Championship meetings between ourselves and Dublin in recent years have, without exception, been of the highest quality. League encounters between the two counties have, in contrast, been forgettable and, for us, depressingly familiar in how they’ve played out.
Tonight’s four-point loss to Dublin under the lights at MacHale Park represents but the latest chapter in a long run of dispiriting spring defeats to them. The defeat also pushes us into what has now become an annual battle to retain our top tier status in the League.
We made one change ahead of throw-in tonight. It was, though, a significant one with Lee Keegan – making his first start since his hip surgery in November – lining out instead of Jason Gibbons. Dublin, meanwhile, made four last-second switches to their announced fifteen before the match got underway.
The visitors struck with purpose within two minutes. Paul Mannion gathered the ball out on the stand side, left Eoin O’Donoghue trailing in his wake, cut inside at speed and lashed the ball high into the net. It was, in every sense, the worst possible start for us.
We got going soon after from a placed ball. Jason Doherty, fed by Adam Gallagher, was fouled and he popped over the subsequent free.
We were cut open a second time in Dublin’s next attack. Ciaran Kilkenny was in on goal but his shot off the left boot went over the bar.
Leeroy signalled his return to the fray at the other end, firing over from nearly forty yards out. From the restart, however, Dublin came straight down the field, Dean Rock pointing for them. A free from the same player, following a foul by Eoin O’Donoghue on Mannion, put Dublin four clear with ten minutes played.
From our next attack Adam Gallagher, showing well for possession, was fouled. Jason Doherty cut the gap to three with the free. A scoreless few minutes then elapsed before Rock, following a foul on Fenton, notched his third free of the night for them.
The next score was Ballaghaderreen made and executed. David Drake fed Footballer of the Year Andy Moran who, after making a dummy pass that caused two Dublin players to collide into each other rather comically, knocked it over the bar. Brian Fenton responded with one from play for them to keep them in control.
Another Rock free pushed them five clear. From the restart, however, a super fetch in the middle by Aidan O’Shea initiated an attack from which Kevin McLoughlin fired over.
On the half-hour we were fortunate to avoid conceding another goal. James McCarthy scythed through but Robbie saved with his legs, Kilkenny pointing from the rebound.
John Small became the first player to be carded as we came forward again. From the resultant attack, Aidan O’Shea offloaded to Stephen Coen and the Hollymount/Carramore man pointed.
But Dublin once again replied at the other end straight away. Dean Rock opted not to go for the posts from a fifty-yard free but instead fed it to Paul Mannion who restored Dublin’s five-point advantage.
With the half-time whistle approaching, some patient build-up play by our lads ended with Kevin McLoughlin bagging his second point of the evening. Dublin, though, had the final say of the half, knocking one over from play to leave them five clear at the break.
We had a glorious opportunity to force our way back into it right after the restart. Jason Doherty won a turnover and played in Adam Gallagher for the goal chance but the Mayo Gaels man shot narrowly wide.
Aidan O’Shea was yellow carded for a foul on McCarthy soon after. Dublin came forward but we’d pulled everyone bar Andy back behind the ’45 and we patiently held them off. Eventually we turned over the ball but the attack we then mounted ended with Lee shooting wildly off target.
Our next effort at the posts was, however, better. Robbie trotted up to take a long-range free and his kick sailed straight between the posts to open the second half scoring.
Lee and one of the Dublin players entered the book after that. During the break in play Diarmuid Connolly and Cian O’Sullivan both joined the fray, replacing Paul Mannion and John Small respectively.
Stephen Coen’s shot came up short but Dublin messed up clearing their lines, with Andy nipping in to claim possession. He was fouled but Jason Doc made a total hames of the free, blasting it wide.
Then came the killer blow. A mix-up in our full-back line allowed Niall Scully, rising to meet a cross from Rock, to punch it past Robbie to the net.
There was still half an hour left to play at this stage. But now seven points in arrears it was clear that this match was already done and dusted.
A free from Jason cut the gap to six but another free from Rock restored Dublin’s seven-point advantage. Dublin were now in an unshakeable comfort zone.
It probably made sense for us to run the bench at this stage. Off went Diarmuid O’Connor and Kevin McLoughlin, with Conor Loftus and Fergal Boland coming on.
What few chances we had we spurned. Jason, Andy and Robbie all missed frees, as the cost of Cillian O’Connor’s absence through suspension became ever clearer to the large attendance at MacHale Park.
Shairoze Akram came on for clubmate David Drake, all urgency from the contest having now evaporated. Dublin, having done more than enough to win the game, were happy to ease off the accelerator while one would have to hope that we’d opted to conserve our energy for the three League matches we’ve yet to play.
We did, though, come with a late, late gallop. Too little too late it proved to be but at least it did our points difference some good.
It started with a burst by Eoin O’Donoghue that ended with Danny Kirby getting fouled. Conor Loftus, our fourth freetaker of the evening, pointed the resultant placed ball to take our tally into double figures.
We came on the attack again. Aidan O’Shea was fouled by Mick Fitzsimons, the Cuala man picking up a second yellow for his troubles, and Conor Loftus once more pointed the free.
Another attack, another foul in a scoreable position, this one on Andy. Once again Conor stroked it over but this one was also the last kick of the game. Dublin won at the finish by four points.
It was a loss we can have some regrets about. Any match against Dublin where you cough up goals early in each half is going to be a tough one but all those second half misses – in particular the frees that Cillian would surely have nailed – made our task so much harder and ultimately proved extremely costly to us.
Would it have been a different outcome had we been less profligate after the break? It’s hard to know. Dublin could well have kept the foot to the floor for longer than they needed to had we mounted a serious comeback in the second half.
So, this one ultimately went the way most of us felt it would. We’re now two points from four matches and, once again, relegation from Division One is a clear and present danger for us.
After those losses to Galway and Kerry, our hopes of surviving the drop was always going to rest on getting the results we need in the final three matches of this year’s League campaign. Following this dispiriting defeat, that calculus remains unaltered. Only now we really do have to discover how to start winning matches once again.
Mayo: Robbie Hennelly (0-1, free); Caolan Crowe, Ger Cafferkey, Eoin O’Donoghue; Colm Boyle, Michael Hall, David Drake; Stephen Coen (0-1), Lee Keegan (0-1); Kevin McLoughlin (0-2), Aidan O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor; Jason Doherty (0-3, frees), Andy Moran (0-1), Adam Gallagher. Subs: Seamus O’Shea for Gallagher, Conor Loftus (0-3, frees) for O’Connor, Fergal Boland for McLoughlin, Shairoze Akram for Drake, Danny Kirby for Doherty.
Who was our MOTM against Dublin?
- Aidan O'Shea (15%, 131 Votes)
- Lee Keegan (14%, 119 Votes)
- Colm Boyle (12%, 102 Votes)
- Kevin McLoughlin (12%, 102 Votes)
- Stephen Coen (8%, 71 Votes)
- Adam Gallagher (7%, 61 Votes)
- Diarmuid O'Connor (6%, 48 Votes)
- Conor Loftus (5%, 44 Votes)
- Robbie Hennelly (4%, 33 Votes)
- Andy Moran (3%, 29 Votes)
- Jason Doherty (3%, 27 Votes)
- Eoin O'Donoghue (2%, 19 Votes)
- Caolan Crowe (2%, 17 Votes)
- David Drake (2%, 16 Votes)
- Ger Cafferkey (2%, 16 Votes)
- Shairoze Akram (1%, 11 Votes)
- Danny Kirby (1%, 10 Votes)
- Michael Hall (1%, 6 Votes)
- Fergal Boland (1%, 5 Votes)
- Seamus O'Shea (0%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 603
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Have to say Dublin are a class apart from us on tonights performance. They controlled from start to finish. We defended well in patches and didn’t give too much away except from the obvious 2-10. Dublin knew how to win from getting 5 in front and the seasoned campaigners of subs showed that.
Where to from here for us, need strong shows from here on in and also a scoring free taker. 4/5 different ones tonight.
Some positives and some negitives but the result that was expected. We can definetly pick up 4 points from our next 3 games and push on from there
Not the end of the world. The next fe .league games will be exciting. Great to see a few of the regular faces getting back in the fray and it seems like some of the new lads didn’t do too bad. 3 to go and all to play for.
We are on a different path than Dublin. We just dont have strenght in depth to compete in league and championship.
Goal is to stay up and get right for the Summer. We can do it there was improvement tonight more to come i think.
Developing players takes a long time Bernard Brogan was a fringe player for 3/4 years.
