We’ve named our match-day 26 for Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC Round 3 group stage match with Cork at the Gaelic Grounds (throw-in 2pm). Here it is:
Mayo (All-Ireland SFC v Cork 18/6/2023): Colm Reape (Knockmore); Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis), David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen), Padraig O’Hora (Ballina Stephenites); Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers), Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels, captain); Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore); Matthew Ruane (Breaffy); Fionn McDonagh (Westport), Jack Carney (Kilmeena), Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers); Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy), James Carr (Ardagh), Ryan O’Donoghue (Belmullet). Subs: Rory Byrne (Castlebar Mitchels), Tommy Conroy (The Neale), Jason Doherty (Burrishoole), Enda Hession (Garrymore), Darren McHale (Knockmore), Donnacha McHugh (Castlebar Mitchels), Eoghan McLaughlin (Westport), Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore, Diarmuid O’Connor (Ballintubber), Paul Towey (Charlestown Sarsfields), Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels).
So it’s two changes from the side that started against Louth. In comes team captain Paddy Durcan and Fionn McDonagh (who was named to line out the last day but didn’t) while out go Donnacha McHugh and Jason Doherty.
Diarmuid O’Connor is named on the bench, having missed the Louth game through injury. Cillian isn’t, though, named on the match-day 26 for this one.
Others coming into the replacement lists are Darren McHale, Eoghan McLaughlin and Kevin McLoughlin. They replace Frank Irwin, Conor McStay and James McCormack.
The best of luck to the lads on Sunday.
Very disappointing to see cillian not there after all the news was he was ready to go
This Cilllian thing is very concerning.Its getting to a stage now where if he cant get game time its hard to see him making an impact.
Strong twenty six, but disappointing to see Cillian not included. Is it possible to change any of the 26 before throw-in or does that incur a fine?
Best of luck to all on Sunday!
Aidan Orme came into the squad for Diarmuid against Louth on the day.
I wouldn’t rule out seeing Cillian on Sunday just yet.
Why isnt Aidan Orme in the panel he can shoot from distance
Very strong bench though
I’d say Diarmuid will start and hopefully Cillain comes into 26
If not then he has no role to play this year really
Yeah it’s getting a bit late in the game for Cillian. If there isn’t a late change and he doesn’t play this weekend, it’s hard to see what his role would be when matches start getting more serious as he won’t have had enough game time really.
I presume Cillian hasn’t seen any club action, like Brendan Harrison did recently? Would that be an option to get him ready for a place on the bench if it’s two weeks until our next game? Clearly, there’s a decent sized ‘if’ in there….
Very disappointing for Cillian, hopefully he’s a late addition. Good to see Eoghan Mc back on bench.
Would like to see Tommy Cul get 50 mins +. I remember when he was out injured and all the talk was of him coming back ( similar to Cillian now). As Boyler mentioned in the Midweek Pod he just needs to slot a couple over from the D and build from there. Serious goal potential in the squad but we need to start seeing it on the scoreboard. Ruthless is not something normally associated with the Maigheo team and we need to remedy that.
The PO’H v Powter clash could have a major bearing on how this one goes….if Swanee can nullify him we should come out on top.
Diarmuid making panel is also huge.
@Km79. I agree , think DOC will start with Coen moving back possible for O Hora .
Hopefully see Cillian added to subs bench but I’m not expecting it …
Was 95% ready for Louth game would suggest he’s training away and possibly no risk being taken with him with next game in mind .
We have a right good subs bench .
Really tough test ahead .
The panel is looking really strong now. I wouldn’t rule out Cillian as there were injury doubts about Diarmaid and especially Eoghan so people will be disappointed if one of them drops out, otherwise maybe it’s a niggly injury Cillian has causing periodic inflammation. Doubt management making things up, they were genuinely hopeful.
Not sure if Paddy will play in defence as Coen mightn’t play midfield , more likely Jordan so it could change a bit. Also not sure whether O Hora and Callinan will swap. Maybe not because it gives Callinan the chance to roam. Hard to argue against O Hora’s start anyway agiven how well he’s playing. We must now have one of the strongest panels in the land. Bob Tuohy due to inexperience mightn’t even get a look in even though we all know how talented he is. If we could get a 7 or 8 point lead by 50 or 55 could spring some lads who haven’t gotten in yet this championship.Several changes wouldn’t weaken the team. Cork have their work cut out beating us.
Forget about Cillian, difficult for him to get up to intercounty pace at this stage.
Move on with what we have.
Diarmuid a bigger worry IMO.
A great looking bench on paper as if any or all those were named on the starting 15 nobody would disagree. Regarding cillian i also disappointed he not there but he could have a role to play in the next game or 2 if mayo keep winning. Remember a cunning manager mickey harte brought back Stephen o Neill for the all ireland in 05 or 08 and he wasn’t even with the panel up to that stage.
Hope we are not going overkill with strong bench . There are 3 players on the bench who are eight out of ten type where as there are several starting below that type of standard . But management will know a lot more than the like of me
I tend to agree with Sean Burke. Imo this “strong bench” craic is getting a little bit over rated. Games can be won in 30mins if the right players are on the pitch and goal chances taken, which we have failed to do all year. Hession and Diarmuid should be starting. I think Tommy needs a confidence boost and should get a start. No point being 4 or 5 points down to a Galway or Derry with 50mins gone, hoping “the bench” will save the day. It will be too late, them teams will frustrate and grind out the win. It’s all about getting ahead early and staying there.
