With one improbable bound, we’re free. Prior to today’s uplifting and enormously gutsy win over All-Ireland champions Cork, it was very much in the mix as to how James Horan’s first league campaign as Mayo manager would pan out. Today provided us with the answer.
While experimentation and relegation wouldn’t have been the end of the world for us in any sense, it wouldn’t exactly have constituted the first sign of a bright new dawn. Today’s two-point win, however, means that Division One survival has been secured along with all the experimentation and so, with a match still to be played, James will be entitled to feel fully vindicated on his approach to this year’s league and to look back on the campaign as an unqualified success.
This was another match I didn’t get to – a combination of Mother’s Day and a too-busy life up here at the minute meant that a 320-mile round trip to the west was never on the cards today. I was, of course, consoling myself that I’d be there for the lads when they really needed the support at next Sunday’s shit-or-bust encounter with Monaghan in Iniskeen (which I reckon is not too much more than an hour’s jaunt away from here) and the irony that this one will now have no consequence at all for us isn’t lost on me. I’ll still be there, though.
So, I wasn’t in McHale Park and I haven’t yet seen the full coverage from TG4 that I’ve got stored on the UPC box (although I did see the pathetic blink-and-you’ve-missed-it highlights on RTÉ a bit earlier – give it up lads, give it up). I did, however, get to hear most of the commentary on Midwest and have had chats with a few guys who were there so what I have to say here on the game isn’t all made-up bullshit (well, no more than it usually is).
It’s too late in the evening for setting down a detailed narrative of the game – here’s what the Mayo Advertiser, RTÉ, Hogan Stand and Breaking News have already had to say in this respect. And, for good measure, here’s some post-match audio that Colm Gannon did with James Horan and Aidan O’Shea.
In any event, it’s an easy enough story to summarise. We finally started a match brightly and more than held our own in a first half where the major talking point was the poor performance of ref Rory Hickey. The wind that Cork would have at their backs in the second half was a half-time concern but a scoring burst of 1-4 without reply in a ten-minute spell after the break turned out to be enough to seal the win for us. And the goal was a good one too, yet another one from Jason Doherty (that’s six in four league outings for him now) who, along with Alan Freeman, provided further evidence today that, for the first time in a long while, we may now possess a full-forward line with the potential to strike fear in any opposition.
From what I’ve heard, we had plenty of heroes today. Most observers gave top props in this regard to Andy Moran, with Alan Dillon not too far behind. Keith Higgins, Richie Feeney (who is now, I reckon, rapidly approaching the status of folk hero for those on the terraces), Aidan O’Shea (finally at home in midfield?) and the Terrible Twins up top have all been mentioned in dispatches as well. More importantly, though, is the fact that it was a great team performance and a fine team win.
But what’s of even more significance is that the win has catapulted what appeared to be a stuttering league campaign into one which now deserves to be seen as an important period of largely successful experimentation. While we’re still some way from having a settled first fifteen, James Horan has managed to keep us in Division One while at the same time blooding the equivalent of an entirely new Mayo team and it’s no coincidence that a few of the places that would appear to be already nailed down for the summer are ones that belong to newcomers. In this regard, it seems that the old cliché about it being harder to get off the Mayo panel than to get on it no longer holds true.
Looking back over the last four league campaigns, it’s obvious that Johnno – for all his bleating about being in charge of a team in transition – never succeeded in pulling off the kind of balancing act that James Horan has managed so well this spring. Johnno’s emphasis on face-saving always meant that his spring selections were inherently cautious and, almost invariably, it also meant that the same selections had to be ripped asunder when the wheels started to come off in summer. James, by contrast, has thrown caution to the winds over the last two months by repeatedly switching, shifting and assessing the talent at his disposal.
In doing so, it looked as if we were dicing with our Division One survival but today James’ gamble has been shown to have paid off handsomely. He has also emphatically answered those (which in recent weeks include me) who have expressed doubts about the advisability of all this endless chopping and changing. And he’s still building towards summer. An interesting summer it could well prove to be for us.
Mayo: Robert Hennelly; Tom Cunniffe, Alan Feeney, Keith Higgins; Richie Feeney, Ger Cafferkey, Lee Keegan; Aidan O’Shea (0-1), James Kilcullen (0-2); Kevin McLoughlin, Alan Dillon (0-5, one free), Andy Moran (0-2); Cillian O’Connor (0-1, free), Alan Freeman (0-1), Jason Doherty (1-1). Subs: Eoghan Reilly (for Cunniffe, inj.), Jason Gibbons for Kilcullen, Enda Varley for O’Connor, Aidan Campbell for O’Connor, Peadar Gardiner for Keegan.