Loftus, Adam Gallagher, Coen will all improve. It just does not happen as quick as we imagine or wish it too
County football is tough thats why we are in the stands not the pitch.
To all the Cillian knockers ye got your answer tonight, and if Rochy knew his fringe players well enough he would have had Adam Gallagher taking them frees. We talk about winning All Irelands and we cant even get simple free-taking right Doherty had a shocker at frees tonight and Andys attempt was really poor aswell. Ger Caff cleaned as predicted Rock was bullying him all through the game. Drake really poor all through as expected not up to it at this level, no game time given to Nally or Stretton who are much better footballers. Thought Lee Keegan ,Kevin Mcloughlin were really good along with Aidan O’Shea ,Boyler and Diarmuid .Special mention for Adam Gallagher bar his goal chance maybe put to much on it trying to place it but thought he played really well, I was very impressed with his performance.
Robbie Robbie Robbie. Another horror show for the gk against dublin. Stood up for the first and flapped for the second. It’s a killer as he is probably a much better baller than Clarke.
Tonight the COC became Mayo most important player, Hennelly was excellent bar the 2nd goal far better than Clarke even with a second string of backs and midfield the majority of his kickouts were accurate, After tonight i feel there’s a glimmer of hope. like i already said our season starts next sunday.
Pleasantly surprised to be honest because I feared a much more one-sided game. Much sharper in some areas but poor up front. What a shame we missed so many frees – Dublin ended up with 2 scores second half which is surreal from them. There’s no doubt the importance of the big game players such as Leeroy and co. Loftus did well when he came on – a pity Gallagher didn’t nail that goal chance – it would have risen his confidence hugely. We should take it and move on – the sharpness in front of goal will return with fitness and training. Can’t wait to see what Cian Hanley brings to the party if he’s given a run in the next few games.
Have to say I am satisfied with performance tonight, we stayed in that game right til the end, there were positives no doubt. AO’S has to play better against Dublin if we are to beat them though, he has to vary his game. They seem to be able to ‘bottle’ him up quite easily.
Thought Coen, McLoughlin and Leeroy done well, the Dubs do not like Leeroy, he make them uncomfortable.
We were missing 10 players tonight.. The free taking is a worry.. Great to see Leeroy back. Onwards to Newbridge on Sunday…
Were you at the same game Norris , hennelly good from kick outs in the first half …
Flapped at the first goal and was totally exposed for the second goal …. reminded me of 2013 final
Clarke would have took man and ball, I hope management put Clarke back in for next week
we all know we will be a different animal when the real ball comes out. plenty of positives to be had and we restricted them to 1-1 in the second half which takes some doing.
these games are all about finding 2/3 to knock on the door and loftus ,coen and gallagher look the most likely.
I think a lot of people are comparing Mayo to dublin, newsflash!! there is no comparison. They are fit all year long and have a line of players coming in and more facilities and money than they know what to do with. All that stuff makes a big difference, league titles and championships galore proves it.
Other than that I thought some Mayo fellas played very well and that the fitness is improving at a good clip which is vital for the next 3 games against teams that aren’t at Dublin’s level of fitness.
I have to admit, i see more positives than negatives with tonights performance. As has being already stated Dublin have a bigger panel. We are getting a lot of young players game experience. This will stand to them and us as a team. It would be nice stay up in Division one but really if we stay up or go down , it will be soon forgotten when we are preparing for the Galway game. I can still see a big summer ahead and i have no doubt these both teams will be in this years All Ireland in early September
The Hennelly Clark debate may start again, Hennelly much better at kickouts which is even more important now with the new rule, but as a shot stopper, Clark better.
Gallagher played well. O’Donaghue handed a tough task and struggled for the first 10 minutes, got a handle on things after that. Great to see Lee back. I’ll reiterate my earlier statements about a number of players running out of road. Was secreatly praying for a drone strike on the bacon factory end as I heard the Chelsea, sorry I mean Dublin fans chanting “who are ya”.
Positives.
1. Very sharp up front. Missed nothing all night, especially from placed balls. No new forwards needed after all.
2. Seem to have gotten out of the bad habit of conceding 2 early goals in the first few minutes of big games and now we only let in 1 soft one in the opening minute or so.
3. Restricted Dublin to 2 scores in the second half.
4. Tyrone lost tonight by a pint to Monaghan. So its Kildare and Tyrone for the drop.
Negatives.
No negatives from tonight at all.
Plus I’m a lot more confident heading for Newbridge after tonight’s performance, especially seeing Lee and Seamie back. Add Cillian and Parsons for next week and things are looking better.
Amazing how Dublin weren’t happy in the end. They really seem to have it in for us.
The players never let their heads drop and that’s all we can ask for.
We were unlucky with the goal and missed chances in the second half.
Having said that, Dublin didn’t try to push on and were penalised with a couple of overcarries.
Still great experience for the younger players and unbelievable to hear Keegan was starting. The introduction of Akram was another significant moment.
A strange game. On the one hand we were totally outplayed and should have lost by much more than 4. Yet if Adam took his goal and we had a reliable free taker, it could have been a close finish.
Mighty to see Lee back – he is some man for one man! on we go again next Sunday- have to win.
Paddy in dublin I know everyone is entitled to there opinion but did you see the game. To say coen was good?? He kicked a point granted but was very poor besides had 1 very poor effort for a point gave some terrible passes including one in to Andy in the first half caught no ball as was playing midfield he actually turned his back on some kickouts.
Have to say I was disappointed for Adam with the one on one – but he will learn from it. The free taking issues sucked the confidence out of the “go for it attitude”, which I felt Mayo were up for in the second half. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I felt a lot of Dublin players were playing from “memory” rather than any great “goal” in mind, which to my mind, may prove to be vulnerable, later on in the year. In fairness to Aidan, he went in on James McCarthy with a thunderous tackle – good to see. Now I hope ye afficianados support our lads in Tralee tomorrow. After all, we are just over the border – LOL..
My thoughts after calming down a little
Rob – Knows he is number two, hard place to be. Don’t think he will be happy with either goal.
Caolan – Think he held Kev Mc scoreless. Probably played a little safe and let Kev on too much ball.
Ger – Another tough outing. Taken for three from play and gave away a few frees.
Eoin – A wake up call for Eoin and those of us that were foolish enough to think he is a ready made replacement for Keith. Kept plugging away
Colm – One early hit early on lifted the crowd. Not brilliant but not terrible
Lee – Great to see him back. One great point and keet Ciaran quiet
Michael – Anonymous. Lacks the cut for this level but has played little football in last two years.
Aidan – Can’t fault his application or heart. But the sight of him taking a free 38 metres out in the first half sent me into meltdown
Stephen – Another who didn’t put down the head but he is not a Midfieler. Lacks the skills necessary but he does try
David – Just can’t see what he brings to the party. Has some pace but very little technical ability
Kevin – One very good point but no major impact
Diarmuid – Looks lethargic to me would give him a break. Needs to come back fresh for championship. Hasn’t recovered his form since injury against Kildare in Castlebar
Jason – Had a horror night on frees. Not an issue long term though
Andy – Struggled to get into the game but some of the ball into him left a lot to be desired
Adam – Main positive for me. Looks to have developed physically. Hungry. Ok missed a good goal chance but would play him for remainder of league
Management – poor again. Didn’t move Eoin who is a new young player and was obviously in trouble. Persisted with David for far too long. Should have brought on Ger Mc at FB early. Need to stop Aidan taking frees.
A few things, I wanted Hennelly to get a runout, but anyone that thinks he played well wasn’t watching the game. % of 13 kickouts lost in the first half alone, didn’t advance on Mannion and certainly should have cleared the lofted ball for the second goal.
Adam Gallagher is terribly one-paced for the modern game. COC can’t return fast enough. Our best players were all the old dogs, Keegan was excellent.
The GAA has to do something about strategic fouling, the Dubs fouled us everytime we won possession in our own half.
Freetaking cost us any chance of getting a result tonight. Agree with TH that Gallagher is a good freetaker and should be developed in that role as we cannot rely exclusively on COC going forward. and anyone else including RH are low percentage kickers. With Reape and Irwin out to grass there is no other known incumbent for this critical role. On tonight,s performance Caff poor again, Drake too, Coen eager but error prone and poor decision maker. Not sure what Crowe has to offer, the rest as they say had their rmoments but not enough of them.
Wonder why Gibbons didnt feature, and subs were again introduced too late to make an impression or affect the outcome (apart from Loftus frees )
Ger Bohan ….
