice combinations from play. Our goal was lovely but we need to be more clinical in that department. After seeing what Dublin did to Kerry I still believe that we are the only team out there that can put it up to the Dubs come the business end. I’d like to see us tighter at the back and get one good performance in Castlebar ahead of the Galway game just to prove to ourselves that we can be effective at home. The Tyrone game next week is as good as any place to start!
You could see that our fitness and sharpness had gone up a couple of levels today which made a big difference. It was great to see Adam Gallagher pop over two points, one with his left and one with his right. More of that please!
That game probably summed up where we have being at the last few years, highly competitive. You could not fault our effort, spirit and heart. We played some lovely football too at times but we should have really buried them at the end of the game. Again that probably showed why we have not got over the line in terms of winning All-Ireland titles. We should have being more ruthless with those chances.
We are improving anyway, which is all that you can ask for at this time of the year, so its on to the Tyrone match next weekend. This evening it should be Kildare, Donegal and Kerry that are more worried than us.
Mayoman – It’s because you keep banging on and on and on about the same bloody thing. If you want your comments posted on here, then try engaging your brain first.
I don’t know guys.. I must have been watching a different game today. AOS is a colossus, a battering ram and had a fine game but he still struggles with the mobility of lighter midfielders and looses them at times. Kevin McLoughlin and Doherty had great games going forward and it was great to see some dirty ball been hoovered up around mid field but their tracking back was shocking early doors and Diarmuid O Connor was roaring at them to track back with their players. EOD struggled big time early on and got twisted inside out by his maker on numerous occasions throughout the game. Gallagher couldn’t get clean possession in the half forwards and took along time to get into the game.. its purly a confidence thing.. im not surprised he was pulled ashore early in the second half. How much did Daniel flynn score in the game.. 1 goal.. and I wouldn’t blame Ger Caff for that. Ger Caff did his job all evening long and didn’t let flynn in behind him and shepherd him away from the danger zone. Boyler is the sweeper and the extra cover for Caff in one on one situations and should have closed down flynn on the loop around. Best player on the field today IMHO was Diarmuid.. even better than Andy, who had a great game.
More than one poster here thinks that putting Mayo in their username will cover their obvious trolling. The talk of the double is becoming louder across the border and the lid is finding it hard to stay on the giddiness pot.
Super win today for Mayo. Great team performance. 1 to 15 cant be faulted for effort. The same again next weekend against Tyrone and Mayo will be safe in division 1 for another year. Great that our subs got a long run out as well. The likes of Seamus O shea and Conor Loftus who kicked 2 points. Brilliant to see us proud Mayo supporters outnumber Kildare 3 to 1 I’d say.
Good win today thank god hope we beet Tyrone
We always seem to kick 3 or 4 in to the goalies hands. Out from that it was a very good performance today and everyone should be happy this evening.
Kevin mc for me MOM. Aiden, diarmaid, Andy also had great games. Aiden prob a bit quiet for me early on to win MOM, Thought kevin from start to finish excellent, by far his best game this year. Kildare were gutless for a team who needed to win today to keep their survival hopes alive. It was no more than a challenge game at times. But the reward was still 2 points so we’ll take it. Never bought into this being a banana skin for us. Think next week is the big one, a chance to kill two birds with the one stone. Win and we survive, win and we have a much needed home win before THAT game in May. We need to survive and we need a home win.
@olive. Well done. Fair observations and constructive in criticism. Could we have introduced our subs earlier? I would credit Rochford for starting Gallagher. He will grow in strength and confidence. I think he is capable of nailing centre half forward if given opportunities to progress.
Never mind the match, calisthenics?……….. word of the day for sure. I’m writing that one down Willie Joe!!! Lol
Drog, same as you wondering if Zippy will come back at all. Manager asked on MWR this evening about remaining returning players gave a fairly clear update on all but Zippy whom he sort of flippantly indicated, may be found at a hurling match next weekend !!! WORRYING
On an upward curve. AOS and mcloughlin outstanding.
Gallagher starting to put his hand up.
A mighty bunch of men how they keep coming back.
May 13th looms large in the background.
May 13th can’t be looked at till we finish the this task, which is at a minimum division 1 status. And if Donegal win next week we won’t be safe till after there game (if we stay up)
I’d hardly expect Zippy to abandon the hurlers now that they are in a final. After that I would expect to see him back. With his hurling he should be in reasonable pyhsical shape and its only a matter of fitting him into a team role. If Harrison is also back for May 13 Zippy may be starting on the bench as I think Eoin O’D has earned his place. But having Zippy to come into a game in the scond half would be huge. Talk about an impact sub.
Gallagher looks stronger and a far better ball winner than Loftus.
He seems to moved right up the pecking order for the championship.
