We’ve just named our 26-man panel for tomorrow’s match against Kerry at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney (throw-in 3pm). Here’s the full list we’ve announced:
Mayo (All-Ireland SFC Group Stage Round 1 v Kerry, 20/5/2023): Colm Reape (Knockmore); Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis), David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen), Sam Callinan (Ballina Stpehenites); Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers), Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels, captain); Matthew Ruane (Breaffy), Diarmuid O’Connor (Ballintubber); Fionn McDonagh (Westport), Jack Carney (Kilmeena), Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers); Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy), James Carr (Ardagh), Ryan O’Donoghue (Belmullet). Substitutes: 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), Padraig O’Hora (Ballina Stephenites), Paul Towey (Charlestown Sarsfields), Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels).
So it’s three changes to the starting team compared to the Roscommon game. In come David McBrien, Sam Callinan, who makes his Championship debut tomorrow, and James Carr, while out go Donnacha McHugh, Eoghan McLaughlin and Tommy Conroy, all of whom feature on the bench, as does fit-again Enda Hession.
The best of luck to the lads in Killarney tomorrow.
It’s a real pity Cillian isn’t available but there’s no sense in taking a risk at this stage of the season.
The likes of Tommy C, Hession and Eoghan Mc can add some serious pace from the bench.
Thankfully mcbrien is back, need him on david clifford, we need big impact from our bench, tommy and enda will definitely provide that I’d hope. Good luck to our lads.
The graphic Mayo GAA use to name the team panel is absolutely horrific. It’s a hard thing to get wrong, listing 26 names, but by God do we make a mess of it
That is a good team and a good bench. Regardless of last minute changes this indicates intent on McStays part.I have a good feeling about this match. Mayo by five.
A lot of faith being put on McBrien, hope he is as good as people say.
An inexperienced full back line, good luck to them all.we had to rebuild so best to give lads a chance I for one will not complain if some of the relatively new lads don’t play up to par.
It is a real baptism for them playing the champions in their home pitch.
Best of luck guys strong team named and injuries not as bad as feared pity about cillian. Great to see Enda hession back
With Conroy, Hession, McLaughlin and Tuohy there are some good bench options. Very interested to see how we set up against Kerry. Very important, as with any match, to real win the midfield battle. After six weeks off I’m mad to see how the lads are motoring.
There’s bucket-loads of strength and pace all over that team and some good options to bring in from the bench also. This will be nothing like 2019. It will be the day the championship catches fire. Up Mayo
Strong panel assuming there are no late dropouts (McBrien and Carr were named to start vs Roscommon but didn’t tog).
Only Cillian, Brickenden and possibly Plunkett would make it stronger IMO.
Very happy to see some players named that there were doubt about over the last few weeks. Hopefully all are fit to take their place tomorrow and we give it a right rattle.
A lot more confident of a good performance going down there after seeing the squad we named. If we can keep with them up-to 50 minutes i think we have plenty of game changers and pace off the bench.
Think they may go full Northern style for the first 15 mins with all behind the ball as Kerry traditionally go for the kill early .( don’t concede goals )
Wouldn’t die of shock if there was a change before throw in .
Hession in for Fionn …can score and could track Gavin White ? Still he’s a great option from the bench .
Could Cillian be added to the 26 ? Time will tell but he won’t risk if carrying a knock .
We need a big game from all especially at mid field.
As not knock out , kinda feels we are in a great position as underdogs to have a right crack at the Kingdom
Surely Hession or o Hora will start in the full back line……..looks like Mcstay has decided that we need to move forwards with other goal keeping options too
Looks like a backline that is inexperienced and up against one that is seasoned and explosive.I fear for the outcome.Not starting Conroy makes no sense ..would be like Kerry not starting Clifford.The optimists now will be the most critical later.I hope I am wrong.
Great to see Paddy named to start. Im still fearful we’ll be wide open down the middle, like we have been all season. I’ll hold judgement until after the game and see if our defensive set up has changed. James Horan used to be accused of being stubborn and not deviating away from “Horan Ball”. Im starting to get the same vibe of Kevin, theirs at least 3 players named to start no matter how poor they performed in the Roscommon game (and other league games).
We’ll wait and see, but i’ve a feeling it will be a long day.
Padraig, firstly Tommy Conroy is not David Clifford.
Secondly, he’s still only coming back from a cruciate injury.
