Photo: RTÉ (Inpho/Cathal Noonan)
This one has already got a run in the comments but, just for the record, it was confirmed earlier today that Maurice Deegan will be the referee for Saturday week’s All-Ireland final replay between our lads and Dublin. It’ll be the Laois official’s second decider – he did the 2008 one between Tyrone and Kerry and he was also in charge of our final against Donegal in 2012.
I’m told the standing protocol for appointing refs to take charge of All-Ireland final replays is that it has to be one of the linesmen from the drawn match. If that is the case, then it was a choice between Deegan and Cavan’s Joe McQuillan. A case of six of one or half-a-dozen there, to be honest.
I’m no fan of Deegan, a whistler who tends to be as weak as water and who was clearly influenced by Joe Brolly’s shite talk about us ahead of the 2012 final. But that’s all in the past and no amount of complaining – about that or the fact that, yet again, it’s a team of officials, the ref included, drawn mainly from the same province as one of the competitors that’ll be in charge of ensuring fair play – will change things. He’s the ref and we just have to live with it.
What we need to do, and what I’ve every expectation Rochy will get done as part of our prep for Saturday week, is to gather as much intelligence as we can on Deegan’s style of reffing and prepare accordingly. We’re facing into another teak tough and hugely physical battle, one where we’ll be looking to give at least as good as we get, so the players need to have a good idea in advance about how Deegan is likely to go on the big calls he’s undoubtedly going to have to make. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.
At the end of the day, the rest of us looking on can only hope that the ref performs competently and that both sides get a fair shake off him. While we’ve had plenty of reason to bemoan poor officiating down the years, I feel that this year this hasn’t, by and large, been a problem for us in this respect. Conor Lane didn’t get every call right on Sunday but he got more right than wrong and if Deegan performs as well as him in the replay then neither ourselves nor Dublin should have cause for complaint.
Best of luck to Maurice and his team of officials in the replay.
Love that picture lol.
I have every confidence in Maurice and his officials. I’m sure they will be fair to both teams as with all the scrutiny they would not like to be seen as biased.
At this point I don’t even care who refs the games. Maybe the farce that was 2014 upped my tolerance significantly, but given the current standards, you can always be certain that some calls will go against you and as a team you just have to plan for that. I’m sure the opposition can say the same thing. For instance, MDMA should have seen the line on Sunday but so equally should Cillian O’Connor.
And at this point, neither do I think the fact that the ref or officials are from the same province has any bearing on the game. I can’t see any ref from outside Dublin, in particular being biased in their favour. Otherwise we could make the point that we need some refs from Connacht coming through. But who in all honesty would be a referee in this day and age?
All the same, I would hope that our ex-players and managers might start batting for us a little more on the airwaves. They have access to the national media, and it is they who should be fighting our corner, taking on the likes of Brolly and Whelan (though I wouldn’t put those two in the same category to be fair, Brolly is in a pathetic little league of his own) and highlighting what the opposition get away with. The likes of Rock and the divots, Kilkenny and the overcarrying, MDMA on kamikaze tackles etc.
And on the day, if the crowd isn’t happy with the decisions, make yourselves heard. It works.
Just looking back at stuff. Cillian scores the last pint. Cluxton kick out. Possible pick the ball off the ground from a Dublin player. Clash of heads with Regan. Game stopped. Game restarted with free to Dublin. Why a free to Dublin?
I had wrongly predicted Dublin Joe would get the replay.
It wouldn’t have been a free, Jim Flag. Play is stopped when there’s a head injury and the team in possession restarts the game with an indirect free. It used to be a throw in but they (rightly, in my view) changed it.
I’m not a fan of Deegan at all, though I do agree with most, if not all, of Willie Joe’s sentiments there. He didn’t cost us the All Ireland in 2012 (the free before the second goal aside) and once refs are generally consistent and fair, I’m happy. 2014 was none of those things. Conor Lane did not get everything right last Sunday but I felt, as did a lot of Mayo AND Dublin people leaving the ground that I was chatting to, that he was fair.
Jim Flag – Bastick clearly handled the ball on the ground before Regan collided with him. How more wasn’t made of it I have no idea.
Good luck to him . All we want is fairness .
Was in front of me for the second half. Spent chunks of it being talked to by Dublin mentors and manager. Seemed to enjoy the status. Not a fan and I’d worry. Cost us badly a few times.
