We’re down.
Our long stay in the National League’s top division finally came to an end at MacHale Park this afternoon. A calamitous spell for us between the first water break and the early part of the second half, during which Tyrone hit us for three goals, proved fatal to our hopes of once again avoiding relegation by securing a result in Round 7. We made a spirited comeback after those blows but the damage had been done and we eventually came up short by a single point.
They made three changes prior to throw-in to the side they’d named just a few hours earlier. We made one enforced switch and a significant one it was too as Cillian O’Connor was unable to line out due to injury. Darren Coen started in his place.
Up until the first water break it was a case of trading scores. We started with the same kind of style we’d shown in Tuam, with runners breaking rapidly from deep and, playing against the stiff wind in that half we opted to keep the ball low and pass it, for the most part, through the hands. They chose to let the wind do more of the work, spraying long balls downfield.
Paddy Durcan got our opener from a move worked off a ’45. That had come when Tommy Conroy bore down on goal but just lost control of the ball, which bounced off Morgan and out over the end-line.
We had a clear goal chance soon after. Tommy went on another run and offloaded to Bryan Walsh whose shot off the outside of the boot was blocked and the ball cleared.
McKenna bagged their opener but then Eoghan McLaughlin finished a great run by firing over. A McCurry free answered that.
Tyrone were pressing us high on our restarts but we worked the ball well down the field. Bryan Walsh was fouled and Diarmuid O’Connor drove the free over off the ground from a fair distance out.
McKenna, claiming the mark, tied the game up again. Then Tommy Conroy burst clear and fired over but Harte had a quick retort to that one at the other end.
Another good move for us saw the ball played to Darren Coen. The goal chance wasn’t really on, Aidan O’Shea was in the clear inside him but Darren opted to blast it instead and his effort went wildly wide.
They immediately hit the front after that, Canavan clipping the score over. They took that one-point lead into the first water break.
What had been a fairly open and even first quarter changed utterly once the action got going again. Tyrone’s first goal represented poor defending from our perspective as the ball squirted clear more than once in our backline but we failed to claim possession. McKenna then grabbed it and blasted to the net.
From then to half-time was a total calamity for us. We defended – if you could even call it that – in the most naïve manner possible and they ripped us open again and again with a series of rapid, incisive moves. Then when we did manage to attack it was the kind of slow, ponderous approach that suited the swarming Tyrone cover perfectly.
How far asunder we’d come so quickly was evidenced when Harte claimed a long ball inside and it was Tommy Conroy who was challenging him for possession. Not a single other Mayo back was within yards of them, even though this was only just outside the ’21.
The wheels really came off the wagon when Canavan smashed home their second goal shortly before half-time. Now we were eight adrift, the match spinning well out of control for us.
It could – and perhaps should – have got worse for us soon after. Lee Keegan, chasing a ball he’d just lost possession of, followed through crudely into Donnelly. He could easily have seen red for it but got away without even a warning.
Trailing by eight at half-time against a team who were going to be extremely hard to break down, realistically we were already in Division Two at that stage. We put up a hell of a fight in the second half but ultimately, largely thanks to a gifted third goal to Tyrone soon after the resumption, it wasn’t enough.
What made matters worse in relation to that third goal was that we’d started so well after the break. Two Darren Coen points and a super long-range one from Mattie Ruane cut the gap to a more manageable five points and with half an hour plus injury time to go and with the wind at our backs we weren’t out of it yet.
But then McGeary pointed for them and David Clarke made a hash of a short restart – why go short with such a strong wind behind him? – with McKenna intercepting and firing home.
Nine down now, this left us with a veritable mountain to climb. From then to the finish we did what we could to clamber up it but the deficit ultimately proved too great.
Fionn McDonagh and, in particular, Ryan O’Donoghue were prominent in our comeback in the second half, both players having come on at half-time, replacing Bryan Walsh and Mark Moran.
We got the next three points – from Conor Loftus, Diarmuid O’Connor and a Darren Coen free – but they added another via McCurry. Another great burst and score from Tommy Conroy cut the gap to six at the second water break.
We made another substitution before the final quarter started. James Durcan came on for Darren Coen while Padraig O’Hora replaced Kevin McLoughlin.
A brilliant goal by Tommy Conroy – who had his best game to date for his county today – brought us to within three of them and gave us hope anew. Ryan O’Donoghue, fed cleverly by Aidan, then cut the deficit to two.
A McCurry free gave the visitors some breathing space but they were now blowing pretty hard as we came at them with intent. Diarmuid O’Connor was taken out of it in possession but incredibly the free was given the other way.
Tyrone were reduced to fourteen soon after, though, when Meyler hand-tripped Paddy Durcan. The absence of a crowd at the game meant that Paddy’s shout of “that’s a black!” was clearly audible. He was right, though, and Meyler was dispatched to the sin bin.
The lively Ryan O’Donoghue was fouled as he tried to burst through and James Durcan pointed. The Castlebar Mitchels man pointed from another, more difficult, free shortly after and now we were trailing by just one. McCurry, once again, bagged one for them but Ryan, from a forward mark, kept up the pressure on them by firing over into the bacon factory end.
A McKenna free, following a charitable enough whistle, edged Tyrone back two in front. Five minutes of injury time were called but all we were able to add to our tally was a further pointed free from James Durcan, following a foul on Ryan. Tyrone, wobbling badly at the finish, held out to claim the win they needed to stay up while we ended up in the second relegation spot and, after 23 years, finally dropping out of Division One.
Heading into these last two rounds of the League it was always going to be a tall order for us to get the results we needed to stay up. Having hosed Galway last Sunday, though, we could – and, deep down, we’ll know we should – have completed the job today. But ultimately our Division One campaign this year has been marked by inconsistency and a failure to punch our weight. Over the seven games we played we just didn’t do enough to deserve a place in the League’s top tier next year. As is often the case in life, you get what you deserve.
It helps, of course, that we don’t have any time to lick our wounds following this loss. Championship starts next weekend and the knockout format means we can’t afford to take the kind of lethargic form we showed for long stretches today into the campaign that’s about to start.
We’re down today – literally – but there’s still ball to be played this year. It’s up to us to learn from what went awry for us today and put those learnings to good effect as we get ready to embark on this winter knockout Championship.
Mayo: David Clarke; Oisin Mullin, Stephen Coen, Lee Keegan; Paddy Durcan (0-1), Kevin McLoughlin, Eoghan McLaughlin (0-1); Matthew Ruane (0-1), Conor Loftus (0-1); Diarmuid O’Connor (0-2, one free), Mark Moran, Bryan Walsh; Tommy Conroy (1-3), Aidan O’Shea, Darren Coen (0-5, three frees). Subs: Fionn McDonagh for Walsh, Ryan O’Donoghue (0-2, one a mark) for Moran, James Durcan (0-3, frees) for Darren Coen, Padraig O’Hora for McLoughlin, Paul Towey for McLaughlin.