I cannot agree on your assessment of Rob Hennelly tonight.
Very unfair.
Very little we saw tonight surprised us too much. We knew what the dubs would bring and we also knew that we are well below our best at this time of year and with a makeship backline and midfield. I thought we defended reasonably well for most of the game. We were well beaten but not humiliated which could have happened. So I suppose not too bad.
What was disappointing was that Eoin O Donoghue wasnt really able for Mannion. I had hoped he might be a star performer tonight. I hope he is capable of learning from this experience. I was also surprised at Jason Doherty messing up his frees. He is much better than that normally. I’m no judge of goalkeeping in general but I thought Robbie Hennelly was poor for their second goal. His kicking out wasn’t that brilliant either in my opinion but that could be to do with other lads not playing their part. Adam Gallagher played ok until that missed goal chance. That’s two crucial misses in two games. Not good for confidence.
All – just getting a bit concerned that some people are taking fairly lazy cuts at named players. If you want to criticise anyone, PROVIDE SPECIFICS. It’s a simple rule, one that doesn’t stop people criticising what they see as poor performances but obliges anyone doing so to back up what they’re saying with some evidence.
I came away from that a lot happier than the Kerry and Galway games. I think in fairness to the ref, he had control of the game, unlike Mahoney in the Kerry game.
I thought ball handling was a lot better tonight, although There were a few soft unnecessary turnovers. In spite of the change in goal keeper, we should have won more of our own kick outs. Jason Doherty had an initial good spell taking frees and then went off the boil until Conor Loftus took over. Several people have saying we missed Cillian for that tonight, but he hasn’t been entirely consistent in front of the posts recently either. We missed 4 from frees, that should have been converted. It would be naive to think we would have won, because the Dubs were always comfortable. I think this is an area we need to focus on, as based on recent evidence, a lot of teams will be goading Cillian to provoke him, getting him sent off. The defense was more very porous. Ger Cafferkey took way too much shit off Rock,. We need a meaner full back line.
I went into this game thinking we needed lads to put in a good performance, not necessarily win, but we needed a good performance after two poor performances. I think we got an alright performances, which gives grounds for optimism. Can’t afford to be bollocking around for any more games now
Robbie did pretty well from kickouts and he’s a good option for long frees. However I think Clarke would have prevented 1 if not both goals.
Some people saying Crowe struggled but I disagree. Kept his man scoreless and was positive with the ball.
I thought Caff struggled again. As others said, I just don’t see him starting in championship.
O’Donoghue pulled the short straw marking Mannion and found the going tough. In fairness there aren’t many around that can mark him.
Typical performance from Boyler. Solid.
Hall didn’t make any mistakes per se but is far too safe on the ball. Won’t get anywhere near the team when Higgins, Durcan et al return.
The same can be said of Drake. He’s strong and fast but you need more than that.
Mixed bag from Coen. Nice point in the first half and caught a few marks but some sloppy passing too.
Great to see Leeroy back. Showed no ill effects from injury.
McLoughlin was excellent in the first half but faded in the 2nd.
Aidan did well around midfield but was ineffective when he went full forward.
Diarmuid did grand but no more than that.
Doherty is a great man to win ball and bring others into play but doesn’t score enough himself. Less said about those frees the better.
Andy did well. Only worry is how reliant we are on him.
Adam did well in general but a poor goal attempt. Worth another shot.
Subs brought on late again so hard to rate. I’ve said it before, but Loftus should be starting these games.
Can’t agree regarding Hennellys performance tonight.
No keeper would have done any better with the second goal.
Some of his kickouts were really good, but with very few options out the field, some of the ones in the first half were risky.
What I wouldn’t give for a Geaney Comer or James o Donoghue for our team we are screaming out for a class forward who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and win the game and the Dubs were there for the taking tonight. I’m not convinced Cillian would have put them frees over either after his last two performances still
though there are encouraging signs there’s life in this team yet.
I hate to say it but once Mannion got the goal after two minutes they were always going to win. They controlled the second half albeit we kept them from scoring much.
I wish Hennelly well and his kickouts are better than Clarkes but here’s the thing…..we should never have allowed the second goal. The Dublin player should have been ‘cleaned out’.
Disappointed with A Gallagher ..not the goal but the way he lost possession (they just took the ball off him).
Serious problems up front as we know…the free taking was unforgiveable in front of the posts!
Dublin’s tactical fouling tonight was savage in fairness. Just a hand in or a late nudge, but it stopped the build up every time and was never serious enough to warrant a black card. Diarmuid in particular was targeted all night. Very well drilled team and was fascinating watching their warm up drills.
Does Rochford forget that he has subs and that they are there to be used. Compare to Dublin use of substitutes. Tonight Players like Keegan Doherty Moran could have been taken off early second half. It would not effect the overall result, but bring on Kirby at end of normal time is a joke!!.
Like many posters above, I agree that we have to be patient with newcomers. Immense pressure on Gallagher to perform and outside of his failure to hit the target, he did well, combining cleverly with AOS, but generally intelligent play, needs to be given more time playing with the big boys. Coen did quite well, maybe played out of position, but he’ll get there… Tough tough night at the office for O Donaghue, but valuable lesson re where he has to get his game….Loftus lively and impossible to say much re Boland and Akram.
Decent enough showing given how many we’re missing. Aidan O’Shea excellent – again.
Dublin had poor game and were thete for taking tonight. We lacked the self belief to take our chances and put them to the sword. We need a win in Newbridge to get the show back on the road and think we can take the Dubs in September
There’s a lot of banana skins on the road to a croke park outing, and we might not be as lucky as in other years….the dubs never had to be out of second gear tonight and toyed with us to be honest for long periods. Had they needed to push on, they would not have had any problems…the three wise men head scratching on the side line and not even warming up subs is where I’m worried….
I agree with Redcol’s synopsis on our players (and management)
To add balance to the keeper debate, Rob’s kickouts in the first half were amazingly accurate. He was however not good on the 2nd goal. Only fair and good for many reasons that he got the start tonight…
Some positives tonight..Adam Gallagher is an addition to the attack and he’ll be kept this year imo..game time for Andy,Leeroy and sos-need these boys in the relegation battle..Hennelly’s kickouts..McLoughlin back with a big performance.aos impressive too..Coen put in a big game in midfield-I see him getting a lot of time here this year
Drake’s skills let him down very clearly at least 3 times in the first half..Odonohue was roasted for the goal and a point from play in first half-I hope this experience serves him well..caff looks off the pace still..Hall looked decent but my feeling is he’s not tall/athletic enough..Coen- great to see him scoring a great point.i hope it helps his confidence.my god he gets into glorious shooting positions but cannot execute invariably- he misses or makes a safe pass. Doc pretty quiet(a lot of hard graft mind you). The free taking must be sorted- tonight it was absolutely woeful on 4 occasions. If Adam Gallagher had been in the team more regularly he would have been taking them imo (like in the league a few years back)
Was there any reason given for Parsons’ absence? Presume he’ll be available for the Kildare game.
Thought it was a flat performance. Kick out stragity was very one dimensional, don’t think hennelly took one short kick out, you need to keep the opposition guessing every now and again. Adam gallagher is just lacking a small bit of confidence in front of goal, can be a serious addition if given more game time
I have a slightly different take on this one . I thought we played well defensively but our midfield to forward link play was too labored .
Considering the team we put out and considering our usual form at this time of the year I was actually quite happy .
Of course the free taking was a shambles and the goals unfortunate but if we flipped those two things around who knows how close this experimental team would have come ? Dublin were always in control however so some of this may just be wishful thinking .
But there’s no mistaking Dublin were ,shall we say, “up for it “ and “ more than a little physical “ I noticed a couple of serious hits by Dublin players to the face that looked shall we say “ well practiced “ and “ elegantly disguised “. Fenton and McCarthy the main culprits.
But please can someone put me out of my misery and put manners on Dean the annoying little FN bully Rock ?
He was clearly very upset with Ger today and desperately wanted attention. When it comes to handbags Deano so wants to be Gucci . But he’s soooo Dunnes Stores . And Northside Dunnes Stores at that !
I think the rest of the Dubs are hard men except for John Small who is basically Hannibal Lecter. I think Gavin is secretly terrified of him . That’s why he is so quiet during after game interviews and why he’s always looking around furtively to make sure Small has been locked up again . Jim has no idea how Small escaped the lab in the first place .
Apparently, I’ve just come to understand , there is a Small factory now as what surely was a clone of him was brought on as a sub today. I think it’s possible Gavin could be powerless against the Smalls and has no choice but to gradually fill the team with 15 of them .
