167 thoughts on “Mayo 2-13 Tipperary 0-14: Tipp topped and we’re back in the final”

1. Handy enough will in the end. We played poorly yet got over the line, all to lure
   Dublin into a false sense of security Hon Mayo 4 Sam

2. Hmmmm….not sure u can turn off and on depending on who ur playing. But a final is a final and only 1 big performance needed…

   Lee Keegan fortunate to see game out I thought considering the cards Tipp got.

   Andy Moran immense. Biggest thing Richford has brought is recognising need to play him from the start….why o why was he on the bench gas impact sub for 2 or 3 years???!

3. Congrats to the lads on reaching the final but God that was horrible to watch and our 2nd half was as bad as the gslway game.

4. As WJ said get the job done we did. Were we great today no did we do enough yes. I don’t get the need to be peaking in a semi do it on the 18 September. Win it again 65 years after the 65th all Ireland was won by Mayo. A lot of other counties would want the chance we have.

5. That’s about what I expected. It was never never going to be easy. The Tipp guys have alot of medals. We have alot to do that’s for sure.
   Come on Mayo

6. Delighted with the win! It was a poor enough display all the same, but no point in peaking now instead of September, for we’ve done that before.
   Anyway, i thought Aido was immense today, he is so important to this team. Work rate was top class. Keith was also great as was Andy.
   Anyway, I’ll be home on the 17th. Up Mayo.

7. Refereeing decisions, especially the early black card to Tipperary centre half back went in our favour today. I cannot understand why we don’t just take our points when we are given close in frees. We undoubtedly have to raise our overall performance for Dublin or Kerry. We have four weeks to put it right. Congrats to Rochford and McEntee for getting most of today’s calls right. Roll on Sept 18th

8. Very impressed by some of aos footwork and skills and the young buck took the goal very well too. It was a poor enough Mayo performance but let’s not forget that Tipp have football in them too, if they get a few of the absentees back and they do the physical conditioning work, they are a dangerous opponent.
   Anyways, well done to Mayo, it’s good to get another chance to win Sam. At this point I would take either the dubs or the kerry crowd in the final, no preference as long as we tear into them and win the shaggin thing

9. Job done. End of. Weeks now to prepare. On another note how is Tommy Carr let near a microphone. His statement about aos getting more of a belt outside disco in castlebar at 3am was a disgrace.

10. I hope I’m not coming across pessimistic but if we play like that in the final we could be absolutely opened up.

    Heaps of work to do. I thought we were very average going forward. Our 2nd goal was a fluke.

    Positives? We won. Aido did well around the middle when needed in 2nd half. Andy had a very good 1st half but a poor enough 2nd.

11. The media are already slating our performance which is great. Dubs will be hot favourites! Can we do it, of course we can. Tactics will be key but that’s for another day. Well done to all involved! Lastly everyone will say the team need to improve, that can be extended to mayo supporters too, way too quiet today!

12. Totally agree about Tommy Carr comment re AOS….u wouldn’t hear Ryle Nugent making similiar comment about rob Kearney getting slap outside Krystal at 3 in the morning….real moronic stuff that u’d hardly hear from a fan with a Mike never mind supposed professional pundit. Paddy whack again!

13. A win is a win but another less than great Mayo performance. Matter of fact it’s the first time in my lifetime see a Mayo team minor,U21,Junior or senior reach All Ireland final without producing a good solid 70 minute performance. Question now remains can Mayo find their form of 2012,2013,2014,2015 to stand a chance in the final?

    MOTM today the ageless Andy Moran for me.

14. Mayonaze ye are in the 2016 All Ireland Final so I wouldn’t be complaining, luck has been on Mayo’s. Side this year and every winner had had luck on their side. I remember the 2008 Final as everything went against us that day, every breaking ball and rebound seemed to drop into Tyrone hands and the game slipped through our fingers.

    With respect but I think Kerry would be more beatable in the final than the Dubs would be for Mayo. To beat the Dubs you have to have guile and buckets of it and for that reason I think we are the only team that could turn them over this year. They are the best team in the country and they are playing the best football I know but they are beatable. Realistically its only in a quarter or semi final when they are untested that either team could take them. Donegal put them under pressure but with a totally different style of game so they might be still vulnerable for Kerry to surprise them. If we push them close it would be bad for ye in the final just like the reverse situation last year when ye gave them two hard games in the run in to the final.

    To me ye had the perfect game today, the team knows how blindingly good ye can be when ye turn it on and they have four weeks to iron out consistency issues. Ye have a clean bill of health and a strong bench. Rockford is a man that does different things with his team setup and yet again he has guided ye over the line with intelligent moves, well done to all

15. Well it’s job done. It’s a results business and semi finals are for winning

    First 25 mins were hard watching. We didn’t get going at all, seemed lethargic and Tipp had us rattled. Our decision making was awful and tactically we were all over the place. Tipp really should have been more ahead but when we did get the goal (albeit as a direct result of a Tipp mistake) we ran riot, absolutely cruising the rest of the half. McLoughlin should have put the game to bed

    Second half was again hard watching. Very similar to the Galway and Westmeath second halves. Okay, Tipp didn’t get a goal like Galway but what if they had? I have to say it was far from comfortable. There was a lot of fortune about our goal even if COS did take it well. That was always going to be the killer blow

    It was far from pretty but we left with what we came for. This is the first time I can remember us making a final without any sort of shock and awe performance, and it has to be said our form looks very bleak. Can we suddenly find a 70 minute performance from nowhere for the first time since Donegal in the 1/4s last year?

    Andy Moran (first half) was a huge positive and Aidan worked incredibly hard. Keith was a colossus too. Boyler was solid as ever. But who else in all honesty?

    Finding it incredibly hard in all honesty to muster any optimism for the final but you’d never know I guess. I’d hope we can come up with a bit of a left field option perhaps, we’ll certainly need to do something different. At least the hype should be a lot cooler so maybe that would stand to us. If it’s Dublin, as I expect, we could well be as long as 3/1 outsiders in places.

    But anyway great to be there! should be an enjoyable few weeks anyway

16. Wins a win . Thank God it won’t be a Meath ref for the final. Gutted for ger caff missing a ai final . Fair play to andy moran and keith and aiden stood up when the ship needed steading.Think we, ll be facing the yerra,s in the final..