Who was our MOTM against Tyrone? Pick your top three performers
- Tommy Conroy (42%, 761 Votes)
- Ryan O'Donoghue (13%, 231 Votes)
- Eoghan McLaughlin (7%, 135 Votes)
- Paddy Durcan (7%, 133 Votes)
- Oisin Mullin (4%, 79 Votes)
- Darren Coen (4%, 76 Votes)
- Diarmuid O'Connor (3%, 60 Votes)
- Mattie Ruane (2%, 44 Votes)
- David Clarke (2%, 41 Votes)
- Fionn McDonagh (2%, 39 Votes)
- Conor Loftus (2%, 33 Votes)
- Aidan O'Shea (2%, 33 Votes)
- James Durcan (2%, 28 Votes)
- Paul Towey (1%, 22 Votes)
- Lee Keegan (1%, 22 Votes)
- Stephen Coen (1%, 20 Votes)
- Mark Moran (1%, 15 Votes)
- Bryan Walsh (1%, 11 Votes)
- Kevin McLoughlin (1%, 10 Votes)
- Padraig O'Hora (0%, 9 Votes)
Total Voters: 994
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Found today very frustrating.
Have to say, Horan’s decision not to play a sweeper in the first half, coupled to take off Mayo’s best player in the third quarter, Darren Coen, showed he was possibly more concerned about next week and the future, rather than Division One.
Conroy and Coen looked good. O’Donoghue tried hard but I’d worry for him with lack of physicality in the near future.
Impressed with McLaughlin and Mullin too, in the backs. However, Kevin ain’t a centre back and looked off the pace. Midfield is going to be a huge issue both this year and in the future. Ruane came in and out of the game but I don’t know who will partner him. Loftus is not a midfielder. Aidan doesn’t look to have to the conditioning and may be carrying a slight injury. Seamus and Tom are obviously just aging. Big issues ahead in this area.
Look, as in 2018, we didn’t win one game at home in the league. When you’re doing that, you can’t have many complaints.
Based on radio coverage only one winner today. Skinned his man all day long.
We’ve been dodging this bullet for a few years in all honesty.
Onwards and upwards though- no reason why this should be a mortal blow if we can get back up next year. Championship is a different animal and we need to come out swinging.
I’m so disappointed and depressed that Mayo after a number of decades have lost their division 1 status. If only Conor McKenna had stayed in Australia!
Is what is is now and its up to the players to pick the chins off the floor for the championship next week.
We have the best man marker in the game.McKenna is no better than Connolly or Kilkenny both of whom were rubbed out by Mayo in big games.
We knew McKenna was in the team.
Goals were a killer. Attacker after “winning” the ball had time to slip, drop the ball, pick it back up and then beat the keeper on the near post-white were the defenders? Cant fault them for the effort to retrieve the situation but the loss of very winnable games v Kerry and Monaghan came back to haunt. In fairness we have been surviving by the skin of our teeth in previous campaigns and itll be no cakewalk in Div 2 either.
Yeah this has been coming for a few years (2019 excepted) – lets be honest. The damage this year was done in February, when we were lucky to even have any points on the board. In isolation hammering Galway and losing by a score to Tyrone are decent prep for the real action in a few weeks. But the league is funny. Galway absolutely annihilated Tyrone in March, who subsequently went out and bet Dublin the game after… last week, while impressive, was clearly a bit of an outlier game, that was never going to be overly relevant heading into today. Anyhow, no reason can’t go out and get a clean sweep in D2 next year
Dublin might be the biggest winners of the weekend in a way – Paddy Small and Bugler were outstanding and now look like two serious additions for this year’s campaign, to add to their existing embarrassment of riches. The conveyor belt of talent showing zero signs of drying up, and once again its vey hard to see them stopped. Any team with David Clifford has a fighting chance though…
A welcome sight for Galway fans seeing Shane Walsh return too. Himself and Paul Conroy are in outstanding form, and would get into any side in the country at present
Really looking forward to Donegal Tyrone next week. Proper knockout. Honestly can’t call it
OK, this isn’t the big disaster that some people think it is, we had this coming for a number of years, even when we were at our peak in ’13 and ’14, it required last minute interventions to keep us up, that had no affect on the upcoming Championship in those years. At the end of the day, the Championship is all that matters, the league matters very little in the grand scheme of things. All this talk of lost revenue is nonsense, there won’t be any crowds at GAA games for a long time to come and even if there is we have a solid home and away support that should keep the money coming in. I know that the loyal Mayo support won’t abandon this team just because we dropped down a division. I’d expect bumper crowds back when we are able to go back to games, people will have a huge hunger to view live football.
Regarding the football, the third Tyrone goal cost us, it was too much of a mountain to climb when that went in. We nearly reached the sumit, but beating a defensive team like Tyrone after gifting them a large lead is a massive task. We need to sort out the kick outs and tighten up at the back. Leroy should have been put on McKenna, K McLoughlin was all at sea against him.
Tommy Conroy is a huge find in this league, R O’Donoghue is also a serious prospect. There is lots to be positive about, just need to tweak a few things ahead of Championship. Keep The Faith, this isn’t the end. Donegal got relegated in 2018, they are now back to back champions in Ulster. They blooded a new team in those years, we are more than able to do the same.
This is probably a good result for us. There was too much hype after we beat a woeful Galway team. We believed the rumours about a Tyrone player testing positive when it was probably just that a new dad on their team was seen at a hospital .then the bookies who must love mayo clipped our odds to 2/5. We won’t win any game this year easily . We can’t be complacent even against Leitrim. Having said all that we can still look forward to having a happy Christmas!!!!! Up mayo!
Faraoir we were relegated today. Today game was lost in the 1st half. A great 2nd half performance snd could have won it! We need to shore up the defence with Boyler and Barrett !
However it seems that management might stick with the younger panel members! We have a lot if young lads coming through incl ODonogue, Conroy, Mullin, Moran, Eogan McLoughlin, Ruane, McDonagh, Loftus, OHara etc
Unfortunately our ‘older’ players are coming to the end of their careers like TP, Seamie, Keith and Clarke. They were all tharr bharr and dont owe us anthing!
Onwards and upwards. Go neiri le foireann Mhuigheo i gconai
Mhuigeo abu!
Itll be no cakewalk in Div 2, for sure but management have brought a lot of new lads through this year meaning they’ll get away with less experimentation next season in the league. IMO it was a risk worth taking and I think in the long run will stand to us. We’ll be relying on lads like Mullin (he better bloody stay in Ireland), Coen, McLaughlin, EOD (if he gets a chance!!) plunkett, o’hora, diarmuid, mattie, loftus, ROD, mcD, boland, Conroy and Carr (assuming he must be injured!??????) to be key and regular players in our quest to get back up. Impossible to judge Mark Moran after one challenge match in Tuam. Towey too. Early days for him.
Throw in Harry, Durcan, Lee in defence. Kev too, as an attacking sweeper. I can see us looking at a new No.1 next year.