It’s a tough job to ref any match, never mind a replay All Ireland final. I can’t remember anything particularly bad or unfair about Maurice Deggan reefing in the past! He’s been consistent. In my opinion he’s probably the best choice available. I wish him well in his efforts,.
I think it will be a more difficult job for the referee the next day. There is always more
niggle in a replay. I`m hoping we don`t fall into any flytrap because of some residual
stuff carried over from Sunday. That`s the danger.
John Cuffe, I take you at your word. But my mind boggles as to why Dublin mentors would be talking to a referee that had nothing to do with the on going match?
Sorry John Cuffe just after realising my. error. Of course he was a linesman last Sunday. For some reason taught he was at the match as a fan.
I presume because he can communicate with the referee, Leantimes. They are all wired up aren’t they?
Bastick touched the ball on the ground before the clash of heads, cillian was telling lane all about it during the break in play, should have been a free in
We have to get our message out
1) AOS constantly fouled.
2) Kilkenny over carrying constantly.
3)Cooper and McMahon constantly sledging.
He was influenced before!.
Our County men in the media need to step that up
your right castlebarred, mcmahon was trying to shout over cillian to the ref when cillian wa telling him about the pickup. Mayo should have got a free in. Game over then.
I have no particular opinion on deegan but it is worrying how he let the media influence him in the Kerry Tyrone game last year. Totally agree Brady/Carney/Padden etc need to be doing their bit for the county in the next 2 weeks.
Just a comment from what I’ve seen from fans both sides on social media recently. It’s turning quite nasty, something you’d expect from soccer fans, it has no place in GAA. Our lads conduct themselves with such dignity and honour on the pitch, let us not let them down off it.
I do not think Brolly should be allowed wear the Mayo Jersey as he was ready to on Sunday.He should feck off.
I think Mayo need to up it bigtime.Better performances needed with more of the forwards taking responsibility.Think media in general hard on Aidan…he was not perfect but put in good shift in my view.
Cant think of any ref I really like so Deegan will have to do.
Also if John Casey and David Brady have nothing positive to say maybe they could shut up altogether.
I like Casey but his commentary on tunnel issue was silly and uninformed.
Don’t like Deegan at all at all.
And talking of the Bastick handball, what about Aido’s goal in the first half. He didn’t touch a Dublin player, he toe poked it in. What was the problem?
Em …. just watched the video of the game. Must say I`m amazed at how much work
the forwards put in doing the tracking back. Every blade of grass covered. Also spotted
a few things i had`nt noticed in the live game. The truth is I`m so biased at a match like
that I don`t really `see` the game. I admit it here – but don`t tell anyone!
Yeah, Casey going on about the tunnel incident is unbelievable. Just listened to it back and it was like a near death experience. Also heard John Mawn again naming Dublin players which Mayo would not want to see start the next day. Thanks John. Maybe these guys should not say anything.
Of all the mistakes made on Sunday the biggest by a mile was the last minute line ball. Connolly and Kilkenny trying to grab the ball off each other. All they had to do was play keep ball for 45 seconds, up at the right end of the ground for them too and they fucked up. We were gone at that stage if they played their cards right.
We would have lost our 8th final to a side who only managed to kick the ball over the bar 9 times in 80 minutes!
Jim Flag – right on. Connolly’s ego got to him. After spending most of the game in Lee’s pocket he wanted so badly to be the hero. Let’s make them pay for that mistake!
The Connolly/Kilkenny incident was a bit unbelievable. A bit of a departure from the collective before the individual approach that Gavin seems to promote. I think that’ll be fairly knocked out of them the next day. There won’t be any fighting over the ball or going for glory at silly moments.
Who appoints ref
– We have no control over the referee that is appointed and Deegan should do a good job but he will make mistakes as its extremely difficult to ref Senior intercounty. Will be interesting to see who the linesman are as nowadays these can be nearly as important as the red.
– The GAA were quick to give a one year ban to a supporter that encroached into the pitch in Limerick.
-They now need to ban supporters that punch people in the stands. A Dublin supporter was thrown out on Sunday for turning around and punching a 22 year old Mayo woman in the face. He should get lifetime ban. I seen the very same thing happen another Mayo women at a Dublin match a few years back. It does not matter if it’s a man or woman that does the punching it should be an automatic lifetime ban. This would result in criminal charges if it happened outside the ground. It should not be tolerated.
