Where on earth do you start after that? The 2006 semi-final comeback was – and will continue to be – something to savour but today’s incredible fightback was in a different league altogether. When Jack McCaffrey pointed to put Dublin seven clear with just eight minutes left on the clock, I thought we were heading for a double-digit loss but instead we threw caution to the wind and stormed back, levelling the contest before the seventy minutes were up. In that frantic injury time period, we could have won it and we very nearly lost it but I was delighted we came away with the draw.
We drew at the same stage last year, of course, but this one feels a whole load different. Then, we were the ones blowing a late lead whereas after today Dublin must surely be scratching their heads about how on earth they failed to close out what should have been a comfortable win for them. Today, we definitely got out of jail but for sheer heart and guts we surely deserved another go at this.
For long periods today, we didn’t hit the kind of high notes the team were expected to reach. In the first half we seemed far too hesitant, in the second we were dreadfully wasteful and overall it wasn’t the kind of performance you’d have thought we’d produce in an All-Ireland semi-final. But then came those madcap final ten minutes when we finally threw everything at them and got the scores we needed to secure the draw.
Pity the poor neutrals who were expecting a free-flowing, open match. It was cynical from start to finish and, while we were far from blameless, I can only assume that fair-minded observers will accept that we were far more sinned against than sinning.
How the Dublin backline dealt with Aidan O’Shea is the most obvious case in point. Philly McMahon fouled, fouled and fouled again and, as so often happens, Aidan got little or no protection from the ref. In fairness to Joe McQuillan, he had a difficult job to do and while he got a number of big calls wrong overall he did okay in trying circumstances.
The penalty decisions were clearly crucial to how the game panned out. The TV replays confirm that Paul Flynn was fouled but was he outside the square? It looked like he was. Colm Boyle’s one looked on the soft side but Aidan had a far bigger shout for one turned down in the first half when he was clearly held back by McMahon.
Their penalty, expertly put away by Diarmuid Connolly, set the agenda for the first half. We’d started stronger – with Lee Keegan firing over the game’s opening point – but soon found ourselves chasing the game as they built up a four-point lead.
Just after the heart-warming round of applause for the late Darragh Doherty on the 13th minute, Cillian pointed a free to cut the gap to three and it was Cillian who added all of our scores from then till half-time, all from frees as time after time our attacks ended in fouls. I thought Joe McQuillan was slow to start producing the cards for this constant stream of fouling and the lack of cards meant, of course, that it kept up pretty much unabated.
But that wasn’t our only problem. Our tentative, hesitant use of the ball contrasted greatly with the confident way that they sprayed it around, leading to a number of good scoring chances created and converted. Paddy Andrews got two points and the excellent Ciaran Kilkenny bagged three, with Bernard Brogan a menace requiring minding in the corner.
We went in three behind at the break but by then there were already a few hints that we were getting back into the game. Losing Donal Vaughan early on was a blow but his replacement Patrick Durcan was putting in a stormer and the way that we’d restricted Cluxton to the shortest of kickouts meant that we were beginning to win that particular mind-game.
We pretty much owned the third quarter but squandered pretty much every chance we created in that period. Andy Moran’s introduction brought more invention and purpose to our attack and MacAuley’s black card finally put a bit of manners on the foul machine we were battling with. But chance after chance was missed and, while we narrowed the gap back down to a single point, all those wides meant that the opportunity that was there for us to wrest the ascendency in the contest was lost.
All looked lost when Dublin got their second goal. Robbie got down superbly to save the initial shot but the ball squirted out to McManamon who poked it home. We pulled a point back – Cillian again, from a free again – straight away but two further Dublin points pushed them seven clear and the Dubs began to celebrate what looked like a certain win.
The most important thing in the late fightback that now got underway was that we didn’t panic. There were no daft goal attempts from twenty yards out, as instead we picked off three points in quick succession from good scoring positions.
Those scores – from Andy Moran, Keith Higgins and Alan Freeman – put us back in the hunt. We knew, though, that we had to get a goal and getting one against a team like Dublin wasn’t going to be easy. In the end, the penalty decision we got was fortunate enough but, given the blatant level of cynicality Dublin showed all day (which, let’s be honest here, would make a Tyrone man blush), it was understandable that Joe McQuillan was prepared to spread his arms when Boyler hit the deck. Cillian showed balls of steel too to ram the penalty home.
Just a point down and rampant, Cluxton’s head totally gone, we should, in truth, have finished them off. We turned the kickout over straight away and Andy fired over to level it up. The Hill wasn’t quite in party mood now.
We could have got a free – for the gazillionth foul on Aidan – within range but nothing was doing and we eventually conceded one ourselves from a position Connolly had pointed earlier on.
Had the Vincents man taken it, I’m convinced it would have gone over. But before the free was taken – by Cluxton, who missed three from three deadballs today – Connolly got a straight red card for a strike on Lee Keegan as the pair of them were wrestling on the ground. Cluxton’s effort sailed harmlessly to the left of the posts.
We had one more chance but lost possession and when Dublin passed up on another attack and booted it backwards instead McQuillan obviously decided enough was enough and blew for full-time.
First things first. Seven down with eight minutes to play, we should have been dead and buried. Sure, if we played to our potential prior to then we shouldn’t have ever been in that position but credit to the guys when the chips were really down for digging deep and hauling us back into the game in the stirring way that they did.
Second, Dublin’s disgraceful tactics today need to be called out in the strongest possible way. Feted for their attack-minded approach, today’s display by Dublin was up there with the worst that Tyrone have ever produced (McMahon’s head-butt on Aidan deserves particular highlighting so here it is). If I ever hear that spoofer Jim Gavin on again about what he calls Dublin’s esprit de corps and their so-called core principles, I do believe it’ll bring on a bout of antiperistalsis.
We had several strong performers out there today. Keith, Lee, Boyler, Tom, Diarmuid, Cillian and Paddy Durcan would be the half-dozen I’d pick out for special praise, with the young Mitchels man deserving of particular mention, pitched as he was so raw and inexperienced into the cauldron that was Croke Park this afternoon and thriving in it.
So we go again in six days. I certainly hope we show them a whole load less respect next Saturday than we did today. I’m sure we’re nursing plenty of bumps and bruises right now – Donie won’t, I guess, be fit for action the next day – but I’d say they’ve got more and Connolly, assuming the red card stands, will be a huge loss for them.
I can’t quite believe we’re still in it. But we are and we’ve six days now to put in place a plan to win the replay. At last, the ghastliness of Limerick and all that befell us last year can be put to some practical use – we’ve been here before (not Limerick – they won’t be sending us there this time) and we need to use the bitter experience of last year’s semi-final replay to plot what we need to do and how we need to do it the next day to get us over the line.
Winning it is still a huge ask. But what I so love about this bunch of lads is that the more you ask the more they give. There’s more in them too, of that I’ve no doubt, and I’ve every confidence that we’ll see evidence of this in abundance back at HQ next Saturday evening.
Mayo: Robbie Hennelly; Ger Cafferkey, Donal Vaughan, Keith Higgins (0-1); Lee Keegan (0-1), Chris Barrett, Colm Boyle; Seamus O’Shea, Tom Parsons; Diarmuid O’Connor (0-1), Aidan O’Shea, Kevin McLoughlin; David Drake, Cillian O’Connor (1-9, penalty goal, 8 frees and a ’45), Jason Doherty. Subs: Patrick Durcan for Vaughan, Andy Moran (0-2) for Drake, Alan Freeman (0-1) for Doherty, Barry Moran for Seamus O’Shea, Mikey Sweeney for Diarmuid O’Connor.
We took a mulligan on that one for sure…played poorly for most of the match yet we get the draw, and could have won. Lots to talk about…I didn’t understand some of the refs decisions at all, such as the Keegan/Connolly joust…keegan gets a yellow, Connolly get a a red, yet Diblin get the free kick, which Clux missed but was scorable!
Anyway, we’ll bate them in the replay I think.
Can’t wait for the audio WJ!
O my god! What just happened! Bring on the replay! Maigheo Abu!!
The only result that worried me ,,, great win today and congrats to all involved, mayo penalty was soft but only fair as the Dublin penalty was a bad call in my opinion. It’s on a tee for ye now,, take it
Mr Houdini wouldn’t have even thought that was possible. We scored 6 of 20 chances, the dubs 12 of 18! only played in fits and starts and still got the draw!!
Whatever about our poor display, the dubs have got to be kicking themselves, 7 point lead and the game nearly over? Dublin me arsh.
I won’t even pretend to know why Mayo were so bad, leave that to c and h to figure out, they have 6 days.
For me, I think that last 10 minutes will go down in history as the turning point in the year that Mayo finally reclaimed Sam Maguire.
We`re alive! Let there be no recriminations my gentle people. Deo gratias.
H & C didn’t distinguish themselves today…Cluxton given a free rein, Aiden not positioned where he can wreak havok, forward replacements to few, too late, and Big Barry too.
We’re very luckey to be still there. Missed Donie big time. Hope he’s back soon, with no long term damage.
What a bunch of men. They deserve the ultimate reward.
To the 2 women in Cusack stand 305 DD who left with 10 mins to go I hope to never see you at a game again and also to anyone else that left early too. Said it in 2013 & Horan was right. This team gets abandoned time and time again when things not goung our way. Best supporters in Ireland my arse. That team deserves so so much better.