Fair play to the lads today, a great win. Delighted for O’Shea showing up well at midfield and Kilcullen looked strong there as well.
It has been a real up and down league campaign but it says something about our strength in depth that we are clear of relegation with a game to go despite having tried out half the county during the 6 games played.
Congrats
Willie Joe ye had a good win today as we did up in Armagh. With our U21s coming along nicely all is not lost for our footballers. Mayo/Galway on June 26th will be a lot closer than the average punter thinks although i still feel ye are slighly ahead of us in terms of development. I see this year as a building exercise for us with a major assault for honours in 2012 even if we are relegated.
KC
Whatever
Very mature Exile.
Go back to facebook exile or watch home and away re- runs.This is a place for grown ups.Well done today lads,showed cajones when cajones were required!
The problem with your assault for honours in 2012 is that Padraig Joyce will be another year older, without him you are too over reliant on Meehan for scores.
Although your u21’s had a fanstastic result i’m not sure i dont think there are any Joyces, Meehans, Walshs, Fallons, Donnelans there for us to fear. Could be wrong but i dont think so.
Well done Mayo today. A hard fought win when it mattered. We played some excellent football at times but need to be more direct with the ball going into the full forward line. Was delighted to see some of the lads driving into Cork players with hard shoulders and not giving away anything soft.
Robert Hennelly needs to stay on his line unless he is certain of making a clean catch. He nevers fills me with confidence unfortunately. I think it is time for David Clarke to return as he is by far a more commanding goalkeeper and does the basics right.
The full back line did well today at times and fought for the dirty ball when they needed to. They defended well and limited the Cork forwards to very few attempts on goal.
Half back line did well enough. Lee Keegan could be a real find if he gets enough game time. Feeney was unlucky with the two 45’s but I feel we should persist with him.
Both midfielders did well and nice to see them chip in with a few scores. We have options at midfield now with Ronan Mc and Pat Harte to return to the fold.
The half forward line worked extremely hard at times. Andy has some engine and is always looking to get on the ball. Great to see Dillon having a good game. Fine player.
The full forward line looked dangerous throughout. Jason Doherty is a real find.
James Horan made all the right calls today and deserves a lot of credit for getting a performance like todays out of the team.
Hope the team go to Monaghan and finish off the league on a high note. Winning breeds confidence even if it is only a challenge match. Well done again lads. Maigh Eo Abu
On the downside Ruairi Hickey was an absolute disgrace of a referee today. Time and time again he got crucial decisions wrong and the vast majority of these went against Mayo. Very poor referee.
I agree very poor referee, he was only interested in Mayo, he missed a lot , in particular all the 3rd. man tackles off the ball by Cork, yes we mixed the physical, nice to see that. No harm to beat a good Cork side, we got some bad beatings by them down thru the years, FF line very good, full of confidence and so much talent there, a good display, and you know we should have beaten Armagh and Down, and when we beat Monaghan,that would be 10 points, a good return, for James Horan, and he team building.
The only concern not scoring for over 23 mins but the Dublin and all top teams have the same problem, but we defended our lead.
Cork are a cute team and know when to play for frees, we are learning.
Well done to all,
Apologies, KC – it’s always good to hear non-Mayo voices here and, as has already been said, there are other activities open to those who are unable to contribute to the debate in an intelligent manner.
Good wins for both of us today for sure. I’m not surprised Galway got off the mark but with the Dubs to face next Sunday, your late charge to avoid relegation might prove just too late. The scale of your U21 win yesterday was impressive too and I don’t think any Mayo supporter will be assuming that a result on June 26th is in the bag – this is Mayo v Galway in the Connacht championship, after all!
Great win today and boost to stay in Div 1 – but write Galwayoff at your peril. These games take on a life of their own. It is their turn but we are at home. A cracker ahead
Two words: no goals.
Well said WJ, a decent poster comes on and is given a smart dig. Wrong site sir.
I give up on referee’s . Today the referee gave us nothing. It follows a pattern where we are seen as a county for a ref to blow big with. Three Cork defenders were hanging out of a Mayo forward near the end and the ref gave a free OUT. Dillon was blown up for a stupid free in the first half. Its not James Horans job to speak to Croke Park about terrible refereeing, its the county boards. Any chance of that happening.