Lads i’ll tell ye something. If it had been 2 Mayo players fighting over the ball in the last minute and then letting a 1 pint lead slip in such a monumental fuck-up fashion, —
the press would be all over it for days after. Huge amount of coverage. Chokers, bottlers, weak, incapable, lacking, flawed, laughing stock, etc etc.
I have watched it back a few times. It gets worse every time i look at it. God it was an awful lack of judgment and a fuck-up of gigantic proportions and they are saying that Mayo left it after them.
Re the Connolly/Kilkenny tugowar – in my opinion there were a few dimensions to what was going on. Kilkenny was tactically aware and endeavoured to play keep-ball. Connolly on the other hand is more old-school which demands more scores even when not necessary, this, allied to his ego got Mayo off the hook.
Were the circumstances reversed I can well imagine how a Mayo player might feel under supporter pressure to do as Connolly did and cough up possession,Too many GAA supporters haven’t yet copped on that ball possession is a tactic and not a matter of discretion. At last we have a Mayo management team which appears to plan for it’s opposition, instead of the heretofore mentality of ‘it will be alright on the night’ Congrats to players and mngt.
Spot on Jim Flag
It was shocking from Dublin, after being 5 up at half time and 3 up at 68 mins too!!!!
They were taking the wrong option because they all wanted to be the star. They are very wary of their individual tally!
And all the papers are saying is ‘they can’t be that bad again’ it’s complete nonsense but until we win the big one we won’t be respected.
Maurice will not stand up to Dublin players and will cop out of any tough calls against them, u will see them bark into his face and influence him, Dubs have won round 1 already and they know it
The current narrative seems to be that “Dublin were bad” and “they will not be as bad the next day”. Maybe or maybe not.
Truth is nobody has a clue what might happen the next day no more than they knew what was going to happen on Sunday last. So Dublin were bad! Well Mayo weren’t great either despite the consensus that has emerged in some quarters. We made a lot of bad mistakes some of which cost us dearly and some of or players weren’t sparkling either. Could it possibly be that W|E wont be as bad the next day and that some of our players will up their game?
Connolly had his eye on the player of the year award I think, but at the same time, as much as I dislike him, I admire his confidence in going for it. If he nailed it they were champions! We can only hope he lives to regret his decision.
Cillian stood up when mattered. Fair play to him. The replay will be WW2 have no doubt. If we can put away our goal chances we’ll do it.
Whelans antics on the sunday game were infuriating! How is this fool aloud judge modern day players? He never even played in AI never mind win one. Fair enough we have’nt won one yet, but least our players know what its like to be there!. I’d say the Kerry boys with X amount of medals have some laugh when that tulip goes criticising them. As for Dessie Dolan? Jesus come on, 1 Leinster championship to his name. Least the 3 stooges have won AI’s, gotta give them that.
Think we’ll win it the next day, just feel we’ll do whatever it takes, yes Dublin will improve, but so will we. Tiredness won’t be a factor as it was last year in the replay, Solan has us in peak condition. Aido will have a stormer in 2 weeks, my bet is he’ll nail the winning score by punching it over the bar to put us 4 clear…..how sweet would that be?. Hon Mayo.
Mayo will have learned a lot from the drawn game. We’ve shown vast improvement over the last few games and I see more the next day. Under new management you should expect tactics to improve. So far so good.
Classic photo btw. Made me laugh so hard!
I agree with a lot of what’s been said; mainly that mayo also have a lot to improve, not just the dubs. I would also add that the Dublin fans I met before during and after the game were sound. My pal and I were in a few “dubs only” pubs in the north side after and git a great reception despite being the only mayo men in the place.
I have firstly congradulate the fans on Sunday you where emence lets hope you can do the same on Saturday week it very important we can get behind these guys again as for the media I think we dwell to much on what they say the truth of the mater is we won’t get any respect of them until we get over the line
dont agree with this Dublin won’t be as bad again! The fact is they weren’t let play to the pace they wanted.let Dublin play and they destroy you but we were in there face all day and I believe we have them rattled!
At half time I didn’t see anyway back because the luck you need on big days was not going for us but we stormed into that 2nd half and we got that small bit of luck when we could have conceded a 3rd own goal when ball came back off Clarke to just go out for 45.
