Photo: Inpho
Fair play to Sligo – a classic mugging and the first real shock of this year’s championship (well, the second after Antrim’s astonishing comeback against Laois earlier on) – on their cracking win over what, in retrospect, really does look like a hugely over-hyped Roscommon team. So it’s now a repeat of the 2012 provincial decider – will it be in MacHale Park or will they insist (as is their right) on dragging us to Salthill?
I’m heading out the door now so haven’t got the time to add anything further on this result but I’m sure it’s one that’ll generate plenty of debate.
Is it their right because they haven’t bothered to develop their stadium? They should only be allowed to call the shots for every second final against us, and they got their pick back in 2012 when we went to Roscommon. Surely it should be our turn to choose. This game must be played in McHale Park.
Well done Sligo, I heard it said somewhere that Sligo lost the first 3 league games narrowly and won the last 4, some by putting up massive scores, so maybe this shouldn’t be a shock?
To Shane and co, hard luck. Mayo have been warned, don’t take Sligo for granted or you’ll be caught.
Brilliant display. Sligo may have got the breaks but it goes to show you have to be on your game to win any match. I asume Ros must have took this for granted. And as the match wore on it looked like the pressure and expectation got to them. Overall a sign that there is life in the old Connacht provincial championship yet.
Fair play to Sligo what an effort by them….I work with Rosscommon lads over here and they said that this was a formality it was ..for SLIGO
Didn’t see that coming. Wud have preferred Ross in the final. However I think we will be too good for Sligo. If it’s in salthill then so be it. Mite b an advantage as weev played there already.
I certainly got this completely wrong…didnt expect this at all.
Going away to reevaluate all I thought I knew about football!
As I said in a previous post it wasn’t beyond the bounds of possibility ! Absolutely delighted for Sligo on a very well deserved win. Some brilliant play and so many bodies put on the line to get hands on the ball. Equally delighted for those hyped up sheep stealers!
Do you think we could wear the new black and green kit for the final!
Come on you boys who are into a bit of dressin’ up…)
Well done Sligo, thoroughly deserved.
It’s an awful kick up the hole for Evans though. Highlight of my night was watching the boys on Sky Sports dying laughing when Canavan brought up Evans speaking after the Division Two final, talking about challenging for the All Ireland. Crazy, crazy stuff. Roscommon were totally complacent tonight and were absolutely abysmal as a result. Mayo would do well to learn that lesson. And you’d have to imagine if they do learn their lesson, they’d be far too good for Sligo. It’ll be interesting though, it’ll be hard for Mayo to get themselves up for it. However, as McGuinness stated tonight, you’d be looking for a professional approach and a win to boot.
McGuinness comment on the desire to get all the little details right was interesting. League results can be deceiving. Maybe Sligo had injuries early in the league. Scoring heavily in league should have been a warning.
Roscommon must have not eased off strength training n plenty field sessions. Only Cathal Cregg showed any pace.
From a J Evans
” JOHN EVANS BELIEVES his Roscommon side can go all the way to the top — and win the All-Ireland title for the first time in more than 70 years.
A delighted Evans said that the Rossies are “exactly where we wanted to be” after they clinched the Division 2 title against Down on Sunday.”
And
“He added: “It’s smashing. It’s wonderful because Roscommon have been starved of success. It’s brilliant to see a smile on their face.
The biggest problem we’ll have is trying to calm them down a small but and say one step at a time. It’s how we cope with this now. This is the big question.
“How do we cope with winning two successive finals in Croke Park, silverware? If it takes the edge off us, then it’s no good to us.”
Hello, imo the Mayo team will find it a bit more exciting than the expected dour struggle? The position on injuries will be a little clearer tomorrow when we see who plays. I have no liking for Sligo Supporters but the rest of the Country might. Mayo by 16pts.
@Clonee man, “However I think we will be too good for Sligo.” I do not believe that already people think we are too good for Sligo. This can be one of the most damaging comments for Mayo football if many more begin to think like that. Do we ever fucking learn??
I was on the sideline in Roscommon when an average Leitrim team beat Mayo in the Connacht final. Mayo had “nothing to beat” and didn’t turn up, just like Roscommon to night. This is a good Sligo team with scoring forwards and a good defence. They deserve a huge amount of respect and caution and Mayo will need to be at their best. Sligo will be filled with confidence and enthusiasm.
I hope to hell that we don’t see too many more comments like that!!!
Very impressive performance by Sligo. Two men on the full forward line stayed there and that worked well for Sligo. Too many big lads didn’t show up for Rossies.
Given the shocking poor traffic management and parking facilities in Salthill, I think it would be wrong to reward Salthill with another match.
If they don’t want to go to Castlebar, is Roscommon and option?
@ ciaran 2, another one….”Mayo by 16pts”.. Good Jesus!!!!
Great for the game.. Under estimate any team at your peril.. the Roscommon foke will b really sickened by this one. I’d be surprised if Sligo went for salthill, nothing to be gained in dragging us all down there except maybe a night out on the town for the winners. So we now know the opposition for game 2. Sligo will be loving the chance to do a number on us like they did the Ros, so we will have to have our homework done. You can’t beat the unpredictability of championship football sometimes 🙂 loving it
Mayo by 16 points !!!! Please stop just stop
Paul, Roscommon isn’t an option, they don’t have the requisite capacity, due to health and safety concerns which lowered their capacity. Thus, the only two grounds that can host a Connacht final are Salthill and Pearse Stadium. I’d imagine it’s safe to assume that Sligo will make us take the long arduous trek through Tuam to that bloody hole of a place in Salthill!
Sorry about that, just wishful thinking. I’ll say no more.
Though I’d happily play in Salthill in the middle of the Tall Ships festival and the Galway Arts festival on a windy and wet day, as long as Cormac Reilly isn’t considered as referee.
Got that wrong, I said Rossies by 4 to 10 points so we better not fall into complacency like Ros maybe did if that’s not unfair to Sligo. Assume the final is 50 50. Fair play to the Sligo lads, credit where its due. Best template is Donegal who were very good against fairly strong Tyrone and absolutely ruthless against less fancied Armagh. Anything less than total commitment in Connaught final is risky, we are now warned. Wouldn’t have taken Ros lightly so give same respect to Sligo.
Got that outrageously wrong. Well done to Sligo though , great hard determined performance.