If we beat Tyrone next week, ED, we’re as good as safe. They’d be unlikely to catch us even if we lose to Donegal (Tyrone play Kerry in the final round so nothing easy for them there) and even if they do catch us they’d need to hope that it’s not just the two of us tied on 6 points as we’d then survive by virtue of the head-to-head rule.
Willie joe I am stating my opinion of how I think it’s madness putting a guy who cost us at crucial times on so many occsssions in huge games , am i not allowed to do that …,
So who were missing today , Barrett , Durcan , Vaughan , Higgins , harrison .., add in regan and Hanley
The addition of o donaghue and Adam Gallagher … lots to be positive about
Next weeks a huge game
Mayoman – what’s not allowed here is people like you running campaigns to have a go at the same player over and over again. That’s four anti-Robbie posts from you today alone and you’ve been at the same thing on a constant basis. I get the message, we all get the message – enough is enough. Oh and by the way, Robbie did fine today. Thanks for asking.
So many good performances it was very difficult to pick the winner. Mc L, dOC aos, Andy, Boyler Gallagher, Hennelly and in the end I went for Diarmuid. Simply for his speed of thought, in most situations.. For me Diarmuid optimised this today more than anyone else. Kildare lads were looking at each other and going “Do Mayo have 2 players with a number 12 on their jersey. Kildare have fine footballers and it is a shame they will not be playing Div 1 next time around. Overall I left they needed an extra half a second in the white heat of battle that just was not afforded them in this game. This was evident in their shot selection, in the tackling, and in the breakdown. Today Mayo found another gear as I expected The Monaghan Referee had a decent game and tried to give both sides a fair chance I thought.
Comhgairdeas go foireann Mhuigheo inniu. A great victory. I though they all played well including the subs. It was great to see Rob playing so well and getting the 2 points from the 46m. We should be thankful that we have 2 excellent goalkeepers. I cannot understand why some people on this blog are so much against RH. I also thought that Ger C played very well today. He is another person who gets a lot of flack!
Lets get behind foireann Mhuigheo i gconai Tyrone next week and stay in the top tier which is of paramount importance for financial and other reasons.
Mhuigheo Abu bigi linn!
Another fine crowd of Mayo supporters again today. I was amazed at how many Mayo people turned up in Newbridge today. The pitch looked great for the time of year and it did not look heavy like the ones we have been looking at recently and I think it was a big help to us today.
Well done on a fine win today Mayo, we needed the win and got it. Lots to be positive about apart from the win, and the few negatives too as a few have mentioned. Looking good though, and hopefully we’ll put the red hand to the sword next weekend.
Very disappointed that Joanne Cantwell (her with Mayo blood) and those two muppets on the panel with her – Whelan & Moyles (What would ya expect?!) didn’t make one mention of Mayo on The Sunday game tonight!
Unsurprising really..
Was watching it on T.v. looked to be some good forward play there today… As a new player back in the panel it was good to see Gallagher link up and involved in some of the moves, he picked out some nice passes… thought Loftus showed well when he came on, took his first point really well but kicked another into goalies hands. Would like to see him go for it more and really put his hands up for regular starting place, looks like he’s more suited to make an impact from the bench going on all his contributions at senior thus far, on the otherhand this might be no harm either, we need that option…both O’Shea’s look in good nick for this time year, and Keegan looked to be flying at times all that being said Kildare were fairly poor today…but we’re not in a bad place considering we have a good few players to return from injury.
Dissapointing not to see Ger McDonagh, Shane Nally and Neil Douglas not getting sufficent game time hopefully they do in the next 2 games.No Ciaran Treacy or Cian Hanley on subs either.
Great to have 2 more pints in the owl bag.
Great to get the win and all that but so long as we remember Kildare are by a mile the weakest team in Division 1. Tyrone will be a different kettle of fish and anything less than a massive performance won’t do against a team who know how to win dirty. Are we capable of delivering that type of performance when under pressure is still debatable, Still all to play for?
Watched Whelan and Moyles review the game on TV. Both discussed Kildare,s problems but never even mentioned the word “Mayo” once. It was as if we were,nt even in Newbridge today. Poor show from Joanne as well, did,nt even ask them about the winning team. !!
Outside the pale
Don’t mind them. Half assed “reporters” or “ analysts” and I’m being generous in that description of them . Mayo were a pleasure to watch today, playing attacking football and no dirt involved. If you want to play football Mayo will oblige and if you want to fight they’ll also oblige. The reporters would be better off by digging down and finding out why one county can win win win and play at a high level year round, every year to the detriment of the likes of Kildare and Meath. They won’t though, there’s too much money being churned up in this mess of a system and too many vested interests in keeping the charade going.