With maybe O ‘Gara for some token of diversity ?
There is no hope for us ! None !
There is no doubt these Dublin professionals mean business when they play us . They mauled anyone running up a blind alley way ( I mean literally mauled ) In contrast they didn’t take the ball into contact.
It looks like both Kerry and Dublin are not afraid to strike the face directly while raising a distracting elbow or shoulder . They are confident that they won’t be seriously punished . This is a dangerous place to take the game as Evan Regan found out to his cost .
The refereeing today was not bad at all but not stellar either . I mean does anybody enforce picking the ball off the ground any more ? Am I unaware of a rule change ??
As alluded to by earlier posters the Dubs ( with zero denigration of their sublime footballing skills – for any Dubs reading that means I think they’re really good and the second best team ever after Kerry 75-86 ) are also professional foulers and cynical at slowing the game down .
They learned well from Donncha Walsh about kicking the ball away which surely warrants something from the ref . I mean if hits to the face and kicking the ball away and cynical fouling and picking the ball off the ground and mauling and stopping frees being taken are all allowed you have to wonder ? What’s next ? Cage fighting ?
Finally it was great to see our red headed friend Dublin Joe lining out again today on the sideline. That has to be very reassuring for the Dubs. Though , I will concede , it’s just possible Small would fancy him for his supper with a nice glass of Chianti.
I’m a bit surprised to see Aidan O’Shea leading in the poll for man of the match. By his own high standards this was one of his poorest performances for Mayo that I can recall. He did OK in midfield but after being transferred to FF he was badly skinned by Cian O’Sullivan. Honestly, there were times when the ball was kicked towards O’Shea and O’Sullivan was switched on and way out of front of him, 5 yards ahead even. This happened a number of times. If we are going to persist with Aidan as an option for FF when we are struggling to get scores then he must be willing and fit enough to beat his man, otherwise he should be left roaming around the MF/HF where he is most effective. Again the Dubs show why they are the masters of game management, instead of double or triple-marking Aidan they concentrated on our most potent attacking threat – Andy, which ended up paying dividends for them.
Overall, the only consolation I can take from tonight is that we didn’t play well at all and only got beaten by four points. The result flattered Dublin however, as they always looked like they had an extra few gears if needed. Once the second goal went in the game died a death. Supporters were leaving with 15 minutes to go which sadly enough was understandable, given the fare that was on offer. Dean Rock was chosen by Eir Sports as MOTM but for me it was Paul Mannion, even though he went off early enough he managed to set the tempo of the game with the early goal and subsequent point. O’Donoghue had a hard night on him but in fairness the head didn’t drop and he made some good moves in the second half. The only other positive I can think of is Adam Gallagher. Made some good runs and got on a fair bit of ball. Had he nailed the goal it might have sparked a revival of sorts but who’s to say Dublin wouldn’t have stepped things up in response?
I know we were missing most of our championship team tonight but I will echo the concerns of other posters here and ask why we aren’t trying other options at full back, surely Ger McDonagh would added something to our backline tonight? Is he not at least worth a measly league game or two? We looked so loose at times tonight, Dublin forwards had way too much space at times. Robbie did OK but should never have left his line for the second goal . He should know well by now that he doesn’t have the reach of David Clarke and that going for the high ball is a risky proposition. Kick-outs weren’t great but in fairness there wasn’t an awful lot of movement for the ball.
I’ll finish up with three short complaints:
Andy is not a magician. Too many times the ball that was kicked into him was criminal. Make it quality ball or don’t bother. It looks like we’re trying to improve the speed of delivery into the forwards but the accuracy was just not there tonight. Hopefully it will be sorted by the championship.
The frees. I wasn’t sure at times if I was watching rugby or gaelic with the amount of garryowens from Doc. A seven point game in the closing stages should have been a four point game. Can the debate about our freetaker now be put aside. Cillian is our man and that’s that. However, in his absence we do need to nail down a coherent strategy for free-taking. No way Robbie should be running up the field and being sent back. It was good to see Loftus pointing a few at the end but they were all tap-overs. If he’s to be an option then give him a few pressure shots and let him hone his skills. It will pay dividends for us at some point.
How many times did we get a free-kick and then hit the ball backwards? There was a serious lack of work-rate at times. Big improvement due against Kildare.
Swahili, brilliant post.
I have not even had one drink! So good, I had to repeat myself!! Not a mistake at all 😉
To be honest, I am an awful lot happier after tonight than I was after the Galway game. Even though I was expecting a loss, the performance was chalk and cheese to the Galway game. Although we were outclassed tonight and I feel the Dubs has another gear to kick on, our intensity improved immeasurably, our ball handling was far better, and we are getting a steady stream of our senior players returning! My thoughts individually were:
Robbie: kick outs absolutely excellent, pinpoint even against a full press! But his decision making has let him down time and time again regarding high balls.. it has happened so many times where he has second guessed himself and had it punched in. That is where David Clarke has the comprehensive upper hand, he would have taken man ball and everything else for the second goal. It’s such a pity he can’t seem to develop this side of his game. If he could eliminate it, he would be up there with Cluxton.
Caolan Crowe: did his job one on one tonight, but would need to offer more support to those around him. Kept a very dangerous forward to no score.
Ger Caff: I feel terrible saying this as he’s been a huge servant to the county, a great player in his day, but we can not persist every week with him getting roasted throughout the league. Ger Mc Donagh deserve a run of games Pre championship for experience alone, as currently Caff is all we have heading into championship with KK leaving the panel.
Eoin O’D: will learn a lot from tomight. Was marking an absolutely unmarkable at times forward. Got the run around early and seemed to get a grip on the game as it developed. By the end he was up front trying to make things happen- long term replacement for zippy.
Boyler: the usual, tough aggressive, never say die.
Michael Hall: think the criticism is a little unfair, did nothing wrong tonight, played it very safe, but what do you expect in a game of the magnitude?
David Drake: works hard, but just isn’t at the level required.
Lee: thanking our lucky stars he is back. And in great shape considering. He is so important to us. Gives that drive, leadership and cranks up the toughness!
Stephen Coen: One If his better nights defensively. Is an asset against the Dubs purely on physical strength and athletic ability alone. Sloppy on the ball at times, but put in a solid shift.
Diarmuid: got on a lot of ball. Seems tired. Constantly targeted by Dublin. Agree with another poster, a couple of weeks off could benefit him and us.
Aido: did his share. Seems fitter than other years. Delighted to see him nail Mc Carty with what was a rotten tackle. If he did it a little more often, people would be far less inclined to pull and drag and sly dig him if they know they may get hit by a train for it.
Kevin Mc: Rare rare off night. Not terrible, just not his excellent self. Expect normal service next week.
Jason Doc: nightmare on the frees. It happens. Will be back. Tried to show for ball, but supply to him poor.
Andy: double and Treble marked out of the game. Service didn’t suit him. Greener pastures will.
Adam Gallagher: never was a fan, but was impressed tonight with his showing for the ball, physical development and work ethic. On tonight’s showing, would definitely give him the rest of the league, could be a good option in the summer!
The frees killed us. Both on the scoreboard and momentum sapping. Loftus is solid on the frees, as is Gallagher. Should be looking at them both as back up to Cillian Incase anything happens to him. Was badly missed tonight..
To sum up, it’s not all doom and gloom, big improvements in fitness, intensity and ball handling tonight, although still miles behind Dublin, the gap will narrow. Throw Keith, Chris, Paddy Duncan, Donnie Vaughan, Brendan Harrison, Tom Parsons, Seamus for a full game, Cillian back in there for Galway and things are not near as bad as they seem!! We will still be knocking around at the back end!
Swafili , the Ref was excellent tonight.. (what match were you watching) We showed enough, were second best, have to accept that on the night. BUT …Showed enough for us to have significant hope!… Never say Die!
I need to watch this again to confirm for myself that at least 7 of our kick-outs were won cleanly by Dublin. That’s not a good stat.
But I don’t agree with you Willie Joe that it was a dispiriting performance. A lot of young inexperienced players got valuable game time; with the return of some established players we can have some hope that we can still survive in Division One.
Have to say the game was played in a pretty good spirit last night. Yes there was some niggle and a bit of cynical play at times but in general both sides were reasonably well behaved with the best team winning fair and square. Compared to the awful stuff of the previous two games where the refs allowed proceedings to be dragged down to the gutter level that Kerry and Galway had intended this was a welcome departure. Credit to Paddy Neilan for role in this.