Mayo by 22 points in the final. ( just to send Joe Mac round the bend like)
canavan wrote that mayo should play with 2 sweepers, that would be a 1-8-4-2 formation sorry 1-8-2-4 formation. with 4 lads upfront, it would take that.
One point just to note. Sligo looked far pacier. Maybe this was different preparations? Sligo had a better focus n time to be fresh for today?
If Sligo had gone even more direct with the ball to Hughes/Marren n Kelly they could have tagged on two or three more scores.
1-8-4-2 isnt bad but could be lacking a little it would be a big ask of big aos and am
I know this is a quality website the stimulates debate time and time again, so apologies about this and if WJ deletes this post then fair enough but…. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
What a surprise for the Rossies. I saw only the last ten minutes in a pub in Ballinamore [Co Leitrim] which is not border country for either Rosc or Sligo. But the result was cheered there as if it were in Sligo. Rossies mustn’t be popular there either.
Unless Mayo are complacent about the result the final should result in a Mayo win. The gap between Div 3 and Provincial champions should not normally be bridged that quickly.
Joe Mc, your memory seems to have got a bit clouded since ’94 as Mayo could not have gone to Hyde Park thinking they had nothing to beat. Leitrim had beaten both Galway and Roscommon that year to get to the final and had been knocking on the door for a few years at that stage so had proved their credentials. In addition the 1993 CF was probably the worst ever [1=5 to 0=7] and Mayo had taken a 20 point hammering in that years Semi v Cork. In addition they had lost all three NFL games that spring. So where did Mayo’s confidence [never mind over confidence] come from? For my own part I was quite happy to see Leitrim win as I could not face another visit to Croke Park at that stage.
It would be a major shock if mayo fail to beat sligo. We are tryingvto cement our place in the top four in the country and that requires remaining professional and focused on the job in hand. Kerry don’t slip up against Clare or Tipp, Dublin likewise are not troubled by louth or Longford or Donegal by Antrim or Fermanagh Surely iafter all we’ve seen over the past four years we can be assured of that profesional apriach from Mayo. Mayo to win with a solid performance. .
canavan recommends 1-8-2-4, he knows his stuff, paper never refused ink though.i reckon 1-8-3-3 could do it.
Great post Lahan man.Totally agree.Joe Mc ..there must be a part of you that thinks 15 points win is conservative?
Just back from the match. The better team won on the day. Senan Kilbride never showed up and Diarmuid Murtagh was a big loss when it got tight in the second half. Great atmosphere at the game and as I said on a previous post that Sligo at home are no walkovers.
It might be the best thing to happen to us but I would still think that we might go somewhere in the qualifiers. I assume Sligo will have the game played in Salthill. I work in Sligo and they were annoyed here that the Mayo website had the Connacht final fixed for Castlebar. They are hardly going to have the game as a home fixture for Mayo.
Kelly and Marren impressed me in the forwards for them. They didnt win much in midfield and they kicked a few wides in the second have when they were put under pressure. I assume these are things Mayo management will pick up on. They will bring a massive crowd to Salthill as they always do when they get to a final. Dont underestimate them and I wish both teams all the best in the final.
Im just disappointed I cant sit beside Davy at the Connacht final but as we are friends now if he buys me a ticket I might go.
For all you guys all 72% of you, who lazily in my opinion voted for Roscommon to hammer poor Sligo today, well I hope this will be a lesson well learned. All the talk was about the Rossies and their mad as hell Manager, who appeared to get carried away with the hype. Well done Sligo.
I’m sure this won’t happen for the Connaught final, as Noel and Pat will hopefully have their players well grounded for this one. They may not have won much in the past, but as we well know to our cost, Sligo are well capable on any given day of causing an upset. Of course we have already some on here forecasting a big win for us, well Roscommon’s comeuppance today, should be a reminder to all.
What an absolute disaster for Roscommon.
There really is no dressing it up. This is a disaster of a result.
Sligo will get plenty of respect from Mayo in the final. No fear though, and Mayo will win because we are a better team at this point in time and because Sligo’s element of surprise is now gone.
And surely it has to be in Castlebar as Sligo dragged us to Hyde Park in 2012?
Mayo website had the final fixed in Castlebar “if” Roscommon won. The only people who assumed the final would be in McHale were the fools beaten out the gate of Markovitch. Any chance we could rent the club rossie bus August bank holiday weekend?
Andy D you mustnt know much about Leitrim and Sligo gaa if u dont know that they very much support each other. Nothing to do with the Rossies been unpopular in Ballinamore. That part of Leitrim would have very close connections to us. You should go back there for the Connacht final and see they will still be cheering even louder for Sligo.
Sorry joe mc. I though people were entitled to their opinion. I think we will beat them. You don’t. Fair enough. But by your logic “u hope you don’t here to many more comments like that”. So nobody tween here and the Connaught final must say they think Mayo will win?? Are ya feelin alright? TheyV beaten an overrated Ross team and play in division 3? If Mayo don’t beat them then they may give up playin football altogether
You’ll probably have Sligo’s best line, based on this evening’s game (their full-forward line), coming up against probably our weakest line based on the Galway game, (our full-back line), so it should be very interesting to see how we cope with that. They hit a lot of diagonal balls into the final third of the pitch, we seen how we struggled with this against Galway, so for us forewarned should mean that we should be forearmed. When Roscommon ran at the heart of their defence, it caused them problems, we need to capitalise on this in the final.
A lot of Roscommon’s best footballers have been going pretty much non-stop since the beginning of the year: Sigerson, the U21 Championship and the League. A county like Dublin can cope with this because they have the numbers but not a team like Roscommon. It just shows been successful at U21 level can be a bit of a double edged sword. Kilbride didn’t look fit at full-forward as well, you’d wonder was it a mistake starting him. Sligo just looked a lot fresher and won almost every 50/50 ball. They really deserved their win.
Rossie Shane you should come along anyway for the craic. Commiserations, not many of us saw that coming.
I see the usual drama has started about complacency. We are supporters. If we think we are too good for Sligo, then that’s our opinion. It’s not based on arrogance at this point, it’s based on evidence.
I have yet, on the other hand, to see this Mayo team turn up anywhere with an attitude that is anything short of professional. Those of you who think they will be complacent going into this fixture aren’t giving them an awful lot of credit. The attitude of supporters has no bearing on the team’s approach.
I think we are too good for Sligo. But anything can happen on any given day and you can be sure the team will be well aware of that at this point in their careers.
Had to laugh, Listening to Horan on Newstalk, when Sligo got their last score he let a big “YES!!” Out of him!