@Outside of the Pale… Whatever anyone says on RTE about us, or neglects to say, should not concern us….. Someone paid to talk, get paid to talk…. They won’t, field a high ball, make a run, or pass, score a point or goal, or even a wide for us ,put in a tackle or block… We (Mayo, supporters ) are equally as good as talking about football as those who do and get paid for the job, but not as good at getting paid for it….. In fairness, to the entire media Mayo get loads of publicity….. Maybe today others got some publicity, and Mayo maybe not as much as we normally expect …. But we can have no legitimate claims to us being ignored…. Today was a full day of Gaelic-games, hurling and football … Other’s have to be considered as well!
Good win and a good score to produce in a away game but as i said before the game Kildare are poor defensively and i expected Mayo to score more freely against them than against Dublin,Monaghan and Galway. Different story v Tyrone next however who will come with a defensive road block to MacHale Park.
I like your optimism Willie Joe.
If we beat Tyrone & loose to Donegal
Tyrone loose to us & beat Kerry
Kerry beat Kildare & loose to Tyrone
That leaves 3 teams on 6 points
Add to that if Donegal beat Monaghan,
You end up with 5 teams on 6 points.
Keep up the work Willie Joe, eases the Monday blues
Where is Digits for his combination and permutations analysis?
Simple for us if we win our 2 remaining games. But if Monaghan beat Donegal next week and we beat Tyrone we’re safe with a game to spare?
Will get very messy if we all get to 6 points and score difference comes into it.
Andy’s 1st point was worth the entry fee alone.
Boyle has to play at 6 and stay at 6 to cover the huge gaps that were there in 1st half.
Hennelly very good 2day.
Cillian back to doing what he does best….PLAYING FOOTBALL.
AOS my motm……AGAIN.
Good win. Bragging rights secured for me up here in Kildare
I`m bad for the team. They won the two games I did`nt go to.
I just cannot understand why Rob is blamed for our loss to Dublin,he was not playing the first day we conceded two goals,the second day he did not have a goal scored whilst he was playing ,his kick outs are much better than Davids,and I ful believe if we brought him on against Galway last year with the game behind him he would have been kicking the ball sixty to seventy yards in on the Galway full back line,however I believe David is a better shotstopper ,so it is a very good problem for our management to have,hopefully next weekend we will be safe with no worries about our final game,up Mayo
Good win yesterday. Good to see some of the main lads get their mojo back and likes of Adam Gallagher making an impact. Big game next week. We do not want to be in a position where we have to go to Donegal looking for points on the last day.
Also, as another poster mentioned – we need to start performing in Castlebar and getting results there before Galway come knocking in May. McHale Park is such a tight pitch that it won’t suit us against Galway with the compactness they are now showing at the back. We’l need to come up with something in the next 8 weeks to break that down.
Full back line continues to be a worry. A few lads to come back in there when Harrison and Barrett return from injury. And hopefully Keith in June/July when hurling is over.
Good win yesterday and great to see the team shaping up so well… Really happy to see Cillian keep his cool and not get involved in any messing, really hope he manages that next weekend as I have no doubt efforts will be made to rile him… also because we can expect to be getting a few long range frees might be no harm to have Robbie on the pitch again next weekend! He did well yesterday…
Look like people are giving rob some credit.
I believe one mayo get the two O’Sheas & Parsons on the pitch, Robso long accurate drilked kickouts with be a major asset to this team.
Plus can kick over long range points also. And can make saves also.
Lads and ladies, can we lay off any talk of RH being restored to the No.1 jersey, please? For the odd free or 45 that he nails, or for his sometimes accurate kick-outs, it’s likely that he’ll cough up a soft goal somewhere along the way. Big Dave is simply a safer pair of hands, even allowing for some occasional difficulties with kickouts.
Workmanlike performance from us, did what we needed to do, and never looked like letting the Lillywhites back into it. Would be worried about the Kildare FF floating across our full-back line for his goal without so much as a hand laid on him, however.
Andy put in a great shift as the link man again, we definitely missed him earlier in the league, other options in our FF line find it difficult to win dirty ball. AOS had a fine game and Lee doesn’t look to be too affected by his long lay off.
Tyrone will be a jump up in intensity, especially in the tight confines of McHale Park. Win it, however, and it looks like another season in Division One for us. Lose it and we’ll have to go to the Hills and get something, traditionally not a happy hunting ground for us.
Happy enough with that result. We should have won by more and even converting 2 of the other 4 goal chances would have done our points difference the world of good.
Seems a lot of punters love to try to stick the knife into players. There’s a few lamps on twitter that claim some Mayo lineage. One chap in particular seems to have a fairly nasty streak in him and really has a bee in his panties about the Club 51 folks – not sure what his beef is or why he seems to get that bothered about people cheering on their team at games, but he’s got a bit of following from Galway fans as a result which no doubt gives him some solace when he’s otherwise only got his hand for company.