So proud of that bunch of men, what a comeback . A bit like last year , but why oh why do we have to be nearly beaten before we decide to play and realise we can beat these lads.First half was poor , showed them far too much respect .
Well done Mayo. Proud again leaving Croke Park. Heroes all from Hennelly up the field. I am convinced Cluxton can be got at. His short kickouts to corners which are then sent straight back to him must be targetted. Andy nearly profitted. Mcqillen bottled a free in to Aidan in the last few mins when they were level. Forwards will be more in tune next week. Advantage Mayo
serious serious time….such guts.Agree management naive …leadership came on field.Moran has experience playing drake who never played in Croker poor call as was reaction to kickouts.
Still everyone has second chance now.This is our year.What does Aido have to do to get a free?
Reilly for the replay?? 😉 😀
Still in the championship into September
Mayo4Sam, fully believe it’s our year now
Agree with Trevor Naughton.Stay at home and make it easier for rest of us to get tickets if ye dont come in time or leave early.Shocking…quite a few did it..team didnt!
Outta jail.
Aido pulled and dragged all day as way McLoughlin…they got f all from the ref.
Standing on the hill on 65 mins they were singing in celebration around me. How on earth did we get away with another chance.
Trevor – I’ve taken the seat numbers out of your post as I don’t want the site to be used to identify particular individuals in this way. I think the point you want to make can be done without getting into such specifics.
Great display by them all in the last few minutes to claw back and get the draw.
Watched game in pub in Aberdeen and an Armagh man reckoned that Dublin got away with murder but if Mayo lost they only had themselves to blame. I would be inclined to agree – we wasted a fair few chances in second half.
I see a lot of criticism of not contesting Cluxton’s kickouts. Was it a case of letting them have the ball on their own 13 the lesser of two evils? If he kicked long and hit his own men, we would have been starting to defend much closer to our own goal.
Can’t see Connolly being successful in appeal but stranger things have happened. I suspect McMahon will get banned for headbutt/attempted headbutt on O’Shea. Hard to tell from the tv angle.
Did anyone see what happened to Rory O’Carroll? Dubs seem to think he got a thump off someone in Mayo full forward line? No footage of it, or even a hint of it so I’ve no idea!
I think we’ll take them in a replay.
So what changes lads?
Thought Barry Moran was a colossus when he came on
Andy really lifted the team but made some very poor decisions. Freeman didn’t have much time to make an impact and I thought Sweeney was an odd enough call
I think we should pick an orthodox 13 and leave Barry for impact. I’d be tempted to start Freeman tbh, Andy is probably better from the bench
I assume Donie will miss out so Durcan will just start there unless Tom is back? any other casualties?
For them, I can’t see Connolly getting off so he’ll be a loss. McMenamin in for him prob or else MDMA at 11. Rock will probably get another chance. Bastick has to start
Philly Mac could be suspended but I hope not, he’s a loose cannon and very poor tackler. Mick Fitz might start in FB line though. That’ll be it
I thought McCaffrey had a fine game today, he really has come on loads for them
We can’t be as bad up front again so that’s a huge plus.
From what I’m hearing Connelly has no case for appeal 3 or 4 clear punches to keegans face Senn by linesman,we will take them in the Gaelic grounds as the crowd were chanting at the end,you gotta love it maigheo abu
I think we should only leave Aidan in 14 if he’s going to get good quality ball not a lot of the stuff he was fed with today. I’m talking diagonal passes out in front of him and ball into space. Not garryowens which hang in the air for a few minutes
They had him sussed well though really, I’d prefer him 11 I think at least for parts of the replay to add another kick out option and collect breaking ball and make more carries
McLoughlin and Doc were very sub par, they can only improve. Think DOC has been our player of the year after Aido he worked like a trojan and kicked a fine score. Cillian was a lot better today from play, but he was just out of this world from frees
Our backs could be tighter, I thought Barrett and Cafferkey got beat a little easy at times. Drake never got to grips with the game at all, that was a strange call to say the least. They all only seemed to really step up from the hour mark. Conceded too many scores from play really, we’ll need to get tighter. That said some of the Dubs scores were top class
That said the main issues were down the other end, and as I say we can only improve here. I think we’ll learn a lot from this
These games are very hard to call as there seems to be a million and one turning points and momentum shifts. Very like Kerry last year
Connolly was pounding Lee on the ground, no chance of anything other than a ban and should be for a few games. Mayo had a very poor game and got a draw. Roll on next Sunday.
The GAA will surely never let Connolly off with all the Hoohah about Kevin Keane last week. Keane getting off could be a huge blessing for us yet! Ironically he didn’t even feature
I wouldn’t be against throwing him in full back the next day though and let Barrett out to wing back
Proud and stunned.What kind of a team is this at all? Should have wrapped them up before they did the damage but will do so next day with a small bit of tweeking. Liked C’s comment of intent after!!
Come back ye boys in blue!! We have ye this time!
I have nothing left after that. I honestly though it was over at around the 61 minute mark. 7 points down i believe, then the whole thing changed.
Can we win it next week, we certainly can. Just press on the cluxtons kickouts a little more
The only complaint was the amount of stray passing we had. Anyway, we are still in it. Great stuff and congrats to all. We will win it this year
Hi All,
I am just back from the game and well done to Mayo on the draw. I didn’t see what DC got the red card for from where I was sitting and personally I thought the Mayo penalty was probably handy enough. That’s a great game to have under the Dubs belts and it was seriously needed no disrespect to any County we have met so far. I think all the Dubs will do is improve from that as will Mayo so Saturday should be again a close game. Best of luck to Mayo as always……
Kind Regards,
Martin the Dub
Ok WJ sorry about that. Frustration at seeing it got the better of me!!
By the way, can we have a serious look at this rule whereby the keeper is not allowed to collect the ball having saved it. This is 2 games in a row where we have suffered here. Clarke was penalised against Donegal, and Hennelly pulled off a great save today but was punished as he was trying to regain possession. A Dublin boot went in and the ball squirted out for a sitter. Seems an anomaly- I suggest either the keeper can pick it up within the 13m area, or he gets some protection e.g. advancing players should not be allowed to lash a boot in while the ball is in his control
Definitely settle for that. Well beaten first half and should have scored 3 or 4 after half time, then the 7 point deficit looked like an awful long shot but as we pegged them back I thought game still on. Our penalty tooled soft from my panoramic view at top of Cutback. Thought we might go for jugular late on with last 2 points but happy with outcome. That wouldn’t have been good enough for Kerry.
Happy to be still in it and both team and management have lot of room to improve.
Bastic turned things for them and the 2 Moran boys for us. May go orthodox next time as Andy has a lot of cutting thrust to offer.
How do you describe that.
Well done lads got a result against an excellent team without us playing well.
Showed balls as things weren’t going our way. It’s was easy say frig it but they didn’t and credit to them
Absolute credit to management also they got subs spot on,very brave taken of drake and putting on Andy.
I thought Chris Barrett P Durkan had great games in defence and lee Keegan an Boyle were their usual top performances.
Shackles will be off leroy when Connelly is missing the next day.
So couldn’t sum it up other than well done lads sticking to the task and well done management for their subs and bravery.
Also quick word to diarmid o Conor who during week saw loss of his old team mate in Darragh Doherty but was superb today under physical and mental abuse from Cooper and co.
By the way, can we have a serious look at this rule whereby the keeper is not allowed to collect the ball having saved it. This is 2 games in a row where we have suffered here. Clarke was penalised against Donegal, and Hennelly pulled off a great save today but was punished as he was trying to regain possession. A Dublin boot went in and the ball squirted out for a sitter. Seems an anomaly- I suggest either the keeper can pick it up within the 13m area, or he gets some protection e.g. advancing players should not be allowed to lash a boot in while the ball is in his control.
Great to be still in the championship in September
Heart in my mouth for the entire match, I agree with the too much respect comment above, would love to see them take the game to Dublin next time, great discipline through all the pulling and dragging, tough bunch of lads……fair play to them.
Mayo got away with murder today. How we weren’t blitzed is beyond me. Either the commentator or one of the panelists got it spot on – they clearly spent more time analysing Dublin than focusing on their own strengths.
Drake starting has got to go down as one of the strangest calls. No pedigree against a team who have seen and done it all. His only meaningful contribution was an unnecessary foul that led to the penalty.
For most of the game, the majority of our forwards were lost at sea. And watching the two boys on the sideline/in the stand, it’s no mystery why. Trying to stay polite, bit the management team looked like deers in headlights.
In the end it came down to the old stock and the Horan mantra of just going for it.
As any football fan worth their salt knows, AOS has a long way to go before he’ll capture a Player of the Year accolade. He is still a good footballer – let there be no doubt – but it looked like players and management began to believe this and lumped any old ball into him existing something to happen. When nothing did, there was a worrying lack of Plan B before they just went for it.
I am absolutely thrilled we live to fight another day. But let’s be frank: Today exposed the long held suspicion that the two lads in charge are struggling to deal with the step up to senior management (or for Holmes, to return to senior management after a dismal first attempt ).
People saying that we can’t play as badly… There is no way the Dubs can play as badly.