Well done to Sligo – the hungrier and sharper team won. The hype clearly got to the Rossies – will be a real test for Evans and the squad to get things back on track in the qualifiers.
Think the CF will be the better for it, without the nordie style blanket we had at the Hyde last year. Hope Sligo have not shot their bolt & do put it up to us, a tough test with a mobile midfield and a kick-out strategy (ala Cluxton) that looked good today, not to mention a smart manager to tactically challenge us might help us to iron out a few kinks.
Always assuming we can make a straight run through to the semis 🙂
Shane,
I watched the game in a Indian reservation located somewhere in the badlands of South Dakota and I can assure you the whole Sioux nation was up for Sligo. Don’t fool yourself in to thinking its a border thing.
Liam that is the comment of the year so far , made me laugh buddy.
Liam would that be like the way I watched the 2013 All Ireland final in the northern Finland and the local Lapp people all were wearing Dublin jerseys. I have read alot of silly stuff on here but your last 2 posts probably win out.
Still Mayo’s loss is most definitely South Dakotas gain.
Niall Carew said sligo were good enough to beat roscommon during the week he was right and the rossies were thinking of the connacht final against which was foolish of them john evans must be sick with his team this evening well done sligo
Just close the back door quietly as you leave Shane.
I will keep it open in case you need it Liam. Confidence is admirable but arrogant is frown upon.
Thats typical Sioux for ya, it shows they know
F A about football.
Ok as a Rossie living in Sligo im off out to enjoy the buzz around Sligo town and enjoy a few pints with the locals.
Thanks to Liam and co for the chat. Im sorry I didnt find this blog earlier as im getting great entertainment out of it. And I will go to the final with the first person that offers me a lift and a ticket. Chat soon my fellow bloggers. Share the love
We played sligo in 2012 they had the home advantage they picked hyde park we haven’t played them since so how come they get the pick of stadium again.
Up she flew. I saw 2 donkeys on the road today outside foxford. Did you forget to shut the gate?
I think as Sligo can never have a final in their home ground, they get to pick the ground for finals. I think anyway.
Well done to Sligo today. I see 70 odd percent went for a Roscommon victory in the poll so it seems us Mayo folk got it wrong. I hope we dont think we will walk the Connacht final now and we should give Sligo the respect they deserve.
Well done to Shane for coming on here. Your posts are very balanced and your replys to the more boisterous Mayo supporters on here made me laugh.
If the match is in Salthill or Castlebar should not matter. We should be good enough to win anywhere. I know Salthill is a pain with traffic etc but if we have to go there then so be it. Mayo for the Nestor cup and hopefully Sam also
Shane
Its 11.00pm. Awful late to be heading out on a saturday night. Hargidans will be packed. Sligo lads have been there since final whistle. Might be no room for a Rossie. By the way, how was the internet reception in the cave
Kilbride never does it in Championship for Roscommon. nothing new about that.
I’m not sure this is a good result for Mayo a dogfight against the Rossies would bring the team on. I don’t think Sligo will win enough ball to push Mayo
Well done Sligo my brother has been saying all week that he could see Sligo win and I thought he had been out in the Sun too long we should beat Sligo but let’s give them and their supporters the respect they deserve I was in Marcaviez park or however you spell it when Sligo beat us in 2009 and their supporters were pure sound no goading or gloating so I hope they enjoy the celebrations tonight
Missing the point there, Clonee man..Lads and lassies, I am not saying people shouldn’t have their opinions, what i am saying is that to preach the gospel that we have no problems in winning is not in any way beneficial to Mayo. Mayo have never worn the mantle of favoritism well, so if there is a tide of overconfidence, it can spread into the consciousness of the players, no matter what management might say.
To say i don’t think Mayo will win, is a stupid comment, because i always hope Mayo will win and i think they should, but, i do not know, and when you see the amount of people here who didn’t give Sligo a chance, they didn’t know either.
Sean Burke, I’ve been round the bend for years now and I’m afraid there is no coming back. 😉
AndyD, my memory is long gone.. 🙂
Did Horan really do that??? Priceless if he did. In all fairness to roscommon supporters, Evans really set ye up for this massive fall. If he had been cute and kept his mouth shut after the league the pressure would’nt have been so big. Very poor managment imo.
I wouldn’t be too down in the mouth if I were a rossie, that’s a good team and they will not underestimate any one else from here in. They’ll beat a most of the qualifier sides and might reach quarterfinals stage and Croker which is a great blast for any fan.
The big point for Mayo is, watch out for this Sligo crowd.
Sligo are allowed neutral venues for Connacht final and with Hyde park out of operation the only option left is Salthill.
Well done to Sligo a deserved win for them but without taking anything away from them the Rossies were very poor on the day looked slow and sluggish and simply didn’t want it as much as Sligo did.
Sligo got most of the breaks throughout the penalty was soft and could have been a free out in the build up,the disallowed point in the 1st half,open goal the rossies missed in the 2nd half a straight forward free off the post could all have been scored on another day. Losing D Murtagh before half time was a big blow and Senan Kilbride was clearly unfit. Sligo won the match by getting cleaned out in midfield but they were superb in defence and their three wise men in their forward Marren,Kelly,Breheny were too hot to handle for a very loose Roscommon defence.
When a team is mentally prepared well drilled and have belief…results will come to fruition, Sligo proved that today mayo might be overwhelming favorites but this Sligo team will not go down easy trust me they have capable forwards and a good midfield we can’t afford to take them likely whether it’s in Machale park salt hill..sorry Shane the road will be long but it’s not over so much of getting rid of the provincial championship
Three types of incidents in games that are evidence of total commitment.
– Blocks (Sligo had several blocks. They also chased down every shot to maximise pressure)
– Making catches when you know your not able to land properly afterwards (some brave n brilliant catches by Sligo during open play)
– Attcking every ball (David Kelly outfielding players)
One problem for Ros was their lack of pace. To make a block you usually have a few yard sprint. Ros were stuck to the ground bar Cathal Cregg.
Ever since Tyrone beat Ross under 21s their supporters have been very quite. This was beginning to worry me as I thought we (mayo) would be facing them in Connaught final.
I work in Dublin and received a few lingering looks this week when I suggested Sligo, with home advantage, would be no walkover for the sheepstealers. Evans looks very foolish this morning as he’s been talking far too much about Croke Park in August. His side were comprehensively out fought and definitely looked short in terms of preparation. Was this with Mayo in four weeks time in mind?