17. Tommy Carr is a fucking asshole. I cannot believe RTE allow a guy like that commentate on a game this big. Every time Mayo scored he nearly cried. Barely praised mayos (admittedly sporadic) good play but criticised them constantly. Complained about the ref being unfair to tipp constantly. Reckoned kiely shouldn’t gave got a black card coz “it’s their first semi in 80 years”. Made a cheap shot at Aido about going down easy too when he was fouled.
    This is RTE the national broadcaster, supposedly impartial – he sounded like he was commentating for Tipp FM. Effin eddie moroney would have been less biased. If enough people complain to RTE we might get him tossed off the panel for the next game.
    Thought Mayo were poor but got the job done. Low expectations for final but we always deliver against favourites. Plently of improvement in the team.

18. Firstly congratulations to the team and Management on reaching another AL final. A fantastic achievement but how it was achieved is beyond me. Another poor performance today in so many aspects. And Tipp were very unlucky with some ref decisions. One thing we have had in abundance this year is luck so maybe it will hold in the final but on performance you would have to say another 04 abd 06 is possible. ..

19. What a strange feeling to win a Semi and not feel elated .. After the epics of the last few years this felt like just a game to win .. We are better than Tipp so get it over with and move on.
    Encouraging that the line we are at least thinking about strategies on a game to game basis .. Barry did his job .. No goals and that was the difference.
    Dubs are not quite as good this year and Kerry are a bit hard to judge .. But maybe just maybe we can bring 70 mins when it matters .. We are there and my God we need to enter that final without fear and gouge out a win .. Anyway anyhow ..

20. Agree with comments re tommy carr. If he wants to be so biased for tipp why didn’t he play for them! Job done today and we hope our annual great performance is on sept 18th .

21. A perfect performance form the Green and Red today. Third final in 6 years. What a great bunch of player’s. Tipp done their best. The AI final has been moved forward 3 weeks. It will be played next Sunday in Croke Park. The presentation and snaps will take place on Sept 18. B there.

22. Mayo are 21/10 for Sam. I never heard of such a strange odd in football. Tommy Carr was so biased that he was unbearable. He seems to hate Mayo for some reason, I had to mute the iPhone and just look at the pictures.

23. Poor game. Good result. Must stop this back passing No goals conceded which is good. At other end we must take our points. Crowd a bit subdued in upper hogan where I was Keith was my motm. Let’s hope it’s Kerry Come on Mayo

24. The good news is we will be written off for the final after that performance.

    78 minutes of play today and we were on fire for 15 and fairly shite for 63.

    We scored 1-3 in a 41 minute second half against a division 3 side down to 14 men for some of it. The 1 was a fluke goal too. So the media can concentrate on the real final next Sunday. That is fine by me.

    More good news is we are on a great run of luck since 18th June. Handy home draws and a few lucky scores. Could Rochford be a lucky manager after we have had decades of nothing going for us?

    More good news is that Kerry/Dublin will not have a fucking clue about which Mayo will turn up for the final. Will it be the Mayo that plays in fits and starts for 10 minutes or something else?

    Anyway we are where we wanted to be on the night of 21st August and it does not matter how we got there.

25. Tommy Carr was born and reared in Tipp. His brother played hurling with Tipp.
    That doesn’t excuse him though. Since early this year he has had a knife in Mayo. He is just another in the long line of RTE “experts” that are inflected on the public each year. The only way he will be shut up is if Mayo go all the way and he has to call us champions.

26. Lets all be happy. Job done.
    I totally agree with puckout above. Our roar wasnt there. We were way too quiet. I did what i could. Fair play to all the lads. Ignore the critics. Going in as huge underdogs.
    Suits us perfect.IT ‘s our year.
    Start BELIEVING everyone.
    And as i said before on this blog
    ‘We’re in this together’. This team has a huge game in them yet.

27. Job done
    Should be handy enough get tickets for the final anyway jusging by all the doom merchants who didn’t travel since the Galway game 😉
    I’m sorted with season tickets anyway
    Can’t wait
    One big performance is all that’s needed now
    70 minutes
    It’s in them

28. Today’s performance was typical of our form all year – slow starting with a devastating 2nd quarter followed by a lethargic second half. Tipperary made serious inroads down our middle channel, we did not like having to deal with their runners, their fielding of the ball in the middle was excellent but they lacked that bit of quality up front to make it count. We were fortunate that their wide count was as big as it was, if they had taken their chances at the start we could have been in serious trouble. But once we got into the game we made life very hard for them. Their lack of squad depth was apparent in the second half, they looked out on their feet as the game died away.

    It was difficult to know what our defensive strategy was, was Barry Moran a sweeper or playing deep as a third midfielder? It needs to be tightened up for the next day as Dublin and Kerry will punish us for leaving gaps like we did. Barry was fantastic however and I can see him starting in a similar role in the final. Andy Moran was superb and was seemingly involved in every score we had in the first half at least. Aido put in a huge shift as well, his chip and lay-off was sublime. Higgins’ run to set up the goal was a sight to behold.

    Overall I got the feeling today that the intense schedule of games this summer finally caught up with the lads. We didn’t look as fresh as in our previous semi-finals. But we have a badly needed four-week lay-off to recover and fine-tune our game. The high-intensity semi-final replays of the previous two years proved our undoing but finally luck is on our side and we’ve avoided such an entanglement. The lads had a job to do and they delivered, that is all we can ask of them. Hasn’t sunk in yet that we’re back in an All-Ireland final, it’s going to be a long four weeks!

29. Doesn’t really matter who Mayo now play in the final as Kerry or Dublin will be a big step up from Kildare,Fermanagh,Westmeath,Tipperary or a Tyrone side that only scored 12 times from 33 attempts.

    If Kerry are good enough to beat Dublin they will take some stopping so I don’t see the logic in hoping Kerry win.

    Going back to the game today. I don’t agree with your view that Mayo were value for the five point win WJ the margin could and should have been closer than that going on the 70 minutes balance of play.

30. We are there! A lot to work on!
    But I believe this our year!

31. Any chance of getting Pierce Hanley back as a one off for the final? Would shock our opponents

32. can we please have no songs this time. Lets just focus on winning the damn thing

33. Firstly well done to the lads and management . Today was all about getting the win . The fact that 2 of our top forwards ( don’t want to mention names out of respect ) did not perform means that their is lots to work on in backs and mid field as well , but look it we are where we want to be and 32 other counties would give their arm to be where we are . Job done

34. A win is a win is a win. We are in the final and this evening that is all that matters. How many times over the years have we seen Kerry just do enough to win a semi-final and then produce their best in the final. Portugal stumbled through all of their games as well and beat the French in the final. Keep the faith! Congrats to all involved on getting us into another final.