Just want to say well done to Aidan o’Shea. The lad has taken a lot of criticism latley. an excellent performance today.
What I thought was different about today’s shite refereeing, though, was the way the crowd so vocally let Hickey know at half-time what they thought of him. He then seemed to swing towards us early in the second half, at which point we proceeded to score 1-4 without reply in what proved to be a match-winning burst. A case of The Lord helping those who helps themselves?
The big thing today was that we did not concede any goals. The tackling and marking was harder, more determined and technically better than recently. That was a serious improvement.
The other thing was that we looked dangerous when we went forward with some very good scores.
Aidan O Shea certainly looks better out the field and his size and strength was important.
It was a badly needed win not just for the league points but to give the team and management a confidence boost.
The league has been a success as far as I am concerned. We now know that Alan Feeney can be an effective full back, that Aidan O Shea can partner McGarrity at MF if needed and that we have the makings of a forwards line that could cause real trouble for most defences. And we have a number of lads on the way back from injury. That is real progress………but there is a lot to do yet to become a team that can challenge for the highest honours. But at last we seem to be going in the right direction.
Agree with all that’s been said. Impressive stuff. We seemed to be hitting harder today, which we had to against an always physical Cork side.
We need that steel in the team.
AOS had a good game. His point after being flattened by a heavy hit was inspirational.
Still not sure centrefield is his best position due to his lack of mobility, but he’s given us an option there.
It’s looking like shrewd management from Jmaes Horan that he stuck with him, while a lot of people wanted him off the team.
Can someone please take Bernard Flynn off the TV? I know he’s from Meath, but still, at least give us some credit.
After Michael Lyster said it was a good win for Mayo, he just said Cork handed it to us. That they’re obviously not interested in reaching the league final.
I’ll be very surprised if Cork aren’t in the final, so his point was…well, pointless.
Enjoy your time in division 3 Bernard.
very encouraging all round….one thing that has cost us dear at crucial stages in big matches in the past has been the lack of a genuine goal threat. we seem to have that now. hopefully go and beat Monaghan and built up some momentum
Great result today. Great atmosphere amongst the small crowd half of which i reckon turned up to see Doherty/freeman combination. those 2 boys look to be the real deal. Anytime they get the ball you get the feeling something is gonna happen and it normally does. O Shea did really well…a perfect partner for Ronan perhaps? Backs did well collectively but still a work in progress. The feeney brothers have fight in them and its a welcome addition. Not sure about the keeper….hes liable to do anything..he did some silly things today that he got away with. Think id revert back to Clarke if the choice was mine. Overall though a very positive performance today. Well done boys!
I agree the ref was terrible, especially in the first half.this was a very good win , it achieved our goal of retaining division football next year and it will give the team great confidence going into the championship . We must go to Monaghan and win as well. lets not get carried away as Cork were missing seven or eight of their All Ireland winning team.
what we have now is forwards that can score and win their own ball, Freeman and Doherty are a delight to watch .
When we tighten up our defence and get consistent with frees ,with scoring forwards ,we are going in the right direction.
great performance today by the lads great to get a win over the all ireland champs any day….would agree with ronan mc in that AOS had a massive game today in what was his 1st start at midfield for the seniors, he has taken alot of chritism lately but showed today his is a real class act his point after being taken out off the ball not for the first time was truly inspirational, hopefully himself and mc garrity can form a partnership at midfield…. great to see doherty scoring again today he has a real eye for goal!! well done lads keep it up…
A great win against a strong & physical Cork side. I wouldn’t worry about AOS’s mobility at midfield – McGarrity will cover the hard yards. O’Shea will add another dimension from that position as he is a scoring midfielder and a good distributor of the ball. Moran again did very well under the breaking ball and disrupted alot of the Cork half-backs ventures into the attacking half. The full forward line are a real threat and do not lack confidence in front of goal – surely a rarity for Mayo football! Horan should select the same 15 (perhaps one change w/ McGarrity if fit) for the Monaghan match. The team needs stability at this stage of the year. Ref was dire but it’s no harm for the team to cope with poor decisions. Posters shouldn’t get caught up about the C’ship showdown v Galway – performance is everything. The Sligo performance last year was dreadful and they carried that form all the way to Pearse Park! There are plenty of quality footballers in the panel – this team will threaten this year if the attitude is right. Keep the momentum going now and beat Monaghan out the gate!