Sligo were excellent, took advantage of a few calls that went their way and deserved their win. The element of surprise is now gone but they are in the final on merit and so deserve some respect for that. I’m not convinced Ross can recover in the qualifiers either. If Murtagh has a bum hammer and Kilbride is not fit they’re in trouble.
Sligo are on a very good run, they won their last three league games and have now beaten Roscommon. They are meant to have had some good results in their challenge matches as well. Also if you compare the way they played in the first-half, with how we played against Galway, we were very sluggish after the long layoff while they were full of energy, it just shows that they must be a very well managed team. They also beat Armagh in the league by pretty much the same amount as Donegal did in the championship last week. We didn’t really set the world alight against Galway but we did show that we still have plenty of hunger and desire, we just did enough to win the game. Sligo have nothing to lose against us, so we shouldn’t underestimate them.
Well done Sligo, what a refreshing performance. PK- do you know J Evans personally? I doubt it, wash out you mouth like a good man and withdraw those filthy remarks.
What a victory for the shell county! And hav nt we seen it so many times going back and back. Great credit to all involved and indeed if we re to be beaten anytime soon who would begrudge them the honour! Now that’s only being magnanimous in thought! I have other thoughts too , don’t worry and the main one is that our fellas will need to be up and at it. It’s always nice to have twists and turns as you motor along your way….. they make you wise and keep you alert!
Ya the personal insults about J Evans are a bit much. Alot of folk here seem far too concerned with managers. If they are not giving out about our own managers then its about another teams.
Also the bit about Horan getting a bit carried away at Sligo’s last point. Did that actually happen? If so then it shows a slightly petty attitude and I hope thats not the way he had our boys thinking over the last couple of years. Little differences would have brought us 2 All Irelands recently.
I was listening to the game on Newstalk and it didn’t strike me at the time that Horan was that triumphal when the insurance point was scored.Maybe its because I was laughing my head off at the time, remembering what John Evans was looking forward to.
As for the final, managers and players don’t read sites like this, and shouldn’t be if they are. So we can be honest about our views. I expect Mayo to beat Sligo convincingly, as we would playing any other division 3 side. Whether its in Galway or McHale Park, it wont matter to the final result.
It’s disappointing personal attacks and abusive rude language is allowed on this site….
Apologies for any offence and would withdraw colourful words if I could edit. Never meant to offend, just gave my opinion and didn’t mean to insult. As a neutral interesting game to watch and tough connacht final in store
Wj please delete comment
@Juan
I swear Horan did it! It was quality haha. He was clearly rooting for Sligo. Not a great attribute for any commentator but I have to say I am really enjoying James on radio
Comment deleted, Pk.
Really enjoyed that game yesterday, Sligo fully deserved their win. We in Mayo have been warned, take your foot off the gas and Brehony, Marren and Kelly will hurt you. I think the duel between David Kelly and Keith Higgins in the final could be worth the admission fee alone. We must have our defensive structure more refined that the last day as if you give momentum to this Sligo side they can score. Their confidence will be sky high and they will bring some support to the final.
Thanks wj. Can someone answer me one question and correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t we last play Sligo in championship in ros in 2012 in connacht final? Cracking tight game. But that was at Sligos request so surely connacht final will be in cbar?
Morning all. PK we all get a bit carried away sometimes, it shows passion so no harm done
That final in 2012 was a tight game. I was at it and Sligo could have won it with a bit more belief. I assumed that Sligo would have had the option of venue so I dont know now if that is the case.
Everyone last night in Sligo reckon its Salthill as they wud never give Mayo a home tie. Does anyone actually know?
Its a strange one, when we played Sligo in 2010, they had home advantage that time as well. I wonder when was the last time we had a home game against them.
I know Roscommon had savage hunger so this Sligo were hungrier talk is I feel not correct.In fact most teams have massive hunger including maybe especially Mayo but that does not mean they dont lose at times.The hunger analysis is lasy analysis and too many commentators get away with it.
Think Evans is naive.Trying to fool Sligo by listing Conor Daly on team and Shine in subs and saying Ward was out was just silly.It showed lack of belief.
I think Sligo surprised us all and particularly me.They are hard to beat in Sligo though as we well know but I cant see them posing threat to Mayo.That does not mean we are dosrespecting them it just means we are honest.Roscommon have opportunity to regroup now.
I think we battered Sligo in Castlebar in 2009. I remember running around Berlin looking for somewhere to show it but failed miserably. It was roasting and I ended up bailing on my search, getting on the train back to the hostel and watching the rest of the game on teletext when it was still online!!
Nobody knows for sure because there will be a bit of haggling to be done, a Connacht final can only be held in either salthill or castlebar , so get any other option out of her heads. Personally I find it ridiculous that we have to lose out because of other counties not being able to get their county ground up to scratch , Mayo have put themselves in massive debt to develop mc hale park yet we have to concede to a neutral venue instead of the alt arrangement because others couldn’t be arsed . Rubbish rule , every other time should be neutral if they can’t hold it but then we should have the home final the other year.
Could we also go easy on the judgemental stuff as regards attitude to various counties, some Mayo supporters really dislike Roscommon, others don’t , end of story . I’m not going to try and persuade the ones that don’t and it’s none of your business quite frankly if I dislike Roscommon.
Looking back at last nights game , I believe Roscommon were for the most part stuck to the ground , most likely got their training programme fooked up , gearing towards next month to peak. Kilbride failed a fitness test and still played , bad management , he played with a lack of conviction all night. Wouldn’t be surprised to still see Ross in quarter finals.
The only problem that Salthill causes it to the supporters. For the Mayo team, Salthill holds no fears. The Connacht Council will need to think twice about the decision, the crowd will be well down on what would turn up in Castlebar. Do a FIFA, offer Sligo some money and they’ll hold their noses and play in Castlebar!
Cop on ye hypocrites. It’s Sligo’s choice. Those were the rules at the start of the competition – we livr with them. We moaned about going to Limerick and just need to get on with it here. A bit of a traffic jam never hurt anyone
Thanks Mark, I hope that you didn’t get to sunburned that day in Berlin!
You’d reckon with the thinking in the GAA been as follows: make as much money as possible, that they would be thinking the best way to make as much money as possible would be to play the game in Castlebar, where you’d expect to see the biggest crowd. If they played it in Salthill, then they’d be running the risk of getting a much smaller crowd. It wouldn’t be like the GAA to turn down the extra few quid that playing the game in Castlebar would probably mean to the Connacht Council!
