Photo: Memories thru a Lens
The focus at inter-county level switches to the hurlers for the next while. The group games in the Christy Ring Cup began last weekend and they’re set to be concluded with further rounds of matches tomorrow and on Saturday fortnight.
Mayo’s campaign began last Saturday in defeat when, shorn of the services of both Keith Higgins and Cathal Freeman, they went under by 1-20 to 2-11 to Wicklow in Aughrim. Tomorrow’s task is unlikely to be too much easier for them either, as they face Kildare who top Group 1 (tables here) by virtue of their 4-26 to 1-10 win over Roscommon in the opening round. Tomorrow’s match takes place at James Stephens Park, Ballina, where throw-in is fixed for 3pm.
Already it would seem that qualification for the semi-finals is a bridge too far for Derek Walsh’s charges. A more immediate priority would appear to be avoiding dropping back down to the Rackard Cup tier, which is the fate of whatever county finishes bottom of the group.
This means that the clash with Roscommon a fortnight tomorrow is likely to be the Group 1 relegation decider. That match on 2nd June will be played in Athleague (throw-in 3pm).
Best of luck to the hurlers against Kildare tomorrow.
Three championship hurling gaames for the year. That is some way of promoting hurling. Perhaps because these games do not bring in much in terms of gate money they are not considered important.
Regards relegation are two teams relegated, one from each group or do the bottom teams from each group meet in a relegation playoff with only one team being relegated?
2 teams are relegated automatically, the bottom from each group. If Mayo beat Kildare tomorrow and Roscommon next week they can get to the semi. Let’s be positive and hope they can. I wonder if Keith Higgins is playing tomorrow, I hope he is. Let’s get out and support them…..
Not sure why but in 2018 2 teams will be relegated, from next year the bottom team from each group will play in relegation play off and only one team will go down. Due to introduction of new Joe mcdonagh tier. Roscommon should have been relegated last year but escaped due to restructuring…….
God almighty WJ that’s mighty pessimistic xD Mayo will definitely fancy their chances tomorrow and qualification is definitely on the cards. They won’t be thinking about relegation tomorrow.
I hope Keith does line out for them but haven’t heard one way or the other. I can’t see any logical reason why he wouldn’t
Best of luck too the hurlers…on another note when is the bloody draw for 1st round of qualifiers dying too know?Willie joe?
Best of luck to hurlers, hopefully they will get some support!
Mayo 6 points up after 10 mins.!!! Keith is playing
Kildare in front now 1-11 to 11
How is the game going
Full Time Mayo 1-15 Kildare 2-14.
So is that mayo back to where they were last year or does the restructuring means they’ll be into some other competition?
FFS , that’s disapointing to say the least . Mayo Hurlers have more of a chance of winning an All Ireland title than the Mayo Footballers ?
Big winning margins, for Tipperary, Clare, and Fermanagh, tonight, Wouldn’t fancy or chances against the first 2 at the moment.
I finally watched Mayo galway game tonight on tv having attended mchale Park last Sunday. A lot has been said during the week which I agree with that I won’t repeat, but in summary, if our heads are right, we can still have a big run in qualifiers. Galway are now been talked as potential threat to Dublin, they beat us with a late goal. Huge turning point was the yellow card given to cillian, goal came from that, I dont believe cillian committed a foul!! I’m sickened by that, we are going to improve!! Roll on qualifiers! Up Mayo!!
The Mayo Viking. Come off it man. You wouldn’t fancy our chances now against Tipp or Clare?? Jesus we haven’t fallen that far off the map surely?
I’d dublin or Kerry got caught on the hop by the likes of Galway in a first round tie, would they be sitting around saying “Jesus I wouldn’t fancy our chances now against Tipp or Clare”
No they bloody well wouldn’t. We are a big dog, a shark, and the only team EVERYONE in the draw next week will want to avoid like the plague.
No Larry, u picked up my point wrong, I meant the way we are playing at the moment, and with injuries and what not, and our lack of a game plan,that racks up scores, we could be vulnerable against fit mobile teams like those two, who shot the lights out yesterday, just an opinion, im not saying we cant improve and beat them, it’s just right now, if we had a bad day at the office, and things weren’t going well, id be worried thats all, sorry if you thought otherwise.
