Image: @Mayo_LGFA
The Mayo ladies this afternoon kept up their push for a League semi-final place when they beat Donegal by 5-14 to 4-12 in a Round 7 meeting at Swinford.
The teams were tied at 3-7 apiece after a ding-dong opening half, and a fourth goal by the visitors early in the second half saw them lead briefly. Once Niamh Kelly had banged in Mayo’s fourth goal, however, they were back in the ascendancy. They won by five at the finish. Match report is here.
It’s back to Swinford for Peter Leahy’s charges next weekend where a win over Monaghan will seal their place in the semi-finals. Best of luck to them then.
By the way, if you haven’t yet read Cora Staunton’s account of her Australian adventures then you really should – it’s here. What an inspirational sportswoman she is.
Some scoring for this time of year.
Fair play to the Ladies! As I said before I was wondering how they would fare without Cora. As it turns out they are doing quite ok. I saw the Donegal ladies in action v Kerry last week in Ballybofey and they have some exceptional players.
In many ways ladies football is more enjoyable than the men’s game as it is pure football and no defensive tactics – if you exclude Dublin.
Just read Cora’s account of football in Australia. I really do hope that she resumes with Mayo in the summer. With the right coaching and the confidence the other Mayo girls will have got from playing a league without her they could do wonders together in summertime.
The question I have is why is there so little integration of the men’s and ladies games at national level. I know that many clubs are totally integrated and that a few years ago there was talk of integration at national level Then progress seemed to grind to a halt. Two possible reasons I can think of. Firstly from the powers that be in the GAA thinking “these women will want the same conditions as the men and that will cost us a fortune” From the LGFA powers that be ” we will lose our status as national figures if we integrate”. Maybe neither is true but can anybody say what the reason is?
Maybe both have people in power that like it that way . But there has been progress in that child protection and Garda vetting now applies to both , it used to be that if ya had it done with the ladies club it would not cover ya in the ‘ main’ club .I’m involved in a fairly small club and have 35 reg for u8s this year . 17 are girls . Its becoming more and more popular every year as parents see its not as success driven at under age coaches focus more on skill and fun and trying keep as many playing past the 14/16 age group as possible .Reckon the boys only clubs could learn from that .
Donegal must be getting sick of Mayo by now!
Congrats to the ladies . Again , thanks Willie Joe for this amazing blog.
Thanks to you too, Swahili – keep ‘er lit!
Congrats to the Mayo ladies…
Great result, keep it going!!!
What a game that must be to watch, 9 goals and 26 points in total, amazing stuff altogether. And as AndyD said above, playing without Cora will help those Ladies no end and give them so much confidence going forward.
Interesting ad on Facebook from Supermac’s supporting Galway which is fair enough. One comment stood out, ‘maybe show the neighbors what it’s like to beat Dublin’. When is May 13th. Are we there yet.
Baconfactoryend..Would you expect anything else??Thats tame enough..Theyre probably sick of us coming home from Croke Park empty handed ..As much as I would love to see the Dubs beaten in Croker the noise from.next door will be off the scales if they beat them today.
Dublin haven’t been beaten too often lately, so it’s not just us that would be shown.
Apart from the fact we are playing Galway in Championship next, the game today is irrelevant to me anyway.
Galway and Dublin can look after themselves. We just need to get the best out of Mayo.
Well done to the ladies btw
The Falconer and the Blind Man
Allianz League Final ,
Fools Day ,
2018
And so it came to pass that on the first Sunday, after the first full moon , after the spring Equinox , that COYBIB rose once again to claim the league Foi’ve in a row .
On Fool’s day it was not worthwhile engaging in semantic discussions with those who pointed out that it was actually a four in a row followed by a Yerra Interrupta in 2017…..followed by another inevitable title.
The Foi’ve in a row was literally all that was being talked about , amongst the COYBIBIM at Easter both in the league and Championship. The double Foi’ve , or as they say in Ballymun the Noi’ne ?