The Dubs are mentally rattled by this Mayo team they let a 5 point lead slip and a 3 point lead slip and they know full well this Mayo team won’t lie down !
Now we had great support but wouldn’t it be lovely if we could get a massive flag into the hill and add more colour in there.we need to keep the noise levels up and drown out the sound of the boys n blue
Most Dub fans like most Mayo fans are fine people just very passionate about their team. We all have exceptions.
Agree, Keep the Faith, one we cross the line the narrative of the meja will change. In the meantime (next ten days) it is useful to heat our blood!
Watched it back now, and I have to say I was a little depressed. We did all the great things posters talk about, but still I thought Dublin punished every sloppy mistake we made and looked comfortable at 69 mins. Connolly and Kilkenny really fucked up.
I don’t agree with all of McGuinness”s article (he questions the intensity of the tackling), but he’s on the money that we have to be different the next day and second guess the Dubs.
We never led after drawing level twice; really lost our composure. I sensed a ‘we’re going to win this, Oh Jasus’ moment and we gave away a lot of cheap ball.
Last 3 points were heroic of course.
Jimflag
U may well be right that the press would have made a meal of a connolly Kilkenny type incident if Mayo did it…but the difference is calling Dublin chokers bottles etc doesn’t hold much water when they have won 3 of the last 5 AIs. That’s the difference.
Forget about the ref.. control the controllables. These guys officiating are human and all make mistakes. Forget about the pundits. Truth is all 3 on the Sunday game come across as decent fellas and Whelan would be roasted by Dublin fans if he didn’t try to influence things for the replay. RTE that should be blamed there for giving him the opportunity but guess they didn’t expect a draw. I think MDMA’s take the head off Cillian challenge should be pointed out by our side at the first mention of any of our players. Reckless. MDMA’s earlier non black card was also a lot more clearcut than McCarthy’s and Cillian also deserved a black. Boyler was close too but seemed to be trying to shoulder yer man. Mayo’s discipline has always been excellent apart from Seamie’s reaction to provocation last year.. Keegan and Keane’s reds were both wrong calls and rightly reversed though the later was a wee bit stupid. Connolly’s reprieve last year was wrong call but swings in roundabouts and he didn’t do much in the replay anyway. We made our point the last day now go out and beat them at football. Don’t back off in any argument but don’t do anything stupid. Leave that to the Dubs.. if any of them should lose the plot let them at it.
As for attacking Dessie Dolan’s record as a Westmeath player I’ve no time for that on this forum. The fella who said that is not a proper Mayo fan IMO. Dessie was a top player for his county.
Time to stop being the eternal victims. Having a go at Deegan within minutes of his appointment. Criticising Dublin Joe, yet he was the linesman that got McCarthy sent off. Moaning about Whelan and A Brogan for playing the Dublin card but at the same time wanting Mayo pundits to fight our corner. Criticising Dessie Dolan who I think is ok. Our team never play the victim card despite some dreadful bad luck down through the years. They make no excuses and keep coming back. We should be so proud of them
Are megaphones permitted in Croke Park??
I wonder whether arguing with your team mate over a line ball is part of the Dublin ‘process’? This being a word bandied about by their players in the aftermath of the Kerry game. The word gets a lot of credence in the press when they win but not much heard of it since Sunday. Put bluntly the media attention on it is a load of cobblers. The word simply refers to a team’s game plan and tactics…. the idea being that you carry out your tasks and the result looks after itself. Thing is, all teams at inter county level have a ‘process’ but it only sounds good when you win. Dublin’s reference to it after the Kerry game gave it a type of mystical quality, akin to some sort of magical sporting alchemy that they had devised. As the saying goes ‘the winners get to write history’.
Shuffy deck
The first section of your post is accurate but as the eyes decent so does the post in the eyes of the neutral in my opinion.
To win just once
Pretty much spot on, I was thinking Wheelan was a bit heavy on the Mayo regarding Keegan but nevertheless spot on. Don’t get me wrong I think Keegan is one of your top three players but he is a “rogue” ( blackguard, scumbag, parasite from the opinion of the opposition ) and I love him for that reason. He will fight like a dog for his bone and no other dog will beat him too it. I hope Cillian’s injury reports are exaggerated !! without him ye shall not cross.