Granted we are a bit light in midfield. Flynn has had a few games, but jury still out there. He has potential, maybe…we could really do with a natural midfielder coming through next spring cos Tom is in the winter of his career and if Mattie or Diarmuid picked up an injury then it really exposes us there.
Up front, add in Cillian, Doc (hoping he returns), Coen and Aido.
It’s a very young panel there.
What was the point of playing O’Shea at full forward into the face of a gale in the first half , both mangers / backroom staff were aware of the prevailing conditions yet Tyrone appear to be the only team who had a game plan for the first half.
Ten minutes into the game and it was plain as to Harte’s game plan , yet Horan and co choose to just ignore the long kick outs and let Tyrone score at will as long as we could counter attack and cancel out there score .
Last weeks game and today’s second half performance show what were capable of doing . and while giving away needless frees at anytime is stupid , the push by a recently introduced Padraig O’Hora in the dying throws of the game ( not for the first time this season) was way beyond stupid.
We should still come out of Connacht and a semi final with Kerry wont hold any fears as long as we play both the team and the conditions instead of just the team
If there was ever a good time to drop a division it’s now, league will be starting in approx 3 months time so not a fear of any substantial crowds being let in, but it is crucial we get back up first attempt.
On the game itself, Clarke had a nightmare, Loftus quiet, O’Shea fairly annonymous. How we didn’t set up defensively against that breeze was just diabolical, should have been one, if not two sweepers deployed first half and O’Shea should have been moved to midfield, infuriating. Playing against the breeze wasn’t an ideal situation for Mark Moran to impress today so wouldn’t read into his performance at all, O’Donoghue and McLaughlin did well, and wow, Tommy Conroy, what a player we have on our hands, the type we’ve been crying out for for years and only 21. I actually think Paul Towey can be every bit as good as him given the chance. For the first time in what seems like an age, we have serious depth in the forwards now. We badly badly need another midfielder, CHB and goalkeeper though and these are persistent problem areas.
Not overly bothered about championship truth be told, be an asterisk beside it regardless of if we win the All Ireland or not, but I would like to see us go with something along the lines of below:
Byrne,
O’Donoghue-O’Hora-Mullin
E McLaughlin-Keegan-Durkan
K McLoughlin (Sweeper)
Ruane-Aidan O’Shea
D O’Connor-Moran-McDonagh
Carr-Conroy
Subs-Clarke, Coen, Boyle, Loftus, S O’Shea, R O’Donoghue, Boland, C O’Connor, D Coen, Barrett, McBrien
AOS wasted inside today. No quick diagonal ball going in. 3 or 4 defenders on him every time he got the ball. Tactically not at the races again. Clarke final nail in coffin. A game we needed to win and should have won but screwed it up.
Division 2 will give Horan the opportunity to have a clear out and I expect a good few retirements in the new year. Time and tide wait for no man.
Will look at the bright side after next weekend!
We’re still wasting too many goal chances, three in the first half alone. We need to be more clinical if we want a decent run in the championship this winter.
It was a very poor league from us and last Sunday covered over the cracks and caused over excitement in “some” quarters.
Loss in revenue is irrelevant next year because crowds won’t be back and even so there are some big teams in division 2.
Sideline de rosins were baffling again today but that’s all I’m gonna say, above posters have already mentioned.
Definetly takes the hype out of that Galway result which is no harm. We got relegated trying lots of new players, and have un-earthed Conroy, Mullin, McLaughlin, Moran-ish, Ryan O’D. Id rather we go down that way than playing the old guard all the time. The ‘Era’ ended in Newbridge 2018. We over achieved last year imo. Their hard players to re-place so this was always likely. This season we’ve paid for a lack of experimentation from 2016 on. Cillian a big miss today, hope all is alright there. The team for Leitrim will be interesting.
Mayo have been a complete joke defensively all year! Every team we have played have torn us asunder and scored heavily (or at least created a lot of chances) against us!
There is one moment on 23mins when Morgan kicked long ball to Peter Harte who had a goal chance. The only two defenders we had inside our 45mtr line were our corner forward and full-forwards (Tommy Conroy & Aidan O’Shea)! Where were the back six and our two midfielders?? There has been no defensive system all year …. everyone gung-ho on running forward and no one minding the house! It’s schoolboy stuff. We don’t defend as a unit. Horan’s man-on-man defending is ridiculous when your opponent has so much space around you to dictate terms! It cannot be done! Until we get some sort of even basic structure – we are going nowhere.
if you go very close often enough, it’ll happen.
A nine-point deficit against the blanket specialists is too big a mountain to climb in the second half. Twice it happened at home in this campaign. It was obvious in the first half that we weren’t getting enough out of midfield or the likes of Keegan and O’Shea. Moran and Coen did not have enough space to operate in the forwards. I was also wondering about Tommy Conroy being left one-on-one with Peter Harte in the backs, how did that come about exactly? Mickey Harte in fairness can be a shrewd operator at times and he got all his match-ups right today. Harte, Donnelly and McKenna all outstanding. Niall Morgan made good use of the breeze in the first half, whereas we were extremely ponderous and laboured at times in the second quarter.
In a division where a quarter of teams get relegated every year blooding new players is always going to be a risk. We’ve walked this tight-rope a number of times down through the years and unfortunately on this occasion we fell-off. But better to go down fighting and having introduced a number of new players who will be boosted by the experience. I would still be fairly optimistic about our championship prospects given the previous two performances and I think we should have a fair shot at winning Connacht. This does not have to define our season by any means. Looking at the teams in Division 2 I would fancy us against every single team and I think we will get promoted next year. Nothing is guaranteed of course.
Hello Willie Joe and everyone, thank you for keeping the hearth lit and warm over the last few months.
I’m feeling disappointed too about today’s outcome but not overwhelmingly so.
After chewing on it a bit, this is my view – we’ve always found it difficult to overcome Tyrone, with the way they play, in winter conditions. We do much better against them in summer conditions.
The wind played a lot for them today, especially in carrying the ball during Niall Morgan’s kickouts, catching us off-guard. Wet conditions don’t help either when their defenders tend to swarm our attacking players.
That second half of football was a good half by Mayo against Tyrone.
I don’t think that was a bad Mayo team there today.
It’s still a major knack and skill to know how to avoid playing the ball into the tackle, and it’s one our young lads will need to develop.
I think today was a valuable game for the lessons gave the team. Onwards and upwards as we meet our neighbours in Connacht.
No shame in dropping to Division 2 but its getting back out of it quickly thats vital as Roscommon have done. The semi final against Roscommon comes with big risks for Mayo and Galway are getting players back so getting out of Connaught will be tricky. Tyrone could test Dublin in a semi while Kerry will threaten but without Clifford are back in the pack. I expect Galway to win Connaught and push Kerry in a semi but neither will beat Dublin on a going day which is nearly every day now. Good luck against the Rossies they are full of it this evening wetting themselves at Mayo gone down.