35. Sorry 31 counties would love to be where we are !

36. Thought Aido was brilliant today, though old man Andy will probably get MOTM and I wouldn’t argue with it. I see encouraging signs of leadership in Aido, he was doing a lot of talking, directing etc, which is what we need, particularly when the Mayo crowd, as they do so often, go to sleep. Whether inside or in midfield, he made a huge impact, always presented for the ball, won an awful lot of turnovers, and showed some surprisingly nice touches. I know its a cliché about having a good touch for a big guy, but I think Aido is developing his football skills all the time!

37. If buts and maybes yet again with people. We won an all Ireland semi final with forwards scoring and not conceding a goal.
    Job done.

    We set up in a respectful manner to tipp and I have no doubt they didn’t get out of third.
    It was controlled and enough.

    Opposition be it Kerry or dubs have learned nothing about us.
    All they know is we like to kick it out wide and can counteract aerial attacks with Barry at fullback sweeping.
    There is much more to this team but fact is they are a tight unit and will take more from that game than a 10 point drubbing of dominance over tipp.
    I think there was a very definite pull up the handbrake by putting AOS to full forward and Cillian to 12.
    We have a the backs a tough time but they will be all the better for it. As Rochie said before the game it’s time for the backs to man up and play their own man.
    All of them came out of it ok with Keegan the best again. Harrison had a tough day but will have a lot more help with double sweepers in the final. That we can be sure of.

    We’re in the final. This is a strong United unit and will be under the radar with massive motivation for a game in a 2 horse race.
    We Are going through a defined and character building process where you will see the best of the lads in a months time.
    Only negative s for me today were Harrison’s performance when exposed one on one.
    Regan lack of impact
    Vaughan and seamie given tough run around but will be all better for it.
    No long kickouts for fear of dubs or Kerry choking our 21 to 45. Backup plan of long
    Cillian place kicking
    forward interlink play from doh and mcloughlin was poor

    Positives have nothing away showed unity and maturity
    A lot more to offer.
    Barrett and parsons fit and ready for final
    Vaughan exposed to what MDA or Moran will offer in running midfield role
    Conor o Shea a real threat

38. Pàidì was right, supporters are “queer fucking animals” surely.
    A third All Ireland in 6 years and all you hear is “IF’s” and “But’s”.
    What good has blowing teams away in the quarters and semi’s done us?
    Carlsberg don’t do All Ireland preparations…..

39. It’s sad to see so many so called Mayo fans on this blog so bemused that we are back in our 3rd all Ireland final in 6 years, well lads, this mr “luck” that ye keep pointing out is the only reason that we ever win a game, he ain’t real. We are into our 3rd all Ireland in 6 years, we have been in 6 semi finals in a row, we won Connacht 5 times in a row, that’s not fucking luck. If you’re not Gona turn up and support your team in 4 weeks time give your ticket to someone else. Too man people have been waiting to see this team lose since Galway just to say I told you so!

40. After losing to Dublin on sept.5th SF replay last year we would have given our right hand for this result today………..another chance at Sam……….doesn’t matter now ‘how’ it’s all about getting the chance..
    We may not have been at our best today but then we didn’t have to be.
    What I have noticed is that most of our players seem to be better footballers technically and skillwise than in the past few years…………now we have to put it all together for one full game.
    Well done one and all.
    MaighEo Abú

41. You can be so negative of mayo but at the end of the day we’re the only team in the country in the final.
    Right now we’re the only team in the final.
    You can argue the dubs or kerry will beat us but only one of them will have a chance of doing that.

42. Well done boys. 3 finals in 6 years. Tremendous. We’ll peak for the final !!!

43. Well said Outside of the boot. I think today turned out absolutely perfectly for us. If we hammered Tipp, we would be blown up again by the media and Kerry (who I think will beat Dublin) would be raving about how much we bet Tipp by, and throwing out “superman” buzz words like Bastick before last years semi. The team have 4 weeks to prepare for a life defining game, they will be in 6th gear from the off….alot different from today.

    We never looked like conceding a goal, and to be honest, never looked like losing the game. We seem alot sturdier in the back line, yes, they ran through our 45 at times, but got shut down around the D….which was exactly what was needed. No clear goal chances concede…job done. We done enough, and you could just tell theirs plenty left in the tank. Hope all the mayo men in the media write us off for the final, lets get back to that pre-Tyrone mentality! No one beileving in us, then WHAM BAM!!! Thank you Sam 😉

44. I’d normally be on the optimistic end of the spectrum but today was hard going for me. Enjoyed our blitz and the 2nd goal and though Regan slipped he did a lovely shimmy just beforehand. Besides that I felt that although Barry tactic had a huge impact on prevention of goals he had no work to do for most of the game and felt like 14 against 15 as a consequence for large parts. We won’t need that tactic vs Dublin but might vs Kerry. Barry came forward to win some valuable kickouts but really should only have to drop right back when we’re defending. 3 forwards underperformed and a 4th was below his peak fitness but played fairly well. Backs were good and midfield got a huge test especially of what Kerry might bring but also young Fenton for Dublin.
    Positives.. No goals, no suspensions, opponents will find it hard to plan for us, less pressure as undoubted underdogs. Feel a bit for Keane and 50 50 call there for me, we won the game so can say they were justified.

45. A win is a win I suppose but we will not win sam based on any of our performances so far in the championship. Once massive performance required – hopefully on the 18th Sep.

    As mentioned above by a few lads, that Tommy Carr is one insufferable gobe shite. If this is the best RTE can come up with as a co-commentor then there is hope for us all. Some of his “comments” and “analysis” was extremely biased and insulting to some of our players to say the least. Hope we can ram it down his and others throats on the 18th.

46. Under dogs for final, definitely. So far only played well for 15-20 minutes in any match. Do it for 50 minutes without conceding soft goals, then pressure is on the opposition. Kerry and the Dubs always causes Mayo to raise their game over the past 5 years, so all to play for.