Am I feeling optimistic right now? I can’t say I am. I think today the lads’ desire to get over the finish line after 50+ years papered over some serious cracks. But I’m hoping that with a few honest conversations during the week, they’ll focus on what got Mayo to a record breaking 5 semi finals in a row and less on what the opposition can do.
Here’s hoping.
Phew…need heart tablets after that one. When you way up the 75 minutes played, I am happy that we are still in the hunt. Great guts to grind out a draw, but on closer analysis a few points to note…the garryowens to Aiden were often miss-directed and in general did not work. We failed to capitalize on our domination in first 15 minutes of second half and kicked some poor wides. All to play for, heads up, chest out, we need individuals to stand up and show more leadership, as did Cillian when he nailed the peno 4 points down and 3 minutes on the clock. BELIEVE
I agree with Trevor Naughton I saw Mayo “fans” leaving the ground with14 mins to go absolutely disgraceful I have a good friend in Attymass who goes to every game and he couldn’t get a ticket
Some great performances there today. Higgins, Keegan, D O’Connor, Durcan and Boyle stood out for me.
But I fail to be buoyed by that comeback. There is no reason they cannot play with that incision, speed and intensity for greater periods of the game, but will they in the replay?
Real championship quality means being able to produce play like that shown in the last 10 mins, throughout. It shouldn’t take a panic before that kicks in. A completely static forward line with no running into gaps or offering passing options to pressured players for large parts of the game; an apparent aversion to shooting from distance; numerous unforced passes straight into Dublin hands.
I desperately want the lads to reach another final, especially against a spiteful, sly and dirty Dublin team (how that calculated first half follow through raking only got a yellow, I don’t know), and I don’t want to be negative with us still in the Championship, but right now I can’t see past the stagnation of much of that game.
Six days to regroup and I hope the team that went into 5th gear at the end of this game can carry that forward next weekend.
What can one say? Truly marvellous. I think Cluxton was very limited in what he could do from kickouts apart from taking a return pass to kick to a better option. When he went up the field to kick off the ground he was flustered.
I would be happy that the forward options and tactics will be in place by Sat.
I heard some comment on the radio that some took big`Hits’ and might not recover sufficiently for the nest day. Both were Dubs.
It is great not to be bullied off the field.
Missed what happened to Donie and that sounds bad for Connoly who was believed to have shed his nasty image. It must have been sheer frustration.
Thanks to all the team for yet another day to marvel. You are all unbelievable.
Was just having a look on the Resevoir Dubs forum, my god the cyclops punditry going on in there is breath taking.
Told ye. There’s no way we’re losing this. Not today and not on Saturday. Missed 5 on the spin but oh my God do they have heart, character and balls. Huge massive BALLS.
What a heroic comeback, they never gave up. So much room for improvement too. They must push up on Dublin kickouts next time, it is possible to do this and still play a sweeper system, but Mayo took the defensive set up too far today. A big six days coming up for H&C.
On a darker note it is sad to see some of the vitriol being shown towards our team over on the Roscommon supporters message board this evening. One of our players in particular has been subjected to disgraceful personal abuse in a post that has been ‘thanked’ by a number of other posters on their forum. It is sad, if perhaps not too surprising, to see our near neighbours stoop to such a level, they really have a truly nasty element to their support. I hope none of the Mayo names associated with their vacant managers post agrees to involve themselves with them in any way, shape or form.
…………Stuck n London………..100% accurate analysis……….thats essentially what we witnessed without doubt…… …But there is a Mayo “X-Factor” and that t materialised innrhe final 15 mns………We’re certainly inwith a god chance next Sat !!
@ Stuck In London. Very good, accurate reading of the situation. On that performance Kerry would eat us alive..
Apologies – I thought I’d put up the poll but hadn’t. It’s there now.
CANT VERIFY BUT JUST READ TICKETS ARE UP ON TICKETS.IE FFOR THE REPLAY
Declan……….Not too surprising fromm some Ross quarters……but I met some Rossies today who were fully behind the Connacht cause and fully supportive of Mayo
Tickets are now on sale all….cheers
Martin the Dub
Thought when we were 7 points down that this was such a sad way for this great group of ours to bow out without doing themselves justice,but how wrong I was to have any doubt that this select group of the finest young men our county has to offer just keep going back to the well time and time again for us all and themselves.Surely their is so much we can take and learn for next week and our shooting from play can’t be as bad.the dream is still alive
Most Rossies would support us as their neighbours but there is a minority especially near the borders that go well overboard. Ignore them, they are looking for a reaction and we are better than that. Other people are far better qualified to analyse the match but my thoughts are that maybe pat and Noel were trying to be too cute and it was only in the last 10 minutes that we took the game by the scruff of the neck. Not pressing cluxons kickouts and leaving aiden on his own in full forward are issues. I think the momentum is now with us and it may turn out that this was a good wake up call on aspects of our play. I wasn’t able to make it to the match but the crowd chanting mayo mayo mayo was very audible on the telly. We are good enough and that bit of belief and sheer stubbornness at the end was a sight to behold. UP MAYO
Pretty woeful performance but absolute gargantuan balls when required. I thought we were gone when Aido clipped that free straight to a Dub under the Cusack. We looked to be really faltering and the Dubs sensed a soft touch. Not this team.
We steadied up with a few points but I thought it was too late. We then, from where it came I don’t know, began to surge down the middle at them. And they couldn’t live with us. Barry Moran won a huge ball at midfield and the belief just surged through the lot of em. Penalty was soft but COC still had to bury it. Which he did, with absolute aplomb. Could have won it too but I’d have pawned one of the kids for a draw at half-time.
We were p’ss poor today. At the root of it for me was that we paid them far too much respect. Once we pushed up on Cluxton he completely fell apart. We can improve no end once the lads can recover in time.
I agree with lots of what Stuck In London says.
As a footnote –
I’ve never had to endure moaning, whining, belittling and ignorant fans like today. It was nigh on moronic at times. One guy commented that Connolly would be exonerated on match of the day tonight! To be fair one elderly Dublin man did apologise to us on the way out but it leaves a very sour taste.
TICKETS ON SALE ,,,GOT 4 FOR lower HOGAN
Advantage Kerry in the overall sense but advantage Mayo in the more immediate sense.
We did not play well today and Dublin had us rattled with their high intensity in our faces approach & their superior ability to take their chances. But we were getting to them towards the end so that augurs well for the next day. In the overall sense though we can count ourselves lucky to have a next day.
Today we gave Dublin way too much respect early on & were lacking structure in our own attacks possibly due to over analysis and over reliance on our defensive structure.
A sound sweeping structure is all well & good but when you go 3 points down early on & still concede 2 goals anyway it may have been too much of a trade-off to move away from our normal game.
We lacked belief that our normal game would be good enough but in the end our normal game saved us in the last 10 minutes. There is no need for Mayo to be fearful .. we CAN go toe to toe with either Dublin or Kerry.
I thought that in contrast to the last day our management did not have a great day.
Barry Moran should have remained in the team & should have been moved from firefight to firefight throughout … he could also have alternated with Aido for periods.
The sustitutions involving Andy Moran & Freeman were in my view too late.
Sorry about the criticisms, the great heart shown by the players is acknowledged as well but if we are to progress the margins at this level are very fine indeed.
Lads, I thought we were excellent today, the great Dublin attack looked out of ideas. We restricted them to 14 scores which I think is their lowest since the 2011 final? We had 16 scores ourselves! They had very few goal chances and were somewhat lucky to convert them because by god they needed them. We clearly conceded kick outs and it worked I thought, give them the ball on their 13 and make them work it up field. I am very disappointed, I think our game plan workes and we had the beating of them.
I should add, obviously at 7 points down I would have bitten your hand off for the draw so fair play to the lads. A fine bunch of men representing us.
Character!
Surely ye will squeeze Dublin on Cluxtons kick outs from the start next week?
Ye have by far the superior ball winners around the middle & should Lord it there.
Lads, come on down from ye’re high horses, there is a percentage of supporters in every county who hope their neighbours always lose, do you think if the roles were reversed every one in Mayo would hope Roscommon would win, of course there would be some who wouldn’t, its the nature of tribalism and sport in general. I myself didn’t care who won today but after the way it finished Mayo have the momentum going in the next day, how Dublin respond to throwing away such a lead will tell alot about what Jim Gavin is about.
I wouldn’t be too narky re other counties’ supporters ….. Fair enough there were a few choice Dubs in the Davin close to me (managed to drown them out eventually) but let’s not get upset by a few Rossies – what annoyed me more were some of the stupid/negative Mayo “supporters behind me today…..not a clue what was going on and v negative. Ah well…..
btw – just heard the Gavin post-match interview on the RTE news sports roundup……nice bit of arrogance, saying how Dublin needed a hard game and this will bring them on….. sure it’s great that Mayo were so obliging to give them a good run out ahead of the final….
Declan if your upset about a few comments on a supporters board then you should have been at the match today and heard what some of our own supporters were saying about the management team with 10 minutes to go. Also you should see what the Mayo Banter page says about the Rossies when they lose. The amount of fans who left with 10 minutes to go around me. I couldnt believe it. We have fans who are just as bad as any other county.
We were so lucky to get another day out of that today but I do think we will win the next day and could our fans please stay until the end or give their tickets to true supporters who would love a ticket.