P.S. Or get rid of Prenty and get Blatter in…..
Honestly have no problem having anther day out in Salthill. But traffic coming in from same direction could well be chaos!! Night in Galway wouldn’t do any harm 🙂
Yeah you’d think the Sligo supporters wouldn’t fancy the journey either but sur we’ll see how it goes. Wherever its played we’ll be there supporting the lads anyway! Roll on the game…
The world is gone very PC the last while so i think its refreshing to hear Horan let a bit of a roar out at the final sligo score, hes human and im sure is’nt being paid 100’s of thousands a year like other pundits! I cant see how people didnt see this coming, i said it all week that Sligo would cause first major shock of the year, and so they have. Roscommom have beaten Nobody in the last few years, this hype around them is based on nothing!! League is not a barometer for success in summer, under age victories in connacht is’nt either. Its what you do at senior level in summer is what counts! Its 5 years since they had a championship game in croker, that says it all!! Just irritates me all this talk about them with nothing to back it up! Least Galway made the quarters last year and could well do again.
The traffic would be absolutely mental , sure every single Sligo would have to come through Mayo via Charlestown wouldn’t they ? Gardai might have a say in that yet .
Yeah Galway could very well do damage but they need to play the football they are capable of playing and stop worrying about this over-the-top physical stuff. Lookin forward to the qualifier draws!
Lads I think we can all go home. Liam’s comment on the Sioux nation means our work here is done!
Had the feeling that Sligo could do the Rossies, they got my vote in WJ’s poll, it was based mostly on them having home advantage and very hard to beat there. ( was in fact going to have 20 quid on them at 3/1and let it slip…………put 20 on McIllroy at 13/2 and that seems to need a miracle later today………………………….No miracle however with the Sligo win and we can’t take them lightly.
Ross now have to make a good run in the qualifiers because Div 1 waits next year and it’s not a good place if confidence is low.
MaighEo Abu
Well done to Sligo in what I thought was a really enjoyable game to watch with both teams giving it everything and little negativity or blankets. That said I am sure Ross will be very disappointed as this is one they should not have lost. I have no intention of dancing on their grave or making personal remarks about their manager or players whom I am sure all do their best. I think they are on the easy side of the qualifier draw so if the get their act together and get some of their players fit they could have a run. Finally the thoughts of going to Salthill again do not appeal. I thought I was finished with that place for 2 years coming out last sunday.
Well done Sligo. Sounds as if Roscommon didn’t show up…did the hype get to them?
Tall ships festival on same weekend as Connacht final? If I am right then it will be mayhem but sure what harm traffic jams are well traffic jams.
btw commiserations to our new Roscommon posters….you would’t be a certain cake curran would you shane?
What’s the point of of sending Sligo all the way to Galway does not make sense
Well done to Sligo I did not see that coming. I thought the Rossies were in a different place. I thought they were a great bet for a quarter final spot this August given the draw they had this year. Its got very messy now and the path for the quarter final is not that clear from this point. Time to lay off John Evans guys, he is a decent guy and deserves much more respect. None of my Rossie friends saw this coming, even my Sligo friends did not appear too confident. Galway had an easy win here last year and they made the quarter final in Croke Park. I have no problem with Salthill and I will be happy to follow our team to where ever they go. Salthill has a lot going for it. Could Sligo be appearing in a Quarter Final in Croke Park this summer. Now that would a huge outcome to this years championship. Marren for an All-Star?
Hat trick for Aido in Breaffy. His hand must be ok.
Sligo were fantastic last night, it was a well deserved win.
They will take some watching alright in the final, Carew has them firing and playing with a lot of confidence.
Marren, Hughes and Kelly are a formidable inside line.
Even still, I’d expect us to win the final. This isn’t arrogance or over confidence, just basing it on facts and airing an opinion.
Seriously though, what is the issue with believing in your team and backing them to win?? It will have no bearing on the result and no bearing on the players attitude coming into the game.
Our lads deserve our confidence and full backing – they’re getting mine anyway.
We have been favourites for pretty much every game in Connacht over the past 4 or 5 years, the fact that we haven’t been caught out suggests that we are a professional and well motivated group. I don’t think complacency is ever a factor for our lads, They’re simply too experienced and well seasoned at this point. I think that may well have been one of Roscommon’s failings yesterday.
It will be interesting to see how they get on in the qualifiers now. The loss of Murtagh is huge though.
There really needs to be a tweak to the rules regarding Connacht Finals, it should have been done before now but now is as good a time as any. If the ‘Sligo Rule’ is applied across the board the only time a team can play at home in a final is when Mayo play Galway and each team takes its turn. This is ridiculous for financial reasons and especially with Hyde Park out of action for Connacht Finals for the foreseeable future, maybe permanently, people are now getting dragged from one end of the province to the other for no good reason. Sligo v Mayo out in Salthill is geographical insanity.
The current rule is that the team with the substandard stadium gets to choose the venue every time, thus rewarding their lack of effort towards their own stadium and punishing the county that has made the effort to improve facilities for spectators. This is beyond ridiculous. A very simple and fair change would be to allow each team to take a turn to choose the venue – Sligo chose Hyde last time, so Mayo get to pick this time. Next time around Sligo can choose again. You can’t say fairer than that.
Also, we apparently knew that the final would be in Castlebar if Roscommon (who also don’t have a suitable stadium) got there, and London came to Castlebar in 2013, yet the same situation does not seem to apply to Sligo? Why are Sligo getting preferential treatment over every other Connacht county regarding final venues?
Delighted to see Sligo win. Great passionate football county Hope final is in Salthill . Too easy for us in McHale Park. I wouldn’t like to meet them in Markievitz Park on a windy day, though.
Hill St Boy, I didn’t leave that fecking gate open!
It would seem that Sligo and the Dubs get preferential treatment when it comes to alternate Championship games and logic does not apply when it comes to the GAA………………….Croke Park must be used because of investment made and McHale Park must not.
If there is a logic somewhere in there could someone from the powers that be point it out ?
MaighEo Abu
Beware Ros…mc stay will get the job and Evans leaving is no good thing from a mayo perspective.
I expected Sligo to go close here cos there was far too much hype around ros. But that’s cos they were mentally poorly prepared. Next year with mc stay it will change. So let’s not all get too excited. They’ve flattened us at u21 the past few years and we need to start dominating again at that level in order to maintain our prominence at senior level.