Thirdly, he started against Roscommon and didn’t have much joy.
Fourthly, his pace will be a huge asset off the bench when Kerry defenders are tiring.
I’m happy to have him for later in the game when the likes of Carr is gassed.
That backline might be inexperienced but it’s the one that would won us a league title not so long ago. Would starting O’Hora really improve the team? Not for me.
For all the talk of us being ‘wide open’ down the middle, we haven’t been conceding big scores.
Agreed @tubberman. What a ridiculous comparison
Very optimistic seeing that team and particularly happy with the experience and pace we have on the bench.
We have a great squad and Cillian yet to come back,I do feel he will be missed for his experience on what is a baptism of fire for a lot of those young lads,it’ll stand to them though.
The main thing is to keep with Kerry for 55-60mins and not concede goals (a fairly big ask I know) but if we can do this we can win.
It looks a settled team which is important it’s been there or there abouts the same 15 for the last few games bar injuries but having the back 6 gelling and playing consistently together in a defensive system that all no what their job is hugely important and we’ll see tomorrow if it’s bearing fruit it’s a young full back line but no better full forward line to really test them , Tommy on the bench is probably the right call bringing him with 25 to go when the game is opening up a bit and let him run his socks off , realistically it’s going to be a tough game but we definitely have a chance it’ll be no repeat of 2019 that’s for shure if we hit them from the throw in hell for leather and stick with it we’ll be close
Surprised Robbie is left out or maybe he’s injured.
Reape has firmly established himself as num 1 and although Robbie had a bit of a mare vs Monaghan he’s streets ahead of Bryne.Having said that Rory has been doing well the last while so maybe it’s purely on form.Id still have Robbie as back up for his experience.
First 20 mins, of this match, so important. But Kerry, a bit like Kilkenny hurlers of old, like to blitz a team in this period. We need to be at it, from first minute. No time to find our feet, from 6 week layoff. And that Mayos biggest challage, is to up to pace of game from the start. And this has been a problem for Mayo team that have lost in Connaught and gone and played in qualifiers couple of weeks later, so this is componded this year with lenght of gap between games. I hope the lenght in gap, works to our favour, to reset and come back strong
Was talking to a Man who was umpire for Kildare challenge match .(Fergal Kelky reffed it)
Said Mayo started strong team but like Kildare ran the bench early .
Said Mayo were very sluggish and played poorly . Didn’t give us a hope in hell of beating Kerry if we played the same way ..
My confidence of being really competitive has taken a hit .
On a more positive note I’m sure the lads will be well up for Kerry from the start tomorrow.
Full back line are inexperienced yes but they are good footballers.. We had 3 half backs in there last year so let them bed in and see how they get on.
We will definitely have to resist attacking from the back early. Kerrys pace breaking is very dangerous.
We seem to be looking for big games from a few of our scorers for a while… Tomorrow will be a challenge. I can’t see us winning so bar a big loss I hope we give it a good go and that panel should be too strong for the other two teams…
Great spread of clubs represented in the first 15 and whole panel.
I’m expecting Rochy to have something up his sleeve, Maybe O Shea in goals !! or something different to throw the kingdom. Would love to be going as Fitzgerald stadium on my list of grounds not yet experienced. From previous matches on TV it always looks like the players are miles from the crowd especially on the Non- Scoreboard end. Mayo by 3 for me. Bring on 3pm Saturday.
This is just me relying a chat I had with one of errigal (derrys sponsor ) managers . He’s a Tyrone man very informative and a good club player himself , he’s baffled at the attitude of mayo supporters about tomorrows game , this was his reply when I said I was goin down more in hope than expectation “ Jesus Christ what is wrong with ya , never would we go into a game thinking like that “ I found it interesting when he explained worry about losing if it happens when the whistle is blown for full time but you have to believe prior to that you’re goin to win . He sincerely believes they will beat Galway , so I replied ye won’t no matter how much belief ye have .
He also said Tyrone beat Mayo pullin up in that challenge btw and said canavan got a knock in the challenge .
About our best team except Cillian. Good subs for defence with Hession, McLaughlin and O hora, not as strong in forwards replacements with only Conroy that might worry Kerry coming on. If we have no goals in first fifteen minutes against us, we have a good chance of pulling off a suprise win. But if we do beat Kerry in Killarney and we meet them later in compt, its God Help Us.