I’m reading that cillian elbowed o Carroll and the Sunday game will highlight it. Please god let this be just a rumour.
His loss would be game changing
Immensely proud of the lads today.
I think Cillian did do something to O Carroll. My daughter tells me that it was mentioned on RTE during the match today so im surprised no one has picked up on it before now. Maybe RTE got it wrong but he had to get 10 sitches so something happened to him.
To settle an argument can someone list the subs for us as per the program please.
Cillian 10\1 man of the match
don’t say I didn’t tell us :p
knew he would deliver
hope he wasnt naughty …..
brogans point in the first half was wide if they want to go into every decision.
I do think Cillian did something but hopefully not caught on camera as if it is what about Philly McMahon dive. Cooper stamp on diarmid etc
Delighted to still be in championship . It wasn’t looking good but tremendous spirit at the end and could have won. Terrible management today. Why the change in goal? Barry Moran not playing was shocking and to bring in Drake was ridiculous . Lucky to get away with that.
Any news from the Sunday Game. Have no tv. Mike Sweeney had a point lined up and looking good but blocked down. I forget how it panned out.
What happened to Donie?
The news on the fitness of Tom Cunniffe and David Clarke was not factual?
Lookin good for replay and hope O`Carrol’s knock was accidental in going for the ball.
-Yet another epic comeback. No matter what happens no one can ever question the character of this Mayo team again.
-Best players are needed on the pitch from the start so Andy and Barry must start the next day, sub them when they tire of if they fail to make a difference.
– Mgmt do not need to come up with some surprise for every game, starting David Drake was high risk and had the look of doing something different just for the sake of it
– I thought the Dub HF line had the winning of the game and Ciaran Kilkenny did have a super first half, Flynn not the player he was and Connolly held. As feared Jack McCaffrey did damage and while he did not score a goal he made one.
– Contrast to our HF line with only diarmuid playing well. DOC and Kevin McL under pressure to start on Sat.
-The Dubs could and did score long range points. We did not even try to score from distance in first half just worked ball in to draw frees. Changed in second half but accuracy off.
– I thought the Mayo support was fantastic today great noise and colour. I did not see anyone leave early but then I was glued to the happenings on the pitch.
– Great noise fro Dub supporters as well but there were two foul mouthed guys sitting behind me who swore at McQuillan for the 75 minute if the match unreal
– We are still in this, we have to improve for next week and I believe we will.
Ciaran, they showed the o Carroll incident. O carroll pulled him back and he threw back a forearm. I’d be a bit worried about it though if they dish out suspensions.
J coopers tackle was horrific
Connolly red card have real question marks over it what’s your option on it
Thanks Cod, more tension tomorrow.
Connolly threw a punch so red should stand. Having said that he was provoked by Keegan. Cooper and McMahon should have both been sent off. McMahon took a shameful dive too. Have watched a good of it back and Aido took dogs abuse all through. DOC had a savage game, as did his brother from placed balls. Boyler was just heroic.
Not one of Jasons better games .Also I dont like criticising management but really playing a fella in his first championship match against the Dubs was a naive call.
Left it too late to bring on Barry too.
I thought McStay could have done a bit more forayo cause.He was bullied by Whelan.
Mayo can do this….same guys stood up in my view.We need Andy in earlier.
Totally agree Olive. Both Morans needed on Saturday and there was no need to try and have a clever plan for this game, if Mayo just played their own game in first half it would have been enough. half forwards were poor, particularly Doc and Kevin MC was even worse. Dublin couldn’t handle it when Mayo stopped the long ball and just ran at them.
No Connelly suspension will stand. He clearly punched lee in the head
Philly Mahon will get away with it but Connelly can’t.
Don’t think anything will happen Cillian he gave as good as he got.
Ya Jason doh was well off his recent better displays and will be under pressure from freeman and Andy.
Even Barry at centre field with parsons pushing up maybe an option
Anyways minus Connelly that’s the fulcrum of dunk play gone. His influence can’t be underestimated as he worth 5 points then by freeing up lee probably worth 2 or 3 to us.
Kevin mc must do man marking job on mccaffrey and free up diarmuid to play with more freedom on McCarthy
Games like these are won on fine margins. I thought we showed great resilience to eke out the draw and could have won it at the end.
Thought the dubs fouled from start to finish. Penalty conceded was clearly outside the box. It was an accidental trip and a free and probably a yellow. Aido was clearly fouled inside the penalty area by McMahon and no penalty. We had a score chalked off for overcarrying by Aido when he was clearly fouled. McMannamin scored a point having hopped the ball twice on his way in. Need to verify that tonight. Two point swing there alone. We will show them less respect the next day and probably have a few players sent off!
aidan o sheas restraint is to be admired
he took 70 minutes of non stop provocation
big game from him next Saturday
think it will be a more open game
Cillian not really naughty.. was being dragged and threw this hand behind back trying to shrug ROC off. He was unsighted but maybe a bit impetuous… such things have ended in sending off on occasion. Looked like his fingers caught ROC’s face but definitely wasn’t trying to inflict an injury. Philly Mcmahon was lucky with headbutt; Johnny Cooper with the studs was a very nasty one which probably deserved red. Also thought Cian O Sullivan very lucky to not get black carded though in fairness MDMA was unlucky and they also lost Bastic to deserved black.. He will start next day with Fenton as he gave them more so better watch him. Also Rock was right call by Gavin as McMenamon gave them more but their free conversion rate became poor. On our side we deserved all our yellow cards and Aido was a bit foolish with that tackle on Cluxton as he could have gotten black.
Sunday game showed the nasty stuff but in fairness about 80% of it was Dublin. Leroy better be careful as they might try to get him cards the next day.
With benefit of slow motion ours was a genuine penalty (though Boyle was very unlikely to goal) as was the foul on Aido in 1st half and their penalty was outside and a possible black for Doherty though we were opened up too easily during that period.
Dublin’s discipline very poor but if they clean up their act they’ll leak more.
Yes McMenamon point was 2 hops. None of us spotted it nor did Sunday game.
Well done lads!
I said to my mate from mayo I was sitting beside when ye went 7 down, “if ye comeback from this it will be the greatest I’ve ever seen in the context of the game that was in it” ….so guess I have to stick with it.
Super stuff!
Couldn’t disagree more with analysis on Sunday game. Thought mayo didn’t play great in first half but thought their tactics were bang on….it’s what kept them in the game. Yes cooper took 4 kick outs in row from cluxton but passed the straight back to him and that’s where mayo were superb. Dubs really struggled to get out of their half….mind u when they did they were really dangerous.
I thought mayo wouldn’t do it today…I now can’t see them not doing it! There is a ruthlessness to their game now too….Keegan-Connolly incident sums it up…make no apologies….this is what it takes….too often ye have been the victims crying foul…make it someone else’s turn….dublin need Connolly and despite Whelans best attempts on SG tonight….they won’t have him!
Cant see connollys red card rescinded after the rumpus over keanes …he clearly punched keegan ..then again stranger things have happened …an unbelievable come back from mayo boys …their never say die attitude is a source of immense pride ..
Don’t think Cillian has too much to worry about. Rory grabbed him from behind and as he was trying to free himself he may accidentally hit his face.
AOS MoM by a mile too btw….no offence to COC….but those SG really take the easy option too often….he is a collouus o Shea!
Whew! What a white-knuckle ride on the Mayo roller coaster.
Lucky to be in it, that’s for sure. I’d have taken a replay in Parnell Park at 62 minutes.
The Dublin blitz from the 55th minute or so, showed why management acted as they did – try to cut down space and options for Dublin. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile, which they did.
The tactics of not getting sucked in to chasing balls all over the field in the first half was good i thought and conserved gas for when it was really needed. Dublin were out on their feet in the last ten minutes – Mayo were flying. It should have been the reverse – you are 7 points down with 8 minutes on the clock in today’s high intensity game. Shouldn’t have happened, but we did it by having the energy and strength as well as the mental toughness to claw it back.
Don’t think we showed Dublin much respect. First 5 minutes Dubs around me were wincing at the heavy tackles Mayo put in. Rory O’Carroll would argue that he wasn’t shown much respect! Lots and lots of cynical stuff, but overall I didn’t detect real nastiness. But I’ll have to watch it on the tape to really appraise it.
Big call by management to start Drake – I had predicted they would start Durcan. Hard to say what he achieved but closing down space would have been part of it.
And – management again – Connelly spent practically the last ten minutes on the pitch. My Dublin son reckoned they were very effective.
A o Shea had a quiet game by his standards bu the way o’connor deserve ed it he scored 1 9. What a comeback by Mayo c Boyle was good to have to say that to
The O’Connor incident with O’Carroll wasn’t an intentional elbow at all. He wasn’t even looking at O’Carroll and he was pulled back and when you’re running full speed and being pulled back your arms go all over the place. Anyone who plays Gaelic or other similar sports would understand this.
Cantini, just wondering when you will be speaking English? 😉
I wouldn’t be sorry if Connolly played.
Beat them all, fair and square. Don’t give them anything to crib about and use as an incentive. Cooper could be in trouble, though. Cillian’s retaliation very modest in comparison,
Up Mayo.
Lads when the relief and satisfaction of the comeback settles we’ll realise that this was a 5/10 performance, 6 at best.