Sligo will be tricky.
Credit to Sligo who deserved the win last night.
I have no doubt Mayo will give them plenty of respect just like they did London 2 years ago in Castlebar and that game was all but over after 20 minutes. Not expecting as easy this time but realistically we are miles ahead of the chasing pack here in the West.
As for the venue,well I believe common sense will prevail and it will be in Castlebar.
The traffic in Tuam and Claregalway alone if it was in Salthill would be torture and surely a health and safety issue.
Regarding Croke Park fixtures,the GAA have the following listed:
Saturday August 1st:
Connacht Final loser vs Round 3B winner
Ulster Final loser vs Round 3B winner
Monday August 3rd:
Munster winner vs Round 4A winner
Leinster winner vs Round 4A winner
Saturday August 8th:
Ulster winner vs Round 4B winner
Connacht winner vs Round 4B winner
Ros are not the first county to have their expectations dashed, not something we would know anything about of course. Maybe what has been attributed as hype, something else we know nothing about, was not that at all. It may be them being totally “positive” about their team and all objectivity banished to “negative” land.
Disappointed to see so many Mayo fans on here putting the boot into Roscommon team and supporters. I can’t understand it to be honest. Plenty Rossies support us in big games in recent years. I remember cake curran passionately supporting Mayo on Twitter last August v Kerry. Reading some comments here I reckon if Ros came up against dublin or kerry in the quarters some Mayo fans would be cheering against Roscommon! Kicking a county when they are down is just a bit boorish and English soccer-like in my opinion. Calling them chokers also a bit ironic – in the decade before Horan came we suffered championship defeats to such luminaries as Westmeath, Longford, Fermanagh, Derry and Sligo (twice) so let’s not get too carried away with ourselves here.
I love Mayo, but I’m also a proud west of Ireland man, and would be delighted to see galway, Ross and Sligo make the last 8 as well as ourselves this year.
Regarding our own team – Jim mc Guinness in the Irish times the other day articulated exactly why Mayo have not won the AI the last few years, just too loose in defence. It’s nothing to do with our personnel either – in fact I’m convinced if Tom Cunniffe was on the Donegal team he’d have 3 all stars and be regarded as one of the great defenders of the modern game. A poster above summed up the attitude to defending in Mayo – “the battle between David Kelly and Higgins will be worth the entry fee alone”. More sophisticated defences than Mayos don’t allow individual battles like this to develop in games because that suits the forward. We need our defence to play as a unit – to smother opposition attacks. It’s up to H&C to deliver this, otherwise Sam will not be residing in Mayo this winter. And like it or not, ultimately this season, that’s how the current management will be deemed a success or failure.
Mac’s left foot…………………….agree % on all you’ve said there.
P.S. that should read 100%
What’s the story with the o connors they didn’t play today will they be out of connacht final.
I was at my uncle’s funeral in Geesala on Tuesday and my dad said with confidence that Sligo were flying and would beat roscommon,if only I listened to him more when I was younger,where would I be now,happy fathers day dad.
joe you nialed the fixtures
correction nailed
I have not posted on here since last year AIF but I feel it’s time to get involved again. macs left boot sums it up for me too. As someone that was brought up on the Mayo Ros border the rivalry could sometimes not be more bitter. but you know what we are all Connacht Gaa and I would far rather see any western team win Sam than the Dubs or Kerry yet again.
Rivalry is one thing but sticking the boot in is great fun until it hurts and then we start to damage ourselves in the process.
I would have been the first one to say yeess with J H on Newstalk and fair play to Sligo we all love the underdog to win but you know what we Mayo folk have been in the same place as Roscomon are now so let’s not get up on the High Horse so quick
I think Mayo have set a high standard for all teams in Connacht and it’s good to See the others rise to the challenge. Sligo will be an interesting challenge for us in the Final but I think we are long enough on the road to overcome this one and make it five in a row.
Looking forward to the CF and hope Galway and Ros are around with Sligo in August
Anyway about to wake up now was it all a dream or did Sligo really beat Roscomon
I have friends and cousins from Roscommon. All of whom ahd no bother sticking the boot in when we were down. FFS lads get a grip, it’s only a bit of craic and heck knows we have been on the receiving end of it for long enough
oh and by the way I was on Cloudnine with my predictions until Sligo and Antrim put a spanner in my works. well done to Willy Joe on a big move this week and to KilmoveeCulcastle on a great week too. cross flan is either awesome or the greatest Chancer of all time but leading Mayo and On the National as well it’s some going . well done.
I think that in the interest of everyone being able to get a ticket, it should be played in Croker.
Oh wait! Forget that. That only applies if Dublin is playing.
Great comments re Roscommon and kicking them when ,,,, do you not realise there is a reason everyone hates them as football supporters ,,,, wonder have some of ye posters ever been to match the Rossies have played in. Great county to support numbers wise but the most bitter , abusive and cocky bunch In the country ,,,, it’s not just some small section of mayo supporters that don’t like them ,,,, get real and open your eyes and ears !
Mayonaze how sure are ya on the mc Stay move?
Connacht Final in Salthill
Oh Christ “My ball” did you actually just write that.
You used the words cocky, bitter and abusive about an entire county of supporters and those three words sum up your attitude in the post perfectly.
Many a day I sat beside Mayo supporters and most of them are decent fair and have a great knowledge of football. I have also sat beside a few that were less than fair and decent. The next time im beside one like that and I will shout “My ball” and I bet you will turn around.
Feck off your joking I think I will be a book to read in car is traffic is that bad
Regarding the Mayo/Roscommon thing it is worth looking at the stuff that gets posted on the Roscommon supporters board regarding Mayo to get an idea of why they are disliked so much. Here is a quote from after the Galway game last week.
“Could have saw goal of the season, biggest individual fcuk up of the season and fluke of the season yesterday in the one game, regarding the fluke of the season I suppose we wouldn’t be lucky enough that Morans reason for going off will put another nail in the coffin of his intercounty footballing career.”
Shocking stuff, and unlike most counties, it seems to run through a large section of their support.
My ball I think that reply is a KO. From reading both comments from yourself and Rossie Shane I think i know who looks bitter.
As I already stated I work in Sligo and it would be our supporters who would be perceived as cocky in Sligo. I mean banter is great but the absolute small mindedness of some folk on here ridiculous.