Possibly one of our better performances in the league but never looked in with a chance of winning. Holding the dubs to 2. scores in second half with our inexperienced back line was amazing but I expect the dubs could have pushed on at any time if needed. Thought Robbie did quite well but his critics will rightly point to the second goal but how anyone could blame him for the first goal is beyond me O Donahue had tough night but Mannion excellent. I feel Card is struggling big time I would have been happy if his only contribution was to throttle Rock who really pisses me off by feeling the need to run into a defender when he has scored his free As usual it was up front where our problems lay No lack of effort but our score getting in the league has been woeful The balls into Andy and later Aiden were dire while our freetaking explains why Collins is just so important. Not the end of the world but in a serious dogfight to stay up but anyone with any copies on knew that this was always going to be the case. The game v Kildare is absolutely crucial
Meant Caff
I’ve had to excise a few bits from your comment, Swahili. Even if they’re made in jest, homophobic remarks can’t be posted here. The Hannibal Lecter bit was, though, rather amusing.
And Cillian I probably need to go back to sleep
Just awake in Castlebar. What a great town for pint’s. Think the Irish House is one of my favourite pubs in the world. Match started great for us then died in second half, bitter cold. Can’t wait for super eights and chance to see McHale in summer. It can’t be this cold all the time?? Now don’t get me wrong but I have to highlight Big Aids hit on Jamesie. He came through him at full tilt while James was in air looking other way. If it was any other player but James who is made of titanium he could have done serious damage. It was a career ending I won’t say tackle but hit. It was Filthy and I’m so surprised it was Aidan who did it. To see people on here applauding it is sad and low. Anyway see you’s in the summer and thanks for the banter last night
Totally disagree backdoorsam. The dubs controlled that game from start to finish. They let us back into the game late on but only cos they wanted to. Same old problems for us I’m afraid. I think we will stay up but it’s worrying that Stephen only makes changes so late in the game.
Robbie’s kickouts getting lauded by some here tonight. I am in no doubt that if we had lost as many through Clarke in a game we would have loads of “Clare’s kickouts are a serious problem” remarks. It is an absolute myth that Robbie has better or quicker kickouts. We lost a large amount of our own kickouts last night.
We have the best goalkeeper in the country. Play him.
And also, I shudder to think of the utter dross that would be on this comments section had Cillian taken those frees last night!!
Weird night. It wasn’t an awful performance or anything. But we did OK. Two awful goals
Reckon we will beat Kildare and Tyrone. If we do that we are safe I think? With a game to spare?
For keegan to come back early from the injury he had and put in that performance was a real positive last night.
Not going to comment on other players because you can see fittness levels are low and maybe not a bad thing for this time of year.
The one thing that annoyed me last night was mccarty had 4 consecutive fouls one bad one on diarmuid ticked twice yet no card.
Have to say the team has improved over 2 weeks that game was there for the taking lastnight just proves you cant beat experience.
Glad to see the new guys get there run out we just have to be patient with them.
I think its important to give rob game time for the rest of the league clarke is no 1 but if he is to get injured where then.
Theres some lads being made scapegoats on this team by some mayo fans its a team sport and when the mistake is made out the field and scores are conceded these guys seem to take the wrap.
Ger mc came on in galway big step up for him from club.
Crowe, hall,drake & gallagher cant be judged on this one game. It was obvious, particularly after mannions goal that mayo were scared of dublins pace and stood off their men. Give these lads a run of games before judging them.
I think it mighnt be a bad thing to go down to division2 for a year so young lads can be blooded in a less cut throat and pressurized environment. The new lads were on a hiding to nothing last night. Dublins fitness and pace was on a different level.
Its all about the 13th May.
I think all things considered the team did ok last night.
Would like to see loftus and gallagher start against kildare
I hear what your saying Ocides but if Gallagher had a scored the goal it would have lifted the team I reckon we would have pushed on and beat them. Also if we had converted some of those frees anyway it’s in the past now. Good to see new faces and old returning I would play Adam Gallagher for the rest of the league and give him a chance as always I wonder why Rochford makes substitutions so late but that’s his call
We were clueless going forward…no shape or method to it. Dublin go their scores so much easier. I honestly think Dublin sleepwalked through the second half.
Mayo conceding early goals must be worked on….absolutely unacceptable. Hennelly kickouts started well but quickly went badly wrong.
Out free taking was absolutely scandalous. Why was Loftus left on da bench so long? We shouldn’t be allowing teams to walk all over us in OUR home…it’s not acceptable.
At least the 3 remaining games in the league are against teams currently below us in the table. It’s totally within our own grasp. I expect Donegal to join us on 2 point’s today. We have to win next weekend and probably win the Tyrone game as well to stay up. The Donegal match up on their patch will be a great test for us.
O,Donaghue will have learned a lot from last night. I remember Tom Cunniffe getting eaten in a league game against Kildare years ago–& he turned out fine.
This rubbish of a year in Div 2 being good…. it would give false views of abilities of players. Div 1 is the only place to be for big games, atmosphere, revenue and blooding players.
Sorry for Jason Gibbons to be dropped but his performances were a big part in our Galway and Kerry losses. I think hard calls need to be made on others like Ger and Drake.
Have to agree rock is one annoying little pr**k when he runs out after scoring his free and starts pushing his marker in the chest trying to instigate things, guaranteed if his man gave it too him he’d lay down to get him sent off. And this is also planned like alot of little things with the dubs such as the constant fouling in the middle third just enough to slow you down. Now I have a solution for rock next time we meet in the league ( championship is too important) we will probably be losing so I would have drafted in a young wing back in seen last year think his name was finn!! Now not condoning violence but if he was to give it too young dean and he had a sore jaw for a while wouldn’t that be ironic!!
Jim flag your post made twitter.
Jesus some of these dub fans have far to much time on their hands if the same boys are asked to talk football they’ll just run down different players.
Honestly wonder do they even watch a game or just read comments.
Anyway life’s too short.
Glad to see posters reacting positively to Gallagher performance and not judge him on missed opportunity. Hopefully the management we’re watching the same game and giving Adam the start in remaining league games. I would love to see him start at centre half forward where he could orchestrate affairs but even in the corner he did well. O Donaghue’s now knows the level he has to get to, so a big lesson for him tonight.
Pity there was no great plan to launch a few subs with twenty minutes to go and freshen up a game that was never in any doubt re final outcome.
Did anybody count the number of players Dublin had for pre match warm up, I would say at least thirty. And here we are, dropping players from development squads. It beats Bannagher, as they say, in Offaly….
The thing about the Dublin supporters is, if you call one out for overstepping the mark, a ‘good’ Dublin supporter will pop up and explain how your own supporters are derogatory towards their own team and therefore it should be some sort of free for all.
There is no tendency towards law and order unfortunately. Again some people just need someone to look down on, in order to feel right themselves.
Miss a goal conceded a goal…….six point difference. We lost by four. Not unhappy with performance overall as we had a lot of new lads. Thought Loftus took his frees well. Might be an option?
Outtathablue
Glad you enjoyed the pints. Aos was giving mccarthy the payback he deserved for the slaps that he expertly delivered. Funny, you’re talking about weather in Mayo being cold, once you get back to dublin you’ll be able to thaw out in the tropical east coast climate and all will be good thank God.
Wrapped up recuperating after yesterday.
Not after the football mind yea.
I turned on the TV and for some unknown reason decided to watch the winter Olympics. The curling final was on. They slide some sort of a kettle down the ice. Then they send 2 gombeens down the ice with it and 2 yard brushes with them. “Start scrubben” the command is roared and the 2 gombeens start tearin at the ice with the 2 yard brushes. It went on for hours, sliding kettles and scrubben like maniacs. And me with half the day wasted watching this tripe. And to crown it all one of the curling competitors got done for substance abuse last week. He must have been taking the stuff so he could scrub harder.
I suppose they have the pictures to.show the grand kids in years to come. “Look Joey, there’s grandad scrubben like fuck on my way to winning an Olympic gold”.
I’ll have chIcken soup today, watch galway.and kerry and hopefully by then I’ll be back to myself.
To the dub above im not surprised your two comments are about (1) drink and (2) Running down the most fouled player in gaa at the moment.Its time Aido stopped being the punch bag for thugs around the country.Yes he needs to copy your own team and be more cynical so as not to get booked.We did learn stuff last night and personally i was looking for a couple of our newer lads to show they can start a championship game come sumer.Coen is getting into some class shooting positions and Gallagher although not fast has shown he can contribute.We are improving.