We have to change the way we are playing at the moment Firstly we have to freshen up our ideas on the passing ,not to be passing lateral ,back and forth . Let the ball do the work Kick it in high have A O S in the forward line Andy beside him this will frighten any defence and we will get scores .
Any word of Tom Parsons injury?
Lets go all the way for Tom
UP MAYO WHEREVER YOU GO
I finally watched The Sunday Game “analysis” this morning.
It really is so so poor. No mention in commentary or during the actual analysis about Parsons going off and the massive effect that had on the game ?????Just a token they well soon right at the end from Des.
Whelan saying Mayo kept 15 men behind the ball for the whole second half?????? Maybe they forgot Diarmuid was sent off!
When all is said and done despite everything we still could have snatched a win and there was only a late kick of the ball between a poor,aging ,injury hit 14 man Mayo team and the latest team to overtake them in the pundits eyes in May……………..
What we need now is to avoid Tyrone/Monaghan for first couple of rounds minimum and we can give Durkan,Hanley etc more gametime whilst getting all out main guns match fit.
How many games is DOC getting ? I have to say it was a horrible and completely needless hit and I hope he learns from it!
Enda McGinley, Danny Hughes and A Moyle’s on yesterdays Off The Ball, well worth a listen..
Some interesting reading in the papers regarding ourselves. Colm Keys does a excellent breakdown on the finances of all the counties. Not surprsingly Dublin are top of the heap but we are not far behind. Galway are next up, but are still a million euros behind us. The most interesting aspect of the piece is the breakdown of where the money comes from. Dublin get 90% of their revenue from commercial sources with 10% from fundraising. We on the other hand get 50% from commercial and 50% from fundraising. It’s a huge testament to the support for the team from home and abroad, but surely there is a more to be gleamed from the commercial end of things. While the money from supporters is impressive, it is very much dependent on a good championship, go out early and it ends abrutly, the majority of the overseas money comes in August/September. Commercial sponsorship is usually based over a number of years, is not as influenced by a bad year and is more predictable. He also points out that Dublin, Kerry, Donegal and Wexford now have Commercial Directors.
On another front, Marc O’Shea and Paul Galvin stick the boot in to the lads again.
Liam
I read Galvins piece about Mayo. I’d say there’s a fair bit of trying to stir things up but it won’t work, for all the flaws they point out in Mayos game it’s that same Mayo that are the only ones that have been able to give the millionaires a game. Maybe they should look to see how kerry can improve this year and not be worrying about Mayo.
The hurling is gas. Clare no.11 caught his Cork marker square in the face with the elbow just before half-time – just like DOC’s foul on Conroy, though with slightly less force – and the Cork lad had to go off as blood was drawn. Yellow card and RTE co-commentator at pains to downplay the incident.
Totally agree Willie Joe, I thought the same when I saw the incident.
Mayo had a 20 day break after the Galway game last year before they played Derry, in that game only for Conor Loftus coming off the bench and scoring 1-1 we were gone, we seemed to lack confidence and our shooting was really bad. We scored 10 points in 67 mins of football, until Loftus came on. Heading in the papers the following day read ” Huge Scare in Castlebar” There should be a big emphasis in Mental Preparation before our 1st game in the backdoor ( Keith Earls put a lot of work into mental preparation this year and as a result he had a brilliant year for Ireland, he was being talked about as the players player of the year). A lot of the Pundits have Mayo written off, PROVE THE DOUBTERS WRONG.
I wrote a letter of complaint to RTE after whelo started the smear campaign on lee in 2016. I received no reply. That’s the last piece on so called analysis I have not subjected myself to those plikes on RTÉ since. Much better for my health.
Cavanagh won’t be smirking tonite lol. The untouchable Mickey Harte might be in trouble after that result. Fair play Monaghan.
Tyrone in the qualifiers anyone?
We are nailed on to get Tyrone id say!