Spotlight,,
You are so right,, this is a word chosen to capture the stardom of the unprecedented preparation of the perceived slickest team in history, I can see it being incorporated in some glorifying documentary being played to “the boys are back in town” and” come on you boys in blue” ,, Christ we will pay for this victory if ye don’t stop them ha ha
On Deegan I’d grab him if he was in the bucket with the three amego’s,, at least he is not a plastic Dub
To win just once… You’re right.
The referee is not responsible for our stray passing and lack of composure when game is there to be won. More composure please seamie. I would consider a while on the bench for him and bring him in later
@shufflydeck,
Im the one who questioned Dessie Dolans right to be judging these players. I stand by it, as their is 100’s of ex-players out there who have won the big one, yet RTE employ 2 players who never won it to analyse the AI final? I just don’t see the sense in it. They dont know what pressure the players are under, the expectation etc etc, yet they sit there like they’ve done it all before?…
Anyways, I could’nt care less at this stage as my mind moves to the replay. As for your im not a true Mayo supporter remark, I actually could’nt give 2 hoots what you think, your just another man/woman hiding behind a nickname….like myself. keep the faith 🙂
No white feather
If our boy’s want this nothing deegan Gavin or pundits say or do will stop them.
All we can do is get behind them like we did the last day and finish this once and for all.
Lets get many as we can up there again.
Toughnup- spot on on both counts.
Dubs can’t play that bad again!!!! That was the topic of conversation I had at half time in the hill with genuine good dub supporters. They will be much much better in the second half, I admit I had to agree. Well they were no better in the second half so there’s no guarantee they’ll be any better the next day!!!!!
We do need to play better the next day however
Sunday was no different to our earlier matches we played very good devastating football for 15min. The rest was all guts and heart and taking advantage of sloppy play by the dubs. If we can retain the guts and heart and stretch out our 15mins to 30 then we have a massive chance here.
Re Deegan, saw him as linesman miss a line ball to us in tralee as he was laughing and joking with Jack o Connor on the sideline. On Sunday he seemed to be having a nice chat with rock prior to a 45 being taken. Being a ref is a tough job but you have to nobody’s friend to at least give the impression that you’re impartial. Good luck to him all the same.
We had great support the last day, and fair play to the lads in the hill who kept chanting. No surrender. Maigh Eo Abu!!!
Anyone see the Dublin fans on social media going mad about all the Mayo fans in Croke Park and threatening to boycott a league game in protest at the treatment of Dublin fans.
Who the fuck do they think they are? (sorry for language WJ) – I am in bullish mood since Sunday with many saying we missed the boat…give me a break. If Dublin are the boat then Mayo are the iceberg and we know how that ended…Up Mayo!
Great article by Malachy Clerkin in today’s Irish Times.
Exactly Mayomanindublin, I was in the Hill myself…still hoarsed and actually tried to swap the tickets before the game for seated ones. I’ll never attempt that again, as the atmosphere was electric in there. Everytime the Dubs started a chant, they were hit with a Mayo Mayo, good big groups of U18’s stuck together and sang their hearts out. Excellent effort from all Mayo fans during the game.
Im happy enough with Deegan, he looked very cosy with Cillian towards the end, and actually high fived him when Cillian was walking off the pitch. He’s all about spreading the love is our Maurice, so plenty of back slapping and smiling to him might soften him up for us. If we had Gough we would be in right trouble.
Olive, the assault you mentioned is a criminal offence whether it happened inside or outside the ground. If the man in question was thrown out, he actually should have been thrown into the arms of the guards. Its not a lifetime ban thats required, its jail.
Wolfie, I would agree, Clerkin is one of the very few journalists I would actually read about GAA. He deals with facts not bias.
I have to say I’m loving this stuff from the Dub’s, talk of boycotting a league game and wondering how so many Mayo people got tickets for the final.
Our exceptional support on Sunday has really left them rattled, no more than our players have.
Their sense of entitlement when it comes to Croke Park and The Hill in-particular is staggering.
This talk of a storm coming from the west last week was proven true, both in terms of our players intensity and spirit, and also our incredible supporters who refused to bend it’s knee to the Dub’s.
More of the same next Saturday and we have this.
I actually think Deegan is one of the better refs, to be honest. I’d rate Eddie Kinsella fairly highly as well, given his performance in the replayed game last year.