This strong bench craic didn’t so us any harm down in Killarney when we sprung Tommy,Eoghan,Paddy and Enda.
We sprung Tommy in the league final and he won a couple of frees that got us over the line. A very good position for us to be in to have such players to call on.
I get the impression that we are managing the players carefully. Enda, Paddy and Tommy are crucial to us so the softly softly approach has been the way to go. Same with Diarmuid. If he isn’t 100% then we shouldn’t risk him. Move either Jordan or Jack back into midfield instead.
Whether we would leave those players on the bench in a do or die game is another matter.
I would be in the camp of developing the strongest bench we possibly can. We fielded a team that controlled the game against Kerry and Louth and I expect us to do the same against Cork. Now if Cork prove a tougher nut to Crack then management are going to have to react quickly and make changes which will be a test of them.. Its worked for us so far so I can’t see big changes bar Diarmuid coming in
James Horan began to lose the room with his constant “ he or they are very close “.frustration began to set in among supporters.Do we have the right to know details of players injuries well I don’t know but the cillian thing is starting to sound familiar and realistically if he appear soon then it’s unlikely he will feature at all .As for the subs there are some possible game changers on there but also a huge amount of inexperience in the starting 15 particularly at the back especially if it appears as if paddy durcan is going to be used as an impact sub
You’ll never please everybody
For years GAA fans and journalists bemoaned the lack of team announcements and subs. We love nothing more than over analysing ever single aspect of team selection for days before a game.
Don’t name the subs = what are they hiding?
Name the squad = Ah this fella should be in!
I tell ye one thing for certain – the Management of the Mayo Senior Football team do not care one iota about the opinions of the supporters on team selection. If they did we’d have a weekly pole to pick the team and our full forward line would be Neil Douglas, Fergal Boland and Aidan Orme.
Also – no supporter has the right to demand information on any players fitness. At the end of the day that is somebody’s personal medical information which isn’t to be shared publicly. Look at how Barcelona – one for the biggest sports teams in the world – deals with injury updates: “X is out. His recovery will determine his availability”. Just because you go to games in January doesn’t give you the divine right to demand full explanations of every decision.
I hear ya 1985. I’d expect 2-3 changes again tomorrow some starters some bench. I base that on that’s what they’ve done in other games. I don’t understand why, just name the panel you know you have, if you’re good enough you’ll win, I’m not sure a game has ever being won by a dummy team sheet.
Would not expect to see Cillian this weekend, but reckon he will still have a say in our year.
We have a tendency to let games slip in the vital last ten minutes. Strong bench is a help. I expect changes with Cillian on bench
They should just scrap naming teams 2-3 days before a game. Release the starting 15 and bench 2 hrs before throw in. Like they do in the premier league.
All indications were Cillian was almost ready to go. He may have suffered a setback which would be very unfortunate.
@Sean Burke
“Mayo for Sam” tonight at Fairyhouse has been declared a non runner would you believe !!!
I think they must saving him for later in the summer.
After my pretty poor predictions for the Louth game I should really learn to keep my mouth shut but….
I’m not expecting much in the way of entertainment on Sunday. I think if you offered both teams a draw right now, they’d take it and move on, and I think that lack of real interest will show in the entertainment side of things.
Our performances have been reasonably consistent since early in the year, start well, build a lead, and after that the games have been shaped by the goals and/or lack of goals.
If we score first half goals we can probably have this game done at halftime. I think if we can build a strong enough lead, Cork’s focus will turn to a preliminary quarter final but if we allow them to cling to our coattails, they’ll feel there’s something there for them.
A draw will do, so it’s not accurate to call it a “must win” but it’s definitely just a day to get through. I’d like to see a little more “anger” from Mayo. In the Louth game, we looked as if we just wanted to show up, do our jobs and move on. I’d like us to be a little more “p*ssed off” that we have to fulfill this fixture and show that we’re impatient to get to Croker and the real stuff.
Think people need to relax a bit. Even if Cillian doesn’t play this weekend, it doesn’t mean his season is over.
If Diarmuid is fit he’ll be starting. That’s a very quick recovery for Eoghan McLaughlin I presume there will be late change there also with Cillian added to the 26 before throw in.
Mind the house , he is probably one for the hard ground surely lol . Perhaps the Galway races & would ya believe they start the Monday after the all Ireland .
Would quite happily take a scruffy two or three point win and move on at this point (hopefully minus the palpitations of the previous two championship ties against the Rebels). When have we ever hammered Cork? It took us nearly a century to beat them in the championship FFS. They are improving now and I don’t expect us to batter them this weekend either, particularly with us down the O’Connors (Cillian always played well against Cork).
I wonder whether Cork will line up to have a cut off of us or will line up with a shawl, as per Kevin Walsh’s Galway teams of yesteryear.
There’s great power in that team. Lots of pace too. Brilliant bench.