Not the end of the world in my opinion as there are plenty of green shoots. What I will say is unfortunately we cannot rely on Cillian to be fit for big games anymore and our struggles in the league in recent years have coincided with Cillian being injured and us trying 5 different free takers without consistency. Time to make Paul Towie our main free taker and bring Cillian on with 20 mins to go if fit. I know it seems harsh but if Cillian pulls out injured last minute or in general before a big game in the Championship it will throw our plans into disarray and be a psychological blow to our chances and put pressure on his free taking replacement so best prepare as if he isn’t available.
I think in hindsight starting Walsh and Moran in the half forward line in these conditions was probably the wrong call.
@Justaddwater…we had a super defensive system when Richford had us in the final in 2016. Kevin Mcloughlin basically played as sweeper. Dubs scored 9 points that day and poxed 2 goals. That’s the template. What makes it frustrating is we have lots of good defenders.
While James Horan was happy to accept the praise last week I feel he should face the criticism this week. I mentioned my worry of the high score we conceded to a poor galway team last week and this came back to bite us this week.
How many defenders did he start? Oisin Mullen coen and the whole half back line just wanted to attack and not defend and that cost us the 1st two goals. Players being played out of position also came back to haunt us. Mullen is not a corner back naturally, Coen isnt a full back, Loftus not a midfielder and Kevin Mc not a centre back so once again another poor managerial decision at a crucial time for mayo. We were bet off a stick at mf, outsmarted on the kickouts and no creativity up front so outfoxed by Tyrone. McLoughlin at 7, walsh at 12 and the durcans had too many turnovers at crucial times. Only for Tommy goals and Ryan o D it could have been alot worse.
A reality check for mayo and its fans. One week to regroup. Outfoxed, outsmarted and completely undone…enough said
Good to see you back Swallow Swoops. I too am looking at the positives. We pummelled them in the second half, and scored 1-19. Coming back after the third goal was impressive and there was an energy there all through, though we were too tame in the last 3 minutes, with the game there for us. Third goal bad on two counts: Clarke’s mess up, and what was worse, not getting to McKenna when he fell.
Kicking out, becoming mean in defence, need to be addressed quickly. Why have Byrne as a permanent no. 16, and never play him.
Did mckenna touch the ball on the ground as he fell.goal should not have stood.
Rochford was an absolute mastermind compared to this fella. No defensive system at all!!!! Feel sorry for the defenders to be honest.
That game was there to be won in the second half we closed the gap and then we panicked trying to go for goals when we had umpteen chances to take points which would of won us the game
It’s away, Karen – it’s on in Carrick-on-Shannon.
But on a positive note, conroy and O’donoughe are developing nicely. So with a few tweaks to the setup we will be contenders again.
Hard to know where we are at really.
Ill start by saying last weeks performance didnt make us the best team in the country while this weeks defeat doesnt mean we are finished. We tend to look for extremes after every game
The fact is over the course of the 7 games in the league we didnt deserve to stay up. League tables dont lie. Not too despondent about being in div 2 as we will hop straight back up as donegal and tyrone have had to.
Postives and negatives then….
Positives first….
– we have unearthed some excellent youngsters. Conroy motm today, oisin mullin our player of the league. Lads like mark moran and ryan o’d will be thereabouts for champo too
– the annihilation of galway, honestly think the nature of that beating will scar them.we really found their weak spots
-fitness and conditioning looks good.lads looked after themselves in lockdown
– think we have more bench options than previous years
Negatives….
– the goalkeeping situation. Clarkie had another shocker today. Blows my mind that we are still stuck on the same option of hennelly v clarke and havent tried a 3rd option all season. Next 2 weeks here we will be having the same hennelly v clarke debate from the last 10 years
– centerback could be an issue if boyler not back to himself. Conor mckenna absolutely destroyed us down that channel today
– worried about form of some of our top guns. Diarmuid and leeroy nowhere near the level thet can hit
Anyway, onwards and upwards
Conroy motm
Mullin player of the league
We were brilliant defensively against Donegal snd Dublin in last years championship. Wat killed us against Dublin was our legs went in second half, a result of successive games imo. I might be naieve here, but I genuinely beileve Horan has a defensive plan for championship, and refused to fully show it in the last two games. Its the only way we could be so open down the middle 2 games in a row? Im convinced we’ll see a dfferent defensive set up in the Hyde…..or otherwise we’ll have a long winter.
Hope the Loftus midfield experiment ends after that. Hes not a midfielder of any description. A forward yes, not built for midfield. If i was at the Mayo wheel this be the 15 for Carrick:
1. Clarke
2.Mullin
3. McBrien
4. Barrett/E’OD
5.Durcan
6. Lee
7. McLaughlin
8. Ruane
9. Diarmuid
10. Fionn
11. Moran
12. Kevin Mc
13. Tommy
14. Aido
15. Cillian
We had it back to one point behind after 66 minutes and then the panic set in and we could not finish off the job.still the future looks bright and winning the connacht championship is well within our grasp.i dont know about other supporters but i find it very nerve-racking watching the games on television and not being present at the matches.IF supporters were allowed to attend today i know the supporters would have got the team over the line.MY nerves are shattered after that game today
Robinbanks – do you remember the last time Tyrone visited Castlebar during Rochford’s tenure? It was a dark day. As was the time under pat and noel.
– It was said last week that our full back line was way too loose. Add in physical mis-matched centre half back today and the fact that Morgan used the strong wind to hit his kickouts past our midfield and we were under all sorts of pressure.
– Twice Conroy was saving our bacon on the full back line and at one stage as another poster has already pointed out only Aido and Conroy were to be found in our full back line which was unbelievable.
– Kevin Mc should have been moved off McKenna after the first 20 mins….
– Aido peripheral for the first half, should have been given some role out in the middle where we were well beaten as Ruane,Loftus and Doc were only flitting in and out of the game.
– Loads of goal chances missed because player did not see a better placed man or were just being greedy. Twice Aido was waiting for the pass
– And yet we came back really well only to have the oldest player on the field make a school boy error, their 3rd goal destroyed us.
– D2 next year will be likely behind closed doors again so loss of revenue not an issue.
– JH has a big jigsaw puzzle now, the trick will be getting the pieces to fit properly so that we play with a plan and as a team.
– Conroy MOM, stood up great to Tyrone which is as good a test as you can get.
– There is if nothing else this year a Connacht championship to be won
Keegan needs to move to 6 for championship. He looked back to his best there for Westport this year and with all due respect, he’s bang average as a corner back.
Full back line is a worry. Doesn’t look like Harrison will be back, Barrett hasn’t featured all year and Eoin O’Donoghue is clearly down the pecking order. It will probably depend on opposition but Coen, O’Hora and Mullin is our best bet for now.
Definitely time to move on from Clarke and Hennelly. When you see the keeper shifting to the right left right left right left and fire you can only hold your breath. Whoever we pick in goal has to have a decent kick both left and right. Disappointing that more Knockmore players have not got a run. Definitely some better players in Knockmore than played today. Aidan had a poor outing. I was impressed with a number of the new lads McLoughlin first half Conroy O’Donoghue. However I have to say I was also impressed with Ruane when he came on the scene but has not come on as one would like.