@Sean,
Tell that fella about every single All Ireland final that Mayo were in since 1989, 34 years ago.
Some of us always go in hope, but we get a renewed hope every year.
Records do count for something.
Mayo have a good track record of taking out the previous years All Ireland winner’s. But pity tomorrow is not an actual know out game.
Nice to see that Kevin was reading my post at 8:59 and DID name the same team as the league final – with the impact subs I wanted, bar Cillian!!
Since when did we start putting so much stock into challenge games? It’s been a long six weeks…
Sean Burke – Mayo were winning that challenge game at HT and made a raft of changes. Tyrone won in the end but I wouldn’t read too much into challenge game results. Mayo followed that up with an eight point defeat to Kildare.
Mayo fans used to be always confident and mocked for being so. Since that 2021 final no show I think confidence among Mayo fans took a massive hit from which it has not yet recovered.
I don’t think upping the pace will be a problem for Mayo. Coyne, Callinan, McBrien, McDonagh, Paddy all have loads of pace and out S&C should be ahead of all bar Tyrone after both teams extended breaks. That should stand to us in the physical duels. It’s time to put faith in the future and that FB line will either sink or swim individually and collectively. I have plenty of confidence in their future but up against serious opposition now so will be good to see. They’re obviously good enough in training to keep Hession out. A key to winning is finding Ryan OD for marks as he’s been excellent in that regard. I’d like to see James Carr cut loose. Seems to have good spells in games but not for 70. Fionn Mc is in there for his work rate which probably exceeds Kevin Mc and Jason D at this stage and can win some high ball as well but the 2 lads along with Tommy Turbo are very experienced options to come on for maybe Fionn, James Carr and Aido.
To be fair Catcol, hes started near same team since the not to be talked about off the record game he started out with
Challenge games are for blowing out the dirty diesel…real stuff begins tomorrow.
Where is a good place to park for Fitzgerald stadium? And what time will the stand be open?
I’ve heard about 5 different results from the challenge games (positive and negative) and nearly every player is carrying an injury depending who ya talk too.
We have near a full strength squad travelling to Kerry tomorrow and it is all Ireland champions of 2022 v league champions of 2023.
Time for us to get excited and just enjoy the football, being negative and worrying about the outcome takes the fun out of being a supporter, we have nothing to lose as many don`t expect us to get a result so all the pressure is on Kerry to maintain their unbeaten record in Killarney.
Info here on parking in Killarney: https://twitter.com/fitzgeraldstad/status/1659486465909243904?s=46&t=Yjkm0kEnuqqpX8LuLFycMw
Yes Gizmo, he has started the same teams, and that’s why I was so confident he would continue that way.
Hon Mayo!
Pity we don’t have Tyrone’s mentality Sean. That’s why I really respect Tyrone as a county. They never felt inadequate to anyone, and Kerry still shudder at the thought of them. It’s all mindset. We’re every bit as good as the Northern lads in footballing terms, that’s why it frustrates the hell out of me following Mayo. Sometimes we’re all bluster (team included).
And yes, a lot of deflation with Mayo supporters since 2021. I’ll still always be a good supporter but sometimes I feel like saying ‘let them off and do their thing. If they’re good enough they’ll win it with or without support’. I know that’s an awful way to think but I’m just being honest! It’s painful to say.
It’s hard keeping the faith is really what I’m trying to say. Safe travelling to all heading south tomorrow.
@tubberman @wideball Calm down lads.My point is Conroy is potentially our best forward and I dont hold with bringing people on when game is practically gone. Conroy has had 6 weeks since Ros match and I have certainly heard he is flying.In any event he may start anyway so maybe it is a moot point.
I am more worried about real inexperience of our back line with McLaughlin and O Hora on the bench.
In any event it is just discussion and I could well be wrong.
JKEL88, I think we will have a great crack at it, I would have Kerry 3-4 point favourites, but despite that I believe given limited injuries to squad (bar Cillian who is obviously big loss), I would not be one bit surprised if we win.
I have to admit, unlike other years I am struggling to get excited about this game given the competition structure, rightly or wrongly in my head I feel we are in the next round (Hopefully I am not wrong). Given poor ticket sales to date for tomorrow a good few maybe of same opinion.
McStay was honest in the press briefing on injuries, the other talk on injuries was pure hear say,rumours. Mayo team starting tomorrow is the same team that started the league final, a settled line up.