The whole narrative about us not beating Cork in nearly 100 years before 2011 is a bit misleading. After 1916 we didn’t play them again in championship until 1989. From then onwards we’ve beaten them three times and they’ve beaten us four times. Certainly not a bad record and no ways should we be fearing them. Disappointing not to have Cillian back as he is always a good weapon to have when teams try to throw down the blanket. I expect an intense game played in tough conditions (not dissimilar to 2017) but I think we will have too much for Cork in the end.
Mind the House – that’s a very interesting post about managing the players. That makes super sense. With such a long season (hopefully) we need players available and fit for the big games, not to be shorn of strength.
Sean Burke – I’m laughing away here at “Mayo for Sam” being one for the hard ground, surely.
Mayo were way too slow running the bench v Louth. There should have been at least two subs on at ht.
As people have said above – too many good players sitting on the bench watching the game are no good if the game is lost by the time they come on.
Considering Paul Towey’s excellent displays in Chicago last summer, surely it’s time to give him a full game. He can score but needs more than 5 mins gametime
Cillian will be on the bench for eoin Mcgloughlin. But as Sean Burke says there are 3 on that bench that are championship musts at least if we get to headquarters. Diarmuid I would imagine will start. You never know with Kevin s team until they are at throw in.
Great to have the matchday panel info to chew over all the same.
Remember the days when AN Other was a regular feature in team announcements up & down the country
@NextYear.com
Paul toweys last involvement was a start against Monaghan, and he didn’t score from play.
Darren McHale and Conor McStay have featured from the bench since, so they’re both presumably ahead of Paul in the pecking order.
This would make Paul somewhere between 6th and 8th choice for the full forward line, and 3rd choice for frees.
I wouldn’t see much value in giving Towey game time at this stage. We’re going to find it difficult enough to get everyone we are going to use match fit, so I’d rather be giving that time to someone who is more proven and can play multiple positions, such as Kevin McLoughlin
There’s an assumption here with a lot of the comments that beating Cork is a given. That could be a big mistake for anyone to be thinking like that and I’m pretty sure the team and management are not on that wavelength.
No sure Cork will play with a defencive setup as I’ve a feeling they will fancy their chances against our defence. That should give our forwards a bit more room to do their stuff but if we’re going to win this game we’ll need to convert a lot more of our chances than we’ve been doing in recent games.
The Cillian thing should be left alone at this stage as it’s only a distraction for everyone and we’ll know soon enough anyway.
The very best of luck to the team and safe travelling to all our dedicated supporters!
John+McHale – who said beating Cork is a given? Complete nonsense.
Sure we went on a 100 year losing streak to them, as noted above.
Absolutely wide ball. I’m saying all week thar this is a real tough one. I remember Kevin mcgloughlin scoring a lovely goal against them in 2012. A very intelligent footballer. A very worthy substitute too. Nobody thinks this is a walk in the park. I always fear cork . 1993 spring s to mind unfortunately
The talk around cork is they are going to win my friend is close to the cork camp he said we can’t handle the blanket defence and that’s plan A I would be happy with a one point win
100 year losing streak when we didn’t play them for 73 of those years but yea cork never really fear mayo .Kevin mcloughlins goal against cork was in 2011 quarter final when we were given absolutely no chance.I remember how few mayo supporters there was in croker that day .seems a long time ago now
@John+mchale don’t think anyone here is saying its a given nothings a given in gaa ha I actually get the opposite vibe off people here that they are more worried for it .
Think its just mainly me and a 1 or 2 others that are optimistic as usual :p ha when I say that we should be beating cork I mean it we are the better team but cork are good to an can’t be taken for granted . But I’m still going mayo 4 or so.
Why is the Mayo match not being played in Ennis. Is it money and an expectation of a big Mayo crowd for the Gaelic Grounds big capacity of 44,023.
A much fairer half-way venue for travelling supporters and the wider pitch suiting us would be Cusack Park in Ennis (19,000 capacity).
The GAA Fixtures Committee don’t seem to have studied Irish geography but did major in maths and business. This is the latest abuse of Mayo, as if dragging us next door to Kerry for that replay wasn’t a fatal enough blow!
We are being sent to Limerick (again) to a pitch as narrow as McHale Park. That will not suit Mayo, especially if Cork have decided to close their back door.
County GAA Pitch dimensions must be between 130m min. to 145m max. In length, with a width between 80m min to 90m max.
Croke Park Pitch is 145m long x 88m wide, and for instance
Pearse Stadium, Hyde Park, Ballybofey and yes Cusack Park in Ennis are all among those that are the max size of 145 x 90m.
MacHale Park is 137m x 82m and guess what – the Gaelic Grounds is also 137m x 82m.
When will our submissive County Board stand up for us? When will the Mayo players, management and supporters stop taking a kicking from the GAA bean counters?
It’ll be a hard tough game against Cork, I think they will play very defensive tactics against Mayo to frustrate the midfielders & forwards.
Interesting situation with COC, I think he will be brought on in the second half to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Maybe Mayo are too predictable with subs the bring on, they need a surprise or two to shake things up a bit. Mayo to win by 2 or 3 points.
@FrostyTHammer
Understand what you are saying. But if you do it at club level, how do you prove yourself if you are not playing ? Anyway I just like his style of play. Management must know best ? Maybe I should be confused.com !