Rob did well yesterday and I don’t see Caff as being at fault for the goal – he was covering to block the shot when he ran into the back of Stephen Coen – that gave Flynn the yard he needed to get the shot off, which he did well. I wish we were able to take our goal changes as well as he took his, but this was a lad who was touted as the next big thing for Kildare last year as I recall.
It’s great to see all our starting forwards scoring and from play, as well as having lads like Gallagher, Loftus and Boland getting game time. O’Donoghue might well make Keith work damned hard to get his Jersey back should be decide to come back to the Football field at some point. Crowe was decent without standing out, and Boyle did well enough, not his very best day but a solid showing all the same. Thought Tom looked a little rusty, that’s to be expected, Seamie did very well when he came on, though was caught ball watching as a Kildare player swept up a kick out in front of him to take a mark. Coen covered a load of ground and Gallagher did very well but faded a little before being replaced. Aido, Andy Moran and Kevin McL the standouts for me. Jason did as he always does and worked his socks off, and I saw a much improved showing from Diarmuid also. A younger Cillian would have nailed that Goal chance but otherwise he did OK. Not a standout performance but he was being well marshalled. He did score a peach from 50 meters, to give him his due.
Kildare were lucky enough not to have Cribben see the line, he should have seen a black card for dragging Aido down towards the end of the first half, and he was already on a yellow. Not a big deal given the final result, but that inconsistency of refereeing is irksome. For all the moaning done about the black card, there’s nothing wrong with if only it were to be applied when it should be applied.
Overall a much improved performance and importantly a great team performance – we looked a lot slicker with the movement and passing, but with all due to respect to Kildare, they weren’t’ offering much of a threat and seemed to have given up a bit in the second half.
2 tough fixtures to come. If we beat Tyrone and Donegal lose to Monaghan, we’re guaranteed division one for next season, but Tyrone will surely have their own plans for us to contend with as will Donegal.
Up Mayo.
It Means Nothing To Me …..
Whats the issue with someone having a different opinion to you in relation to the two keepers.
Surely some debate is healthy as opposed to black and white regardless of form.
Is Caolan Crowe getting enough credit? As a corner back his man has scored nothing now for two games in a row. One of those he marked being Kevin McManamon. I can’t recall the last time a Mayo corner back held his man scoreless two games in a row.
JP I think that’s probably the curse of the back line – do a good job and keep the man quiet, no-one notices. Let the star forward get a yard on you and have him score and you’re the worst in the world.
Like Spring, Mayo starting to bloom. Still a bit to go though!! Attitude appeared much better yesterday.
I wish my hips were as troublesome as Lee Keegans!
What a player. What a man. 2nd game back and he produces a Tour De Force from our half back line. Tackling, turning over ball, creating chances, shooting. There is nothing the man cannot do. Damien Comer better keep on the bull nuts because, by the way Keegan is shaping up, he is going to need them come May 13th.
@Riseagain: Nobody’s stopping you putting your opinion about the goalkeeping position out there, but any suggestion of Hennelly regaining the No.1 jersey (bar something unfortunate happening to Clarkey, touch wood it doesn’t) is IMO absurd. Clarke delivers on the big stage, while unfortunately, without trying to bash the lad, Rob hasn’t to date.
I’ve at least three All-Ireland finals’ worth of evidence (minor and senior) to come to this conclusion.
We can have any debate you wish, but honestly, anyone pushing for a change based on one league game hasn’t a leg to stand on.
Sorry two league games this year.
Re; All ireland Finals.
Clarke delivers on big stage …let’s see
Clarke messed up on the final two kickouts in last year’s all ireland. Even managed to put one over the side line.
I wonder …….
David Clarke has been the best keeper in the country for 2 years now. Why on earth would we want him benched?
I say this again, if Clarke had performed exactly the same kick out wise as RH yesterday, we would have comment after comment about how we are all very concerned about his kick outs.
The idea that Robbie has better kick outs is an absolute myth. He does not have quicker kickouts, he is certainly not more accurate, and I have no idea what the advantage is of kicking the ball 5 meters further is in a 50/50 situation.
Our best keeper is David Clarke, and he is better at every single aspect of goalkeeping. This is not a slight at Robbie – it just so happens that we have the best goalkeeper in the country. And if long frees and 45s are the key to beating Galway in May (which was suggested above) then start Dougie. Dropping Clarke would be, as alluded to above, absurd!