That’s as strong as we could go and is certainly the strongest bench I have seen from Mayo in a long, long time. It will be a truer test of where we are than the league game earlier in the year. Not expecting a win as Kerry are almost unbeatable in Killarney but certainly expect us to be very competitive.
Going down for a look and a shout so Hon Mayo.
Conroy hasnt proved hes better than ROD.ROD is a better player on all evidence so far, Tommy has potential to be a devastating forward with his pace, probably the quickest forward in the Country.but his shooting has let him down on occasion and needs to be more consistent.
To highlight further how settled the Mayo team is here is the first named McStay line up this year in a challenge in Jan against Sligo
Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Sam Callinan; Stephen Coen, Conor Loftus, Donnacha McHugh; Matthew Ruane, Diarmuid O’Connor; Jack Carney, Bob Tuohy, Jordan Flynn; Conor McStay, James Carr, Ryan O’Donoghue
Only changes Durcan,AOS,F McDonagh who didn’t play that challenge due to injury.
What’s this crap about Kerry almost unbeatable in Killarney, that applied to Donegal in Ballybofey and that bubble has been well and truly burst. Kerry normally hold no fear at all of their Munster opponents who apart from Cork up until about 2011 were nearly always well down the divisions. Sligo nearly beat them there one year when Sligo weren’t a fancied team and Kerry either made or won the AI the same year. They will fear us, maybe not shaking in their boots but the same or more than we feared a Ros ambush. They now play a team on the back of a good run of results winning the league. Four of 5 Kerry players make any team David C, SOS, Gavin White and their corner backs are quite good too. They have some other very good forwards but not necessarily any better than any other of the better teams. Compare that with Galway Walsh, Comer Kelly and a few more and Dublin Con, Kieran K, McCaffrey ourselves with Ryan OD Paddy D, the O Connors, Flynn, Tyrone Canavans McShane McCurry Meyler, Harte etc. all the bigger teams have loads of excellent players. We should look forward to trying to beat them on their home patch.
No harm to be going into match low key rather in 2019 when our manager told the media we should have bet Kerry by a bit to spare in the League final .That poked the bear and we ended up taking a hammering, Also hope theres none of the crap where O’Hora kept pushing Clifford last year after fouling Jordan Flynn and then ended up getting roasted by Clifford.Play the game not the man , You beat Clifford by stopping him getting on the ball like Oisin did with in the quarter final last year.Not by trying to wind him up or match him physically, hes too cute for that.
Sam og Clifford has gone in sledging two badly injured players the last two games we played v kerry.Namely Flynn under the Cusack stand and Brickenden in mchale park.He recieved a yellow card from Hurson the night in Mchale park for his stupidity.Clifford didnt foul Flynn in Croke park either.
@ Sam og … hope Aiden gets the same protection from ref as Clifford does .
O Hora was,isolated one on one against Clifford… not sure how many defenders in the country could cope with that.
@myball that’s the thing. Plenty of teams have shown they are planning defensive structures for Clifford etc…. Hopefully mgmt have thought long and hard about it and it’s a priority tomorrow. Good mgmt teams adapt. O Connor did it when he came in, saw weaknesses in kerry defense, sorted it. Galway have worked on defense all league, Tyrone came up with a plan against us in AIF. What I’m really hoping to see is we have learned. Going all out attack from the back is great but it’s a tiring game.
I presume there won’t be any issues getting a small backpack into the stadium tomorrow? Can’t check into accommodation until after match
My Ball..
If OShea gets the same protection as Clifford then I wouldn’t be holding my breath.
Clifford gets little protection and has to fend for himself as OShea likewise has to.
Eyesintheball , I had the same issue in Belfast three weeks ago but there is np leaving your bag in the hotel early and I’m told since that’s most places that do it .
No sure about the sledging stuff. In O Hora’s case I think he said afterwards something along the lines there’s no rule against talking and I think Clifford also acknowledged nothing malicious said that day. I think he’s well used to all sorts of dark arts so whether any chat would motivate him more or less to play better football is hard to tell. Declan I missed the Clifford incidents you refer to but we can’t hear what’s said.