Is that Micheal Martins son in goal for Cork?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Cillian is involved on Sunday (it would be great to have him given how well he always plays in the gaelic grounds and in general) but equally I have no doubt he’ll be well able to slot into the team at a later stage. I often think a lot of Mayo people don’t appreciate what we have in Cillian half enough.
Yep, that is Micheál Martin’s son in goal.
Meath in 2009 was the last time we lost to division 2 opposition in league or championship, outside of connacht.
Current team, last 3/4 years, performances in these kinds of games have been inconsistent but the results haven’t.
We really should be a bit more honest about where we are these days. While days like we had in Killarney aren’t exactly common place, they are far from seldom, and occur far more frequently than the kind of days a loss to Cork would be. We’re actually far more likely to get an absolute thumping from a rival, (once a year or year and a half I reckon) than lose to a minnow, (once every 10-15 years)
Frost. Remember that shambles. The bray s played hell with us that day. Correct and right 1985 it was 2011. I was abroad and watched it there.
Poor cillians really had a rough time of it.
Great to see eoghan mc back and diarmuid o Connor 2 keys to the team.
Regards bench I think its do important to have strong impact subs. How many times in big games against dublin when we were doing ok they would bring on the big guns in 2nd half and we would ne like oh lord not him ha
Cloud9 – not sure where those measurements came from, but the Gaelic grounds is a much bigger pitch than MacHale park.
Go on YouTube, look at a game in both grounds and compare the difference between the 65m lines.
Craggy boglands – it’s just the usual cliche thrown out. Oh Mayo fans getting ahead of themselves again tut tut. Pure nonsense.
https://www.change.org/FixcolourblindnessGAA
Folks Really trying to get some traction on this…………please sign up….Cillian OConnor did!!
1989- how many has signed the petition to date?
Signed the petition @1989 GAA should cop on to this like.
Don’t think Cillian will feature Sunday.
Surely the way the jersey issue could be dealt with partially is the crazy idea that the team that is away would wear their away jersey as in soccer but for some mad reason the gaa insist that both teams change jersey s and in some those are even more similar in colour.who is actually responsible for the design of jerseys as our current away one is beyond horrendous.the old style we had of just reversing the colours worked ok .the green in our jerseys has gotten progressively darker and more difficult to distinguish from the maroon of Galway.I am fairly sure our under 21s wore a mainly white jersey with strips of green and red back around 2001
@Gizmobobs same think he’s out . Must have been a nasty hamstring injury he got I got one years ago from hockey and they are a right pain to get over in fairness hard to see him being able to make an impact now tbh.
@cloud9
I know there is info online saying Gaelic Grounds is the same size as MacHale Park.That info is incorrect, anybody who been to both of those pitches a few times (ie most people on this blog) can tell you that.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cillian play a part the next day unless he’s had another injury setback.
I hope and expect Cork to play the blanket, they don’t have it as well drilled as Louth and this is a bigger pitch.Teams think all they have to do to beat Mayo is play puke football.How many times has that worked against Mayo in big games outside of MacHale Park?
Another poster was right to say we should be honest with where we are,we’re one of the best teams (maybe the best) in the country ,we’re league champions, we’re the first team to win in Killarney in championship in a generation, we’re top of our current group.In my opinion we have the strongest panel in the country.
We’re better in every facet of the game than Cork,without disrespecting them we should be beating them everyday of the week.
Oliean Acla
24 signatures ….but 174 views………which is mad because that means 150 folks looked at it and decided they think the colourblind folks should just suck it up!!!
Omg! This is pathetic! Hard to understand why people could not sign the bloody petition! I thought it would be in the few hundreds at least!
Fortunately I don’t suffer from colour blindness but let’s help the 8% of the population that suffers!
I remember 93, left a bit early to have a few scoops with my pals from Castlebar.
One of them asked the barman for the score and when he said Cork 5.15 my friend said he wanted the score not the time of the train to Castlebar!!!
Beaten I think the following year by Leitrim and then threw away a final to Meath by bad decisions on the line.
Supporting Mayo is a mad pastime.
@FW never spoken truer words spoken !
We are much better team then cork its not disrespecting cork at all just the facts. They are good but they are a division 2 team the last how many year 6? we were division 1 winners. We need to start believing that we are one of the best and can beat any team on our day. Must be all the hurt over the years can’t say I blame anyone though for being weary about it though .
As you say we should be beating cork every time. Maybe cork will get back to their prime days but right now they aren’t near that. We shouldn’t take them for granted at all as I said but if we don’t beat them I’d fear us against a team like Derry or that I’d be fearful then if we can’t beat cork come Sunday. But I have faith we will haha .
Watching Ireland v Greece tonite thank god we have Gaelic football in this Country, our top soccer players cant even string a few passes together.People night complain about mass defences but even the majority of Gaelic games were all better than that crap tonite.
Well said ROD, there’s a lack of appreciation for the standard that top inter county football is played at.
Frost, there’s reason to think Towey should be playing more. He can score from distance and is not afraid to shoot. McStay is not at the same standard and is an out and out 11 anyway. Kevin Mc is seriously getting on and it’s so long since he’s started at this level it’s hard to know if he’s past it or not. Hard to see Coen and Ruane starting in midfield, neither can win high ball.