47. Very flat performance again today which was both disappointing and concerning as it looked a few steps back from the intensity of two weeks ago and more akin to some of our qualifier games…Thankfully it was a Div 3 team today and not a Div 1 team or we would have been well and truly trounced. On the evidence of the last four games, can we say we are a continuously improving team? Can we get to the level required to compete with Dublin or Kerry, a level we have not come close to emulating all year ? At least we are there to give it a shot. 4 weeks to Sept 18th to find the performance of a lifetime.

48. I’m really sorry but ifs and buts are doing my head in. Celebrate we in final again the how we got there is over now it’s done. 70 mins from the grail that is Sam. I take that and love our county men have achieved it. They won’t let us down on 18th win loose or draw. Show me a county in such adversity that all so called gobshites say could win but don’t that lost ,that mental frailty is the key, bottlerrs , cowards no system too offensive no defensive structure and aww it just Mayo it what they do. Have I missed something. Fuck them all and when we all agree and win it this year I want to shove Sam downs colm orourkes throat and say we not as good as two years ago and have regressed and regress Sam out ur throat.

49. Well done to players, management and back room team to bring us back into another all-ireland and what a month that lies ahead of us full of hope, excitement, dreams, nerves and all the rest of it. We may not have the fitness team but they operate at a high fitness level, perhaps not the most skillful but they are pretty skillful, perhaps not the strongest or the youngest, although we have lots of strength and youth about the place. But maybe we have a fair amount of just about everything that’s needed to push us on that last lap. Coupled to that has to be factored in the willingness of the management team to adopt and change, to take risks when needed, to back themselves and their opinions when preparing for games with such high stakes, I think that’s 7 championship games now with only 3 goals conceded.
    Finally I did not hear T Carr thankfully, and before I take a swipe at him he does on occasions offer some good insights into the game of football. However I won’t forget his easy to trot out commentary the day we lost to Cork in the opening round of the league. Listening to him in the car shortly after the game that day was pretty painful – I distinctly remember the lame duck tripe about Mayo coming swiftly down off the summit, not being at the top tier anymore -after one game of football where we were trying new lads under the stewardship of a new manager.
    Well we are at the summit alright and please God we will sit proudly on it after Sept 18th too.

50. 70 mins is the time of most games but I have yet to see a team play for 70 and win a final even the most one sided games we were in v Kerry and lost we had good patches.

    A performance we need. Performances we have got from theses players in the past. Tactically we have to be on the ball which the management team has done to date and management will have to made hard choices re selection s which they have done also so for me very positive aspects add in the psychological factors of Rochie and mcentee being proven winners.

51. On a point of clarity its out 3rd final in 5 years ….not 6 years.

    Biggest concern today was terrible forward performance other than AM and AoS. For last 20 minutes Tipp were bolloxed however we failed to create and score a handful of points to secure the game. Instead it took a poxy goal to win it via CoS. We scored 3 points in 2nd half…..one a close free.

    One thing that does not get emphasised enough on this site is our lack of scoring forwards from play. Yes, most got a score from play but the overall performace in terms of creating and scoring was terrible.

    In the last 20 minutes we shud have racked up some scores from play however we instead resembled a boxer who couldn’t execute some punches against a tired and somewhat defenceless opponent.

    Ultimately that’s Dublin’s advantage over us….better scoring forwards

52. Obviously meant to say in above post that it’s our 3rd final in 5 years …..not 6 years (let’s not sell ourselves short)

53. Absolutely connollysgf

    Rochford will have a game plan for Dublin or Kerry and he has proven the players can adapt to required positions at any given time.
    I think if it’s Dublin the big trick maybe diarmuid o Conor and Aos inside
    Let diarmuid stand in front of Cian o Sullivan. Gather up Aos breaking ball.
    He s a goal threat and great to win breaks.

    Their game plan will see Kilkenny picking up and making diarmuid defend but I’d counteract that by having Higgins play on Kilkenny at half forward.
    Barrett will have to start and man mark Bernard brogan or o Donahue if it’s Kerry.

    Exciting times ahead and will place all my trust in this team and management and just hope they get their just derserves after all entertainment they gave us over 6 years. It won’t be easy but they don’t need telling that

54. [Deleted].

55. Here we go once more. Mayo will be big underdogs regardless who we end up facing. Love your posts Gamechanger, don’t change. Mayo are once more in control of both their destiny and legacy. Let’s take a breathe and see where that leads? One thing is for sure Mayo will not win if we perform like we did today. Tipperary were a brilliant gust of fresh air and they gave it all. They are a credit to their County. If Mayo can take anything from today, I would wish that it be Tipperary’s never say die attitude. Mayo will need all that and more. If, Mayo play for 70 plus minutes to the best of their abilities, using large dollops of carful crafted tactics and larger dollops of passion and self belief, Mayo can and will beat anybody put in front of them. Our legacy, once more remains in our hands. Will we let slip through or will we clasp tight and ROAR?

56. Great news…my telly is broken for the past month and I haven’t seen nor heard of Tommy Carr. I said it before though…anywhere I speak to Dubs they DO NOT LIKE MAYO…they want us beat and out of their way. Well I’m happy to say we are still here and no one knows how good this team is yet. I was at the game with my daughter and we are both hoarse from cheering the men on…and very proud of them. This was a no win game for Mayo…except we did all we needed to. I feel mean and angry now…I couldn’t give a shite if it’s Dublin or Kerry…I don’t care about hurt or pain, I don’t care about anyone else…I want Sam in Mayo and to hell with Tommy Carr and anyone else who thinks they are entitled to hold onto it… It’s time to turn up and shout into their faces and rip that cup outta their grasp and take it home…The West’s Awake…Connaught…Mayo…Maigheo Go deo…

57. We are where we want to be tonight and as many have said before where many counties can only dream of being.
    On the evidence of the last few games we won’t win the All Ireland if either Kerry or Dublin are in full flow…. but you never know!
    Thankfully I have a season ticket and will be there the next day to roar on the lads but can someone please offer me some insight on the following mystery – how can some Mayo supporters who have waited all their lives for Mayo to win Sam sit at a game like today and not shout and roar their team on. It escapes me completely.
    I’ll dress up as a green and red gorilla and do my best take on King Kong if I think it will help the cause the next day!

58. Mach Gamhnach – you’re not allowed to make a pop at someone if you don’t like what they’ve posted. If you have a problem with what someone else has said then say so, sticking to the specifics.