I think both teams will improve the next day. No advantages..clean slate new game etc.
Our 1st half was way too tentative.
Forget about red cards and suspensions…it’ll be 15 on 15 next day. Let’s do it
If anything today should I still BELIEF into our boys. Believe we can do it and we will.
Instill
Ps: did anyone see big Bertha on the hill? The stick snapped so didn’t get to wave her as much
will there be any changes for the replay ?
were people impressed with hennelly?
some poor kick outs, good save but a sloppy goal to give away at a crucial time
@joemc
It’s late. If there is one useful thing I’ve picked up from young ones it’s SH
(shorthand)
@Cantini,
you have to allow for us ancient ones… We’d be slow on the uptake.. 🙂
i dont think Connolly will be much loss to them. He must be the most overrated player of all time. Would actually say A Brogan & McMenamin worry me more when there on the pitch.
Have to wonder were the Dubs looking for a reaction from COC & AOS to get one of them sent off.
I would like to see BM start at midfield with SOS going to center forward and told to run down the middle (need another abrasive player in the forward line).Would keep OSullivan busy too.
Would start Andy & telll him to feed off AOS. AOS got isolated too many time today with no one to pass too.
One other thing i’m not sure who was supposed to be picking up Flynn but he received the ball 3 times i think totally unmarked. Crazy considering he can deliver the ball so well.
AOS played a funny sort of role today. He didn’t stay in FF enough, and even took a terrible free after Cillian was fouled, rather than waiting inside to receive the free. He still had a good game and is honest. He was also the victim of play acting from Philly. With a bit more support he will be the winning of the game on Saturday. Thought Keegan was excellent again. Barry gave us more options when he came on. He could shore up midfield and stop runners if on from the start. I’d even give him 5 minutes up front every so often to keep Dublin guessing.
Kevin Mcstay played a blinder on Sunday game. Nicely highlighting the rough Dublin play.We had the Dubs on the racks 15 mins into second half but we didn’t take our opportunities. We have to force Cluxton to go long and back ourselves to win possession out the field. MOTM for me was Cillian he really stepped up to plate. Mayo showed great heart and character coming back pure fucking balls .Considering the history this group of lads have being through and still have the hunger the guts to claw back a result. These lads are heros every one of them.
Head is still spinning after today. I’m very ashamed to say I had accepted our supposed fate with ten minutes to go and was already calling a Kerry All-Ireland. I should have known better, shouldn’t I? What a day. Looking forward to watching back tomorrow when everything settled down a bit.
To the man behind us today who started roaring at us to sit down during Darragh’s round of applause (“I came here to watch the f**king match”), should you be reading this, I hope you never, ever have to experience the pain and horror of such a loss.
OK – have to say I thought it was over at half time but the belligerent nature in me kept roaring in foghorn manner MAYO MAYO MAYO in section 309 toward the back as much as I could. When the Dubs went 7 points up, only the most optimistic part of me thought we had a hope – when we absolutely still had a hope.
The Mayo man beside me had left and then all of a sudden, we fought our way back to a level position. I had fog horned up to this point, with good response from those around, despite my neighbouriing supporter abondoning …
I’ll argue – we played badly, all day long, and we came away with a draw. We should have won, and we had several opportunities to win it and we didn’t. At the end of the day, that’s the sort of shite that we will be hung, drawn and quartered on if we don’t finally lift the big eared cannister having beat a very beatable Dublin team this coming saturday.
We need to be more ferocious, we need to be more clinical, and we need to be sure that when we get the ball, we bury the fucker.
We showed what we can do for the last 10 minutes today – why can’t we be more like that earlier and longer in the games?
We need every single one of us to shout – when the dubs (deliberate lower case) start to whine their usual “boys in blue” we need to foghorn the “Mayo Mayo Mayo” stuff. And in the Final, we need to do the same amount of shouting for a full 75 minutes.
Fuck being outnumbered.
Make the voice heard. It clearly makes a difference if today’s performance is anything to go by.
Mayo for Sam. Its our time and those of us not on the field can contribute too.
Its our time. We have better days to come.
WTF? Cardiac arrest stuff! Balls, nerves, guts. What team spirit. Never mind that though for now, get your tickets now, see http://www.tickets.ie where already on sale. We were well outnumbered (if not fully outshouted) today. The analysis can wait till ye secure a place to support this gutsy team. Credit cards out and get those tickets, we need to bring more green and red on Sat and shame on those on who lost the faith and left early, but you can redeem yourselves, why not buy an extra ticket or two and secure them for resale to Mayo supporters. Let’s make it a sea of green and red!
Exciting game to be at but has to be said, bad quality. Ref was cat. Dodgy decisions to both teams but penalty at the end just about balanced it out. Digs and hits from all sides but it is to be expected because of what is at stake. Mayo have the beating of Dublin, I have no doubt about that. When they ran at the dubs in the last quarter they showed just that. If we maintain that hunger and desire for the full 70 next week we will win. Cluxton has been found out. Lot to improve on but we can only get better. Buckle up its going to be one hell of a ride!
Also @Ann Marie – were u on the hogan? A man behind my seat shouted at me for standing up during the tribute. Absolute pathetic excuse of a human being. And what’s worse was he was from Mayo. Asshole
Cantini I thought the rules of this blog Is to speak properly if you want you can express your views on the banter page they accept all kinds.. Back to the match fair play to our boys again Jesus what a come back mayo by 4 next Saturday
Great comeback, probably or best ever when of a bit lucky. Re our penalty, and Cluxton’s giltb edged chance to crucify us by a single point. Any we showed that what we could do when we let loose, passion commitment, work rate all great add is the norm for this team. It was just fantastic to be there. Re comments about people leaving early. It was their loss, I was in 303 & didn’t see a single person get up and leave early. As for our Rossie friends we stopped in Roscommon town for a bite to eat, Met several Rossies were all very complimentary years the Mayo team & fans. Anyhow Mayo Abu this will live long in the memory. Some days it’s just great to be alive and witness such an epic occasion. Don’t take any negatives out of this game out was too good and life’s too short. We’ll do it on the replay!
I was one who left my seat early as I always do because I want to get out of Croke Park as early as possible to get a visit to an old friend in a nursing home on my way home. Any delay means I don’t get there in time to meet the nursing home rules. But I always get to see the match end from behind the seats at the canal end, an ideal vantage point today.
Regards the match, it’s hard to know where to start. Perhaps with our failure to put any real pressure on Cluxton’s kick outs for most of the game. Crazy giving them so much easy possession. We have seen how Cluxton’s game goes to pieces when he is under pressure so perhaps we will remember that on Saturday. We should have already known it from our last Croke Park NFL match.
I backed Mayo from the outset, but in fairness didn’t expect them to play so poorly for 60 minutes. The misses were already documented here but the amount of kick passes that went to dublin players was reckless to the extreme. Why AOS was taking a possible scoreable free (he should have been in near the square to receive the ball) and then proceeded to give it to the opposition was careless.
Don’t agree with the comments above about DC sending off not being significant, it will have a hugh bearin on the game next saturady for two reasons 1. because he has been dublin’s best player this season and 2. KEVIN McMANAMON will start the next day leaving less options from the bench for Dublin.
J. Cooper is a complete thug and should have got a red card for attempting to damage DOC leg well after the ball was gone and add to him Philly McMahon who should be ashamed of himself, truly discussing behavior.
For the next day Mayo need to hammer the hammer and the effectiveness of C.Kilkenny, B.Brogan & J.McCaffrey need to curtailed.
Couldn’t understand the selection of D.Drake, we can’t afford to be carrying non scoring treats in the forward line. Alan Freeman would pose a aerial treat along with the mobility which would give Dublin an additional problem in their full back line. Also would hope that D.Clarke is fit next weekend along with D.vaughan & Cunniffe.
This game will have brought both teams on alot, more so Dublin IF they had more than 6 days to recover, with less than a week to recover its advantage Mayo both mentally and physically.
With the physicality of the contact there maybe a argument to include Kane in the first 15 the next day.
Don’t agree that Kerry will beat the winners of this semi final, Kerry are very lucky to beat a very average Tyrone team.
That is interesting about the kickouts being conceded whether it worked or not. Our mind is taken off the fact that several of those went straight back to Cluxton and then we pushed up.
That was the most miraculous Mayo comeback I’v seen. We needed 1 – 4 and we got it. After only scoring 11 pts up to that point.
1. After ROC went off we should have reacted with either switches on field or being a bit b*llsy springing a sub. Their defence throughout was just about containing us. We didnt dscover this until we went on a blitz in the final 10 mins.
2. I said before the game we could win if we commit fully to a target man game (we never did) and when they stack up yellows and blacks to pound them down the middle with runners.
We should have had a player in suport of AOS at all times. For me that player should be Cillian. Else Alan Freeman. I think Andy is better from the bench, I don’t think he’d handle the early game pace. In fact Andy himself admitted as much at start of the year.
It was obvious Dublin defence was stretched with loss of ROC, how would they have handled Barry inside with AOS playing nearby.
3. The defence did well when you analyse it in cold light of day. The final goal was a bit of a pox but again, players rushing in when they don’t need to. I only just noticed Ger Caff had two vital interceptions in the final 10 minutes.