Padraic Joyce releases all players outside of the 26 man panel for club action this weekend, with Kieran Molloy lining out for Corofin in a League Semi Final tonite.He has also added 2 new players on recent good club form Cillian O’Curraoin of Micheal Breathnachs and Sam O’Neill of St James.Joyce really doing all the things right this year.
1989.
That’s hard to believe, that so few would sign. Nearly that many have commented here about having the condition. I’ve sent it all my family and asked them to sign.
People on here may have seen where our host, WJ tweeted about it yesterday to Mayo, Cork and Gaa official. None had the decency to reply. As someone who has done so much to promote Mayo Gaa for years, surely he would be entitled to that, especially as he suffers from the complaint himself. As Trevor said in a tweet, even a reply saying, sorry lads it’s too late for this year, but we hear you and will do better next year.
People getting overly exited in both driections about Cork, the ones fearing them and the ones who think we should beat them every time. Firstly the Cork will not fear Mayo thing is crap. The way I see it is we need to be well up for the game to win it and I expect we will be. Players will be chomping at the bit to stake a claim for the jersey so I expect a tough competitive championship game, hopefully competitive and hopefully not with Cork being uber negative in their setup. Cork’s results against teams well down the divisions isn’t great and we’ve been playing the top teams for years, sometimes staying up in Div 1 by our fingernails and other times like this year going well all the way. It doesn’t mean Cork don’t have good and dangerous players but do they have enough of them compared to us? Unlikely. If they park the bus , it gives us more practice at finding ways to break it down which would come in useful againt most teams later. We’d likely have beaten Ros if one of the eary goals went in and definitely if we had a 2 week break and Ros are a decent team. I think we’d beat Ros 4 out of 5 (2/3 so far this year) with current panels, and definitely 3 out of 5 times and they’re on paper better than Cork.
I’d say the superiority complex attributed to Cork is well and truly faded with a lack of silverware at both codes for a long time now.
I see no reason why Cork with their population shouldn’t be top division but for some inexplicable reason they’re not. I saw Kildare vs Sligo and they were way off the pace and Cork compete with them but I’d say Div 2 teams are on paper maybe 3/4 points behind in a game so that could be an expected winning margin unless we come out like we did against Kerry and build a lead.
On the subject of Cork confidence, I’ll share a few Cork / Kerry jokes. Did you hear about the Kerryman with an inferiority complex.. thought he was a Corkman. Did you hear about the Corkman with an inferiority complex.. thought he was just the same as everyone else.
I had two uncles who came from cork .one of them played league football for the county before emigrating to England and missed out on playing championship football but eventually returned.He helped me out many times with all Ireland final tickets and in the many conversations I had with him while always praising mayo you could sense that until Mayo started winning all Irelands they weren’t really rated .cork people feel they happened to be in the most difficult province because of Kerry’s presence.they obviously know mayo have good players but no they don’t fear mayo and will always think they have a good chance of beating us .I think we should win the game but I also remember 2014 and 2017 when we had a much better team and ended up falling across the line
JR…..93 was a shambles. I was there…..Mayo players in the latter stages of the game didn’t give a f$%k and literally downed tools and let Cork saunter in for 3 goals in about 5-7mins…….Same team I think that mutinied against the manager of the day citing ‘unorthodox training methods’ to the media re the bit of craic he had with them pushing cars after a training session……That AISF result against Cork was a real low after the highs of 1989…….thankfully things got back on track again and we had two AIF appearances in the 90s and built on standards from there……..
Time to stop worrying about Cillian. He has not being named on the 26. While it’s disappointing it’s time to move on .Reckon K McStay and management team know more than us. He could yet appear on panel for Sunday. Once again management know best. Also time to stop worrying about the pitch and its dimensions. The match is fixed for Limerick. It is a great venue so just get on with it. I don’t expect a huge crowd. There will be all sorts of reasons trotted out from venue to costs to the fact that it’s not do or die etc. No need to make excuses if you don’t turn up, The hardcore fans will be there as they always have been. I remember the small support v Cork in 2011 which was the start of our great era. There was one hell of a noise created in Croker that day by totally committed supporters. Others came on board for the semi v Kerry and our march to the final in the next two years. It is a difficult game on Sunday. A win or even a draw would be great. A defeat not a total disaster. Imagine if Kerry lose to Louth and cork draw or beat us then the kingdom would be gone. Don’t expect that to happen but you’d never know what the championship throws up next. Maigh Eo Abu
Totally agree with couple of posts saying its time to move on worrying about Mayo without a Cillian, it’s actually a bit disrespectful to current panel who have way out performed to most of our expectations. Leeroy and Oisin gone and replacements have done very well. The King is Dead Long Live the King.
A real pity about Cillian but we have to move on for now as others have said. I think anyone who knows anything about football will know that a Cork win tomorrow wouldn’t be a massive shock even if unexpected, so this is going to be a tough challenge.
Many thanks for sharing the colourblindness petition link.
Weather could be a big factor tomorrow so a day for the big lads. Diarmuid will be needed to win this one.
Achill75 – many outside the Mayo 26 played club football this weekend. McStay also has 2 U20 players involved in the senior setup. Sam Callinan is an automatic starter at this stage.