As to how to stop or more so limit the damage from Clifford I think there’s 3 ways. Firstly a player who can match him for speed or strength and in McBrien while no doubt he’s a fairly strong lad the more important attribute once Clifford has the ball is speed and not getting turned which McBrien has. Another tactic Tyrone used in 19 was flood the danger area with extra players flying for last ditch tackles on the entire Kerry forward line. That was in do or die knockout football but nothing to stop a highly motivated team doing it in this format. The 3rd tactic is limit the supply and force turnovers but even on a bad day Kerry should still get close to 40% possession so a number of key turnovers could help. Aido and Sam Callinan are important in this regard and Aido can also pressure the goalie who’s not as fast as his defenders and get attable.
On the flip side they blitzed an injury depleted version of us in 19 by full court pressing our kickouts so this could be a good challenge for Reape who bar one or 2 errors spread over quite a few games has done very well when pressured.
Very insightful post shuffly deck . Very big test for the whole full back line and keeper . I hope they can do themselves justice , you can’t plan for nervousness though . Some players take to a big occasion right away others might take them a few big occasions to get used to it .
This time tomorrow we will have a fair better idea how were going .
Eamonn Fitzmarice has just posted a picture of Fitzgerald Stadium up on twitter there and it looks magnificent saying its the only place to be tomorrow, anyone thinking that Kerry wont be up for this tomorrow is crazy, Mayo must bring war tomorrow or face a long day in the office.
I would have a lot of confidence that our management team has devised a plan for curbing the influence of Kerrys best players. It starts by curbing the hard running Kerry players namely, Tom O Sullivan, Gavin White, D O Connor and P Clifford. By stopping/holding up these boys we have some hope of limiting the likes of D Clifford and S O Shea’s influence on the game. I would love to see Enda Hession start. He is made for Paudie C. Our own Diarmuid takes their Diarmuid. Paddy to take Gavin White with Fionn and Jordan tracking T O Sullivan when he moves forward. Mc Brien on D Clifford and Coen on Sean O Shea. I also hope Jack Carney plays as a third midfielder as I think Diarmuid will have his hands full in a defensive role. I would also like to see Ryan playing on the 40 as he has the intelligence to move T Morley around the field and out of his prefered sweeper role, which would give Aido and James a bit more space inside. Like so many have alluded to already, we have to keep it tight and break the game down into 10-15 minute phases where we sit back, push up, hold possesion, go down injured to break momentum and maybe a bit of heavy metal flat to the mat chaos thrown in, if we have them rattled with 15 to go.
Eyesontheball,
You will have no issue with a bag.
@willie Joe
I seem to have my comments moderated.
Didn’t think I said anything to cause offence.
Problem with those match ups is that apart from Durcan on White and Mayos Diarmuid vs Kerrys Diarmuid. You wouldn’t fancy Mayo to come out on top of those battles in a head to head basis. The best chance Mayo have I think is to sit deep, counter at pace with 1/2 forward kick passes and have runners joining the play at pace. A team effort not 1 on 1 battles. Trouble is though Kerry move the ball forward very fast themselves so it will be very hard at times for Mayo to get the necessary bodies back.
Not sure about sledging in the Flynn/O’Hora incident (he certainly went over shouting things at Flynn on the ground and given the reactions from Byrne and O’Hora I can’t imagine they were well wishes) but it certainly wasn’t sledging in the Brickenden one.
Rory was on one knee nursing his shoulder having injured it early in a move. David knocked over a point and wandered back into position past Rory. When he remained on one knee, due to the bad shoulder injury, David knocked him onto the ground before half dragging him up from there in the belief he was feigning injury. That’d be the same shoulder injury that had Rory in agony on the pitch, required surgery and still has him out until the end of the month with rehab.
Any words said or unsaid were all but irrelevant in that one where the additional damage done to the shoulder injury was orders of magnitude worse.
One of the greatest players to ever grace the field and often comes across as a lovely fella in interviews… but hasn’t carried himself well in Mayo games in recent years.
Only about 18k tickets sold around lunch time.
Gizmobobs
Mayo crowd is down just the real supporters travelling now not as much of the bandwagon parade of supporters from 2013 to 21 who would never go to a club game in this County.
Not particularly confident after seeing the team we’ve named. I was expecting some changes to at least freshen things up.
Not enough man markers to cover what is a very top heavy, for modern football, Kerry lineup.