I think the points made by Marc O’Shea, Ed Coughlan and Jim McGuinness are reasonable and should be heeded as we head for the qualifiers.These people are knowledgeable GAA individuals – not your average lazy journalists.I am a fan of Stephen Rochford – but he has some serious questions to answer. When the match is in the melting pot and you are looking for a cool head to pop over a point it defies logic that you take off recognized forwards and replace them with defenders.He has been outwitted on the sideline now regularly by Kevin Walsh and Jim Gavin. He seems to operate more on a reactive basis rather than being pro-active.This business of naming dummy teams is becoming embarrassing to genuine followers and humiliating to the players concerned. The likes of Ger Cafferky deserves better – – practically all the supporters knew last Sunday he would not be playing.Does Stephen really believe that he is codding Kevin Walsh with this repeated strategy? Can’t understand it – every manager knows well in advance the 26 man panel of the opposing team and is prepared for all combinations.James Horan brought this team to a new level during his tenure – -it is difficult to see where Stephen has advanced our cause. Cannot see any tactical improvement in our forward division and very little goal threat. Let’s call a spade a spade Diarmuid’s tackle was reckless – -it caused a severe facial injury to Paul Conroy. There was a hysterical outburst on this site to the tackle Evan Regan suffered earlier on inthe year – – but a very muted reaction to Diarmuid’s effort – – we can’t have it every way. Hopefully we will get a decent run in the qualifiers – Stephen needs to come up with the goods both tactical and selection wise and put down a MAYO marker to whoever our opponents may be.Possibly Tyrone with Cavanagh making a comeback.
Dave Galvin is spot on. What part do you not agree with?
Peter Harte straight red ?
I’d still rather avoid them thanks very much !
Offaly please
Samuel, Marc o se was a good footballer buts he’s a shocking journalist, the last 3 years he wrote the same copy and paste article slating mayo both players and management. Then he goes back under his rock. He is truely from the joe Brolly/eamon dunphy school of journalism. It’s an insult to jim McGuiness to put him in the same bracket as him. As for ed coughlin, he’s obviously looking for a new job. I havnt heard anyone deny Diarmuid’s Red card but he did get a red card for it and mayo lost the game. Evans jaw was broken with a closed fist and the Kerry buck who walked away with a yellow card.
Peter Harte straight red rules him out of next game. Still want to avoid them. We’re not at the level to take on a Div 1 team with any level of confidence right now. If we can get a run over some lower division teams we might just find our rhythm and some semblance of a gameplan in our attack.
When is the 1st round qualifier draw?
Marc O’Sé is a terrible pundit in fairness. He’s written some amount of rubbish in the last year. I think Galvin is quite interesting. He tries to give some insight into the game instead of writing pure click bait stuff.
Bring them on I say,Lee to nail the winner in Healy park,sicken them completely!!
NiallMc1983 – – Not for one minute am I putting Marc O’Shea in the same category as Jim McGuinness – -I’ll give you that one. However I still believe his article in the Mail today is not far off the mark. His headline is “Poor calls on the line and indiscipline on the field remain a recurring theme”………. he goes on to develop these points re Mayo in the past. Where do you disagree with him?? Plus what did you think of the article McGuinness wrote?
Ocides
1 point is where he says he would be frustrated to see keegan or the like running through a part of the pitch where forwards are supposed to be positioned. Bullshit.
Seamas Moynihan was one of many kerry men that would run forward and take a ball or lay it off or even score himself when he was playing for kerry. The dub defenders today do it too.
Maybe he missed lee Keegan’s goals in 2 finals this last 2 years? Or Barrett’s scores from play against Tyrone. Or is he upset that paddy Durcan, the defender, had the cheek to kick the leveler in last years drawn game? Galvin better stick to Dunnes Stores fashion and advising his kerry friends how to stop Mayos half backs from doing what they’ve being doing very well since 2012.
Mayo don’t need his “advice” on flourishing.
I’m really looking forward to hear what the experts have to say about Tyrone losing today, especially Sean Cavanagh take on it. And I’m nearly hoping Mayo get them in the first round.
Dave, of course the scores from Keegan, Durcan and other backs have helped us over the last few years. I think Galvin’s point was that it makes it difficult for our forwards to shine as there is less room to work with.
The old saying “ beware of Greeks bearing gifts” springs to mind. A kerry man telling Mayo what we are doing wrong? I don’t buy it, no way.
It’s not as though we have 3 or 5 defenders operating in attack all the time.
No, we see Keegan making a break or Barrett or Vaughan doing likewise and sometimes they are positioned well enough to kick a score because the forward they were marking didn’t or couldn’t track them up the field and it has worked very well. 4 finals in 6 years, all lost I know but slim margins against a team that has massive advantages over this Mayo team.
Tweaking, not reinventing is what Mayo need.
Removing the threat that Keegan, Durcan, Boyler( remember he scored a goal against kerry last year) and Vaughan all pose, would suit Kerry very nicely indeed. Galvin the Greek!!