You would hope Cillian is on the standby list at the very least. Would be great to see him get gametime this weekend. But we can’t rush him back. And he has so much experience, so he could still have a big contribution from the bench in the latter rounds (provided we get there of course)
What is the point in naming 26 if more changes can be made? A lot of people saying Cillian will be added.
@DermotF it was a new rule brought in this year. 26 man panel has to be submitted on the Thursday I believe, but you are allowed 4 extra players on standby in event of injuries.
Come on folks a sip of cop on may be needed for some. What exactly does move on from cillian mean. Fair enough if it’s a spoken conversation and someone keeps harping on about it but the panel is announced and one of the star players not on it and people expect it not to be mentioned. Remember most posts about it is the posters 1st comment on the matter so unless you can separate posts with certain topics from the rest then read it or skip it. Regarding the failure to beat the blanket and colm keys writing about it again this weekend I’ve been trying to figure out is there any logic in thinking mayo had done enough v louth by the 73rd minute to be considered as having beaten the blanket and it was our own defence who messed up in the last 90 seconds and then the narrative after that is mayo couldn’t beat the blanket defence.
It is reasonable to expect Cork are having a progressive season with this new format. The Mayo game will be a yardstick of where they are at this stage. Mayo on the other hand have to put a poor performance against Louth behind them. We have the players and the bench, so the book stops with management getting tactics right. If Loftus is director of defence, he needs to be in defence, if we have a strong bench, use them, last game to get things right before knockouts….
Better to wait till the game is over tomorrow before trying to read into it too much.
Lot of talk about Cillian. While firmly in the ‘nice to have’ catagory, I struggle to see which forward we’re dropping for Cillian? And even as a sub, it’s surely Conroy first in every single time? People get caught up in injuries when realistically these injured players won’t be playing regardless
Stephenite, if its a tight match coming down the straight, I’d rely on Cillian above every other player in the panel to get us the scores. Simple as that.
Agreed Tubberman. Cillian has shown a lot more in 2023 than Conroy.
@ Wide Ball & FW
I’ve been to two matches in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick (and to McHale Park hundreds of times including playing there). On the occasions at the Limerick venue, it didn’t strike me as a small or indeed a big playing surface. I’ve also met lots of people who have been surprised (having been there) to learn that McHale Park has a small playing surface relative to most other county grounds.
I called a friend in Limerick hurling and he confirmed what every online source said, the Gaelic Grounds is actually much tighter than most others county venues in Munster and indeed the country. He said the measurements being quoted sounds right.
He said that last summer it was resurface with a new grass type and a 3G surface put on the sideline on one side. The playing surface size stayed the same. Probably no where to expand it to (without taking sideline seating away) like in Castlebar.
A researched Irish Times article from about 10 years ago referring to a debate on the Sunday Game concluded that the pundits (like many supporters on here) were simply being thrown by the same optical illusion that often leads to pitches being labelled “tight”.
The height of the stands/terraces around a pitch, or indeed a lack of the same, can confuse your eye when attending a game.
It also said that on television a low camera angle can make a pitch look far smaller than the reality.
The Gaelic Grounds playing surface dimensions are 137m x 82m or in total 11,234 sq metres, similar to McHale Park.
Illusions aside, I’d like someone to prove otherwise.
My original question stands – why are we not playing this game on the bigger surface in Ennis, which is also geographically fairer to supporters too? Still in Munster but not in a county bordering Cork for feck sake.
Is it the GAA bean counters or the lack of ’standing up for us’ from our county board? Or both?
If Conroy and Cillian are right they’ll definitely both be on, re what order you put them on (or as starters) will depend on particular matches I’d expect. They’re great as they’d offer completely different threats. Before his achilles injury they were linking up really well with RoD and now thankfully we have a good few more options- at least when not facing a blanket!
Having Cillian on the bench is a ‘must have’. Cork are a very good team and there is a very real threat that they will turn us over tomorrow. Play like we did against Louth and it’s a certainty. We must have our best players available because – be under no illusion – tomorrow’s game is going to be a dogfight.
Cillian was and is the most underrated star performer I can ever recall , why that is I don’t know but underestimate his importance at your peril.
@Cloud9 , Gaelic Grounds is a whole 16 minutes further along than Cusack Park Ennis, and has considerably easier parking. On the long list of GAA conspiracies, I think we can let this one go..
If Cillian was fully fit he’d be the first forward id have on the teamsheet. Ok he has lost a bit of pace but he is the most intellegent forward we have and always produces a few scores. The likes of ROD James Carr and Jordan Flynn are having a poor championship scorewise by their own standards. We will probably be depending on Paddy Durcan and Jack Carney to chip in with a few scores tomorrow to get us over the line as well as a few converted marks from Aidan who was very accurate against Louth.
Are any other Season Ticket holders having a problem accessing Ticketmaster to download tickets for tomorrow. I’m getting a message that access is forbidden and on my pc I’m told “no event found”!!
At best Cillian will be no more than impact sub this year if even, managermet are balancing the team well as new format requires different approach, we may see different line up when it’s straight knock out.
Because of its tightness very easy to apply blanket defence and make a full game out of it. But there are tactics to counter. Leaving at least two players forward at all times keeps goalkeeper and two defenders in their own half. Quick counter attacking once we win turnover ensures players get some space.