Nobody has mentioned him yet, but I think McLoughlin was a huge factor today. He played the sweeper/extra defender role very well and shaffled up a power of loose ball on the half-back line. He also double-teamed a couple of times when our defenders were being run at by the Cork attackers, and he still had enough in reserve to raid forward as well. Paul Kerrigan is a speed merchant, but there was one occasion where he had Higgins and McLoughlin sitting on him in the second half and they had a few words in his ear before letting him get back on his feet – most un-mayolike, but there was a bit more of a uncompromising or mean nature about the Mayo lads that we havn’t seen before. Overall a good team performance, Bernard Flynn would rather choke than praise Mayo, it was very clear from Conor Counihan’s agitation and animation on the sideline that he was well up for the match and I’m sure he is well disappointed tonight.
No mention of James Kilcullen so far? Sounded like he had a good first half and chipped in with two points. Could finally have options at midfield.
That was a good win and it came just at the right time. The natives were beginning to get slightly restless after the Dublin game and there was a more lot riding on this game other the 2 points on offer.
For openers, it was Cork – the All Ireland Champions – that were in town. The same Cork that well and truely kicked our holes last year, the Cork that feels that nobody has given them credit for all they achieved last year, the Cork that wanted to start laying down markers for this year. Secondly there were a few lads that took some serious criticism two weeks ago and on this blog there had been debates as to whether or not they were still up for it or even up to it. And thirdly, there were questions as to the apparent naivety of the manager’s tactics for the first 20 mins of the Dublin game. Then add in the possibility that either Galway or Monaghan could win today leaving us in serious difficulty and we could all see what was at stake.
But what an answer we got. A radically different team to that which took to the field in the league final with just two players, K Higgins and A Dillon, in the same jerseys today. And of the 15 that started today, only four others (G Cafferkey, K McLoughlin, A Moran and A O’Shea) were in the stating 15 on 25th April and they were all in different positions today. And it was these very lads that had been taking a bit of stick after the last few games but, to a man, they answered their critics today. Keith made a number of sublime interceptions in the full back line and his man (the dangerman Kerrigan) was anonymous, Cafferkey was rock solid in the middle of the defence, McLoughlin worked very effectively as a sweeper behind midfield, O’Shea was excellent at midfield and Andy and Alan both had cracking games in the half forward line. On the sideline, James Horan made all the right calls from the start and seemed to get the half time pep talk just right from the evidence of the third quarter.
I was seriously impressed with a few other things too. This is a teak tough Cork team, but in the 50/50 hits, it was the Cork lads that were coming off second best. In this regard, I would particularly single out the performance of James Kilcullen. I have long been in favour of a centrefield that has a fielder and an enforcer. David Brady filled the enforcer role for years. Today, James Kilcullen came of age in that role. Do not underestimate his performance today. Time and again he went to battle with the likes of Noel O’Leary and Pierce O’Neill. To my reckoning, he lost none of the battles and got 2 cracking points into the bargain. He was hugely influential in the change of attitude in the Mayo lads today and had totally emptied the tank with 15 mins to go. It was noticable that Cork upped their game when he was subbed off. I would go as far as giving him the Man of the Match such was his contribution.
In general, the backs had a great shape about them and there is no doubt now in my mind that Alan Feeney has nailed down the No 3 shirt. The two wing backs Richie and Lee harried, covered and delivered all day. And what about the wonderkids up front? The last time we had a really exciting prospect on the edge of the square was in 1996 when John Casey emerged from nowhere. We came within a hop of the ball from winning Sam that year. Now we have 3 of them. What a front line! What Jack O’Connor wouldn’t give to have them. But he doesn’t ?.
But there are improvements yet to seek. The half backs have to get tighter when the opposition breaks. Alan Dillon can improve his game even further by tracking his man when he breaks forward. Andy should think about the fast ball into the danger area rather than trying to pot everything from miles out. Indeed getting the ball fast into our potent full forward line should be the one thing to work on for next Sunday. And I’m still not convinced about the need for a sweeper behind centrefield. It worked today, but against a team like Dublin it is a disastrous tactic.
But all in all, this was a good day’s work and I’m already really looking forward next Sunday.
Keep the Faith!
Completely agree with Fourgoal Magee. The bit of toughness and steel that we’ve all identified a missing trait of Mayo teams over the past couple of years was there in abundance yesterday in the shape of James Kilcullen. He covered a lot of ground and left quite a few Cork lads on their arses following good challenges. To top it off, he took two great scores off either foot. The increased work rate around the middle as well as better tracking by half forward line made the backs job a lot easier. It all led to a clean sheet, which for me was the mojor positive of the day. I hope they keep it up!