59. No fuss win with no hype and of course we are being told already even by plenty of Mayo supporters that we have no hope in Final. Well this reminds me of 1996 in so many ways….

    For now well done to the team, management and supporters who were there in huge numbers.

    Great display from Andy particularly in first half, SOS got lots of possession in first half. Kudos to Durkan as well. Need more from Cillian, Doherty and McLoughlin. Mayo controlled that game and never looked like loosing.

    Sure the Titantic could have sailed down the middle at times. Concentration was poor in first 20 minutes with too many passes coughed up to easily. Some bad wides and lazy tackling.

    Bunting and another flag going up shortly to show these guys that i support them and that they are doing something right even if they are far from perfect.

    Because after all I am a Mayo supporter and that’s what supporters do right ???

60. As Walter Kilcullen said last day, what is it with Mayo and Meath refs?
    Tom(my) Carr an out and out Tipp fan so should be ignored.

61. Marvelous. Another final and a full month to chill may get few tickets lol great to be there. Well done to everyone.

    I could not get over the subdued atmosphere on train to maynooth. I nearly asked did some one die ? If an outsider got on the train he would definately think we lost. We have had great performances in the past and lost. We have been mediocre bar Tyrone game all year but we got the results. It’s results business. Fair enough it was against lower tier opposition but here we are in all ireland. The sight of a kerry man or a dub will send fire through our veins. Let’s enjoy it folks.

62. Great to be back in another final well done to all the team. Panel and management I believe we are in the perfect position going into the final underdogs and everyone writing us off I’m hoping my user name
    Of Backdoor Sam will be prophetic on Sept 18 I just have a feeling we will raise our game and finally bring Sam home again

63. How great it is to have a final lined up again.

    We have so much potential for improvement – midfield, diarmuid & cillian o’connor all have potential for vast improvement. Lee keegan can also do much better than today. Then we will be under dogs. All feels lined up for something even greater to come.

64. For Mayo people who travel to support their boys in all seasons the most important thing is being there, win lose or draw. Giving any credence to armchair pundits on RTE or the techno geniuses on Sky is a distraction. The important thing is that we have struggled through and are now in the final.
    We have faced what was before us and all that’s left now is to GET A BLOODY TICKET.

65. Great to be back in the final 🙂

    Who cares about the performance, let people write us off, just like before the Tyrone game.

    Now we can get back to everyone’s favourite subject… Cluxton’s kickouts!

66. Agree with previous contributor, regarding songs for final. These in most cases are silly and only adds to unnecessary hype. If they were of a high quality then fair enough, but the vast majority are poor and are like something Azerbhjhan would have in the Eurovision. This year should be all about winning. Afterwards write whatever you want.

    Re: game. Job done. Patchy again. Kudos to SR for creating a separate game plan for each game.

    I thought the Sunday Game highlights were shocking tonight. Didn’t show many of the Mayo scores. Regarding the stats on free MAyo give away the Analysists fail to mention in many cases the Refs giving opponents soft frees. Against Tyrone for example!!

67. Congrats to team and management,great to be in an other final , Hon Mayo

68. We’ll done to the lads today. Not easy to watch and not one for the archives really but here we are in the final again. What a bunch of players. It really is inspirational stuff that I cannot but admire. It’s tireless effort that has them here again. A cuter pair on the sideline is helping too I think. No suspensions. No injuries picked up that we’re aware of and for me most importantly the haemorrhaging of goals seems to have been stemmed. A few go-to fellas didn’t play to their best today but I have yet to see it happen twice on the hop in the case of the lads I’m thinking off.
    So, a month to prepare for a final we have reached without playing well. I have a feeling in me that says if Mayo click, even to fifty percent of what I feel they are capable of, they will destroy either of the other two that are left. I tell ye this right now, they will.

    P.S. Tommy Carr , shtay at home, gud ladeen.

69. Semi Finals are all about winning, we have done that, it has allowed a few players get back in the groove and shake off a few more cobwebs.

    We have a lot of improvement to do but thats all good.We have 4 weeks to get it right.

    There is a saying that ‘you dont need to be born rich if you are born lucky’. I think it was Napolean who said that about one of his Generals, maybe Rochford could be our lucky General. Some of our previous Managers could have got more of the ‘rub of the green’.

70. Weird game…subdued atmosphere I thought for long periods. What a fantastic support though…must have been 40,000 Mayo people in croke park today. The boys got over the line. They won’t be happy with the performance but I prefer to win ugly and be hated then to loose s classic like the last 2 years.

    Traffic was insane folks. I think a few people need to learn how to drive on a motorway… some shocking driving witnessed today. Hope everyone got home safe

71. Well done to Mayo, great to be in another All Ireland final. There’s always ‘ONE’ The big performance in Mayo every year. I don’t think we have seen what you’d call a ‘BIG PERFORMANCE’. yet! We haven’t put even 20mins of the a football we are capable of together in the one match yet!!! . I have in seen enough to be be 100% certain that we have it in our locker, just waiting to be released. If we can do this,? Neither Dublin or Kerry will live with us. I’m being serious here, we have 4 weeks to, to prepare and prepare we will, semifinals are for winning. We are now under ‘starters orders, for the final match, and a two horse race of the season . so com’on Mayo, start your engines, wait for the signal, and’ Gerenamo, full steam ahead , pedal to the metal, slip the dip,and suck the diesel,. As for the All Ireland tickets, I’m a step ahead of most of ye already. Leaving Croke Park today I had the good luck to bump into none other but the President of the GAA, (can’t spell his name) but my name is already on the tickets, previously intended for Paddy Hickey the ‘Borstal Boy of Rio’ (I am working on the song already) , anyhow if he’s still doing ‘Borstal’ in Rio in 4 weeks time,? I’m getting his ticket, and I won’t be paying over the odds for it either, that can get you into awful trouble, My name is also down for any other tickets previously intended for anyone else, that are being going to detained in Rio, so hopefully, a few more arrests out there would be nice. I will a have a more serious and boring review of the match in a day or two when I get a chance to see it all again on the Telly, don’t trust my own judgment when I am at a Match, biased as hell I am. ! But Kudos, to Andy, Keith, and Barry Moran, and Kudos to the Rochy for playing Barry, taught he done very well, and one of the few defenders today that didn’t give away any needless free’s. Now it’s time for a pint! MAIGH EO ABU!