Against Louth we fought blanket with blanket of our own. Exactly what Micky Harte wanted.
He outsmarted us and now it’s time for our management to stand up. We have the players with or without Cillian to keep strong tempo.
”outsmarting us” would have been coming away with the 2 points.
“Outsmarted us”
We were 3 points up after 3 minutes and maintained the lead from there. We were 5 points up with less than a minute of injury time to go.
It was absolutely dreadful to watch, but let’s not pretend Louth deserved anything out of that game.
If it’s this warm and humid tomorrow it will be hard for the players to go full tilt ……
Cloud9 – don’t know about optical illusions but the Gaelic grounds is a longer pitch than MacHale park. Looking at a game on TV in both grounds will tell you that.
Mickey Harte “out smarted us”….this blog is great craic sometimes 🙂
Stephen Coen being gassed (not blaming him as the heat was chronic) is what led to the Louth goal, along with a collective lapse in concentration when we went 5 points up in the 73rd minute.
This whole Mayo can’t beat the blanket is just another oul cliche like “Mayo have no Marquee forward”. All lazy analysis as usual. We created 2 unbeileveable goal chances against Louth that were butchered by McBrien and Carr. Thats where our problem lies, same as Kerry and Roscommon games. But its easier to throw out we cant beat the blanket. Let the media and other counties think we cant beat it, because the day we put away these goal chances their will be alot of egg on certain pundits face’s.
When you think of the final that shall not be named, Loftus butchered an open goal in first half and Ryan hits the post with a penalty.
We beat blankets more often than not, its composure in the clutch moments that continues to be our downfall.
Watching Limerick v Laoise now ,looks like a fine pitch to me
Dimensions same for both teams.
If I was involved with the Mayo set up I would have our top 15 playing against our second 18 with the extra 3 as defenders.
To beat a blanket you have practice against one.
Given resources Mickey has at his disposal, I think it’s fair enough to say he out smarted our management team. Same with Davy Bourke in Connacht championship.
They set up how they had to, and both made timely changes. We were slow to make changes or try different things.
We blessed have such strong playing panel and financial resources to put in all the other elements needed to succeed e.g. S&C, hotels, bus, array of physics etc. That other counties do not all have.
Sure Louth didn’t win, but they came damn close while missing some of their top players, against a team miles ahead of them on development, squad depth and resources.
You’re 100% correct Margie
i must say the Louth game was never anything but a handy win for me once we scored three early points.We have had plenty of close calls in Castlebar but that result was never a worry for me at any stage.
Still think louth will make it tough for kerry tommorow that will be interesting to see how they go!
Yes, Harte got the most out of a limited squad by playing the game on his terms. And at times in the second half they looked more likely to create goal chances than we did. It’s the score at the final whistle that counts.
It’s history now. I agree with km79, going full tilt will not be easy in the weather conditions but we have to at least mix it. Subs like McLaughlin Conroy Hession will give us the boost we need
@ Margie
Spot on analysis
Bate the blanket, welcome to the blog! : )
Wide Ball, I like and agree with your post about Mayo being 3 up after the first few minutes and 5 up in the closing minutes (90 seconds?) against Louth. The three point lead early on was crucial. A five point lead is very good to aim for at the game’s end as it’s very hard to close it (see our winning difference versus Kerry in the AISF replay 2017 where Mayo players defended like men possessed as the game counted down to zero).
I would just add – we cannot take these leads for granted against defensive teams. IF we slip and concede scores, especially late on, it is very hard to reel the scores back in and there is a real danger of losing the game. That’s where extending the lead safely is very important AND making sure the defence is 100% clued in, on it and committed to letting no goals in. The five point lead is an interesting number to aim for as the clock ticks into the final 90 seconds. And defend like maniacs.
Still have nightmares about that Loftus goal chance and how extraordinarily casual he was about it
I would argue Aidan going to midfield for the throw-in versus Louth and showing ‘don’t mess with me’ body language was Mayo’s way of starting assertively. That throw-in led to Aidan winning a free, that was converted, and we started one up. Building up a very early lead was good tactics, I think.
There is a principle that if you are 5 points better than the opposition then you win by 5 points. Otherwise you are a soft touch. The game isn’t over till it’s over. There’s a lot at stake tomorrow in that we need a confidence boosting performance going into knockouts.
@swallowswoops,agree with your analysis there and I’d add it’s about making the most of your so called ”purple patch ‘when it arrives. No one team is going to dominate from pillar to post and when momentum swings away from you it can be hard to get it back. That’s when you need leaders with cool heads to do the right thing and play their way back in to it…win a few frees, claim marks and not to force the issue.
Our policy of bringing on speedy subs around 50/55 is probably designed to create momentum to see us safely to the finish line.
Louth got momentum late on against us and I’d expect management to have addressed this.
It’s seems pretty cut and dried to me. Mcgloughlin had surgery. No way will he be in the subs so cillian will be a so called late change. We are good enough to beat them if we.play positive front foot football not the backwards sideways rubbish we played the last day. Get the ball in early and get on with it
Craggy, I don’t think Cillian will feature tomorrow. Or as you say, McLaughlin.