Not the end of the world that we are relegated. Hasn’t done Tyrone, Donegal and Galway any harm over the years.
I have always felt the idea of the league is to find at least a couple of players for the future. In Mullin and Conroy we have found 2 stars.
The worry last week against Galway was that we looked wide open at times. We weren’t punished last week but didn’t get away with it today.
If we make individual mistakes then fair enough but to find Tommy Conroy last man on Harte and not a defender in sight then something isn’t right. We simply have to tighten up.
The going will get tougher from here. Games will be played on heavier pitches and the weather will only get worse. Physicality will come into it and it may end up an out and out slog. Not sure if they will figure going forwards but some of the old dogs of war, battle hardened warriors like Barrett, Seamie, Tom, Boyler and Keith surely still have something to offer.
Horan hasn’t had a defensive plan in the last decade. I don’t think it’s going to miraculously appear in the next couple of weeks.
Wouldn’t be so confident about the quick return to Division 1. Kildare have found it difficult to return. Meath lanquished in Division 2 for years and are now back down there tonight. Down, Cork, Cavan and Derry tumbled from Division 1 to Division 3. We are going to be meeting teams that we have played in league and qualifiers over the years. True we have usually prevailed against these teams but I don’t imagine the return will be straightforward. One early defeat and the pressure will mount.
On the positives we have unearthed 4 to 5 players. We hit 1.19 today……usually enough to win a game.
Surely we will not be so naive in defence again.
We battled really hard but just hadn’t the luck we had to cling on to our Division 1 status that we had in the past. I really thought we were going to after Conroy’s goal.
Like a lot of people who have posted previously, while I commend Horan for trying, unearthing and developing players, we seem to very slow to change things during a game when they aren’t working. Aidan O Shea needed to be imposing himself on things when we were against the wind. Also felt O’ Hora would have stamped his authority on things today if started or introduced earlier.
I
Diarmuid O’Connor would frustrate the life out of you. He seems to put in 1 or 2 MOTM performances a year and then just drifts through other games.
Agreed wide ball, we all know the heights diarmuid can hit, (newbridge, 2019 league final) but its more bad days than good the past few years.if he didnt have so much credit in the bank he would be under pressure for his place v roscommon
On another note, how good was conor mckenna today. I wasnt expecting much from him just back from oz but he immense,lightning quick,built like a tank, great passing and could score. I couldnt help but wonder if we would have seen a similar impact from pearse hanley if we had him back 6 or 7 years ago.
Typical mayo rollercoaster , finger’s crossed we can get to December
Most blame for todays defeat must go to Management, they got most things wrong, goalkeeper a problem for years still not solved, time for two new keepers on panel. Full back a problem for years , no nearer being solved , Centre half back ,stupid decision putting McLaughlin there, best to fill that at present is Keegan , midfield very poor no physical strength there, on a day like today Aiden should have been there especially in the first half. forwards not too bad today ,but free taker not sorted when Cillian is not playing , a simple matter to sort out. Can anyone answer the simple question , why do Mayo Management over the years and including the present one, make such a balls of selecting our best team.
Tommy Goals is Tommy Conroy from Kiltane who starred for mayo minors in 2013 and also featured for Mayo u21s. He is a couple of years older than Tommy Conroy the Neale. I’m not even a Kiltane man but just highlighting it as is a little frustrating to see the names being mixed up. Tommy from Kiltane could most certainly be also be in the mix for Mayo if it wasn’t for some horrific luck over the last few years. Still great to see Tommy Conroy the Neale follow up with another strong Game.
Pearse who??
Thanks, Catcol – nice to be back : ) Jimbo, nerve-racking is exactly the word for it. That was as nervy as I have ever been listening to, or watching, a game of football involving Mayo. The most heart-in-mouth game I ever listened to was Mayo v Cork in the 2017 Qualifiers. I actually had to turn off the radio for 5 minutes near the end of that one for some respite, and turn it back on after.
It’s nice to be back looking forward to Championship and funny to think weather conditions need to be factored in.
Think DOC will start at midfield for the championship. Kevin Mc should be the sweeper. Heavy pitches will help the older players when introduced. Looking forward to a successful Connaught championship. With a bit of luck its anybody’s after that.
What a pity , Mayo showed character in the 2nd half . This will all be forgotten in December when Sam Comes To Westport .
If we have AI aspirations it’s NOT ok to be in D2.
Excellent points Culmore. We just keep doing the same shite over. Kerry or Dublin would beat us by 15 points pulling up
Just a thought on McHale Park and this is something a former county player has mentioned but is there any chance that our county board would consider widening and lengthening the pitch? I know this would cost a few bob but it’s only very rare occasions that it sells out so loss of seating or terracing would hardly be missed. It is shamefully the 4th smallest inter county pitch in the country and could partially explain why our home record is so poor. It’s just a thought so dont shoot me. Also I know we had a lot of rain this week but I thought it cut up very easy today.
Well now.. 2020 just gets better by the day.
Mayo mistakes and errors in the first half
would have left them trailing against any team.
David and Rob have been outstanding goalkeepers for Mayo but if we do not find a new goalkeeper soon we are in Big trouble no matter what division we are in.
Surely to god some club in Mayo have a young goalkeeper .
Having seen Conroy, Mullin and Mcloughlin play two matches in a row they seem to be good players but what about these other young players posters are raving about on here .
Where are they ! James Horan does not seem to have much confidence in them only giving some of them a whole 2 to 3 mins to prove themselves.
Mayo footballers have given us some great days in the past and we really need some good days at the moment .
Today’s first half performance was very disappointing and I am sure neither Players nor
Management will be happy with that, but We start again next week (hopefully) and who knows what could happen yet in this crazy year.
Keep safe all and Maigh eo abu..
I didn’t think the performance was all that bad. Some of the football was brilliant. The players never dropped the heads and believed right up until the finish.
Keegan has to be moved to centre back.
Aidan has to be brought back to midfield.
Not another short kick out. Hit it long and either win or lose the long ball. You cannot win a kickout that goes over the sideline and you cannot defend an inrushing opponent that grabs a short kick out.
If I had a wish and could find one new player it would be a top class full back.
Shore up midfield with Aiden, keep the kickouts long and down the middle every time and find a top fullback. Fast.
We have plenty of impressive forwards and defenders and Aidan and Mattie will do a job at midfield and I am looking forward to the championship.
Would rest some lads for Leitrim think we need to roll the dice on that with amount of back to back games.
Team i would go with for the Rossies:
Clarke
Mullin,Coen,Barret
DOC (Sweeper)
K McLoughlin
Keegan
EMcLaughlin
Ruane,AOS,Durcan
COC
ODonoghue
Conroy
Coen
Just watched the highlights back.