Happy enough with that solid performance. Gallagher has improved in my estimation. Every year under Rochford we arrive at a turning point. This is what I was expecting tonight and we got it. Dublin look good tonight and in control. Just as well there are no cups handed out in Feb. Great crowd in Castlebar on a cold night. I would say close to 25 K. I thought the referee was excellent tonight and tried to be fair to both sides well done to him. Onwards and upwards to Newbridge.
after the mauling Mayo got from both Kerry and Galway , you would think that they that they would get a bit more physical against the Dubs but no not a good shoulder hit all night . No point being Mr Nice Guy , it doesn’t win games. also again bringing on subs with minutes to go , what’s the point, no good for the plyer coming off and certainly no use to the man coming on for a minute . Cut the crap and lets serious about winning .
good man Declan. Glad the Mayo fans out and about last night were a bit more fun than you .so sorry for offending you by posting what a great town Castlebar is for a night out. As for Aidan i agree one of the most fouled payers in the country. im not getting into a tit for tat he did we did, but you cant call other teams players thugs while thinking its okay for Mayo players to dish it out.smashing somebody from behind while their at full stretch is a No in any sport,its very dangerous and not very brave at all. Im a huge fan of gaa but I have to say im getting fed up with the niggle and constant fouling by ALL inter county teams, The refs have to firm up, constant dragging, late hits and diving creeping in its just not fun to watch teams engage in this . Mayo and Dublin are two of the worst teams for it and certainly bring out the worst in each other.although Galway and Kerry give it plenty . Football always had it Meath of the 90s as hard and cynical as it gets , but its the sneaky stuff that destroys my soul watching…now ive a long trip back to tropical Dublin nursing a hangover(sorry Declan) see yous in the summer
On the topic of giving it and taking it, Outta the blue, McCarthy was as I recall the man who ended Donie Vaughan’s involvement in the 2016 All-Ireland final replay with an off-the-ball hit that was aimed purely to cause maximum damage.
I felt beforehand that Mayo was going to take Dublin head-on & rewrite the predictable narrative & hence predicted a 7 point win. Alas it was the same old story of inept scoring attempts from play & placed balls. Selecting a team minus a proven free-taker defies belief. Our forwards invariably blow giltedged opportunities – solve that deficiency & we might really go places.
Outta the blue, I’m glad you enjoyed castlebar last night and hope ye spent a few quid! Tell your friends and come back soon =)
outta da blue
Safe journey to you and hopefully we get to meet again later in the year. Warmer weather hopefully by that stage.
Good man outta the Blue. We love problem solvers.
How are you going to solve this problem? Are you going to go home, stamp it out of Dublin GAA and get your house in order, or will you go to the Galway and Kerry forums to highlight it there first?
Losing to Dublin in February with half a team doesn’t matter a jot. From next week things start to get serious. Get two more wins and start bringing big players back in. Two and and half months until the Galway game and that’s what matters.
@ mayomark … couldn’t agree more re Robbie
Same old errors came back to haunt him at crucial times … I thought he kicked v well in first half …
We have the by far the best keeper in the country … play him
It better be warmer up here in the capital then too! I’ve already done one stint on the sideline at a kids’ match today but I’ve another one still to do later on.
I should have added, by the way, in relation to James McCarthy, that the hit – 100% legitimate I must add – he delivered on Nathan Mullins in last year’s Dublin SFC club semi-final was both perfectly judged and totally savage. Up there with Colm Boyle on Comer in 2015 and Tom Cunniffe on Harte in 2013.
Or dare I say Willie Joe, Damien Comer on Diarmuid last year.
Outadablue.Did you expect praise for pointing out Aido as filth?.We are well aware how lovely Castlebar is thank you and hope that you come down on the rare occasions your team pass the M50.We got fed up of the pulling and dragging years ago and i hope you point out that Aido is the most fouled player in GAA on a Dublin thread also.You have a very professional outfit that are far superior to ours in most aspects so enjoy.I thought the ref did a decent job last night and got the 50/50 calls about right that’s all we ever ask for.Lets move on to Kildare with a little more energy.
Blondie, I believe that Coen done well last night, he was marking Fenton and IMO Fenton was not really in that game atall, I watched Coen at the UCD/DCU Sigerson S/F recently in DCU and he was excellent that day also. He is captain of the UCD team that won the Sigerson and they have a few ‘wise owls’ on their line. I think Coen is a player to be really looked at and when he is given a job to do he can do it.
On a separate note I have to say that I am fed up seeing Mayo defenders getting pushed around by Dean Rock after he scores a free, remember Keith Higgins in All Ireland replay in 2016 and Caff last night, this has to stop, someone needs to put him on his ‘ar..’and he may not be as confident taking the next free against Mayo, I am surprised that McEntee of all men has not seen this..
No, GAAloopy, that was different. Comer’s was straight into Diarmuid’s back and was a foul all day long. He was lucky he didn’t get the line for that one. I know Boyler got booked for the hit on Comer in 2015 but it wasn’t just me who felt that was a perfectly executed shoulder.
Did Cian Hanley play for Ballaghadereen today in the Centenary cup?
Coen is becoming a bit of a utility player for us a got through a lot of good work last night. He I a quality player gets into good scoring positions and once he sharpens up on his finishing will be a real option for us, none of our midfielder s are noted for picking up scores themselves so he will have a lot to offer…..
Galway beating kerry five points to one point.
15/8 to beat our bucks in the big one on the 13th of May. Has to be the steal of the year unfortunately.
Strong wind though in favour of Galway.
Disappointing result last night. Only positive I took from it was the introduction of Loftus all be it too late. I have said before we need lads to come on and add to the scoreboard and Loftus did just that. Yes you could say they were easy frees and the game was over but he did score them after him sitting in stands for most of the game watching Doc and Kevin Mc and even Andy missing from similar positions and he didn’t shy away from the free taking duties and that is what I like to see . I am not feeling too negative about things but I do agree we need performances in last three games. You could see Dublin’s fitness levels were way ahead and they came out of the blocks straight away and we were on the back foot from early on. Good work out for lads and great to see Leeroy back.
Cafferkey struggles continue. Not sure how long this will continue but there has to be another solution. Docs frees were diabolical, not sure where he got that ridiculous stance from before he takes the kick .
On the positive good to see lee back , great point in first half too. Kev MC played very well and Michael Hall looked comfortable out there and good on the ball.
Loftus looked the most natural footballer in green and red when he came on. His kicks were all ones you would expect but he looked totally at ease with them. More game time is a must for him
@ outta the Blue I hear what you are saying about the niggly stuff but I would say you would have more complaints if your team did not drag our backs down and we ended up going up the other end and scored a goal to win the All Ireland 😉
100% agree Sean, it’s practically buying money. I suggest you get as much money as you can on them now before the bookies cop on to their mistake. You can put the winnings on them to win in September at the clearly outrageous price of 25/1.
Mayo win in Ballina
Another win for the hurlers. Any chance they’d give the footballers a lend of Keith next Sunday? 🙂
Sean
Whatever about money, don’t put your life on it. They barely held on against 14 Mayo players when it counted last year and were well beaten by Kerry.
Well done to the Hurlers. A great bit of scoring and a lot of effort now rewarded by a league final
Unbelievable win for the hurlers. Massive kudos to them. League final is a fantastic result, a win away from promotion. Huge potential to push Mayo hurling on another level. Well done to them all!
I think the management team have a lot to answer for after sending out a team to face Dublin with no detailed plan about who would take scoreable frees. Shameful to put players in such stressful positions without having done the very serious training needed. Look at the rugby and how important kicking is. Can you see it where any one of three or four players might be asked to have a go. Shameful. It does seem that managment do not care about the League but supporters have to pay full price to see their team being left in embarassing situations. Either get out of the League or take it as seriously as Mayo supporters. D0 not insult players and supporters.
Watched Kerry v Galway
Galway have really toughened up but some of their forwards are a little “shy”
Kerry cant cope when teams run at them
Galway have a great array of free takers
In response to Mayonan in Down – I presume it was made clear to the players before the game that Doherty would be taking the frees. A lot of people on here have been saying he should be our number one free taker ahead of Cillian. He did take the frees and it didn’t work out for him. After a certain point when things aren’t working out you have to change the free taker. With all the coaches and experts involved in the backroom – I can’t understand why freetakers are not told to take every free from the ground. Kicking from the hand into a breeze or where there is a tricky cross breeze makes the free much harder. Why dont players look at the top free takers – Rock, Sheehan, Maurice Sheridan in his time. Look at the Galway lads today McHugh and Walsh – every free taken from the ground left or right and every free scored.