Yes yes yes!!!!! Great result and great game from the Mayo lads. Delighted to see AOS and J Kilcullen doing well – O’Shea could spend a little less time on the ground tho! But it was great to see a bit if physicality and not being pushed around like we were against the Dubs. Great result when the chips were down, this could be an interesting year!
A great win and hard earned. What Mayo wanted and needed. Cork put it up to us but in the end and they had left it too late for the comeback. It was their own fault and all their early wides and wastefulness was reflected in the final score line.
That shouldn’t take away from our side. Tougher all round after the Dublin game. We were meaner and more physical. We realised that this Cork team is physical so if you’re going to beat them you have to be prepared to mix it with them. That’s the way we have to be, because in the championship you have to play that way to get results. Nice gentle football gets you nowhere. Maybe also a little payback too for last years League final result.
Furthermore – goals win games and not conceding goals wins games too. Our FB line was a lot tighter today and even though Cork had 1 or 2 opportunities intervention at the last second prevented them from clear cut chances for goal opportunities. I would single out Keith Higgins here for special praise. His intervention in getting across (was it Alan O’Connor) in the first half when he was steaming through was vital. It stopped them going in at the break with the lead which I believe was pivotal considering the windy conditions not to mention what it would do for our morale.
Other major pluses for me were as mentioned James Kilcullen who I thought was phenomenal at midfield in putting himself about. He also helped the team with his two great points – off both feet!!!! The second one on the sprint from Andy’s clever pass was a beauty.
Andy himself was again to the fore and again possibly/probably our MOTM (again). 2 great points from play. He had 1 wide in first half but I forgive him for that – in fact I would say he was correct to have a go from there. At the time he was in space and he knew he had the distance – unfortunately for him the second time was lacking in accuracy. That’s the way though, and the important thing was he knew this and refrained from doing it a third time. That shows what type of player he is. He knows he has limits but he knows when to refrain from pushing the boat out again and again. This is experience and its experience that’s in the head (i.e. he hasn’t got one and plays for the team). Others have yet to achieve this and some never do even though they have all (and possibly even greater) potential.
Alan D looked a lot better today as well. Began to push back more physically as well. Maybe he is doing gym work. If so it is paying off. He got on the ball and more importantly he harried more. He was badly punished in the first half by the ref and funnily enough I thought this really annoyed him and as a result he got pi**ed off. The end result was he played far better with far more determination and grit for the rest of the game.
On the whole it was a great result. It secures our Div1 status and means that next weeks game can be used by JH to do whatever he wants to. In this regard I would give time off (ala Jack O’Conner to Gooch) to a few of our senior lads. Finally I would extend congrats to all the team on securing Div 1 status for 2012. Great to be there.
Fully agree with those last few comments – the physical presence of the two boys at midfield yesterday made a huge difference. While Ronan is an excellent footballer and will undoubtedly have a big contribution to make in the months ahead it will be difficult to dislodge either midfielder on yesterday’s performance. I can’t remember the last time a Mayo midfielder scored a brace of points with both left and right pegs. Kilcullen put in a very robust performance – as did AOS – the Cork lads weren’t sailing through the middle of the park as they have done before. Kilcullen may not be fully fit yet – – – as he seemed to be running out of diesel approaching the final quarter which co-incidently turned out to be Cork’s best period in the game – – but he has certainly put down a marker. All in all a very informative game yesterday – – James Horan is certainly learning a lot about the character of players he has at his disposal and I’d say he has probably 11 or 12 places nailed down at this stage. Work still in progress but hugely encouraging.
I think most of it has been said but I have to say I was delighted with Aiden O`Shea,he was too confined in the FF line he`s a big man and needs a bit of space.He was assalted three times and came back for more he can take it.
He might not have much pace but I saw him turn away from a bunch at one stage and set up an attach.How many balls did he win in the last 10 minutes to keep the Cork attack at bay.With the size of him you won`t push him away if he`s under a dropping ball.Last week we were wondering where would we get a partner for McGarrity now we have two.
Campbells cameo at the end was blighted a bit by him not putting Doherty through for a goal.I`d forgive him this once having been left on the bench at the start he was only trying to show what he can do but it was the only selfish thing I saw all day from the team.The man thats on fire should always get the ball especially when he`s in a better position to score.