@Rise Again: Clarke is the best shot stopper in Ireland, and I can’t ever remember him say, dropping a ball into the net, missing a high ball or dropping one at a opposing forward’s feet in a senior decider just yet. Or shanking a kickout to the opposition’s best forward metres from goal, losing us our best player in the process, for that matter. A goalkeeper’s first job is to keep the net safe, and Big Dave does that job better than anyone, including Cluxton.
Good to see Robert play well yesterday, but it doesn’t really change anything as regards the pecking order for the serious stuff later in the season IMO.
BTW it’s reasonable to suggest that Dublin’s second goal in our recent NFL encounter was very preventable from our standpoint, Cúl Baire should take man and ball there.
@MayoMark: Some people, incredibly, haven’t learned the lessons of the 2016 replay: don’t change your goalie unless there’s a bad loss of form/ injury.
Some people are very defensive regarding D Clarke. I wonder why.
How anyone can say Clarke is better is every aspect of being a goalkeeper in gaelic is talking nonsense.
Henelly has a far better kickout that Clarke. Full stop. How anyone can argue otherwise is deluded.
Somebody’s forgotten the 2016 final replay, evidently, in which Dublin plucked 1-5 off our kickouts and goalkeeping mistakes. Until D. Clarke came on to steady the ship…
It Means Nothing to me ….
Are you David Clarke I wonder ?
RiseAgain and It Means Nothing To Me – by all means keep the Great Goalie Debate going but please back off from the personal barbs at each other. Ball not man (even if a good ‘keeper aims at all times to take ball, man and whatever else may be in the way).
Would agree with that post MayoMark. Robbie did well yesterday and it’s good that we have an experienced sub keeper but Clarke is still number 1.
Grand WJ, though I struggle to see any personal jabs thrown by myself in this exchange.
@riseagain: No, as the name suggests, I’m not based in Ireland and have never met Clarke. Just a big fan of his keeping.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter. If you think I’m deluded then so be it. I look square at the evidence in front of me and base my opinion on same. All that matters is that our strongest possible team takes the field on May 13th. Our strongest team has the best goalkeeper in the country. And we are very lucky indeed
Guys. ..
Re; hennelly. …
Have a listen to Bernard Flynn on Game on this evening. …
Mayomark, you’re 100% right.
Regarding the keeper debate. R.H would be my preferred because of the style of his kick outs. There both top class keepers, unfortunately one or the other is probably our best sub but can’t strengthen the team by being brought on. Just an honest opinion but Stephen Cluxton is by far the best keeper in the country, best keeper ever and the best footballer I ever seen
RiseAgain-I wouldn’t listen to Bernard Flynn if he was the only human I was allowed to hear after 40 years in solitary confinement.A tadpole would make more sense talking about football.
Ed
Cluxton is good but a long long way from the best footballer ever.
JP – same thought has been crossing my mind re Caolan Crowe. No stand out performances in any of the games he’s played of late but hasn’t given much away either. Seems to be a solid man marker but not sure yet about speed or dispossession skills ?? Defo deserves more game time.
Wow the keeper debate is really flying again this month!!! When I watch Robbie play on the surface he is way ahead in terms of kicking the ball out but the stats don’t show bear this out terms of kickouts won which seems counter intuitive when I watch Clarkie and Robbie kick the ball!!
In my opinion it is the ugly look of Clarkie’s kick that plants a bias in my eye cause while Robbie strike looks so stylish the consistency of placement, timing and decision all puts Robbie’s albeit beautiful looking kicks up for grabs by opposition players way too much in the real pressure games like the 2016 All Ireland replay, the Galway game in 2016 , the Kerry games in 2014, the replay against Dublin in 2015,etc… I have seen some people argue that Robbie is the better keeper but in terms of shot stopping and command of the square Clarkie (when do you ever expect him to be beaten one on one!!) is a good bit ahead and is why he has two All-stars to his name!! Now until recently I would have put Robbie a mile ahead in terms of kickouts but I am not so sure!! Does Robbie strike the ball truer? Definitely. Is Robbie’s flight and angle better? With out a doubt!! Do we win more of our own kickouts with Robbie in goals? I don’t think so!
So where does this leave us? The other factor which is a big issue for me is composure under pressure!! Here unfortunately for Robbie is where he has slot of work to do!! There are plenty of major examples that I don’t need or want to go over again but they have cost us dearly in big games and they were mundane instances that turned into fatal mistakes which is what worries me!! I like that Robbie is getting game time in the league but unless Clarkie is injured or has a serious loss in form I must confess if I see Robbie in goals in a big championship game I would have a nervous feeling in my stomach the same as I had when Caff was left one on one with Donaghy in 2014 or Kevin Keane left one in one with Michael Murphy!! This may sound unfair but it is just the way I feel when Robbie is in goals for the big games!