The 1st Tyrone goal was a calamity of errors. We had 8 players around the D for anyone saying we need a sweeper… The ball just bounced around on the ground before McKenna hit a weak shot which I’m surprised Clarke didn’t save.
The 2nd goal was an unbelievable pass from McKenna. I wouldn’t be too critical of our defence for that.
The 3rd one again came from our unforced error.
Those 2 avoidable goals cost us in the end. Don’t think James Horan’s set up had anything to do with it apart from not having the right man on McKenna from the start.
The big takeaway from this game is simply one major and unavoidable home truth.
We do not have anything resembling a modern defensive strategy.
We will be running in circles with up and down results due to conceding 2-3 goals per game..
James Horan is a decade now without a defensive system.
Getting a lot of slagging now from galway and kerry people…the latter haven’t forgotten Horans comments after the league last year. They’ve bottled it well.
I wouldn’t worry Mayonaze, every team is only one result away from a slagging & the championship is only a week away.
Our current backs are very exciting footballers but they seem more focused on attacking rather than defending. If you concede three goals in any game you are most unlikely to win. I have known backs over the years, as many of you have, who weren’t nearly as talented footballers as our lads but who wouldn’t give you an inch. Without doing anything spectacular they would keep their man quiet for the game through sheer hard graft and by doing so contribute handsomely to winning the game.
Given our high score today and against Galway we seem to have really improved our scoring threat. If we get back to the basics of defending then the future could be very exciting.
Regarding diarmuid o Connor the last time I seen him dominate a game was the 2016 qualifier against Kildare where he scored 1 05 from play And apart from the game against Kildare in new bridge and the second half of the league final I haven’t seen a whole lot from him but james horas seems to rate him because he is a guaranteed starter he seems to have lost pace and is not as dynamic as he once was and I think he is lucky to be still holding his place on the team
Agreed diehard.
JH doesnt seem to have any semblance of a defensive plan in place.
Our backs are all good footballers but there is no need for them all bombing forward every chance they get.We now have enough scoring power in our forwards without our defenders cluttering up the zone.
Even oisin mullin who is out best defender all found himself too far forward on several occasions
Regarding DOC I made that point about his lack of performance before this match on this forum. He has been a passenger for a lot of games and we can’t afford that. Is there a Ballintubber bias here with Horan?
Their 3rd was a free out…he touched the ball on the ground when he fell.
Imagine we scored 1-19 and still lost.
The key problem is centre of defence- we don’t seem to a natural FB or CHB. Instead we employ sticker plaster solutions.
Have we had a proper full back since Kevin Cahill?
Wide Ball. We conceded 3 goals v Tyrone who are average enough up front. Dublin would likely put 5 on us playing that open.
We conceded 3 goals in 25 minutes against the Dubs last year. If you score 22 pts and lose you need to look at what the hell your doing defensively
Sleepwalker, to be fair, I’d argue his best ever performance came against Kildare two years later! He was magnificent at midfield that day. He played well in the league final last year too, got man of the match. Hasn’t kicked on though, be it injury or lack of consistency.
Watched the highlights with a proper stream and was worse than I remembered. The lack of a six….starting mcloughlin at 6 vs kenna cost us. Didnt score for crucial periods of 2nd half and with an extra man. We keep making the same mistakes and lack the edge to kill teams sometimes…frustrating to watch. Too many lads step up when cruising…need more leaders when chips are down to take the game by the scruff of the neck
It’s a shame but I dont know is it the eternal optimistic nature of us but I’m very hopeful. We have the biggest scatter of young lads coming through that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Feel sorry for Davie, just like I did for Robbie, but it’s a position that we should be looking at an alternative. I cant honestly put the boot in to anyone today, we died with our boots on and we are in the midst of a rebuild that’s 3 years coming.
We have some big players to come back and I’d back us even more now, as foolhardy as I seems after today, because we have added a ball of pace and dont look as pedestrians getting ball in. If we sort out a solid starting 4, nevermind 6, in defence we will do well.
MAYO ABÚ
Is James Carr injured?
What about Conor O’Malley from Wesport in goal.
The only thing I would say about the perceived GK issue and I’m not from Mayo but James Horan, Ciaran Mac, Stephen Rochford, Peter Burke, James Nallen, Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes have picked the 2 lads for over a decade now, I presume those above know more than most so they are obviously the two best options
Centerfield – Tyrone scored 2 goals last weekend too. The 3rd goal today can happen to the best of defences. It happened to a Jim McGuiness managed team in an all Ireland final.
I’m not sure what management can do about the 1st goal either. There were 8 players back, the ball rolling along the ground and nobody went and claimed it.
I’d agree with you big Mike. They’ve been the 2 best in the county for the last decade. Reape from Knockmore looks promising, but he was a forward this time last year so can’t blame horan for not blooding him yet.
Good 2nd half performance with the championship in a week and Tommy Conroy going well is something to take away. Give them a break at least until their season is finished. The way things go now people can be made to look foolish praising or slating a team so maybe best to hold of for a while and let them do their stuff. Obviously would have preferred to have stayed in division 1 but it’s not to be.
Wtf is Horan playing at. Like for instance persisting with Loftus at midfield. The dogs in the street know this wont work. This is a guy who couldnt make championship panel last year, Now hes arguably first choice midfielder. He didnt even play senior championship. Gimme a break. Also the s**te with the goalkeeper. This was a prime opportunity to see if Reape could hack it. Or even the Castlebar lad. But as usual no game time. Not to mention Darren Mchale. Arguably MOTM in the County final but brought into panel and not played. Horan is turning out just like all the others who have had second stints as Mayo Managers. Second term failures !
Just a thought If Meath had scored an extra point against Monaghan and we managed an another point against Tyrone Would we still be in D1?
Mayojoe if my aunt had male genetalia she’d be my uncle…irrelevant. Maybe evaluate why we didnt get another point or even 2 to stay up or beat monaghan earlier on to survive a head to head…about time we stopped being satisfied with the status quo of just about surviving the league etc. And wonder what we can do the push on…are we becoming the FAI happy with the status quo?
Not bothered about the irrelevance PK just wondering am I correct I’ll leave the evaluation to the better analysts
I’ve been saying for years now that the short kickout is dynamite with a lit fuse if you are using it and a gift from the Gods if the opposition is using it. Any half awake [ok, three quarter awake] forward line should be profiting from it esp with the kickout rules applying nowadays. Of course a team which opts for a sweeper loses any advantage they might otherwise gain. Sweepers are for losers except possibly against a strong gale.
Meath, Kildare, Laois, Westmeath, Clare, Cork and Down on next years menu. Meath, Kildare and Cork the main dangers. We won’t be seeing anywhere we’re not reasonably familiar with.