On the other coast the astonishing achievement was of Mr Magoo who was managing Galway to the Allianz league final . The huge surprise was no one had ever suspected he was even short sighted , let alone operating almost as a blind person , until it became obvious to all after the Dublin -Galway game played in arctic conditions at Pearse Stadium.
There , a fracas broke out right in front of him , ( “skelping galore” if you will )but he admitted to the TV presenters afterwards that he saw nothing at all.
He said also that he “ was not being smart but even though it was in front of me , you probably saw a lot more of it than me “. The poor man the reporter wondered , should we ask for volunteers to link him off the field ?
This was all very unfortunate . Regrettably for him the game was now up . Up until now his lads had been going rogue and clocking anything that moved . All the while telling poor Kevin that they were just playing passionate football . And the ball was hanging in the air a lot ! Like a real lot ! I He swallowed that hook , line and sinker.
Now though he would have to admit his disability and at the very least consider getting a dog , a cane , and maybe even a self driving car to take him to games. The plus side was that it did come with a pension.
But as Yogurt might say , “ I can’t ‘see Des ( pardon the pun ) how in the name of God he can manage a team without the aid of vision “?
“ I mean “ , Yogurt continued , “is he using some sort of advanced radar or ultrasonic clicking sounds like a bat to ‘see what’s going on “?
“Because , in my opinion , it’s not working that well , if I’m being honest ,Des”.
Back in Glasnevin , The Falconer was puzzled . How did Mr Magoo manage to hold Dublin to a draw down in Vladivostok stadium ? That was now an irritant that needed attention . He certainly didn’t want to be a blind man’s fool .
I mean Walsh was a legendary footballer and had two All Ireland medals in his back pocket. He was a fearless leader of men and had proven himself over and over in many fields of endeavor. You could take nothing away from him as a person , a manager or a leader. And he had built a helluva team from the ashes .
But the Falconer , who always listened intently to Yogurt , was intrigued about the idea of how Walsh must hang upside down from the rafters in the house at night to sleep like a bat. How’d he do that ? The question bothered him.
Did he take fright when people came into the house unexpectedly ?
The Falconer had never considered that before .
But it did make sense about the hanging piece because Walsh was long and rangy and stretched out , like he had been dangling upside down for years . People didn’t just grow that tall in the West.
It was not like out at the “Small “ lab in North Dublin where everyone was manufactured of almost identical genetic code and Six Feet two or three , blond hair , piercing blue eyes , and trained in cage fighting and mixed martial arts from the cradle. Out West was definitely not like that .
The Falconer’s own eyesight was “ Buiochas le Dia “piercing. Especially when he narrowed his gaze in his best , what he wanted to call his “blue steel gaze “ , until he realized , to his profound annoyance that Derek Zoolander had already copyrighted that . He figured Zoolander had to be from Carlow.
While being interviewed he could fix the gaze of the hapless reporters while muttering “Conas ata tu”? Then at the first deep probing question like “ what kind of game did you expect today “? he would lean in for the kill , narrow his eyes , and say “Galway are a great team , with a great manager and they had expected a tough game “
( Which is what they got for 40 minutes. Then the brutal and relentless assault on the Galway goalie whom he had targeted pre game as shaky and whom he brought in some assasins basically to assault , paid huge dividends with goal after demoralizing goal on an increasingly frustrated Galway defence)
Once again it had been Hannibal Small against the silent Easter lambs. The focus of the COYBIB attack was never in doubt once The Falconer understood Galway’s pride at not conceding goals . He would go for the Jugular with early goals and often . Destroy their pride first.
Finally he said to the interviewer “ it’s on to Carlow “. “Go raibh mile maith agat “ establishing once again his bona fides as a man of culture and a man of the people. An honest , sincere socialist if you will.
Then he was off to an A.I.G. soiree ( he loved these French words )to brush shoulders with like minded people , hell bent on total spectrum dominance .