Even at this early stage you would imagine next weekends games would be in serious doubt with the bad weather promised for the week
We are all for giving new young players a chance, a full game, game time, let’s see what they can do, etc, etc,. Its win win, you’re testing your finest potential future stars at the highest level, and even if you only find one additional player to join the squad for the year ahead, the remaining players will have gained invaluable experience for the years ahead. So we are all agreed it’s the right thing to do. That’s why we do it
On the other end of the spectrum we have a player who, on his day is proven to be one of the best in the country is his position but is currently out of form because of long term injury. So we give him as much football time as possible in the hope that he will get back to that level again. Why because it’s the right thing to do.
For me it makes no sense when people are calling for youth to be given a chance and in the same breath get rid of more established players who are trying to make a comeback.. its just hypocritical really. Are they not all entitled to a chance and a player that has already proven their ability even more so.
A lot of people are going to look very foolish if later in the year Ger Caff is getting a vital hand in here and there to break up play and turn the tide in Mayo’s favour in crucial matches. If we are to have a chance of winning Sam we need Ger Caff at his best, so have patience and give the lad a chance. Its the right thing to do.
Just home from the hurling match in Ballina. What a truly entertaining game. I was at both games and the entertainment value from the hurling is ten times better than the constipated football match from Saturday night. Keith really enjoying his hurling. You could see that in his movement and tackling. In total 41 scores today all of high quality. A nice home crowd present aswel. See you all in Newbridge and Ballycran next weekend! #genuine
Who will play number three for the Galway game? Does anyone think it a bit odd that kevin keane was released with three jersey proving hard to fill.
Sean i trust the management team to know who is best to take forward,I believe this management team has outhought M Harte,E Fitzmaurise taken Dublin who i believe are the best team i have seen in my almost seventy years to a kick of the ball over three games,I think they will not fail for trying this year either,if we accept that we have four defenders to come back,at least one midfielder and VIC and hopefully C Hanley we will be there again in September
@toe to hand. Would love to see that work out. But Ger Caff has actually had a lot of gametime last year and this year and on the overall his best day was versus Monaghan this year with them playing a one man inside line.
At what point is enough gametime enough gametime and simply someone else needs to be tried?
Fair dues corrick but who would you think will play full back for the Galway game in ten weeks time or so?
Galway girl playing here in duffys in Malahide , absolutely ridiculous im here typing about the 13th of May and the band blasts that out. We are doomed if they win it before we do , it will be the death of Mayo football.
Lesson from Dublin match
Nearly every time mayo broke out of defence they were fouled in order to slow down the attack Each time we were very slow to resume ,not helped by the dubs not going back the required distance
Allowing them to Build their parking bus .preventing a quick free kick. Most fouls occurred outside of scoring opportunities
Very cynical but effective
On the other hand the dubs free kicks were quick and effective
We must wise up
About free taking. Sexton missed about 4 kicks at goal yesterday. The analysts were saying it might have had to do with injury issues but I’m not sure I buy that. He had no big inquisition into his kicking after the game. I suppose they won by 10. If they had lost by 2 that’s when the skin and hair would fly.
Anyone can miss a free. It was tough on Jason yesterday. It didn’t go well for him. Cillian has had some poor days free taking. He’s had some great days as well.
It all depends what’s number 1 in the charts at the time. Jason was the free taking messiah after nailing a few last year. Now he isn’t. When Cillian was goin well a few years back he was king of the free taking. On recent free taking he is not. Maybe he is our best option. Maybe Loftus might be an option. It’s impossible to tell until they are tried and trusted.
One thing is for.sure, if we cannot punish fouls inside the 50 it gives free liscence to the opposition to cynical foul us and disrupt all our forward movement. They’ll be.happy.that there is a good chance we are not goin to nail the free anyway.
Is Kevin Keane fully recovered for his injury , if he is a very strange decision to release him from panel, with no other real full back
Have had time to read only a fraction of the contributions on last night’s game but, considering the sizeable crowd present for the ladies’ game I am surprised to see that nobody seems to bother giving it a mention on this site. I’ve said before that the ladies’ game is often far more entertaining than the men’s as it’s pure football, no defensive 14 players behind the ball nonsense. So it was Saturday night. I was very impressed with a new player on the block [new as far as I know], Sinead Cafferkey. Would there have been a very promising young player named Cafferkey but whose first name I cannot recall from the same club [Kilmovee] some few years back who disappeared from the scene after a short run. Somebody told me that she is now appearing for London. Would there be any connection between the two? It was also good to see a spread of oplayers from around the county, not just Carnacon.
I was wondering how Mayo would fare without Cora Staunton. It seems that they are faring quite well. I haven’t had a chance yet to compare that Dublin team with their All Ireland team but no doubt like their men’s team they are not short of talent.
– Game turned out as majority of us predicted. It would have been daylight robbery if we had even drawn it especially with Division 4 standard freetaking until Loftus came on.
– Mannion MOM super corner forward and the problem for ODonoghue and Mayo is that all the top teams have one such player. Gallagher should start again next Sunday.
– Second half was just drifting along, SOS actually was the trigger for us improving. Yes he had his tradenark bad pass but he drove straight at Dublin which eventually led to two frees which Loftus scored. Andy and others then started to drive straight at Dublin.
– Where is the basis for stating that Dublin are fitter than us…they have more pace but difference between pace and fitness.
– Lack of collective training is any another poor excuse for the free taking mess. All the player needs to practice is goalposts,a football and someone to kick the ball back or a dog to do fetch.
– One of the posters I think it was on Saturday thread stated the very very obvious why in the hell would Rochford and the management team NOT have the best players in the panel. If player x is dropped from the panel there is a legit reason for it so accept that and move on.
– Our all ireland is on 13th May…forget talk about September as 13th of May will define our year.
Sean Burke This is the Mayogaablog not the Galwaygaablog, if one exists. The competition we are in the middle of is the Allianz Football league. Next up we have Kildare on Sunday, and 2 weeks later we have Tyrone at home before facing Donegal for the final round.That is enough to focus our attention on at present. The championship is ages away so stop worrying about it.
@JP until such time as I see something better, then enough will be enough, because if Caff dosn’t make it we will playing again this year without an arthodox full back. Like yourself I watch a lot of club football and to date I haven’t seen anyone that can match Caff when he is playing at his best. Maybe theres lads at underage but there not ready for this level yet. Rochford seems to agree because he persisting with this and holding out hope. Must be the other full backs are not doing it in training. Given time I fully believe he will come good for us
Ok pj mac, I wont worry about the championship. How about no though and I will worry about the only thing that matters . People really need to realise how big of a game this is for Mayo GAA , lose and its curtains.
Since my last posting [c.9.40 pm] I managed to unearth last year’s All Ire. Final prog and it seems Masyo and Dublin were pretty much even steven regards comparison of teams from the Final and yesterday’s league outing. But Dublin seemed to have more of their big guns than Mayo whoose biggest gun is firing away down under.
Congrats too to the hurlers who are now facing Down for the chance for promotion. I take iit that promotion goes to the top team after the league stage, not to the winner of any final. It’s not so long ago that Down were knocking on the Div 1 door themselves but, of course, it never opened for them.
2016 and part of 2017 we seemed to be more solid at the back without a specialist full back.
Personally I think Ger Mc is better.
Ger Caff isnt able to link into play when we face teams or parts of games where the opposition have pulled everyone back.
It was Ger Mc who handled the ball twice in 2 mins to allow us setup Paddy Durcan for his score.
The unfortunate reality is that with blanket defending common in every game to different degrees, having a full back who is not able to counter attack leaves us a man short.
We have specialists for a variety of jobs. Some of the best attacking half backs in the land; mobile attacking midfielders; a super shot stopping goalkeeper and a prolific free taker out of the hand. At the same time we have quiet a few things missing.. you can’t have everything. I get you’re point about an attacking full back.. the game is evolving and your players need to be able to deliver a number of roles or your at a disadvantaged . But right now on a priority list we need an out in out traditional full back who will mark the likes of Geaney or O’Donoghue out of the game. After that the player that Mayo has most been missing in my opinion is a natural centre half foward which would allow AOS into full forward. Hopefully young Hanley will come on board and fill that role for us. Ger Mc might give us a different dimension but would he keep Dean Rock from scoring from open play.. Im not so sure
Andy d….- there will be a league final between top 2 teams for hurlers…..mayo guaranteed a place after 4 wins, Down were surprisingly beat today by Donegal so will need to beat mayo next Sunday to be sure of place in final the following week, most likely between same 2 teams!