Psychologically I prefer the idea of Dublin having to battle for their kickout by kicking long. Maybe the short kickout worked, but Dublin still seemed in control of the game while we allowed it.
4. Barry Moran/Freeman/Andy all needed to feature much earlier.
5. Let’s finish positive have a look at the genius of Cillian when he gets the ball in the run up to the penalty. Two Dublin defenders on him and he uses a feint and a bounce solo to come out of trouble and places the handpass right in Boyles stride.
Again we can win the replay but we have to commit properly to target man play. We need to keep 4 men up at all times or we are inviting Dublin on. Pound them with runners in the second half.
[Deleted].
I must have been watching a different game to some of ye. We played well, yes it wasnt the usual carry hard, run hard mayo but after 58 mins we had restricted them to 1-9 and managed to pick off scores ourselves. that was a fantastic mature performance.
We were left chasing the game because we missed some handy scores and then they got a handy enough goal. That was down to individual execution rather then a problem with our game plan, which in my opinion put is in a winning position after 58 mins.
Without doubt the hard carry, hard running game saved us in the end but those of you who think we could have done that from the start are wrong. It would have give them too much space and they would out scored us.
Some people seem to have completely missed our kick out strategy too…. We conceded the ball on their 13m and made them work it up field, this was difficult for them and that’s why they were out on their feet at the end.
Drake was indeed an odd call and O’Shea needed more help but overall I was pleased.
To me it was that period of wides and dropping balls short was not good enough and put us in a terrible position.
I don’t agree with the comments that McStay didn’t defend the homeland last night. I thought he did a superb job without coming across as completely blinkered.
Fantastic fight back. Thought we were very poor in first half. No disrespect to Drake but starting him was crazy.
I know management are taking a bit of criticism but in my humble opinion we finished that game with a much better team than started.
Supporters were once again magnificent, we were well outnumbered but by God when we roared we literally did shake the rafters.
Momentum is firmly with us now but we have to play for the full 70 minutes.
Was really nervous leading up to this match but feeling more confident now.
Roll on Saturday. Any word of injuries, hope Donie makes it but very doubtful.
MAIGH EO ABU
Agreed, i had never heard of drake to until yesterday, no disrepect but yesterday wasn’t the time to start him and considering how well B Moran had done the last day he should have started.We failed to learn from last year as we played a defensive against kerry the first half in the drawing match and only when keegan was sent off and our back to the wall we pushed up and played our running game. We need a sweeper but after that we need to just push up on the kick outs and we will win the game. Dublin have to be psychology fucked after yesterday
Surely Patrick Durkin needs a special mention. After a tentative start I thought he was outstanding
Cait – you’ve crossed the line there with that comment about Aidan. Trash-talking players isn’t allowed here and you should know this by now. Please bear in mind for future reference. A bit of attention to punctuation wouldn’t go amiss now and then either, by the way.
If we had got a few of the score,s we missed when we were trailing by 1_8 to 0-10, think we would have gone on to win well. Great bloody men to keep coming back. Don’t see us getting beaten now, full stop.p.s surely all the money we are generating with semi final replays can be taken off what we owe for the stand in MacHale Park.
Willy Joe,do you know would it be possible to get the image that was up before the match. I.e. The reek and croker in print? Think it’s savage.
@NY
“Cantini I thought the rules of this blog Is to speak properly if you want you can express your views on the banter page they accept all kinds”
No idea what that sentence means. But freedom of expression always welcome!
Judging by the press fall out today there will be either players facing a nervous couple of days or else the cards will be flying early the next day.
I think the press has it totally wrong about Mayo’s first half tactics. Connelly addressed the point of marking zones or players in the first half and they went for Zones – it was absolutely the right thing to do and was the reason Mayo were well in the game at half time even though they weren’t playing well. Dublin were scoring at will when they get into the final third but Mayo’s tactics limited the amount of time they spent in that area.
Great to have Saturday to look forward to . I hope some lessons were learnt . No need to fear Dublin, they were not comfortable when mayo upped tempo and went for them when they was nothing else we could do. I hope we start Saturday positively with focus on our strengths rather than worrying about the opposition. There must be a place for B Moran in starting lineup, half forwards hopefully will contribute more Saturday.
@Rock
McStay and Whelan both did their best for their counties last night. I think its the sort of double standards RTE exhibits is what drives Mickey Harte mad. I have to say I loved the theatre of yesterdays game but if the same stuff went on in an ulster match it would have been lampooned by McSTay and Whelan and every clip looked at in detail….thought they were very happy to brush past most of it and only very half hearted condemnation of dirty play. In truth the analysis should not be done by people whose own county is involved. We know now that Sunday Game analysis has a huge impact on refs and actions taken by croke park so any analyst should be from a nuetral county.
Of course Tomas O Se just sits there with a smirk delighted to see both sides inflicting collateral damage on each other.
If the GAA were to act consistently I think Johnny Cooper (definitely) Cillian O Connor (probably) and Philie McMahon (possibly) should not be seeing action on Saturday evening…but because Sunday game was pretty light in its criticism I think all will take the field.
Personally, I hope they are all playing because it is hugely entertaining.
Harsh WJ don’t you know Cait gets very excited hope mayo win next day
I was watching Connolly incident, he threw at least 3 or 4 punches, not one. Amazing how only one punch shown on Sunday Game. With all the cameras they have in Croker, they surely picked up the full extent of this one. The efforts in the media to compare it to Keane are way off the mark and I hope they do not succeed. A lot of thought required on line out for next day. Also thought Durcan had a great game. Ticket situation on tickets.ie very unfair. They went on sale last night at full price for a replay as Mayo fans mad their way home. Sold out this morning. All the advantages with Dublin for the replay but Mayo will not be beaten. Up Mayo!
I have to say our tactics on Cluxton’s kickouts were great. We were dictating who he was kicking to and were slowing their attacks.This also conserved energy for the last quarter and we looked much fitter and stronger in the final period. Our forward plan however didn’t work and Cillian was always behind his man where a pass could never find him. To keep them to 1-7 in the first half after playing poorly upfront was a great result and only for so many wides and short balls to the keeper in the 3rd quarter I feel we would have won the game as we could have hit them on the break in the last ten minutes. D O’Connor was outstanding all day and my MOTM. Momentum is surely with us and if we cut out all the basic errors we look to be better controlled than them and all our subs made an impact when given enough time. Think Durcan and maybe Freeman will have to start the next day.
I feel we would have scored heavy if we contested their kickouts and had at least one person in support of Aidan. Can you imagine Cillian supporting Aidan?
He was so isolated it ended up as shutdown play turned over or a free out. Not Aidans fault was 3 against 1 at times. Not contesting kickouts I think we would have petered out to at best a narrow loss.
P Barret
agree totally with your analysis. Mayo keeping the score to 1-7 in the first half was the real success story because they weren’t playing well but the tactics kept them in it. I thought it was great management – everyone is saying when Mayo let the shackles off they really got at Dublin but its different doing that in the last 10 mins, 7 points down and nohting to lose with the other team just watching the clock. If Mayo had started like that I think they game could have been over at half time.
MayoMike – you are on the money.
Our strategy was fairly well thought out and being only 3 down at half time after nicking a point was great.
Failure to nail some scores when we were overwhelming them, gave them heart and, as I said, when they go on a run they can blitz any team. And, they were no softies, they made us work so hard for everything going forward.
In fact I think they watched the Galway video and learned from it. Stifle Mayo in the half forwards, break and hit quick long ball. Their forwards won most of those – they didn’t need an Aidan O’Shea – and we couldn’t get big men back quickly enough. Our backs don’t seem able to catch a high ball over an opponent.
We conserved our energy for the critical phase – we learned that well from 2013.
I know you’ll be getting to the coverage later Willie Joe, but John Bannon’s analysis makes for interesting reading, mostly highlighting what Dublin got away with.
They knew how to play him, why wouldn’t they? On the basis of Bannon’s analysis, we were robbed. Others I met after the match highlighted the Brogan ‘point’ that wasn’t.
OK we got away with a few apparently – and O’Shea throw and an Andy over carry.
Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/pml4n4e
Team I would be thinking of playing v Dubs
___________Clarke (if fit)
___Barrett_____Caff____Higgins
____________Boyle
Keegan_____Kevin Mc___Durkan
_________Parsons___Barry
DOC______Seamie____Freeman
_________Aido____Cillian
Let Seamie be the wrecking abll that Corks Alan O Conor used be when they won the All Ireland .
Kevin Mc dropping into defense will give Kilkenny or Flynn something differnet to think about plus he can create attacks and runs from deep with Barry slotting into 6 when he goes up field .
Other than that I would give freeman the no.12 as we dont need to to as defensive as the last day . He will give McCarthy plenty defensive duties.
If Cooper wants to be a hard man lets see how tough he is marking Seamie. This should also give us great options for our kickouts with Seamie, Parsons, Barry and Freeman all well able to field ball above their heads .
Defence should be fine with one sweeper in Boyler, P Durkan is like a right footed Noel Connelly, fast tough as teak and a greatter runner and baller too .
Thanks catcol
P Barrett is spot on too.
If hard carrying and hard running alone won all Ireland’s we would have at least 2 since 96 and maybe more.
H&C seem to understand this and in many ways this performance was even more revolutionary then the Donegal game.