Autocratic leadership , Socialism , and the A.I.G. Corporate takeover of the World. Only he could be the common subject of a book with those contradictory titles he thought. For him it was indeed the best of times. On to Carlow. And maybe some Train-spotting ?
UP GALWAY TODAY .
Well done Mayo ladies a great win and well done again willie joe for keeping up your support of the ladies as always,
Great to see Cora doing so well in Australia Cora and Andy have to be part of Mayo football for the future .
Just for info, I’m heading into Croke Park in a bit and will do a piece on today’s finals later on. Sure, I might even rise to an audio report on the action as well.
Goodman Swahili. Another nugget and you’ve turned your attention to our old nemesis Monsieur Walshe. Long of stature and short of sight. Enjoyable reading indeed.
Swahili, that is really funny. Looking forward to your post match summary already.
Good to see some comments wishing us well today.. Willie Joe I’ll keep an eye out for a Mayo jersey on you ?. We are seriously up against it today.. The Rossies defensively are in trouble..The Dubs I’ve met so far are so confident and slightly cocky , wouldnt it be great to quieten them…
Good luck to Galway today. A big test for yea but in fairness, we have spent the last 5 years softening up the Dubs for yea. No need to thanks us.
Yea will need to use todays experience to bring up your levels a bit because yea have to face a real team in May.
Hopefully Galway get the win and maybe a straight red card for Comer so he’s suspended for May 🙂
Roscommon may have silverware and fair play to them but they also have a woeful defence. Lot of work for the self proclaimed best coach in Ireland to do
Comer will take some watching on May 13th no place for a dodgy full back against him
Watch Comer. He has cheated himself into 3 frees so far by dragging running into his marker and dragging them down on top of himself.
It”s Easter, It”s yellow, No black today.
Whist boys and girls , stop fooling yourselves any longer , Galway are an amazing side . We are going to get some batins off them in the next few years . Comer is some beast but they have some silky footballers along with him.
I don’t normally say it but Cmon Galway. The hill looks quiete today.
Sean Burke, Galway are going at full tilt here. Hold your judgement after we play them in May.
So impressed with Galway stars. Great to see another western team giving them stick. We have our work cut out for us. This game will have them brimming with confidence.
Sort of hoped Galway would get a trimming today but they put it well up to the Dubs. They rattled Dublin by setting up orthodox and it took them a long time to get to grips with them. Comer will be the new target for the trolls. May 13th should be epic…
I’ve been hearing the same Sean Burke from the Galway lads at work the last two years. I’ll reserve judgement until they win a championship game at Croker.
Well done Galway. Played well for almost the hour. The defence looked sound but you can’t score without players up in opposition half. Will have learned from today. Also ref gave Dublin some soft ones. Specially in 2nd half playing into the hill. Galway ran out of steam late in game. Dubs got a warm up for the Leinster championship. Tommy Carr has written off Mayo in 6 weeks time. Sean Burke are you still as confidant for Galway after that?
That ref did a job on Galway in last 10 minutes. It’ll take a top performance on May 13 to beat them.
Imagine if mayo had failed to win when level and having an extra man for final quarter. Bottling/choking I believe is the term my Galway friends use when mayo eventually Lise a game at the end of the summer in croke park. I was delighted Dublin won in the end . Galway still have an undeserved reputation as a silky football team. They are absolutely filthy and negative with it. They didn’t even look to win the game with the extra man .They don’t know how to win from behind. The key is to get in front on May 13th. They can pull and drag all they want then. They will just waste their own time as they did at the end today. Comers “tackle ” on Kilkenny took nearly 2 of the 5 extra minutes off the clock. As for the Dubs now they are hard beat !!!!!Panel not as strong as it once was though. Small having to come back on is never a good sign
Bohola, Dublin always seem to get soft free kicks especially v Mayo in finals. Dublin should have received one or two black cards in the 1st half, beware Galway are back, some great guys on the ball but like Mayo, they played too lateral in the 1st half didn’t seem to want to take on their opponent for fear of losing the ball.