AOS is not a full forward. His best position is midfield/CHF winning kickouts and driving forward with the ball.
As regards full back for May 13th, I would do what we’ve done the last 2 years in Croke Park. Don’t play a natural full back. Put Keegan or Durcan marking Comer. He spends very little time at full forward anyway.
A few thoughts after the weekend:
1. The thing about Ger Caff is that even in 2012, the year he won an All-Star and was probably at his best, in the All-Ireland final our manager still felt that he wasn’t good enough to start at full-back to mark Michael Murphy, Kevin Keane was given that task. Yet 6 years later he is still playing in these league games, that’s something that we have to think about.
2. People say that we need to give Rob Hennelly game time in these games, how come Dublin never feel the need to give their no. 2 goalie game time.
3. In relation to Adam Gallagher’s goal chance, he had a head start on the defender, why not at least take another three or four steps to give himself a much better chance. He shot from way too far out.
4. Watching the highlights of the Galway v Kerry game tonight, Galway almost look like they are at fitness levels you’d see from a team in the summer, you’d think that it’ll be very hard to stay at those levels for the rest of the season.
5. The biggest positive from the game was only losing by 4 points, when Dublin scored their second goal, it was looking like at least a 10 point defeat.
It’s all about the Kildare game now. Hopefully we’ll have a few more players back for that. We are improving, so let’s hope that we’ll see some more improvement in the weeks ahead to keep us in Division 1 and be ready for Galway in May.
Mayoandproud, I know there is a League final between the top two teams. My question is: Does promotion go to the team who finishes to of the table after the league stages or to the team who wins the final. I think it is to the team who finishes top of the table, going on the commentary on the Galway Limerick clash coming up. On that basis Mayo could gain promotion next Sunday and still have to play their League final afterwards. Last year Galway failed to get promotion from Div 1B but still, if I remember correctly, won the League Div 1 title [or were they beaten in the final].
“Dublin never feel the need to play no.2 goalie”
With so much of their gameplan coming from Cluxton , its a mistake by Dublin management not to give someone else a run, especially if they find themselves practically guaranteed a place in the final after next week.
Ger Cafferkey was never a traditional Full Back bit was a spoiler, a hand in merchant. In fairness, he was good at that. But since his injury he hasn’t got the pace to get the hand in. Speaking of club football he got a serious roasting in County QF against Garrymore. His direct opponent scored two goals and Ger was attacking the ball with his legs, a trend that has continued into this year.
The injury suffered has finished careers so he does deserve great credit for getting himself back. I would like to give him time too, but at this moment we haven’t got anymore time. We need two wins and he is not particularly suited to handle the Kildare FF anyway.
AndyD, it astounds me that more attention isn’t given to the women’s game. It was a great game with lots of skill and excitement and at least I didn’t find myself bored out of my mind for the second half of that game.
I have never in my life wanted to leave a game early and now I find myself tempted to get out and beat the traffic for two games in a row. Salthill because both teams were an embarrassment in the final minutes and Castlebar because it looked like neither team gave a toss about the outcome. I was literally bored rigid (though that might have been the cold). Mayo can count themselves lucky that Dublin – for some god-unknown reason – decided not to drive on in the second half and turn the screw. Granted, it was good not to leave there humiliated – again – and I was encouraged by the first half performance where we did try and put it up to them but we were so poor at times. Almost glad though at the same time that we didn’t unleash a huge performance because the hype would have been unleashed also – so the result was probably the perfect outcome all round apart from it leaving us hanging on the edge again.
Thought Adam Gallagher did well but the goal miss seemed to take the wind out of his sails. Would love to see him taking frees but not sure he will be featuring too much come summer. Seamie definitely changed the dynamic of the game when he came on. I thought Robbie did okay on kickouts – not brilliant but not bad – but there is no doubt that Clarke would have taken man and ball to prevent that second goal and ultimately that is what is needed in a goalkeeper. Credit to Eoin O’Donoghue who got a real introduction to senior football; it was a tough night for him but but he kept the head up and kept going and it will stand to to him. These are the nights you learn from and I really wish we’d thrown a few more inexperienced players into the mix earlier. Ger McDonagh is one that springs to mind. What did we have to lose? Aidan didn’t have his best night by a long shot and I’m absolutely baffled that he has won the MOTM for this week. David Drake started well then … he gave away possession twice when we really needed to hang onto it. Bottom line is we needed to run at Dublin and we didn’t do that i the second half – quite likely that was a fitness issue and that’s understandable. Those that have criticised Cillian in recent months can surely now see his value?
Good to see some of the stalwarts starting to return to the mix. Hoping we see Parsons this weekend.
Dublin’s strategic fouling really is a sight to behold. Time and time again they artfully manage to interrupt the flow of the game without being penalised and they really have it down to a fine art at this point.
On the plus side, the Dubs brought more atmosphere to Croke Park on a cold night in February than we can manage to muster up ourselves during the Championship (though if I ever find out who owns that blasted bell I swear it will end up where the sun doesn’t shine). It was great to see so many of them down in Mayo spending their money and the craic was good with no ill feeling; and the game wasn’t dirty either. The amount of utter losers though logging onto Mayo pages on Facebook to taunt us is actually hilarious. Would you seriously have nothing better to do with yourself on a Saturday night?
If we don’t get a new full back to handle the big Kildare Full forward its Mayo for the drop and Management will be responsible for not fixing the position, they have had plenty of games with League and FBD to have the problem fixed
Who would you propose as a new full-back, Culmore?
The reason the full back is not fixed is because we have not got anyone better,but last year i drank far too much listening to people telling us every full forward was going to clean us out but we always had a plan,even when we came up against Donaghy we had a player who put him in his pocket,so I won’t worry this year I feel that if C Hanley gets in the team it will free Aiden up to play in a lot of different positions,don’t forget Donie or Chris,or Keith ,or Lee ,I am sure our management has already made plans for different games
its funny – last year when we were beaten by Monaghan at home in the first game, trimmed by Dublin in Croke park and lost in a dour affair to Cavan, I don’t recall anyone pinning the blame for the losses on Ger Caff because he didn’t actually play in those games.
However the games he does play in and we do lose in, he seems to be the source of all ills.
I’m not so sure that the full back issue is the issue we need to be concentrating on. Quite the opposite in fact.
Anne-Marie, that was my main positive from the night; I enjoyed the Dublin supporters and thought fair play to them for coming down and bringing the atmosphere with them. It was so nice not to have that ill feeling too & I don’t think it was there in the AIF last year either.
Sadly though there is a horrible atmosphere in Galway games of late I’ve noticed.
The facebuke warriors would make you laugh, I feel sorry for them to surround themselves with such horrible negativity and a lot of the stuff on Facebook is borne out of pure jealousy.
Anyway, enjoy the rest of the week folks.
I seen a statistic about Mayos scoring rate this morning .Only 1-28 of Mayos 2-45 in the opening 4 league games have come from placed balls.Thats just 38% of scores coming from play and just 1-8 from play coming from the Forwards.
I think we have to revert Aidan O’Shea to midfield again hes not a heavy score getter and Tom Parsons and Seamie aren’t either so I think we should start Tom P and Aido midfield and play another scoring forward in the starting 6. But Conor Loftus ,Adam Gallagher, Cian Hanley and Ciaran Treacy need plenty of game time in these next 3 games to see what they can contribute on the board from open play.
I was looking back at Cian Hanleys 2013 and 14 Mayo minor appearances and he scored from play in nearly every game he played so he definetely is the type of Forward we are looking for.Diarmuid O’Connor also needs to contribute a bit more on the scoreboard but he has got a bit of the form back to his 2015 levels where he won young player of the year and the 2016 AI Under 21 campaign.
He needs to run more at defences like Michael Donnellan did with Galway ,we all know he has the talent to do this and can cause teams serious problems if he does it.I am hoping Cillians time off helps him getting back to what he does best.I would prefer to see him kicking more long distance frees off the ground like he was in 2013 and 14 as I feel his percentage from frees of the hands from more than 30 yards out have dropped a fair bit in the last 2 seasons.
Westport,
the frees need a guy that can take them from the ground. Its a lot more accurate and those missed ones from the hands have cost us All Irelands. Fractions is what has divided Mayo from Sam so let Rochford and co look closely at those small details while they`re at it. I know Irwin is not around but Jeepers that fella kicked some unreal scores from frees off the ground and from a distance too, its a pity it didnt work out for him and Mayo.