If we make it past Roscommon which is a huge if then I think Paul Armstrong and Shane Walsh will take us to the cleaners it will be revenge for Skibereen all over again Galway are hurting after last weeks defeat and our defence let’s face it is a shambles. Not getting ahead of myself though I won’t be suprised it the Rossies end our season in a few weeks time they Will unless we bring Aidan back to midfield and sort out our defence and can wring one more season out of Clarke and somehow get him to improve his kickouts if we can get Diarmuid O Connor to rediscover his form then I’d be confident playing Roscommon or Galway but there are too many ifs after today game
We may have young talent, and we have, but any management that makes the monumental blunder that ours did yesterday well we are going nowhere. Conor McKenna tore Donegal defence apart previous week, walked through them for goal, yet kevin Mc was left to mark him, job for Leroy, playing against wind, sure Aiden was waisted at FF.
We get over Leitrim, but not ros
Lesson from last we are not that good, Galway are not that bad
Bill Belichik from The New England Patriots would get us closer.
The first thing he’d study “How do you win the highest % of games in this sport?”
Then he’d simply give his selectors the guidance on what he needs where.
He most certainly would not put Kevin McLoughlin on their best attacker. Even a novice has the ability to see that.
He would not mandate allowing an intermediate championship okay midfielder as our first choice midfielder.
We’re right back to undermining our chances with horrifically bad selections and tactics.
Backdoorsam Paddy Durcan is the one who did the cleaning on Shane Walsh down in Limerick last year.
If we play to ability and protect our goal we should be more than able to win Connacht
What a difference a week makes both on the field and on the blog. JHs master strokes last week running from deep,Loftus in mid field Moran at CHF Aido at FF. Almost everyone was singing the praises of team and management One week later when Tyrone ,needing a win to stay up, come and beat us by a point and the whole set up is wrong!! It always has been that way. Win and we are world beaters, lose and its a disaster. In my opinion we did a lot right yesterday. Great effort to get back in game Normally when Tyrone are 8 or 9 ahead the opposition may as well go home. Our defence has been a problem and we may need some of the older lads back if they are fit enough I have been very impressed with energy and effort over last two games, running up very high scores in both games. It is very difficult to call Connacht this year as any one of the three big counties can win it. At the moment Roscommon look in the driving seat but its anyone’s title.
JP, Bill belichicks patriots dropped to 2-4 yesterday after getting hammered by the 49ers. They lost their best player Brady and have not recovered. We were without Cillian yesterday. He’ll be back for championship so all is not lost. We had to blood new lads at some stage. We did this year and it didn’t work out. We have a lot of young players coming through and a year in division 2 will do them no harm as long as we come up again and I think we will. A win in Connacht would be massive for this group.
The price of rebuilding a panel is that there will be a slide somewhere. Yes there were sideline errors yesterday but I’m not going on about it. What’s done is done. We do need to start finding the best position for our first choice players. Stephen coen. Kevin mac. Lee. Aiden. After all these years management are still unsure where to get best out of them
Reflecting on our relegating to div 2. In our last two games we’ve scored 4=42 against 1st div teams. Has this ever happened before? Now if we were relegated and scoring low with a ageing team .I would be worried for the future. But this is basically a young team with pace and scoring forwards,and a few more to be introduced. The future is bright. Management must get a defensive plan in place. Connaught is there for the taking.
Wideball. I should have clarified that my point wasn’t based on the result yesterday but in general. Throughout the league we have been wide open at the back. Even against Galway we were shocking but out scored them. Its almost like that Horans footballing philosophy. Even back to his first term in charge. Defensive systems never came into it. Thats why I refer to Rochford been better.
Well said Robinbanks.
This is not about 1 result it’s about a succession of stuff over the years.
What did we learn yesterday?. That Kevin Mc was not the man for McKenna and that Leroy is not a corner back.
We changed the FB again.
Anyway…truth is I am not qualified to say.
We just have to give the guy the chance to win it his way
Can we lay off the blame game ,because none of the players or management set out to lose yesterday,also with D Clarke he has been a fine goalie for years,as I have spent the last few years defending Robbie, that he was not to blame for our loss in the final,also David was not to blame for yesterday
It’s not really the blame game, it’s the reality game. Compare to other division one teams how often we concede two or more goals? Now check in 2012/13/14/15/16/19 how that was ultimately a huge reason for our exits from the championship. Even in league football we have regularly conceded two or more goals.
We cannot expect to be successful with such a concession rate.
Corick, when you place a much lighter player on marking a must stronger opponent you are asking for trouble. Remember ger caff trying to stop Kieran donaghy in that drawn drawn semi ? The following manager had seen how that worked out and shocked everyone by putting someone on him that could physically stop him and he scored 1 point over 2 games in 2017 semis, draw and replay in croker. Remember?
Not to say that was the exact course we should have taken yesterday, but we had known what McKenna was capable of and he duly showed it yesterday again. It was poor game management on our behalf that sent us to division 2. We should have put the likes of o hora on him from the start.
Anyways, let’s see if our management are learning from these mistakes, we won’t have to wait too long.
My God, such negativity. Should we withdraw from the championship?
Last week Conor Loftus’s move was a stroke of genius; this week, he’s an intermediate player, whom you wouldn’t play under any circumstances. I thought he was quite good yesterday; we won the second half resoundingly. How could we do that, even with a Gale, if we weren’t getting possession?
Our kicking out is killing us though; no argument there, and making it so much harder to defend.
Still, I’m excited about all the newbies, and they have been blooded at the highest level. Carsick can’t come quickly enough.
Robinbanks – I think there is some revisionism going on with Rochford. We lost every single game against Galway under him. We shipped a number of league hammerings under him too. Horan had us set up well defensively against Galway and Donegal last summer. Even putting Paddy Durcan on Jack McCaffrey in the semi final worked well.
Pat – we changed full back again because there’s no standout player in that position. Can anyone say for certainty who should play there?
Horan tried some things in the last 2 league games – some worked, some didn’t.
Did not work
Kevin McL at CHB – still a great footballer and would have him in the starting team at no 12, not no 6
Conor Loftus at MF – Played OK in first half in Tuam, but it did not work at MF in 2nd hald in Tuam or in Cbar.
Lee at CB – Needs to be around the middle. the more he is on the ball the better
Did Work
E Mc Laughlin – almost a locked-in starter now but practically unknown 12 months ago. GiveHoran credit here
AOS at FF- Still a great option. didn’t work yesterday but cuased panic against Galway
Coen at FB – Under-rated player, always puts in a hard shift
Moran / O’Donaghue at 11 – both can be that playmaker we need – Moran quiet yesterday but he is a player
My team – I think this is about the most mobile team we can but out.
Hennelly
Mullin, Coen, O’Hora
McLaughlin, Keegan, Durcan
Ruane, DoC
J Durcan, Moran, McLaughlin
Conroy, AoS, Cillian/D Coen
To Win Just Once…. the older lads won’t make a bit of difference in that defense because we don’t have one! We have some great lads… running around (waaaaaayyy out the pitch) after their men – as instructed we assume by the Manager.
Galway were absolutely terrible last week…. they didn’t put any pressure on Clarke’s kickout and weren’t even moving for their own! Their keeper had a horrible day but to be fair to the lad….. no Galway players moved for him! We completely dominated possession as a result which allowed some of our lads look great.