Regarding having a Leinster ref or a Connacht ref, to be fair we’re not blessed with referring talent our side of the Shannon if the Duffy lads are any measure of abilities, so I’ll take a Laois ref any day.
I’ve met Maurice and he’s a decent fella to be fair, ready to have a chat and passionate about the game. He is one of the few that will get in between players who are knocking lumps out of each other to regain control of things and while he’s in charge, things don’t tend to get messy.
Yes he’s made some poor or questionable calls against us in some games but to be fair what referee hasn’t and what county can anyone claim that refs don’t make poor calls against. Lane could have issued a handful of black cards on Sunday but on balance things evened out over the course of the game.
It takes some level of fitness to keep up with the pace of the modern game and most refs are in their 40’s, trying to chase 28 lads around a pitch the size of Croke park while maintaining order would be a challenge for the best of folks. That and having to have to make split second decisions on a multitude of factors that would make an algorithmic supercomputer implode with contradiction. Also – do that for 80 minutes solid, and most likely be the only man on the field that doesn’t get to stand still for more than a few seconds at a time. I wouldn’t do it, that’s for sure.
I do think that in the bigger games there’s a case for having 2 refs, one in each half, maybe for Quarter Finals on. That would cut out a huge amount of off the ball stuff as well, given there would be 2 refs available to officiate and monitor that. It might be difficult in practice though as at what point to refs try to hand over responsibility or even stop their runs following play and let the other fella take charge. It would be easier to implement than a video ref.
Anyway – onwards to Saturday week to finish the job.
Up Mayo.
When are cairde and croke park season tickets being issued? I think huge credit has to go to all our supporters who made it into croke park on Sunday. The dubs were caught surprised with this as well and I think everyone accepts it had a huge bearing in the team pulling the game out of the fire when it looked to be slipping away. We all really hope we can have the same numbers again supporting this fantastic group of players on Saturday week. It really could make all the difference.
I know where the 2 ref approach is coming from. But imagine if there was one foul blown at one end and not blown at another, for exactly the same incident, I know that happens with one ref all the time, but with 2 refs, it could get hairy. My own opinion of course.
Mayomagic, Season tickets are to be processed today and are available to print off at 2pm friday, they are not sent by post this time around.
I like Stephens answers to the McGuinness/Brolly/tunnel questions as seen on Hogan stand. Short sweet and basically all that crap doesnt bother us. As for the tunnel, well you have to ask Dublin about that.
Reading Darragh O’Se today, and I like following what he say, but we are going to be dished out the same stuff by most in the media – whatever way they style it or wrap it up the end product is that guys like McMenamon, Flynn, Connolly, Rock will all produce it the next day and that that should swing it in Dublins favour. That’s what the nation expects.
Clerkin, who went for the dubs +4 in prior to the drawn game, has an interesting article today saying that this Mayo team are not seen as equals of Dublin. They are not even credited along the same lines as the current Kerry team. This is the perception out there – despite all that this Mayo team has done over the past few years they will NEVER get credit until they go and win the big one. As supporters, we can be disgruntled and moan about how we are ridiculed and dont get a balanced analysis etc but that’s the reality folks – people think Mayo are a good team, that’s all. They dont think they are a great team. This will only happen if Mayo go and beat the dubs on Saturday week. It’s going to take a more cohesive and clinical performance than what the lads produced on Sunday, but that’s do-able. Last Sunday was a decent performance but I’ve seen us play better. Haven’t you?.
Can they do it, that’s the question? It’s in their hands.
As regards support – we need to match what we did in terms of support again on Saturday week. If there are hill tickets, take the hill ticket, and get on there in green and red. If you don’t want to go to the hill, find a Mayo fan that will, and give them green and red if you have to.
Bring a flag and keep up the noise level. It made a difference the last day and it will make a difference the next day. And it doesn’t matter if you’re the only one shouting around you. Roar your head off, make the noise and make yourself heard. I was largely surrounded by Dubs the last day and I know I annoyed the piss out of some of them with my braying but to be honest I couldn’t give a shite what they think or how they feel. I’m also loud enough, and by virtue overly generous dinner portions for a number of years, large enough that they wouldn’t be brave enough to tell me to shut up even if they wanted to.