I’ll be happy enough if we can either score enough to win most games (16 points) or keep Kerry below that
The team is more or less our strongest starting 15, although I’d like to see Hession lining out from the start. We’ve no injuries apart from Cillian and we’ve had six weeks to rest and reset so there’s no reason why the team can’t have a real cut off Kerry tomorrow. McBrien will have his hands full trying to mark David Clifford but Loftus won’t be far away and everything will be done to ensure it doesn’t end up in a one on one situations. At the other end I’m hoping for a big performance from our forwards. I expect it to be close with home advantage just about swinging it for Kerry.
Well if the bandwagon supporters have disappeared that will be a real shame, because that’s what brought the x-factor to a lot of Mayo matches
I think that is a fairly predictable team. Management have been consistent all year. Hession and Plunkett are the two i would bring into defence..
Im unsure how Mayo will do this year. Regardless of what happens tomorrow they will be in QF such is the flawed structure this year.
Clifford and O shea can get 8 points each on their day and add in a few more scorers and Kerry are over 20 points… ROD might get 8 for us on a good day but you are wondering where scores will come from to give us a chance. Maybe on a real good day Carr might get 2-2 for us. But scores much easier to come by for Kerry. I expect kerry to be very agressive on the ball carrier and close us down on restarts forcing reape to go long and Kerry will feel they have the big men to win Midfield..
8 or so point win for Kerry i think….
@In ROD we trust – Around 16k supporters were at the Mayo v Kerry league game in February. Back in 2013 the same fixture didn’t even get 8k.
Where was the bandwagon parade back then exactly?
I think back to last years Quarter Final where we were a single point down with 20 minutes left. We missed 13 chances for points in that second half. Wides, shots into the keepers hands and one off the post. For 15 minutes it was turn Kerry over, miss repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat and repeat again.
The proof was there that we were well able to compete and win ball in those central areas and if we can achieve the same tomorrow and be more clinical with our scoring opportunities then we can run them close and maybe nick it.
There are some serious pace options off the bench which could be a factor on a warm day.
Mayo by 1.
Right lads and lassies just sit back tighten your seatbelts and enjoy what should be a great match. Why should we feel inferior to Kerry going forward, I believe we are in a good place after the break since beating Galway in a energy sapping league final. Win or loose tomorrow no medals will be handed out, what we need is incremental progress and hopfully a win.
Lots of comments on our frailities in defence, do you not think that Donie Buckley and Kevin & Co will have planned for their attackers.
We need our half fowards to put in a big shift tomorrow, they have the height advantage to reap damage, so let them loose. People still referring to 2019 defeat but as I said then why should you go there and blow a gasket when we only needed to save ourselves for the Donegal match that we won.
I know there was bitter disappointment following the 21 Final, I was there and when I checked the matchday programme I just knew we would not win. Injuries had affected our preparations then as well.
So get a grip on the negativity, lets hammer the hammer, roar the boys on, they have given us a lot of joy this year so far and they are not finished yet. A fine young side and a very good bench.
Well done to the minors tonight.
C’mon Mayo and safe travelling to all, I will be watching from across the water.
Think that is about as good a team as we can put out with a couple of decent impact possibilities from the bench. Cillian is a loss but it’s more important that he is ready later in year. Reckon our inexperienced full back line could be in for a rough day. You can talk about systems and plans all you like for Clifford but when he’s having a good day he is untouchable and when he is having an ok day he is better than most forwards in the country. Unfortunately it is not just him from the Kerry forwards that we need to worry about. Hope I am wrong but can’t see us getting a result today. As for the Tyrone chap mentioned earlier who questioned some our supporters negative mindset. Well I reckon it has something to do with our horrific record in A I finals since 89. In contrast Tyrone have bagged 4 since the turn of the century. Have to say I admire our optimistic supporters but when I travel today it will definitely be more in hope than confidence Up Mayo
Think we will find out today if we can cope without Leeroy and Oisin. Unfortunately nothing to suggest so far that we can. Really hope I am wrong on this but in the camp that are pretty concerned about our defensive frailties going into the play offs. Our success over the years has been based on a solid defense. Now we have the offensive power, hope we have sorted the defense out during the 6 week break.
@Lineball
“do you not think that Donie Buckley and Kevin & Co will have planned for their attackers.”
I would expect this, which is why I’m not enthused by the line up. Kerry have a different set of attackers and style to Galway. So I would expect a different back six if we were tailoring our approach to match them. It’s not as if we don’t have options.