Clarkie’s kickouts may look ugly but they do get to the man in red and green and that’s all that matters in the heat of championship battle!!
On a side note I would ask all the people in the Hennelly camp to go easy on Clarkie’s supporters becoming agitated lately because it is plain to see that Robbie definitely gets an easier time of it when having his game critiqued. For example when Robbie misses on a marginal kickouts the outfield players get the blame for not moving enough for him whereas Clarkie gets the blame in similar situations! Again I find this is due to the aesthetics of the respective kickouts and because all of us feel about for Robbie after the shite raked up about him in the aftermath of the 2016 replay!!!
Crete Boom. ..
I beg to differ. .. hennelly far harsher analysed than Clarke.
For evidence of this, just look at the analysed of final two kickouts in last year’s all ireland.
Two brutal kickouts.
If Hennely was the keeper in this instsnce, Lord knows how long it would be discussed. Has it ever being said about Clarke to any degree.
That is just blatant false. Clare’s kickouts have been time and again ripped apart on this comment section and elsewhere.
Robbie has been found wanting at absolute crucial times over the past 5 years. Huge moments that have defined games. We can not say the same for Clarke. Our championship record with Clarke in goal is outstanding and his rarely spoken about record for penalties is bloody ridiculous. I would actually love to know has there been a keeper in inter County history who has saved more penalties? Certainly consequtive penalties which, if I’m not mistaken, he has saved the last 4 he has faced
Ah the joys of the goal keeping debate!!For what its worth thought Hennelly performed really well yesterday .Who would have wanted to walk in his boots after the replay of 2016? Cant imagine what it must have felt like in the cauldron of Croke Park to have so much of your game go wrong..Must have been a fairly grim time and might have been easier to walk away..That aside I just have more confidence in Clarke particularly in high pressure games..
Riseagain..Flynn’s opinion is about as useful as a chocolate teapot..
Mayo Mark. ..
Any critique of Clarte final two kickouts in last year’s all ireland.?
Rise Again, sure, they were poor, far below his normal standard. So where does that leave us? It still leaves us where we started. IE, Clarke is the better goalkeeper. Clarke had a phenomenal two seasons in 16 and 17. Seasons that have not come close to being paralleled by any Mayo goalkeeper in the past.
It leaves us with our own opinions. … ours don’t really mater as we don’t pick the mayo team on any given match day.
But I would like people who comment to apply the same criteria to both players.
They are applying the same criteria to both players. Not all mistakes are of the same order: some errant kickouts from Clarke have cost us possession or the odd point at worst; Hennelly’s have cost us goals at crucial times. There’s really no comparison in the magnitude.
Clarke has also made crucial saves in all of the recent All-Irelands he has played in (2006 was a bad day all round, don’t think he could really be blamed for any of Kerry’s goals then either).
Our opinions don’t matter in the great scheme of things, but a discussion board is for exchanging your thoughts, otherwise it’s pointless even being here. Rochford must have formed an opinion on RH as he’s hardly played since the 2016 replay.
Some errant kickouts. ….
Draw game three minutes into injury time …..
Make sure to retain pocession …. and kickout longish to no one, 50:50 at best. Dublin win the ball, free comes from it.
So 1 down, man up …. what to do …. short ball to ensure ball is retained. .. so Clarke kicks the ball over the side line. You could say these two kickouts cost mayo the opportunity to win & draw last year’s all ireland.
Also in drawn all ireland in 2016, his kickouts crumbled in the last 10 minutes also.
So maybe Rochford might be considering RH is worth investing some game time in to get his confidence back & an option given the current rules … past the 21 & mark past the 45.
Ed McGreal has a good, sensible piece on the goalkeeping situation in today’s Mayo News, worth a look if anyone is interested. It’s in the paper and digital version today.
Also worth a look is the view from the other camp from last Sunday. The Kildare 365 site is one of the few other fan-based GAA blogs out there and, as far as I know, it’s the only other one that has done any work on collecting historical results for their county. They didn’t hold back in what they thought about Kildare’s performance on Sunday – see for yourselves here.
From Wikipedia:
‘In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (termed goaltender, netminder, goalie or keeper in some sports) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal. Such positions exist in hurling, shinty, association football, Gaelic football….’
Yet despite the above definition, it appears that in some minds, the main criteria for fulfilling this position on the Mayo team is how far, how fast and how accurately they can kick the ball.
The mind boggles.
Put Cillian O’Connor between the sticks if that’s your logic lads.
Jesus Willie Joe, There is no holding back there from the main man on the Kildare page, Cant see you ever losing the run of yourself if Mayo put in a poor performance. He is fairly scathing on the players and management..
He was a bit harsh alright, Tuamstar! Also Andy Moran isn’t 36, he’s still only 34 and ageing better all the time.