If you have a ticket by hook or by crook then you have as much right to be there and make as much noise as anyone else. Croke park and all parts of it are for all counties and no one has any entitlement to any part of it over anyone else who’s willing to part with the price of their seat or place to stand on the terraces. Shout loud and stay proud of your County.
Let’s be that 16th man again.
Up Mayo.
Agreed, mayomad. I continue to be impressed by Rochford, and from his post-match interviews you would not think that was his first intercounty AI final as manager. This composure and calmness coupled with him getting the match-ups right is huge for us. It’s clear he’s instilled belief and togetherness into the set-up. If this continues we’ll have every chance in the replay. It’s time for cool heads now more than ever and no better man than Rochy to bring this.
A note to Mayo supporters intending to go to the Hill and with a flag:- I had Big Bertha with me, as usual, going onto Hill 16 but the stick of the flag was taken off me going in by Gardai who said the they were following orders from GAA not to allow flag sticks into the terrace for ‘safety’ reasons. I argued my point as much as I could that it was entirely unfair to bring this ridiculous ‘rule’ in out of the blue, but to no avail. This is why you saw very few flags on the hill the last day. Obviously, some got through.
If you want to bring a flag in then it has to be stick/pole free. So my advice is to use your imagination as to how to get around this 😉
Clerkin’s article is totally on the money. Had the roles being reversed on Sunday and Mayo squandered a 3 point lead in injury time they would have been ridiculed in the press.
They were accused of ‘blowing’ the reply last year because Lee Keegan dropped a ball in to Cluxton’s hands with a full 20 mins to go. Talk about double standards.
This team just wont get the respect they deserve outside the county until they win an AI. But there can’t be any doubt now that they are good enough to do it.
Mayonaze, I would agree with what you are saying and the reality is we wont be seen as equals until we win it. Saying that, I really dont care what the pundits and the rest of the nation thinks of Mayo. It only matters what us the Mayo people think of the team and I think that was resoundingly conveyed in Croke Park on Sunday.
You mentioned McManamon, Flynn and Rock are expected to improve. McManamon will be back on the bench and prob will make a big impact coming on so needs marking as soon as he crosses the line. Flynn IMO is past it, jasnt played well all year and cant seee that changing on saturday, Rock for me is really overrated. An excellent free taker but offers very little in open play. If Cluxton could still knock over the long rangers then he wouldnt be playing. Keeping the frees conceeded down takes rock out of the game.
Everyone saying Dublin will improve, for me there is alot more room for improvement in the Mayo team. COC, DOC, AOS can raise their preformances a good deal. SOS will start but needs to be replaced around the 45 min mark. The tank was empty last Sunday and was prob on for 10mins too long. Management know this now and cant see this as a problem next time.
What to do with Barry Moran? Undoubtedly our best fielder of a ball and for me has been our most consistent preformer from the bench. Fenton and MDM are just too mobile around the middle for Barry. Start at ff and cause havoc might be a plan.
AOS is an issue, how to maximise his potential, he is a game winner if we can get him into the right areas. I just think he was trying too hard , trying to do too much on Sunday, he wants to win so much. I think a more controlled approch is needed, shore midfield then play fast ball to the supporting runners, limit the amount of barging runs Dublin are set up for this. Not much better at pressung the Dublin Defence than AOS but a more controlled offensive approch might be best for the team.
If you look at that Keegan miss carefully you will see a little pull on him before he kicked that ball—-great defending,
@Mayonaze, that’s a joke regarding removing sticks from the flags. What damage can a bit of bamboo do? At the end of the day GAA fans are not Millwall supporters on a drunk rampage. Plenty of Dubs behind the goal got theirs in, so it should be no different for anyone else. I was in the Nally Terrace and I got in fine with my flag and stick as did the people I was with. I was wondering after the game why so many mayo people in that corner of the hill had flags but no sticks, it makes sense now. Credit must go to all Mayo fans around the ground on Sunday, they were unbelievable. The bank of flags in the lower Cusack was a sight to behold. Fair play to the fans on the hill who got the chants going and who drowned out the dubs. I live and work in Dublin, and from what I can gauge our take over of Croke Park has really pissed them off. More of the same for the 1st is essential. We bet them in the stands, now lets’s beat them on the pitch.
I work in Dublin too and they are rattled alright. Let’s keep rattling them.
Wayoutwest….did you not listen to your manmy. ‘You’ll take someone’s eye out with that stick!!