All said it was a performance from start to finish and as Andy said in an interview earlier this year, if we can get a 15 man performance from a Mayo team on the day, we can give a game to any team in the country.Well done lads!
Agree with everything thats been said. A real team performance from the lads yesterday and I thought that second half performance was immense against a very strong wind.
The funny thing is that I think there’s still plenty to improve upon. We didn’t track men running from deep at all. I can’t remember his name but no. 22 for Cork seemed to be constantly unmarked until he went off. Also Miskella trotted forward to land two easy points and Cadogan saw plenty of ball in space in our half towards the end. Despite this we still beat the All Ireland champs by two points (although it should have been a goal and two).
Although a great result, this is just one game so we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves (see Cork last year). We can see a massive improvement tho and this team is beginning to come together.
On a final note as a critic of A O’Shea this year myself, I thought he did a great job at midfield. I firmly belief that if he shed a few pounds and got himself in shape he could be one of the best footballers in the country.
I agree with most of what has been said here about James Kilcullen and certainly having at least one man in the middle who is not afraid to mix it physically is essential and James fits this bill. However, I think there is a danger of over-hyping his contribution by suggesting him as man-of-the-match.
I would like to see more of him before making up my mind on him as a regular IC midfielder. I’m not sure about his pace but he would make one mean CHB!
Just to throw a little cold water on all the optimism, Cork were missing Graham Canty, Alan Quirke, Colm O’Neill, Donnacha O’Connor, Aidan Walsh, Ciaran Sheehan, Paudie Kissane and Patrick Kelly. On top of that five fringe players have left the panel over the last two months and we were forced to play talented but inexperienced youngsters (Kiely, Fitzpatrick) and the likes of Eoin Cadogan and Noel O’Leary out of position.
Although we have a strong squad with lots of talent come through its a fact that if you take Walsh and Kelly out of this Cork side we are pretty beatable as we struggle to dominate at midfield without the former and struggle to move forward with purpose without the latter. Both players are irreplaceable and we looked a little lost without them on Sunday.
Regardess, I was impressed with the fitness, aggression, physicality and work ethic of the Mayo players throughout and wish ye the best of luck in the Connacht championship and beyond.
P.S. : No report on the match on my blog since I didn’t get to attend.
its my first attempt at giving my 2 cents worth on your page wj, i really enjoy reading everybobys comments. we all want the best for and FROM mayo football.but on reading all the post match comments last night,most of which i agree with ,i have a problem with all the people who took issue with the comment by exile [whatever] .the problem is mayo football in my openion needs attitude not unlike that shown by exile. we, like our team can be too nice
That’s a welcome reality check, Aegeas – I don’t think we’re losing the run of ourselves as a result of the win but it’s as well to put it into context all the same. I guess from our perspective we needed to see the team get into a game faster, show greater physicality and tighten up at the back and to succeed in doing this against a side featuring eight or nine All-Ireland medalists from last September was satisfying. That’s all it was, though, and we’re well aware we have a long way to go if we’re to compete at the top level in the summer. Thanks for the good wishes, by the way.
Those comments from 2008 are hilarious, alright, Westport. I remember the one about Ray and Barack in particular: if I’m not mistaken that one can be laid at my door …
Thanks for your comment, edK – don’t make it your last one either, new voices are always welcome here. I take your point re the reaction to Exile’s comment but, for my part, the problem I had with his contribution was that it just plain bad manners. I’m all for the correct attitude being shown on the pitch but – call me old-fashioned if you will- I don’t think that this should preclude reasoned debate off it. There are other online fora for those who like a more antagonistic kind of interaction but this isn’t one of them.
the cork man shouldnt be given silly excuses for mayo win if so talent they shouldnt feel the lose of walsh or kelly. The mayo team had relatively a new team to cork all new backline midfield and full forward to cork those players have been around and are more experienced. If thats the case why didnt they beat dublin with a pretty strong team or did they not want to win as one bernard flynn used as an excuse. they seem to want to beat kerry, down and monaghan but when its mayo they werent up for it . i dont believe it for one moment they thought they only had to turn up as this how they precieved mayo based on other matches esp the game against the dubs . their attitude was we win any way.
No offence Auds, but I’ve re-read your post three times and I still can’t understand a word of it. Evidently its aimed at me so could you try again, and this time without the many grammatical errors?
yes teacher aegaes I will be mindful of my grammatical errors the next time . Did I hit a sore nerve by the way? Good luck in the game against Armagh that I expect your team to Qualify for the league final .