Grand so, Rise Again. We’ll put Hennelly back in between the sticks at the latter stages of the championship, despite all of the available evidence that he’s prone to conceding soft goals in pressurised situations. Just to recap the following preventable goals:
-Tyrone’s crucial goal in the All-Ireland minor replay of 2008;
-Dublin’s first half goal in the All-Ireland senior final of 2013;
-A rushed kickout which led to a Dublin goal in the semi-final replay of 2015;
-Another botched restart which led to Galway’s goal in the Connacht semi-final of 2016;
-The All-Ireland replay final of 2016 debacle, in which he was directly accountable for 1-5 of Dublin’s tally.
But sure, he notched a couple of frees when the heat was off in Newbridge, let’s forget about all of that.
As compared with a few shanked kick outs from Clarke in recent finals, at least one of which you could equally assign blame to our outfielders for not getting free of their opposite numbers.
You do realise that pretty much every top level goalkeeper, including even Steven Cluxton, has occasionally shanked a few kickouts in Croke Park that have led to losses of possession? Just off the top of my head, I can think of him doing it against us in the final stages of the drawn game in 2015 (twice) and in the first half of the 2016 semi-final against Kerry, leading to a couple of goals.
I also recall Robert miskicking one that led to Lee Keegan’s black card in 2016, and an additional 5 points coming from inaccurate restarts that day. It’s more noteworthy when it happens repeatedly, IMO.
Conceding preventable goals, though, is a killer, as we’ve found out time and time again against Dublin over the past five years.
It Means Nothing To Me …
Looking at your post to me it looks like this issue means a huge amount to You.
I believe Clarke kickouts have crumbled when any teams goes after him. As referenced, last 10 minutes of final in 2016 and last two kickouts in 2017.
Cannot believe you refer to an all ireland minor final. Talk about really going after hennelly. Really telling.
[Deleted].
we have the NO1 keeper in the country in Clarke – A two time All star and probably Mayo’s best goalkeeper of all time
Mayomafia – I’m going to have to ask you to keep this particular debate to a respectful and reasonable tone. No need for hysterics, multiple questions marks and gibberish like that.
In other words, you can’t refute the weight of the evidence, so you’re going after man, not ball. Really telling alright…
The minor final is one of the three instances in an All-Ireland final in which a mistake of Rob’s has proved decisive, so yeah, I believe it’s justified. If you can come up with three instances of Clarke costing his sides All-Ireland titles, I’d love to hear of them.
Your grand total of three botched kickouts doesn’t even match that of Hennelly’s in the first half of the 2016 final alone, which tells me that you’re really struggling to justify your focus on Clarke’s distribution.
I mean, Clarke had a 100 per cent (or near) success rate with his kickouts when he came on in 2016, but that doesn’t suit your narrative, so you’ll ignore it.
Never mind all the crucial saves that have kept our All-Ireland journey rolling, last season alone.
The only motivation I have for arguing Clarke’s case is my utter disbelief that anyone could advocate displacing him, all things being equal. But then we had some people on here advocating dropping AOS last year and replacing COC as free-taker after a few poor displays this year, so I suppose it’s not that surprising really.
In 2016 in the final (not replay) look at the last 10 minutes …. Clarke was very poor for 3 out of his last 4 kickouts.
In the replay, 2nd half, Dublin did not go after his kickouts & applies not pressure.They allowed easy kickout to mayo corner back.
Last year, do I need to say it again, Clarke crumiles on the two most important kickouts of the game. Failed utterely on both occasions.
Does this suit your narrative regarding Clarke kickouts having minimal effect on the outcome of important games.
Rise Again: I give up. Clarke has never found a man from our restarts, Hennelly is as accurate as a laser beam and has never folded under pressure.
A (sometimes) accurate delivery of the ball is the only criterion by which a keeper should be measured, shot stopping/ decisiveness/ speed off the line/ composure under the high ball simply doesn’t come into the reckoning.
The odd successful attempt from a ’45’ outweighs any and all skittishness in and around your own square.
A few unsuccessful kickouts in the closing stages of the All-Ireland final last year (or 2016) is equal to a history of conceding entirely preventable goals in every All-Ireland final contested.
Sásta?
rise again -there’s no point arguing with you
Robbie costs us games at crucial times , 2015(Gloves) & 2016 (Lee in the first half & Fumble that cost us a penalty , a goal & a substitute)
Clarke keeps us in Games and has been voted the best keeper in Ireland the past two years
There’s no argument really
Mayo mafia. …
Buy the same token you could say Clarke cost mayo toward the end of the 2016 final & end of 2017 final.
Have you some comment about these instances regarding Clarkes goal keeping.
[Deleted].