72. Tommy Carr is a poor commentator and I don’t like the way he rolls out his view on unfolding events or controversial calls without due consideration to the obvious footage or live instinctive response to a critical moment. If it looks like a blatant foul or free then the referee has to be forgiven if he blows it, there are at least two or three decisions where a ref gets it wrong in a game no matter how good he is. Personally I think there should be a collective suggestion that he be reassigned to bring breaking developments in the world snail racing championship. This years event is over and was held on the 16th of July but next years event is due to be held on a cricket field at Congham, Norfolk, England on July 15th 2017, I’m not sure what dates the qualifying competitions take place but I think his tone and punditary skills would be most suited to capture the excitements offered on such days, the snail racing enthusiasts will be wetting their seats,,,

    I have my hotel booked for the final but I have a cancellation policy in case the scribes have correctly predicted collective foregone conclusion of a Dublin team having to go through the irritation of playing a team on the 18th before they are humbly handed the canister.

    Kerry will fight with everything they have next sunday, I’m not sure they can win but I will not be surprised if they do. Kerry are like a pride of lions being threatened by new males challenging the dominant male,, they are still very dangerous if they can get their claws into you but they lack the agility and speed that allowed them dominate for so long. I’m not talking about total dominance obviously far from it as the recent records show but the ability to take on the challenger with confidence and arrogance which is a necessary ingredient in a winning team. Mayo are in the Final and it will take a great team to beat them, either Kerry or Dublin will make the mouths salivate from their perspective as they are both owed a beating from the Mayo perspective. A seventy minute shift will not be a laborious dig as I think rochford will turn it over with the first turned sod when his team see who the face next week, this Mayo team will need little focus be it Green and Gold or blue or Navy. Enjoy the permutations for the next six days and I look forward to the opinions that best capture the demise of your opponents.
    I will say good luck to ye but only on one condition,,

73. I don’t know where to start with that. Mixed the truly sublime with the ridiculous today. I know many have said that we never looked like losing, but I felt we were very vulnerable when we only led by 2 (and the Quinlevan effort thankfully went wide – that could have made it interesting…..Boyle the hero tacked on a point shortly after)

    Tipp to be fair are a fine side, and if they keep building they will surely be back at a semi final at least in the near future (they should walk division 3 next year if they are tuned in from pre season)

    2-10 from play today. That element of our game has improved no end since the Galway game. Most of it came in that breathtaking salvo before half time (no team could live with that), but they all count.

    Yet again, I thought the ref gave a few shocking frees against us today, which Quinlevan ate up to his credit (on balance, we may have got 1 or 2 aswell, but we only scored 3 points from frees and those frees were warranted in my view. The free count against us since the Fermanagh game has been very very high. We are a team renowned for our tackling, so either there’s a conspiracy against us in that regard, or our discipline has fallen off (I think we’ve had rough treatment in that regard) Didn’t see the red. card from today yet, so not going to comment on that. Black card for Kiely was fair in my view, he took out Doherty, simple as. I know they lost a key man, but it was almost 20 minutes after that when we started to catch fire.

    Well we’re in the final. And I can’t wait for it!!

74. Game changer 10 best of luck next Sunday. I enjoy ur contributions and u always wish us well so I will extend u the same curtosy

75. From my spot on the Hill today our support was too quiet from the stands…in particular the cusack where we clearly dominated in terms of numbers. It was fairly disappointin and I really made a point of listening out for the level of vocal support today.

    Season ticket holders and regular match goers can you please start shouting louder or in unison. It’s up to ye, then the day trippers will follow. We have another chance in 4 weeks time.. We were completely outdone by the Donegal supporters in 12 and we went awol in the second half of 13.

    You might recall just before the teams came out for the senior match that day in 2013 the Mayo support really took over..Croke Park was a cauldron of noise.

    We need to seriously rectify this. If we do it properly it can inject belief, courage and bravery into the team. Please bear this in mind if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket for the final. Today was poor both on and off the fiend. Do your bit for the county on the 18th.

76. Sorry to say this but this team going no where near to many games were we switch off its happening to much if we play like that against Dublin or Kerry its over and one more all Ireland gone up in smoke very poor game again today

77. Delighted that Mayo are playing again on 3rd Sunday in Septemer.

    Undoubtedly out set up will keep everyone guessing !!!

    Tommy Carr is so poor it’s not really worth commenting on. Was at the game so just watching it back now. What a b….x. He appears to have a very poor understanding of the rules.

    AM was immense in first half. Some good performances but we just don’t seem to be able to push on at times.

    I really want to believe there is a huge performance in the lads. The makings of it are there. Whatever happens on 18 September it has been a privilige to be there from the beating in Jan at Pairc Ui Rinn , craic in Ruislip at end of May, wet miserable evening against Galway, back to an AI final.

    These are the days we dream of…who knows what might happen

78. Well done team and management. Brilliant to be in another final. Not a great performance but win is win. Worrying about full back situation and Keane left off again. Finally didn’t have pleasure of hearing tom carr whose brother played for Tipp but I reckon that if he is the best RTE can produce then its time the GAA gave the entire package to SKY. Between carr brollix and spillane we really are afflicted with gobshites. Finally well done to Tipp on a fine effort. Losing Kiely was a disaster for them. Time to get rid of black card for good. Boyler was afraid to tackle today in case he got one. And finally finally, once again our support reacted to what was going on on the field rather than really backing the team. They were in full voice in last ten minutes of first half but were quiet for rest of game. Its when the team is playing poorly, as happened a lot today that we need to be loud. Up Mayo

79. Leaders?, maybe O’Shea, Keegan, Boyle, Higgins, O’Connor. We even have leaders coming off the bench in Barrett and Parsons. We’ve got to an all Ireland final without showing our hand. I for one am confident and as Tomàs o Shea said. He’d be delighted to be in Mayos position going into a final.

80. Time to bin the auld overalls. Take down the pinner, because now we dance.

81. “Carr” and “O Hara”, two assholes on media with their own agendas, the former, a Tipperary native carrying the baton for a close ally ie a former Mayo manager who tried to become involved in the Mayo team management last year via u 21 team, and O Hara smarting from many thrashings from Mayo.
    So much for objective analysts !!