Hon Mayo
The dubs really focusing on cillian incident surely wasn’t at fault o Carroll trying to pull the jersey off him and no ball within miles???
I picked Aidan simply because how that man can keep his cool when constantly fouled & roared at is beyond me didn’t have support yesterday but still did well
Felt v outnumbered at the game yesterday – but great credit to the sections of supporters around the stadium who kept up with the chanting, often against the run of play. I’m tired, emotional and wringed out this morning though. It was like doing 10 rounds with Ali, I came out in a daze.
There were a number of standout performances. You have to call out KH, Aido and Boyler. I saw Bowler wrap his hands-arms-shoulders around the ball and sprint towards the goal. He had a mean look on his face that said “don’t even try mate ‘cos you ain’t getting it”. Inspirational, and at a time when it was needed. But I am giving my vote to Tom Parsons. He was just fantastic. He was everywhere on the pitch and always so solid and so reliable. Andy looked off the pace immediately on his introduction, but when he calmed down and started using his head he was phenomenal for us. Definitely not a starter though. I was not as impressed with Barry. He had a great catch and a good run but he did not make himself available to the runners. I thought his reading of the game wasn’t great. Parsons made a great burst from the backs intending to lay off to him but he was not open to the pass. I hope I’m not being harsh. I think every player on that panel is a hero because…
…What happened yesterday was nothing short of heroic.
This was a complicated game where you honestly would need the help of a poster like ‘Don’t foul’ to get to the truth of the game.
Okay we were stifling Dublin. Or were we?
2-12 they had scored by the 60th minute. That is not exactly stifling Dublin.
As a tradeoff we had 11 poiints on the board. Nothing I seen in those first 60 mins assured me we could make up the gap on Dublin.
So for those early tactics … how does it get us the win? Everything about the first 60 mins shows us we would have at best lost narrowly.
When we pushed up on their kickout and blitzed them they didn’t look like scoring from play. Durcans free was a little bit of rashness.
Also we had Aidan worn down with that initial tactic. For me we were not bringing the game to them and taking the scores off them. How would they have handled Aidan, Barry and Freeman all togged and up front with Cillian playing off them. For me they would have cracked that defence much earlier.
Not impressed with Barry!!! For god sake we needed that kickout to get the draw. He was only on the pitch 8 minutes.
@ Catcol, P Barret and Cantini.
Can one of you explain to me what were tactic/gameplan were in the first half?
I was at the game and couldn’t figure it out.
You say it kept us in it. I think it invited Dublin on and allowed them to be leading this continue until we brought Andy on. Pushed up on the kick outs and began running at them (like under Horan).
@Jason B
I think the tactic was exactly as connelly defined it – they marked the zones out to the half way line. As a result I think Cluxton kicked the ball to cooper 4 times in a row ….but what had cooper to look at – nothing – he went straight back to cluxton on every occasion…Mayo pushed a high line from that point on and Dublin really struggled to get into the mayo half or final third of the pitch. I thought it was a tactical master class.
That Mayo didn’t play well in the first half with Ball in hand was a different matter – the defensive and kick out strategy was excellent and for me it kept mayo in the game. Had cluxton been able to hit players in the “zones” i think Dublin would have visited the Mayo final third much more frequently and they were proving very economical in that area of the pitch – another 3 or 4 poitns and the game would ahve been done at half time.
I appreciate this view doesn’t go with the mainstream analysis and I spent a good half hour debating with 2 mayo fans after the game that i thought it was excellent….but sure its all about opinions and great to be getting another crack at it next weekend….
@ JP well said. Posters are saying that our tactic for the first half drew us the game. Yet as you pointed out. Once we started playing our running game and pushed up we keep Dublin scoreles to our 1.4.
I agree that you can’t do that for 70 minutes but playing a tactic that results in you being 7 points down with 8 minutes to go and then than relying on this unbelievable team to pull it out of the fire isn’t a good game strategy.
Mayo mike can you please explain how these tactics were more revolutionary than Donegal game???
It was said that let us not sit on our hands again like 2013. The test was there. The chips were down, we needed every person in green and red to get behind the team! And… We didn’t.
All of what unfolded yesterday, our lads 7 points down, the Hill absolutely roaring, the Mayo continent silent, and our lads found the metal to pull that off. Make no mistake, is was all them. “The best supporters in the world” helped not one jot (from where I was sitting anyways). Best supporters alright – when things go well.
Well done lads.
I fucking love this team
The other thing is that a low scoring game tactic is a terrible idea against a team who are great at scoring goals. The traditional blanket does not work so well against Dublin. End of the day they came out with 2 goals yesterday. Are we suprised if they repeated that? They’ve been scoring goals all year. We have to give them problems in their own third.
Like 6’5″ Barry Moran in on top of Cluxton.
Look at this scenario. Dublin were without ROC. It was the time to go for a big man approach. They did not have the players to counteract it.
Dublin finished with one of the shortest teams in the championship. Mainly 6′ and under.
@ Cantini. Thanks for that. it does help me see what they were doing. As you probably see I took a different view but sure if we were all the same it would be boring.
Firstly great credit to the players for keeping going, honestly I was just hoping that we would keep the score respectable when the Dubs went 7 up. Regardless of the ultimate goal, we can never question their character. There were some supporters who left early yesterday and they are a disgrace, but the noise from when we goaled and equalised was deafening, and perhaps it was just me but our men appeared to tower over the Dubs at the end.
I agree with JP above, at best our tactics would have left us losing narrowly. However to throw caution to the wind leaves us open to being blown apart as we were by Kerry in 2006 and Donegal in 2012. Its a tricky tradeoff but we get a second chance to put it right.
How Tom Parsons was not even considered for MOTM on last nights Sunday game is truly baffling. A fabulous performance.
But a rewatch of the game tonight might change my mind
Jason B, At half time they were leading by one score, yes it was a pen but should have only been a free.
8 scores to 7 at half time hardly a terrible performance.
We made them work the ball from defence and made them work for their scores in addition to this we managed to pick up scores ourselves. I was happy enough at half time, the great Dublin attacking machine was running out of ideas.
Watching back I felt Mayo did quite well apart from 2 things in 1st half, Aido isolated with poor attacking plan and some kick passes that went astray.
We were much the better team in 2nd half but just didn’t take our chances apart from the spell after their goal when the Brogan got 2 super points and McCaffrey stole free. Bastic had an influence there. Their goal was a bit lucky but maybe Hennelly should have conceded the 14 yard free. Tough call, or maybe our lads should have all ran in hurling style and caused a throw up.
Our tackling and turnover rate was good, excellent at times though we ran down a few blind alleys in 1st half.
Drake seemed to do the simple things well and looks a good tough defender but despite that they got a good few handy scores so I was unclear how we were sweeping, perhaps it was simply struggling to cope with some of Dubs quality. Durkan grew into the game, improved all through and his confidence will be rising if picked next week.
It’s a tradeoff and a balance.
– In first half no blitzing forward with half backs
– We need one sweeper not all these extra numbers. We were getting in each others way at times. Guys were losing sight of man marking duties.
Let’s be crystal clear about this, the sweepers job is to prevent goals. Our sweeper was at times trying to disposess the man coming in 20 yards plus from goal when cover was there already, check the penalty.
– We need to keep four up. That is the numbers from the start of the game. Why? Because we need to play two target men. AOS obviously and Barry Moran. Then you have support from Cillian and Jason Doherty.
We have the height and shooting ability if we play four up. With out tactics yesterday lads were shooting under pressure. JDoc was not fully open, gets shove in the back just as he shoots. Kevin Mc shooting on his right under pressure.
– Kevin Mc and Diarmuid can track back towards midfield they are brilliant at it
– SOS and Parsons can track back to the half back line
– There is a sweeper in place to prevent goals.
That is the clear and obvious balance.
Inviting the best teamwork team in the county onto you (and make no mistake they have the best teamwork) is not the thing to do.
We can conserve energy by hitting it into two strong target men early.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/aidan-o-shea-stands-tall-again-after-dublin-thought-they-had-him-toppled-1.2334323
I am really blown away at how poorly AOS has scored on the MoM poll above – I think Malacy Clerkin highlights well here why he was the key man yesterday….if the Gooch hit the cross field ball he put through to Keegan we would be hearing the word ‘genius’ being liberally bandied around.
JP I thought our tactics were working because at 57 mins they had 1-9, we missed 4 kickable scores to level it and take the lead around this point and this is where we fell down.
Unfortunatly they got a handy goal and then we had to chase the game. Which we did fantastically but I don’t think we could have done that all day…. We have been down that road before in 2012 2013 and 2014 we know where it leads.
Althought they got 2 goals they had very few goal chances compared to 2012 final where rob made 3 or 4 great saves if I remember rightly.
If we took our scores at 58 mins (I think) we were the fitter team and would have beat them in the last ten and we’d all be saying how great the tactics were.
As for the team next day, the idea of playing Barry is a good one if Dublin start their best midfielder Bastic.
I also agree with people who suggested Parsons was super. His tackling, turnovers, runs and fair hits making him a stand out and Diarmaid OC’s workrate was something else.
I think our sweeper should be a scoring forward like McLoughlin as he adds a threat going forward.