Just cant see our forward unit been able to manufacture enough out of that Galway defensive unit and furthermore Comer could cause us severe problems especially with keegan out .
The heart will always dictate your opinion in a local rivalry game but im just saying on form to date this year combined with their upward trajectory and last two championship meetings we’ve had v our present state all points to a fairly handy one for Galway.
As bad a Dublin performance in years, played 20 mins with 14 men and yet they still find a way to win. You have to hand it to the Dubs.
I agree NiallMc1983, been listening about Galway U21’s and young players etc etc etc. from all in sundry and how the tide is changing. All will be revealed on May 13th.
Dublin were way off their normal cruise control levels today and were nowhere near championship levels. Galway were impressive and full of running but will look at this as a real opportunity lost to lay a marker after their draw in Salthill. Undeniably Galway, physically, are streets ahead of everyone else in Division 1 but, today, they were far from just a blanket defense counter attacking unit.
However, the physicality stakes will be evened out on May 13th.
I thought that too KM79. Dublin have oceans of forwards (no sign of Andrews or Connolly at all today), but they seem to be lacking depth in the backs and midfield. Ref was hard enough on Galway in the 2nd half but Comer bought 2 or 3 frees in the 1st half. Barry McHugh did an Eoghan O’Gara style face rake as well.
A handy win for Galway ? I don’t even think Kevin Walsh thinks that. They might sneak a win . But a handy win ????? You clearly don’t think much of our team that have lost the last 2 AI by a kick of a ball
Good point Km79, who are the bottlers now? As for the ref being hard on Galway!! Scullys second yellow was very harsh, Comer won 2 yellows that were pure con jobs, Kelly was constantly holding a Dubs leg when on the ground and I truly hope that Walsh gets a retro ban for his attempted eye gouge on MacAuley, he put his hand in and tried to grab MacAuley by the open mouth and eye!
He fish hooked McCauley.
I only saw the last 25 minutes of the Division 1 game but I thought the reffing was ok.
[Deleted].
You can feel the tension in here about the Galway game. I personally think Galway will have too much for Mayo particularly with no Lee Keegan but you never know. If Comer is fit he will cause huge problems for Mayo but there are other Galway players who are also capable of hurting Mayo. I know many on here hoped the dubs hammered Galway but that didnt happen and Galway will gain huge experience from this game.
Saw the last 10 mins and think Galway touched the ball once. Kept diving in giving away silly frees against 14 men. I have to say I don’t know where this fear of Galway is coming from. We had 5 connachts in a row and we weren’t being talked up like Galway are. They won Connacht 2 years ago and since then got embarrassed by Tipperary, Roscommon and Kerry. Now they are playing this super defensive muck which everyone and sundry knows will not work against the big teams in Croker. Every team should be respected don’t think Galway has earned any sort of fearsome status as of yet.
Thought this post was to congratulate the women on another great win… fair dtus to them. I for one was nervous about Cora not being there but this team has great bottle and some silky footballers of their own. I would say Donegal are sick of seeing Mayo but I’m very proud of this team. Best of luck against Monaghan next week…you deserve another crack at the top dogs. I’m so proud of Cora and really do hope she’ll be with the footballers for the championship. Surely herself and Andy have some future in coaching the next generation of Mayo leaders. Well done Mayo…onward and upward…
Niall dont be worrying yourself, Galway are fairly mediocre. Once ye have the 7 weeks trajning ye will be flying..
Galway missed a huge chance today. The turning point for me was when Conroy was 35 yards our dead in front of goals he shot wide; despite having a fella player in a better position. This would have levelled it and with an extra man almost 20 mins of play. I thought the dubs were notorious for pulling and dragging off the ball but Galway were at it all 2nd half. If they had focused on more attacking play in the last quarter they may have won it. Some excellent team play but for me they lacked leadership when the game was in the melting pot. You don’t get many opportunities v the dubs and with so many of their marquee players not involved and with 14 men, Galway shoukd probably have won this.