82. Outside of the Pale, I know exactly whom you are referring to, to be a fair to the said exmanager of Mayo, his arrival coincided with serious improvement Mayo football. He led Clare to the victory in Munster over the greatest gaelic-football team that ever played. Coincidence???. I think not! I was at the match so did not have to indure Carr, such a dull voice. Not the only one, by any means! O Hara was on RTE Radio today, I was listening at the match, I think he’s good, Martin Beg McHugh, is good, Bernard Flynn & Dessie Dolanog, are pretty good also, but that’s just my opinion! Look most of us posters here are totally Pro Mayo, I wouldn’t be knocking someone who ‘Really’ gave something to Mayo ‘!!!

83. Carr used the word “pedantic” twice during the game to indicate that he thought the pace was slow ( I think he meant pedestrian ). Pedantic in fact means the opposite , an unnecessary demonstration of knowledge or intelligence , to what Carr showed , an unnecessary demonstration of his abject stupidity. Twice. And thats not even the half of it !

84. Was up watching in the small hours here in New Zealand. Fantastic result and here we are again,, one match away from Nirvana. Currently exploring the possibility of getting home for it as my wife has said I should go for my 50th birthday. That would be one hell of a way to enter my 51st year on this plant. Now,, where the hell can I find a ticket?

85. Our execution yesterday was very poor at times. We seem very rigid under Rochford, almost forcing things when not on. We played with great freedom under Horan.

    On the other hand, the system benefits them too.

    However, we were very flat at times yesterday and I can’t ever remember feeling so flat after a semi-final. I hope there is a masterplan in place. For example, what do we do about our number 3 position?

    I’m living in Australia and just spent the price of a small car for flights back for the final this morning. I would hate to miss it. But a large part of their performance yesterday worries me.

86. I must have being watching a different game here than everyone else. Tipp are a division 3 side who lost a lot of their top players in last few years. They lost anoder one of their top players after a few mins of game and had to regig their backline.
    Mayo profited from tipp mistakes, the first goal was great play from keith but tipp gave da ball away too easy on so many occassions when they were right in the game.
    Ya can say all ya want but mayo have had all the luck this year and havent put in a top performance yet and some people are talking about us hammering Dublin or Kerry.
    Crazy.
    We scrapped past Tyrone who really should have converted at least one of the scoring chances they had at end of game. Other than that we lost to Galway and scrapped best fermenagh, kildare and westmeath and now we are world beaters.
    Its luckiest year every for mayo so far and maybe thats how we will win in, but football wise this 2016 champ has being very poor IMO.

87. It was strange day. The subdued Mayo supporters reflected the subdued effort on the field. But we never looked like losing. And maybe that is the way it should have been. We beat the previous all Ireland champions in semis before just to fall at the last hurdle. We have lost semis in replays that were deemed classics. Mayo got the job done yesterday.That is good enough for me. Nobody knows better than the players that they have to up their game. That is good enough too.

    We want to peak on the day it matters. We need to bring Sam to Mayo. Let Rocheford and the players do their job. We as supporters must do ours. On AI day we have to lift the rafters off Croke Park. I have attended all the finals since 1989 and on each occasion our supporters were not as vociferous as our opponents. I felt it made a huge difference at the Donegal final of 2012. We are back in another final. Now let the Mayo family stand up and be counted. Let us get behind the team and let no one come out of that final without being hoarse from roaring. We are Mayo. We will win Sam and we will be heard.

88. Class MUCKLE .

89. 5 points conceded from play. FIVE. This v an attack that had 14 shots INSIDE the Galway 21 in the first half alone! An attack that tallied big scores all year, including 2 goals v Kerry. They had 1 shot at our goal, and that was from an error on our behalf.
    Forwards win games but defenses win titles. And our defense is getting meaner and cuter.

90. Had to scramble home after the match yesterday with a gaggle of smallies so only had time now to reflect on proceedings.

    And my musings are pretty simple –

    – we won
    – we’re in the final
    – a lot of decent teams would swap with us

    Not a whole lot more necessary. We’ve blitzed into the final before on a wave of euphoria. Didn’t do an awful lot for us.

    We beat a decent Tipp team, and if we won by more the reaction would have been ‘it’s only Tipp’. We go again….now who owes me a ticket??

91. The reaction at the end of this game by the players was telling (and I think in part reflected in the quieter than normal crowd)…..Mayo expected to win this game…..and did so in a businesslike if not totally convincing fashion. I would have taken a dull 1 point win…..so I’m happy.

92. Eoin and Muckle sum it up well just there. I’ve never felt as flat either after a semi final(including 2004). It certainly was a subdued performance by players and supporters alike.

    Like us all, I hope we can get it right for the 18th because after watching the full game back just now we have a hell of a lot of scope for improvement.

    Gosh we were very open up the middle at times yesterday. Tipp had the freedom to just saunter down at us and got the ball into danger zones without being touched. They kicked some poor wides in the opening quarter and were fully worth their 0-6 to 0-3 lead after 20 something minutes. A better team would have carved a goal out of those situations.

    Barry Moran at the back worked when Tipp tried to kick high ball in but it really effected our shape but that’s all. At times we looked like a team that didn’t know who was meant to be where!?

    We were beaten in the middle of the field for long stages(opening 20 mins of both halves). Seamie looked out of sorts altogether and I thought Parsons could have been introduced earlier. Tom did ok when he came on but not much more than that. Aidan saved our bacon in the middle yesterday. He steadied our ship when we were making a direct course for rocks midway through that 2nd half. I don’t at all buy into the comments that ‘we never looked like losing’. We let a 6 point lead slip down to 2 after 15/20 mins of 2nd half and we had only kicked one point. That 3rd quarter was a stinker for us. Nothing went right. When the Doc (kicked an easy one wide) and Cillian (completely scuffed a shot) missed simple chances I was very worried. Andy, who had a superb first half, had a mediocre 2nd. He tried taking too much out of the ball, held onto it for too long, got swamped up and he eventually ran out of legs. I know Conor got the goal but in my opinion no substitute forward came on and impressed. Look at the sub forwards Dublin and Keery regularly bring on and they score 2/3 points and really put their hand up and say ‘ I should be starting’.

    Fortunately, Aidan went outfield and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Tom came on and things settled s boy for us before a very very lucky goal took the wind out of Tipps sails. That 2nd half was as bad as the one against Kildare, Westmeath.

    Kevin looked a bit unsure of his role yesterday and I think it had an overall unsettling effect on the team.

    Another aspect I noticed when watching again on TV was the amount of space we left open between the Tipp goalkeeper out to the 21 yard line…on many occasions we had no one in there.