As to who to play for Donie, I think Durkan has jumped ahead of turbo because of his pace and would consider him as a man marking job on Kilkenny who has all the skills. We also need to close Flynn quicker outfield as a few of those quality diagonal balls in came from him resulting in scores.
Discipline will be an issue next day. We were far better in that department but they might try to get Aido and Cillian cards.
Sweeper should not be deployed until kickouts are in the air so we can pressure Cluxton a bit more earlier in the match.
I wouldn’t be agreeing with dropping Doc as he kicked 2 wides he would normally score. Below his normal influence but like all the lads worked very hard against a good team.
Jason B,
As Cantini and Mayomike have stated the tactic was to zone mark and only allow Cluxton with one slow outlet which ultimately resulted in the ball going back to him.
Cluxtons restarts are only effective if they are quick and to a runner at pace. That didn’t happen yesterday and the slower game helped us.
When you consider Aidan was harshly blown for over carrying when scoring a point and two of Dublins points came from poor balls from Seamus that were overturned that is a three point swing(not mentioning the fact the penalty foul was outside the box).
We could easily have gone in at HT level or ahead after playing poorly upfront.
Second half we missed 4/5/6 easy opportunities for points to draw the game and push ahead, unfortunately this is not down to tactics but guys kicking with weaker foot and handpassing over with weaker hand. If we took the lead we would have been in total control at that stage. Dublin’s second goal was against the run of play but McCaffrey was their only outlet from halfback all day and he had a great game and has really toughened up considering the hit he took from Donie.
As per other posters above Parsons was immense also.
On our shooting I believe we would have created better opportunities throughout the game if we had been more pushed up on them. Just a viewpoint.
Sign of a good team is when the scores look rather simple as a guy is just finishing off moves that involved good teamwork getting him in a good position.
Durcan was very good yesterday. He has been solid all year. His pace is frightening. Anyone spot the ball he won in a footrace starting behind Kilkenny. Agree that he is the man for Kilkenny. He seemed to be picking him up. Really hard to know what the match ups were at times.
Our shooting was not great but we were not creating really solid opportunities. Within 30 yards of goal, player facing goal in space. That is yer bread and butter score.
Crazy finish to the game, really an unbelievable comeback from our guys. Some heart and bottle shown particularly after the 6 wides in the 3rd quarter (two bad ones from JDoc, along with one apiece from DOC and Andy). The wides from Andy and Kev McL were a little more understandable as they were on their wrong sides.
Interesting the discussion going on here re the kickout strategy and whether it worked or not. I agree the marking of zones rather than men can be a better way but the fact is with only 5 forwards pushing up we can’t put significant pressure on kickouts. We tried to do the next best thing in giving Cluxton the shortest option.
Personally next week I’d recommend starting with Barry, Tom P and SOS. Drop Tom P back to centre back to sweep but push up one of the three to compete on kickouts. Maybe Donie was going to do something like this but him going off early robbed us of this option and we’ve no back with his athleticism on the bench. So it could depend on how injuries pan out over the next week (Donie and Tom C).
One thing that definitely did not work for us in the first half was our attacking strategy. We were slow on transitioning from defence to attack both in terms of runners from half-back/midfield and options in half-forward line to support AOS and COC. We improved on this in the second half, especially once Andy came on as we then had three men in their half pretty much the whole time.
Finally Dublin have shown poor discipline all year so not really surprising that it would get even worse on a day with a lot of pressure on. Hopefully a marker has been put down for whoever is reffing it the next day. Connolly doesn’t deserve to get off, especially since he has a history of this. Maybe McMahon will, maybe he won’t, either way he’ll be a marked man the next day. Finally Johnny Cooper was taken off by Gavin before he’d be sent off, walked a very tight line, apart from the high kick (which deserved a red) he consistently fouled Kev McL off the ball.
Well Jason I thought we got great credit for the Donegal performance for playing more reserved and no going all out attack like team of the past might have been accused of.
But Donegal have very few options in attack, Dublin were a different Animal and rather then 7 men doing a great defensive job like against Donegal, yesterday we had 15 men doing it, controlling the pace and containing Dublin.
The opposing views forming here about the tactics are not actually that opposing, I think some people would have perfered an extra man up front and some think that doing this would have made us too weak at the back, it is a fine line.
Anyone who thinks we should have been carrying and running hard from the start can you tell me why we didn’t win all Ireland’s in 2012 2013 and 2014?
We are not suggesting the same tactics of “Anyone who thinks we should have been carrying and running hard from the start can you tell me why we didn’t win all Ireland’s in 2012 2013 and 2014?”
Also we didn’t have a target man option in those years.
We are still talking about playing a goal preventing sweeper and playing at least 4 up at all times.
The reason yesterdays tactics conceded 2-12 by the 60th minute is because our defenders are not used to playing that style at all. Rushing in on guys rather than marking space.
I’m talking about two target men up front. Two forwards keeping within support at all times. Sweeper can be mixed from either one forward or if we are blitzing and they have retreated an unmarked defender drops into the pocket.
Not anything like our old tactics. A balance is what we need.
Yes JP, as I said our views are actually similar the debate is just about where the tipping point is. I too think that O’Shea was too isolated but i worry that one more forward equals one less back and dublin may have made hay. I think the balance was right because after 58 mins we put ourselves in a winning position.
The fact that we didn’t convert this winning position doesn’t mean the first 58 mins was bad in my opinion.
Glad you reconise the need for balance. Some people seem to think the last 10 mins is proof we should have done that all game.
Enjoying the debate.
Where does one begin. A few things struck me yesterday . One such thing was Boyle’s contribution he was my man of the match with o’ Connor and Andy moran following closely behind despite Andy’s wides if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have a re play. I live in hope the next day Dublin will do their homework and so will we . All to play for but I’m hopeful . Maigh Eo Abu come on the yew.
Once your breathing your still alive. Felt we were in a good place at half time. 3 points down having not played football, so was not panicking at that stage. Was sure game was gone with 10 minutes left. Credit to the lads. Never gave up.
Few questions though. Why introduce Drake. And why was B Moran not introduced much earlier. He had a massive input when he came on. Andy Moran , certainly changed our approach when he came on. He is such a wonderful impact sub, and probably more critical to us than McMananman was to Dublin!!!!!! Very concerned with some of the easy chance we missed. I really thought them days were over us.
Dublins play was cycical full stop. Was always going to be. Much worse than the 2013 final. Jim Galvin makes me laugh though. He wonders why the free count is so high against Dublin, and how they have been working on their tackling during training. Fouling not tackling is the issue Jim Gavin. Unrelenting for the 70 minutes.
Replay, Mayo should do it. Would be comfortable with the defensive game plan for 35-40 minutes. I will argue though is was not pretty it was very effective, as we did not allow Dublin build a lead which could not be caught. Good to see variation in our play (like Kerry lasy year) But…. We need to revert to our natural game plan earlier in the 2nd half. This is when we really damaged the Dubs, and they couldn’t cope. Furthermore, we were in this position 12 months ago and the experience of regrouping in 6 days should stand to us.
I can see Connolly getting off. With or without him Mayo will win. Any word on Vaughan?
Think a lot of folk are confusing poor play with tactics in the first half. We played poorly with our kick passing and shooting – simple as!
This was a negative which can be made a positive the next day. If we identify there strengths and nullify (as I have already pointed out in an earlier post) and exploit our strengths, as Kerry do in all replays; them simply we will win.
what was the situation with clarke?
he looked like he was moving ok in the warm up
were people impressed with hennelly?
Any update on vaughan’s injury ?
Here (with thanks to @mayomanindublin) is some amateur video of the Keegan/Connolly incident which would appear to confirm, despite what was said on The Sunday Game last night, that our man didn’t start the ruckus.
Did people really think that Aido was going to have as much space, freedom and scoring power in a semi-final as opposed to the Donegal/Sligo games??? Jesus people, it’s a semi-final ffs. Aido won most of the “good” ball played into him and set up 3 scores, whilst being treble marked. Dublin had a lot of pressure out in the middle third and that meant our ball in to the full forward line was not going to be as accurate when compared to the service we supplied v Donegal.
Did anybody see the incident where Connolly shoved Diarmuids face into the pitch and then crouched over him with his left hand firmly grasped around Diarmuids throat? If you did that on the street you’d be locked up. Or maybe not in his case! I commented in the build up to the match that McMahon and Connolly have very suspect temperaments (not the words I’d like to use but bearing in mind the house rules) when under pressure and they displayed it perfectly on Sunday.
I also commented that Dublin were/are mentally fragile and would buckle when the pressure came on them. And they did. Flat track bullies. Dublin had their chance and they didn’t take it. We won’t play as bad again.
Mayo by 5 in the reply. Book the Berlo lads, I’m telling ye.
Nice bit of video. Caught in the act. Dirty thug.
Show that to the CCCC and to “Who ate all the cakes” in the Sunday Game studio.
Aaahh am I missing something in that video ?? If I was from Mayo I don’t think I would deem it wise to bring that footage to the CCC,,, I think the Dubs will bring it though,, not the smartest thing to post,,
Not sure I see what’s positive for Connolly in that (other than it does not clearly show the punches thrown)…..
Kinsella to ref replay,and Connelly red the only incident cccc are putting forward,proposed 1 match ban..apparently al other incident too difficult to prove