Where did u hear the final was in Salthill Ger?
Everyone had it at the Charlestown game earlier. Apparently meeting after match last night
With you all the way on that Mayo Madness. on the small mindedness and outright bitterness…………………..sure even living next door might bring out the same in some of the above.
It doesn’t matter a fuck what others say or how they behave we should remain above it and enjoy our football and football as a whole, regardless who’s involved.
That’s the beauty of this great site.
MaighEo Abu
I’m sold on the idea of Salthill now. In fact I’ll be disappointed if it’s not. Here’s a handy tip to avoid getting stuck in traffic on the way to Galway. LEAVE EARLY. I know, it’s a bit out there, but it works. Arrive early, get a cup of tea or a bit of breakfast, buy the paper, go for a pint, whatever. Voila, no stress!
As for coming home, well, I can’t really help you there. Stay the night or leave at half time? Head back via Roscommon? ????
Tis not that bad Cait, you just have to give yourself plenty of time getting to and from. Depends which direction you are coming into the city from as there are a few bottle necks to get through, Clare galway jnct been one.. u don’t want to be there a hour b4 kick off on match day r u might just need that book. Anyways let’s wait see what the Connaught Council and Sligo agree on..
Arragh have the bloody match in Croke Park! Sure that’s as good as a home game for us……we’ve played as much there as McHale park!!!
Seriously, most people believe we will beat Sligo and that’s not being disrespectful to Sligo or complacent. This team have too much upstairs to get caught out by foolishness.
I expected Ros to win and I cannot explain why they didn’t. Either Sligo are much better than people gave them credit for or Ros had a massive off day which can happen from time to time. I don’t believe Ros are a bad team and if they can refocus they can cause problems for others yet. Remember Galway went on to win an all ireland after being beaten by roscommon. Ros won’t win an all Ireland but they could vent their frustrations on someone in the qualifiers.
Yes JJ we will just get on with enjoying the football
Rossie Shane you said u wud go to the final with the first person to offer you a lift. I have a spare seat. You will be stuck in a car with 3 Mayo supporters for what could be 10 hours trying to get in and out of Salthill so do u still want to go lol.
Getting out of salthill should be no problem the next day. The sligo lads will be gone through claregalway before the match is over.
Re salthill, we were back in kilmovee for 7:05 the last day , up through shrule way.
I’m not saying anymore on the Ross after this , it’s getting tiresome nowadays with this attitude of ” this is how you conduct yourself as a Mayo supporter and if you don’t you’re not a right Mayo supporter at all “” blah blah blah. I’ll prefer who I like and it doesn’t make me any less of a supporter if I dislike Roscommon .
Only 3 venues in Connacht able to hold a Connacht final (until 2012) was MacHale Park, Pearse Stadium and Hyde Park. Hyde park was deemed unfit to hold finals due to health & safety in the “Slattery Report”. Only 2 venues now available is MacHale and Pearse stadium.
Mayo, Galway and Roscommon have “Home” and “Away” agreements for Connacht finals involving them. Sligo and Leitrim, not having venues of capacity to hold Connacht finals have an aggrement of the choice of a neutral venue should they get to a Connacht final.
Therefore, the only venue for Mayo v Sligo Connacht final is Pearse Stadium. Unless of course Sligo concede home advantage to Mayo. Or unless they are offered an incentive to hold the Connacht final in the largest venue available in Connacht?
FIFA job Mayo Mick
re antrim v laois, dermot mac (goal) and kilbride (point) did it for antrim. laois lost the head after that
on laois turf
Hahahaha, spotted in IWAK this morning!! 🙂
@Sean Burke, agree 110% with your last comment, you summed up my exact thoughts when i was reading the last 30 odd posts on this thread! Fair play.
I absolutely despise the rossies, Got plenty of abuse from lots of them over the years, its almost acceptable getting slagged by kerry and dublin supporters as at least they have all irelands, but getting abuse from roscommon fans after an all ireland final is just pathetic and sad on their behalf….biggest shower of begrudgers i ever came across.
For once Spillane was spot on with Evans and Roscommon too much shite talk and hype before the championship just because they got promoted to division 1 well after what I seen yesterday they won’t be spending too long in division 1
Juan you “despise” the Roscommon supporters for slagging you after an AI loss but your fine if Kerry or Dublin fans slag u.
Would someone please stop the insanity. Perhaps the irony is intentional but I doubt it.
Juan, Absolutely agree with you on that. I can even take slagging from Galway supporters on the basis of All Irelands won. But Roscommon????
And Shane from Ross, Leitrim people tell me that they will support anybody in a Connacht Final against Roscommon, regardless who it is. They say that they have taken more and heavier beatings from Galway and Mayo than anybody but nobody has shown them less respect than Roscommon. And that’s not people from just one area of Leitrim.
Regarding a venue for the CF, over twenty years ago Connacht Council were advised by Croke Park to choose one venue for development as a principal venue. Connacht Council [i.e. a Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon majority] opted for Roscommon. But Roscommon failed to come up with matching funds while Galway opted to develop Salthill and Mayo/Castlebar Mitchels developed McHale Park into the venue it is today, a c.40,000 all seated stadium. Salthill today is limited to c. 26,000 capacity on the same H & S grounds as Hyde Park, has major access issues and, judging by what one can see from the internet if you google Salthill GAA grounds, serious objections by local residents about parking and local access issues. Roscommon have taken years to sort out who actually owns Hyde Park [Roscommon Gaels or Roscommon Co Board]. It has similar access issues as Salthill, although not as bad, as 80/90% of the traffic to a final approaches from the west/northwest of Roscommon town. On any objective grounds McHale Park has to be the logical venue for a Connacht Final. It is time for the other counties in Connacht to bite the bullet and accept reallty.
I never said it was “fine” mayo madness, i said its “almost acceptable” as Dublin/Kerry are top teams and have proven themselves and are in the top 4 along with ourselves. Roscommon have won nothing of note nor or anywhere near the top table, so i personally find it extremely pathetic that supporters of a 2nd/3rd tier team would even have the cheek to continuosly mock our all ireland day woes.
Any word on Andy Moran??
I think that Ros team are where Mayo were a few years ago. They are still learning. The Connacht championship is considered a bit of a joke these days unfortunately. I suppose emigration wont help that either.
Is it just me or do other people think all the talk about which counties they hate the most or which counties supporters hate other counties the most is just a load of rubbish. Who cares! Why do people think that their hatred of another county would be of any interest to anyone else. Thats their own business really.