Why management don’t just name the right team/panel is beyond me, I’ve yet to see an opposition beaten by a team sheet.
2 hops, thanks for that. I like those points.
I hope your wrong Giz. Agree a lot of nonsense with team sheets. People gave out about horan not giving information. No change on that front. I’m still hopeful on the cillian front. Him and Tommy are serious subs.
Very heavy rain here in limerick at the minute and same for tomorrow bring the rain gear people
Cillian playing for ballintubber at the moment
That probably answers that one so…. Fingers crossed he comes through ok.
Well if he is playing at all that is good news .hard to understand why eoghan McLaughlin is named on bench if he has just had surgery
Scoring well is Cillian: https://twitter.com/EndaMcGearty/status/1670116563964370944?t=S8DyZPw9mC7_jj6uk-NXeQ&s=19
1985, why indeed. But how many panels announced by management have had numerous changes day of game? So wait and see.
Cillian with 2-6 for Ballintubber this evening.
Im confused about Cillian playing for tubber today .
The importance of winning tomorrow is getting fairly real now.. I wouldn’t fancy the likes of Monaghan in castlebar next weekend..
I guess it gets some proper game time into his legs, Sean. Obviously he won’t feature tomorrow but he should be in the 26 for the next one.
I wouldn’t fear Monaghan as much as a Tyrone or Armagh. Great to see Cillian get minutes into the legs and a bit of confidence into the head. Good decision by managment.
The only thing I want to see tomorrow, apart from a win, is Aidan staying inside and decent ball being played into him. The only time I want to see him at midfield is for the odd kickout. If he is going to make a real impact there later in the championship, he needs to get comfortable in that position and other lads need to learn how to play to him and off him.
Moose79.
Just imagine we finished third. Could be Donegal in Ballybofey.
Good for Cillian to get game with his club and Bryan Walsh also played. With Brendan Harrison also getting club action it looks like our long term injuries are starting to clear up.
Speculation is almost as good as hindsight.
Will he/won’t he… Cillian
Did we almost lose to Louth or did we win.
Is that pitch bigger than this.
Why can’t Mayo beat the blanket.
Will the real Mayo turn up or what…
Is this Galway’s year.
Will it be a Mayo Galway final
Who’d win that one.
Why the hell is Cillian playing today when he should be first name on the team tomorrow.
Does a manager outsmart yours if he loses?
I’m a hopeless analyst but I have endless hope and faith.
Really looking forward to the game tomorrow and fingers crossed for a great Mayo win.
Thanks to you all for the endless thread of dreams and memories
Isn’t it a treat being a Mayo supporter.
Maigheo Abu
We’ll see Cillian when things start getting more serious down the line. Right now we need to focus on Cork tomorrow and we’ll probably have to match our performance against Kerry to beat them. This should be a far more open game than the Louth one and that will work in our favour. Despite the best efforts of Kevin Walsh Cork are not comfortable playing with a blanket defence and will come out and play. Overall we have better and more experienced players than Cork and we should have enough to win this one.
Hi, would anyone be able to give advice on where to park tomorrow? I’ll have young kiddies who can’t walk very far with me! Thanks!
Margie knows her stuff!
Hi Sare. Come down early enough to park in green hills hotel. Or you could park at the jetland shopping centre – which is only across the road.
@Sare there are road closures from 12 apparently so I’m aiming to be there beforehand.. planning on parking at Greenhills hotel
Mackey must be sold out , i see theyve opened the other side for sale
Brilliant post mo-direach. Humour is a great way to make serious points.
Do tickets for the Mackey stand guarantee entry to it now I wonder …….looks wet
Spot on Margie.
Mayo players still have appalling decision making in front of goal when it matters.
Keep the faith.
Up Mayo.
Not sure what to expect tomorrow and the expected weather could play a significant role. One thing I am sure of is that if we don’t turn up and put in a performance, we stand a very good chance of getting beaten-the same performance as against Louth will not be good enough. A lot of people seem to be dismissing Cork, it I am wary of them-I feel that they are better than recent league form would indicate and are showing improvement with each game We need to start on the front foot and impose ourselves and not give them any encouragement. It would be most annoying and frustrating if we slip to second or even third, after our impressive start.
Never been to Gaelic Grounds before. Where is best place to park? Good luck to the lads and hopefully it’ll stay dry and we will get the win. Up Mayo
Anyone familiar with limerick city that would know a pub that a man could watch Galway v Armagh preferably near train station?
I don’t go with all the talk about Mayo not being able to breach Louth’s blanket defence. We were 5 points up at the end of normal time, Louth breached OUR defence to score 1-1 in added time.
My prediction for today :- Mayo 2-18
Cork 1-15
Remember folks you heard it here first, get to the bookies fast?
Thanks @amc and @2fansinclare. We will be on the road early. Here’s hoping for a good match.
Bit late in the day to be asking but is anyone else having trouble accessing their season ticket for todays game? Thanks.
The Tesco Superstore on the Ennis Road is always a good spot for parking. It’s easy to get in and out of and usually plenty of spaces available. Take a left at the Coonagh roundabout. Safe travelling.
Yes, Seamus Thornton, I’m blocked from accessing
Ticketmaster. Have tried on my second phone and also blocked from that one. Can’t get in from my pc either.