Genuine question to Rise Again: are you someone close to Hennelly?
Only blind devotion could suggest that some poor kickouts are as damaging as conceding soft goals, IMO.
Back off, please, It Means Nothing To Me – that’s not in any sense a fair question to pose. People are entitled to put forward and defend their opinions (because that’s all they are at the end of the day) without their motives being questioned. You two have a difference of opinion on this issue – that much is clear! – so maybe it’d be as well for you both to accept this and park the issue. I can’t see one of you persuading the other, or vice versa, on the topic at this stage.
Fair enough WJ, it’s your show, though he/she did ask the same question of me earlier in the thread.
Now now….
What do they say about imitation.
Can you deal with my instances about Clarke and some poor kickouts cost mayo in big games.
You went back to 2008 regarding regards Hennelly. ..
I’m only asking you to refer back to the all irelands of 2016 (1st game/not replay) & 2017 with regard to D Clarke.
Mayomafia – I’m going to give you one final warning about tone in your comments. This isn’t a place to be dumping on players and if you’re not prepared to temper what you have to say accordingly, I’ll have to take action to make sure you do. I’m not saying you can’t criticise – though maybe leave off on repeating the same point again and again – but the way you do it is the important thing.
And that’s equally not acceptable, I didn’t notice that such a comment had been posted. I really think this particular debate has run its course, as I said there’s little chance at this stage that either of you are going to persuade the other on it.
Riseagain, I suppose the players that gave 2 all stars to Clarke in the last 2 years are wrong. We all know who will be number 1 come championship.
I’m out of this debate for now.
In order to be respectful of Willie Joe’s moderation, I’m not going back on what I’ve previously written. My previous posts on this thread have already elaborated what I think about your views on that issue.
Ditto … it means nothing to me.
Grand, glad we understand each other.
Long range frees should be kicked off the ground and whoever can do that job must be in the team. Practice practice practice and put him in there regardless of all else. Hennelly or Clarke are not personally known to me so I don’t care who starts, but hennellys free taking can become a serious asset if he gets it a bit more tuned in. Clarke maybe too, he has hit 45s in but not with the same enthusiasm as he buddy. Remember Maurice Sheridan? Not a great outstanding forward from play but Jesus he could hit a free off the ground, a skill that’s badly needed this summer if Mayo are to threaten dublin or anyone else in a more serious manner.
We haven’t had a reliable forward to lift 45s since Maurice Sheridan.
It seems to be something which has fallen out of fashion, can’t think of many playing today who notch 45s regularly (Michael Murphy, Rock?). Back in the 1990s it seemed like every team had one- Maurice Fitz, Trevor Giles, Maurice, Niall Finnegan, Colin Corkery etc.
Who do we think should start in goals against Galway?
😀
I am sure the people critising the two goalkeepers realise these are amateur players who have a day job and give every single minute of their spare time to Mayo GAA. Also very unfair to pick out individual instances of mistakes in games and say these instances cost Mayo a game. There are hundreds of mistakes in every game – from the ball that is kicked wide to the midfielder who drops a ball to the defender who is not first to the ball. In fact if the players out the field didnt make a mistake – the goalie would have no save to make. We win as a team and lose as a team.
km79 – I vote we get 3 time Kick Fada champion Fintan Ruddy back from Sligo and stick him in between the posts. Aside from him and Gabriel Irwin, I don’t recall Cill Chomáin having any other County Seniors – does anyone happen to know of others?.
Think it’s a little redundant to be comparing any keeper to cluxton. Over his career he was always good at kicking directly to a loose player. When the Dubs were struggling at midfield he seemed to bring new thought process to the kick out in the game. Tyrone played a new game using the same chess pieces and cluxton bought into their strategy of securing possession by perfecting his kick outs.
Gavin, initially without the likes of Fenton saw its advantage and being a military man he now has set plays to facilitate cluxton with his kick outs and it’s reaping rich rewards. If either of the two mayo keepers were given a few weeks practice with the Dubs when they’d learn the plays I’d guess they would be very close to cluxtons accuracy rate. The point I’m making Is that you have two very capable keepers with different talents, strengths and weaknesses, trick is to play the player with the best cards for the particular company. Last year in the replay Mayo had a clear strategy worked on and it hurt us big time.
I think Clarke is a more brazen or gutsy keeper than Hennelly the way he attacks ball in his vicinity. Hennelly has possibly a better as in a more consistent kick out and he gives the option of the long range free from the ground. It may be necessary to consider one or the other depending on the expected tactics by your opposition. Regardless, it’s one position I’d hate to play in as according to every onlooker every kick out that fails to reach a team mate is your fault and every resulting score is dropped on your doorstep by those who have all the answers on Monday morning.
Very true Gamechanger.