We have beaten Galway and Sligo have beaten Roscommon. At this moment in time Galway and Roscommon are of no relevance to us. They are now in the qualifiers. We’ll see how they get on. If either of them cross our path again this year, then they are of relevance to us. Why give out about the holes in your neighbours roof when your own roof needs fixing. Our only objective should be to fix the problems that have held us back from winning the All-Ireland title.
We seen that when the Galway forwards actually got the ball against us, they caused our defence a lot of problems. Sligo have some very handy forwards. You would think that the Sligo management will be targeting our leaky defence and try to get the ball to their dangerous forwards as quickly as possible. Getting this sorted out should be our main priority. Scoring more up front from play as well should be our next big priority. Any news on the injuries front?
Well said Hopespringseternal. I started on this blog cause a Mayo man from Charlestown whom I work with told me it was a good football blog which some humour thrown in. From the most part that is exactly what it is but can someone explain what the rest of the rubbish is to do with football. Perhaps certain bloggers need to mix with people more often but that might upset them also.
My suggestion would be to put all your effort into supporting your own team and worry less about who you dislike.
Andy D and Juan I have a job for the 2 of ye if ye are interested. It pays well and dont take much effort. Ye have to go an entire day without giving out about something. I have a feeling my money is safe.
Anything official on the Connacht Final venue coming today I wonder? I assume it will be Salthill. I see the Rossies got Cavan away in the qualifiers, tough draw.
No one put the boot into Roscommon as much as “Cake” Curran did on Radio one yesterday evening. In my opinion he’s really touting the dream team of himself and McStay as the Heir apparents to revive the fortunes as he doesn’t have any faith in Evans getting anymore out of the team.
Hats off to Cathal Cregg, i think he may also be the one guy that stood up in Mchale park a few years ago when Mayo handed out a trounching to Roscommon as well as being the one that took the fight to Sligo the other evening.
As for going to salthill……this would be a mistake of epic porotions logistics wise…take people from sligo and mayo to a cul de sac in galway…..Prenty would want to start on the strong arm tactics right now
Sligo would be foolish to agree to a Castlebar final. If they are serious about taking on Mayo then worrying about the convenience of suporters should not be foremost in their minds. The big teams take every decision they make to tilt the odds by small percentages in their favour and Sligo need to have the same mindset even if it meant bringing Mayo to down the arse end of Kerry for a game.
If Mayo county board were stronger last year the semifinal replay may not have ended up in Limerick which I still think gave the advantage to Kerry.
Real supporters will travel – cul-de-sac or not.
Sport is Tribal, we follow Mayo because we are from Mayo, it’s our passion and can make us feel the lowest of the low or highest of the highs. We know there are more important things in life, but it don’t seem like that when you are following your team. Why does it do that to us? Very difficult to explain that rational, however it can only be because it is the one thing that gives you a true sense of place in this global world. In that way its personal. If someone wants to really put you down, well they know they can hit the spot by downing your team. A championship match is the only thing these days that can generate that coliseum effect of two tribes going to war.
So what’s this call for a ‘love-in’ with our Connaught neighbours? I love every misfortune that becomes Roscommon or Galway in football. I don’t know where a lot of ye have been, but they love to put the boot into us when we have bad days….even when they say they are on our side, you know they are secretly happy at your misfortune. The likes of Shane Curran, Martin Breheny and Ray Silke are public proponents of this. If I got a euro every time a Galway person has said ‘Galway will win an All Ireland before ye chockers will’, well I’d be a rich man. I would rather Dublin or Kerry won the next 100 all Irelands than Galway won one (or by a miracle Ross did) before we did.
Fck ‘em ?
Well said KL ????
Think that oul record has been playing too long
and rekon Tis time for a nicer piece of music.
Sure u cudnt be playing dat oul tripe every day!
Marc’s left boot & HopeSpringsEternal (along with a good few others), thank God ye bring balance and perspective to this blog as there are so many bloggers here who are posting really small minded petty posts which are inaccurate and quiet inflammatory. Regarding the lauhghing at Evans, I dont think its fair. He is clearly a very positive manager and relies on enthusiasm and positive thinking to motivate his teams. He has done great work in Tipperary and Roscommon to promote positive advancement and their standing has improved hugely as a result of his leadership. Regardless of how hilarious Roscommons failure is to an unhealthy percentage of the posters I think people should focus here and they should do so with immediate effect, the quarter finals are on in 40 days time. That weekend Mayo will walk onto Croke Park with the badge of five in a row Connaught Champions pinned to their chests, surprise surprise but that won’t worry many of the other contenders that weekend. What happened on Saturday night is the Howitzers were at the wrong pitch in preparation for a more serious battle. They got caught in my opinion and the people of Mayo might regret Roscommon’s defeat more than Roscommon do in the weeks after the solstice. Mayo needed a big game and now there is an unhealthy expectation that ye will steamroll Sligo in the final, also there is the damned if ye do and damned if ye don’t situation. Sligo are a good side but this was their ambush and they will not repeat it against Mayo. I think ye would have beaten Roscommon but ye would have been a better team after that game both physically and mentally.
Sligo will bother this Mayo team for forty or fifty minutes but then they will call on that experience that has formed on their shoulders like limpets on the hull of an old steamer. Regarding Horan, its time to roll up the kneeling mats and support your current management structure. I’ve said it here before if Fitzmaurice lost a lead like that in an All Ireland Semi Final he would have been found in a hole like Saddam Hussein praying that he wouldnt be found, inexcusable and quiet frankly beyond belief at that level. I hope Pat and Noel have good vision, there will be icebergs a plenty as the days shorten ,, good luck folks
Hmm I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t delighted with this result. I honestly think we’ve been dealt a severe stroke of luck here, avoiding a very real potential banana skin in Roscommon. While nothing is certain and all that, if we do play to even half our potential we’ll win this and probably comfortably
That said I fully expect the team will have their eyes solely on this game and won’t take anything for granted. That’s the main thing
Looking over the current era of Mayo football (2011-) it’s fair to assume we haven’t had all that much in the way of luck in terms of opposition. For crying out loud the year before that DOWN made a bloody final! The intangibles don’t always tend to go our way but I have to say this is a welcome boost. I would have bitten your hand off for this after Roscommon won division 2 of the league only 2 months ago (and lest we forget they pretty much blew it against us last year in the Hyde)
Now lets go out and get the job done!