Yet despite this complete domination of primary possession …. we still conceded 17 points!
Opponents know now that our backs will follow you all over the place so they pull our defenders way out the pitch and we duly oblige – leaving acres of space inside for our opponents to exploit.
It’s completely headless stuff and Horan has to shoulder 100% of the blame. Normally don’t post but have just had enough of soft fluffy talk that we will be back / Horan has brought some players through, etc. He spoke on TV after Galway game that he was picking off form etc. yet… he played DOC and Fionn McDonagh who have been struggling for form all year with their clubs (in saying that I’d still play DOC midfield before Loftus).
It’s heartbreaking because there is huge talent in the county and indeed in the squad. We have huge pace and athleticism with good skill levels.
Make Reape & Byrne your two keepers for starters (both good presence in the box, great kicking ranges and excellent communicators) and for feck sake at least try a bit of defending … AS A UNIT!
Players like Towey and DarrenMcHale have a lot to offer up front, both extremely difficult to handle and in my view are ahead of Loftus, James Durcan and others who have had their opportunities. That’s not to knock anyone. Have huge respect for any player who commits like all these lads do. But this is elite level and we need to be ruthless on the pitch and on the line.
We cannot keep waiting for next year and we cannot keep doing the same thing over and over again – but expect different results.
To those praising Rochford for defensive systems/strategy it was down to Tony McEntee’s expertise, not Rochford.
Irrespective of division 1 or 2 we need a centre back with “eyes”. That’s where our problem has been right through the league where monumental scores have been conceded. Teams are running through us too easily and that wont change in division 2.
Unless a sweeper is adopted for the Roscommon game or AOS (in the short team he might be the answer) at centre back its bye bye.
It will be interesting to see how much Leitrim score against us next Sunday. The last two games we have
conceded 3-31 so something to watch for.
No one has mentioned the absence of David McBrien. He played FB in tuam and we conceded 0 goals, he missed out yesterday (carrying a knock) and we conceded 3. To be fair Galway cut us open from the Half Back line, but they didn’t get the goal oppurtunities Tyrone got. He is young, strong, fast and can “smell danger” all essential qualities in a FB, he must be persisted with in this position. We lost a game by a point, coming back from 9 points down against the inventors of the blanket, a bit of perspective needed. This is the most important Connacht championship in 20 years because of no safety net, i’d rather be going into it under the radar like we are now.
It’s not just a sweeper system we will need v ros but we need to change the mindset of some of our defenders into you are primarily there to defend , perhaps limit bombing forward till after we have a commanding lead
. Some of our defenders are far too eager to get up the field too often . Command a presence down the centre at all times , no bloody way should teams be getting so much joy running through the centre at leisure hence why we give away too many goal opportunities.
Simply guys, when we all played football match on a very windy day, this is what was always done.
Against the wind the best footballers were in the half back line, and assisted by a packed midfield area, working the ball up the pitch and holding possession.
With the wind the ball was pumped in fast.
I dont think even in 2020 this philosophy has changed.
Why place a midfielder at full forward when no ball is coming in for 30 minutes?
Management need to be getting things right everyday, particularly during a home league game.
There are brilliant runners and ball carriers in this Mayo setup.
I didn’t see the match but I would love to know, the issues during 1st half yesterday.
Tyrone must not have flooded their defence with players or did they catch Mayo on the break, where Mayo players left holes following their markers out of position.
This is basic stuff, I wouldn’t allow it at u12.
Remember the lesson learned by the Dubs v Donegal in 2014, never happened again.
Pat, O’Malley from Westport is currently on the Roscommon panel.
One or two posters have made a point that McKenna touched the ball on the ground for third goal and Mayo should have had a free out. My understanding of the rule is he didnt, if you fall you are allowed touch ball on the ground but have to release it which McKenna did before picking it up legally and scoring
The main worry for me is the context of the loss. There is something very wrong about the fact that we are simply incapable of beating Tyrone, who are certainly no world beaters, in our home pitch. Given yesterday was a straight up relegation scrap, and in light of our performance last week, we should have been justifiably strong favourites and should have won. Plain and simple.
I’d be concerned for example about the performances of Aidan, who was captain, Ruane, Diarmuid. These are fine footballers and as we’ve seen over past few years can compete with anyone in the country on their day. Its so frustrating to think Aidan was so good last week, then, all of a sudden mickey harte and co concoct the perfect plan to totally snuff him out. Surely he, or our management must respond and adapt. He’s a major weapon in every game, is without doubt in the shape of his life, and should be a wrecking ball.
So did a few of our top players just have a bad day, did Tyrone employ the perfect tactics, were we slow on the line???
Paddy O’Malley is on the Roscommon panel. Conor O’Malley has just returned from England where he played soccer for Peterborough. Don’t think he’s played a Gaelic football game in years though so we can hardly parachute him in just yet.
Rossie43
Different guy. Man I am talking about came back from playing soccer in UK for Peterbouragh
Roscommon in Hyde Park is a 50/50 game at best. Forget about Galway for now.
I think the stationing of Aidan at FF is both tactical and practical. On the latter I’m not convinced he’s fully fit and I suspect he’s carrying a knock that’s limiting his mobility.
So maybe give James and the management team the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Pat, No hassle I wasnt aware Conor O’Malley was back from the UK. Surely has to be an option for Mayo if not this year next year if he isn’t snapped up by q league of Ireland side
Best players I seen this year were Caolan Crowe, Eoin O’Donoghue, David Drake and Andy Moran and none of these are playing. Definitely Drake could do the full back job leaving Coen to do his usual thing. Having Tommy C back marking Tyrone fowards is not the way to go.
Roscommon will relish a go at Mayo. The Mayo defence is there for the taking just look at the goals from yesterday, even a brutal Galway could have scored a few goals.You would expect Horan to make changes with veterans recalled.
A wet day in the hyde and Mayo will have to scrap for everything. Sure ye might beat the rossies but it isnt an easy game.
I always liked Caolan Crowe. Never put a foot wrong on the few times he played for us. I still think he’s a full back option, especially if his club form was good.
Christ this blog has had an influx of some absolute tripe comments….
We can afford to experiment a bit and rest players with knocks next week against Leitrim but we can’t against Roscommon. They’ve made the super 8s the past 2 years. Anyone who thinks otherwise or underestimates them is frankly foolish
James Durcan was very annoying taking that 73rd min free. You’d swear we were holding onto a one point lead and he was trying to kill time, the way he was going on. Took ages to kick a bloody 20m free directly in front of goal over the bar.
Small thing I know, but it was a sign of poor game awareness. Bernard Brogan used to kick those frees so quickly for Dublin in similar circumstances – like a hurling goalie taking a quick puckout.
Not hard to show a bit of urgency when a point down in injury time.
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The days of Mayo beating anyone comfortably in the championship are gone for now. But then you already know that