May 13 will be tough. There’s very little now between the sides.
Mayo need to keep developing at underage. We need to be churning out the talent. Get kids at primary level kicking off both feet. And most importantly get former top players involved with clubs and county underage.
Are there many Mayo boys on that Nathys side?
That’s sound so Tuamstar, I’ll give Stephen a ring and tell him not to start for another week or so yet:)
Come off it, Mayo88 – you know damn well you can’t come on here posting rumours like that. A spell in moderation is called for after that one, I reckon.
Galway definitely have arrived. Will take a lot of positives from today’s game. Only faded in last ten minutes due to dubs strength in depth and extra fitness. Nothing to fear from dubs in championship..
It’s April 1 WJ in fairness,
Nothing to fear from Dubs On the Ditch? April Fool? Do you think we would have beaten Galway today when down to 13 for 25 mins and half our team missing?
Galway stacked up well today and will be a little disappointed they couldn’t see it through. The extra man seemed to throw them off completely.
I reckon they’re at close to full pelt though. Dublin looked way off their usual standards. They had some really poor turnovers and were very undisciplined. Galway well able to dish out some cynicism too, and one of their lads got away with a nasty attempt at an eye gouge.
Agree with an earlier poster – you can’t let Galway get ahead. A big part of their gameplan is to start fast, get ahead and then rely on their blanket defence. It’s caught us badly two years in a row so we’ve been forewarned.
I can see Donie going back on Comer.
Imo Galway will go into a championship game v Dubs with nothing to fear based on today’s performance. Dubs beginning to look as good as they can get and Galway will strip much fitter in 7 weeks time.. Matched Dublin today up to 60 mins
I’m glad Galway lost and I wish it was by more. And I agree with KM79, we would be called bottlers and chokers in the same situation. If they have notions they should have done better against 14 man Dublin.
That is my meanspirited opinion.
Can’t agree much as I would like to. What makes you think the Dubs are looking as good as they will get? Why will Galway be much fitter in 7 weeks and the Dubs wont? I thought it was very evident the Dubs were leggy today. Much the same as this time last year when Kerry beat them in the final. They are timing their run much like the rest of us & I don’t see them going anywhere. I do agree that Galway don’t fear them though. They dont fear us either which worries me no end.
I cannot count the amount of times that galway people have said hard luck to me with a smile on their face after us losing to the Dubs and then follow it up with “ah, you have to hand it to them, they are some team”. They only too delighted we got bet.
Well isn’t life a bitch.
And I have a very good memory.
So I’m looking forward to work this week and saying hard luck to the begrudgers and saying “ah, yea have to hand it to them”.
I’ll give what I got and I’ll do it as always.with a smile.
Have to admit I’m not sorry for Galway either or for Pat Mc Donogh and slobermacs after his “show the neighbours how to beat Dublin” adverts on Facebook. How do you like dem apples Pat.
For most of game today Dublin were missing McCarthy, o Sullivan,mcCaffrey, Connolly, O’Callaghan, Andrews; Costello. Add these lads and they are a different team. I dont think Chris Barrett is physically strong enough to mark Comer. Crowe might be the best option. As people say the key is to get a lead and force Galway to come out and play
Have Galway showed their hand?
Mmmmmm I wonder have they. I couldn’t care less and if we lose to them May 13th why would anyone think that’s us finished?! Not ideal but it hasn’t been the last two years either and we still got to the last day. You would swear it was all Ireland day. I know a defeat’s ramifications for super 8’s and avoiding qualifiers but it’s not over until it’s over with Mayo. And whenever it finally is we will know. And one way or another it won’t be on May 13th 2018.