How did the Clare No 11 did not get a straight red card for his high elbow into the face of his marker in the Cork Team .I cant understand how and why he didnt get one (he only got a yellow) It was the same as Diarmuid O Connor high elbow raised last Sunday .Michael Lyster brought it up after the game today Whats Good for the goose is good for the gander
Well said Dave. Look, I wouldn’t pay any heed to what any journalist/pundit says. Paper never refused ink, I dont read any “pundit” articles about this and that, its irrelevant…if theirs a Mayo game I cant get to, I never watch the build up analysis, as its shocking, just turn on the tv at throw in an watch away. Dont care what anyone says about us. We need to look after our own house from within. A kind draw now in 1st round and we’ll get motoring again.
How about David Clarke having a go at scorable frees from now on.
Samuel, I don’t read Marc O’Shea anymore nor will I. It’s the most obvious thing in the world to point to indiscipline after we lose a game after a man sent off. Not exactly cutting edge journalism. Did he provide stats to prove that we have a problem with indiscipline? How many games in the last few years have we had a man sent off? Did he point out that we had the most opposition red cards than anyone else in the league? Did he point out that Aidan O’Shea is the most fouled player in Gaelic football and never gets protection from refs. Did he point out that our best player was out for the Galway game cos of a filthy tackle by a Tyrone thug. He always has a lot of say after we lose but never has much to say after we win.
Do ye not think Galvin made some valid points?
OK NIall – – don’t start overheating there. In fairness you have a lot of questions there – -it might be best if I send on O’Shea’s number to you and you can sort him out yourself.
Lol Samuel
“ overheating”. Made me nearly choke on a biscuit.
I’d only love to Samuel. I’d had a feeling alright you were buddy’s with him.
Retirement is making you fiesty Sam..
No bother Niall – – used to know him when I resided in Kerry a few years back but after returning to Dublin 3 years ago – – I haven’t seen him since!
Lol. Hopefully you’ll take a trip west sooner rather than later!
“Hello. Des”?
“Yeah, who’s that”?
“It’s Sean, Des”.
“Are yea on the way in Sean? We’re on in an hour”.
“I cannot make it in Des”.
“What do you mean you cannot make it in”?
“I was up at the match Des. I think the alternator is gone in the car”.
“We’ll fly you down Sean”.
“I have a sore throat as well Des, and a sore eye”.
“Fuck yea Sean. You cannot bale out every time yea lose. You baled out as a player. You cannot bale out as an analyst. People will see right through yea Sean. They’ll know you chickened out because Tyrone got bet”.
“I’ll tweet the Sunday game. I’ll say Monaghan deserved to win Des”.
“Des”?
“What do you want now Cavanagh”?
“Can you ask Whelan and Spillane to say that Tyrone aren’t goin away”?
” I suppose I can Sean”.
“Des”?
“What in the name of Jesus do you want now Cavanagh”?
“Will you be picking the balls out of the bowl for the qualifiers”?
“Maybe”.
“Des. Can you make sure that Tyrone don’t get picked out to play against Mayo? PLEASE”.
“Fuck off Cavanagh yea blight”.
So some of ye want Tyrone in qualifiers , the same ones that say we are a different animal in August . Tyrone beat the unaugust Mayo about 7/8 weeks ago in a thrashing at Mchale park . Think we’d be better off with a trip to tullamore myself in the present climate.
Brilliant Revellino!!!!
Sean
We can want and wish all night long, the draw will decide who we get and Tyrone would need to be dealt like Waterford or anyone else. You’ll have to admit that Tyrone as opposition in the first round would be a very exciting as a spectacle.
Agreed sean, the very last thing mayo need now is to be drawn with tyrone, what mayo need now is a handy draw or 2 to get some of the new lads coming through the ranks some championship game time and the likes of barret, vaughan, Harrison and possibly keegan time to regain full match fitness coming back from injury, and also trial a new midfield system after the loss of tom, tyrone right now would be anyones guess.
One thing to take note of from the Monaghan v Tyrone game, 9 of Monaghan’s points came from frees. 4 from their keeper, 4 from a right footed free taker and 1 from a left footed free taker. So it just shows that you need to have your free taking spot on in the big games.
We’re going to have a very tough Super 8 group if we get that far so we don’t need to be playing Tyrone at this stage.