    If you’re an opposition manager analysing Mayo. You stop Andy Moran and Mayo have to resort to wing backs taking pot shots.

    I’m glad we have a month between now and the final. We need every bit of it to get things right. Yes, it’s good to be there and despite our mediocre performances all year we still have a chance. But we have a load of work to do. We appear to have improved our leaking of goals but the quality of opposition we have played against needs also to be taken into account and we will really be tested against Kerry or Dublin. One area we really need to get right is our attacking play.

93. Semi finals are there to be won and we got the job done. It was far from a classic but we have played planty of classic semi finals with nothing to show for it, Thomas OSe is correct, much better heading into a final with a few things to work on and knowing improvement is needed than thinking you are at your peak and expecting to do it again. Mayo will put in a performance for the final simply beacuse they have too. Will it be good enough to win, we will know at 5pm on the 18th sept.

    Two issues I have from yesterday are Wides and tackling. The Mayo sickness of kicking poor wides is still alive and well. We must work on shot selection and getting the correct men on the ball for the shots. Tackling is sloppy, too many soft frees conceeded. Whatever you think of the ref, there isnt a mass bias from every ref against Mayo. The tackling is sloppy, leaving the hand in, high tackle, poor timing is conceeding soft scorable frees. This needs to be tightened up fast, Kerry/Dublin will run at us as they will know Mayo will conceed frees.

    Special mention to Andy Moran for rolling back the years. I think his change of work has contributed to his resurgence. Opening a gym has prob offered him more recovery/ training time which can be seen on the field. He is prob the closest thing to a full time athlete on the Mayo team.

    Having a round of club championship next weekend really is poor scheduling. The team had a weeks advantage over Kerry/Dublin and should be in recovery training, video analysis etc this week. Instead the players will be in full contact training on different training routines and playing football on poor enough pitches risking injury. The club games must go ahead as its the right thing to do for the club player but serious consideration has to be made to the participation of any player who played yesterday.

    Finally, Tommy Carr is a bellend simple as. Its widely known and not going to change.

94. Just a an observation

    The best things about being unpredictable is that your not predictably poor and not easy to predict.

95. Tommy Carr = Pimple on the arsehole of society and that other perma tanned ameba, if having an uncle on the sports department of RTE was the sole contributor to an All Star then we’d all have one.
    Carlsberg don’t do All Ireland build ups…….

96. I’m happy as a pig in shit.. I suppose I’ll have to get the papers myself this morning (Willie Joe you had us spoilt red rotten) and read how terrible Mayo are, how brilliant and brave Tipp were and how yet again we haven’t a hope of winning an All-Ireland.. yada yada.. In other words a perfect result for me.
    People were calling for Tipp to be given respect.. we did that in spades.. by setting up tactically to nullify their threats.. in deploying Barry as sweeper come midfield and playing Boyler. . Sound idea which we struggled to execute and took time to bed in.. but it worked in long run in that Tipp scored no goals.. for Tipp to win they needed to score goals.. they didn’t.
    People complaining about the atmosphere.. you have to remember that a large portion of people who go to Semi-finals are neutral.. a nice day out hoping to see our game at its beautiful best.. fantastic running football, long accurate kick passing, goals galore.. Nope.. sorry to disappoint Mayo have final to get to. I doubt there was a Mayo person at that match including the players themselves who didn’t expect us to win in some shape or form.. it’s hard to raise a carnival atmosphere in those circumstances.
    The day was all about Tipp as it should be.. gallant looser walking off the field crying.. harsh but true and we all know what that’s like. Why am I so happy this morning because I believe we have a big game in us.. we have 4 weeks to make it happen.. shit or bust time again fokes.. leave it all on the pitch boys. So make the phone calls, book the flights, tell everyone we haven’t a hope but deep down believe.. we can do this

97. I watched the game over again. I recorded on sky so did not have to endure that fool Carr. He has no clue. Someone should send him dictionary. I enjoy jim macguinness analysis. To have got through with patchy performance is exactly how we want it. 4 weeks of training now for 1 massive tilt at the big 1. To have blitzed tipp would be of no use. Sneak through. Let everyone knock u. Media supporters everyone. We have the players. Our management have the know how. Our good patches need to be more sustained. But they know that.

    Mayonaze maybe the supporters are saving their best performance for the big 1 ?

98. If performance levels don’t increase immensely, it will be a case of damage limitation in the final. If Dublin make it through, I’d be very fearful of what they might do to us. Keith, Andy and Aidan were top class yesterday. One or 2 others were half decent. Most of the team were well below average though.

99. I have to say that the mood of Mayo football can be judged by the blog.

    A certain eloquent contributor has been AWOL all Summer after calling for Rochford to replace the whole panel, that they were done.

    Hopefully he won’t be back with an “I told you so” in a few weeks

100. Its not 4 weeks of training im afraid, players are all released back to their clubs for championship games next weekend. So Rochford will have them for Three weeks with hopefully no injuries following club games.

101. I haven’t posted before but I read this blog and check for updates like an mini obsession at this time of year!

     I just had to post in relation to the comments that I read in relation to the supporters in the stands yesterday. I find it hard to read repeated negative comments about the supportters to be honest.
     I just wonder what some of you are expecting – is it constant roaring/shouting/clapping for 80mins??
     I was there yesterday & was surprised at how loud Tipp were able to make themselves considering how outnumbered they were. But, as has been said above if the team go flat it’s near impossible for the crowd to be in full flow – I’ve seen it with the Dublin supporters against ourselves, if things aren’t going their way it can get quiet too.
     The other thing is whatever about the players mentality, the supporters are mentally shot, there was a lot of panic all around me after the first 15mins yday – how can it be any other way after some of what has happened over the years. The only cure is one thing, winning on In Sept.

     Anyway, congratulations to all involved what a great achievement for them after all that has happened in the past year.
     I hope each and every Mayo fan raise the roof on the third Sunday of Sept 2016 no matter what.
     Maigheo go Deo.

     Love the blog WJ, I will need to get a hobby to keep me busy for the next four weeks!!

102. Match already won at half time, Tipp huffed and puffed early second half but this match was already done and dusted. Time to move on now, have a look at who the opposition will be and plan accordingly.

     Only danger now is overconfidence, and start the celebration to soon 🙂

103. We’re a hard crowd to please, as stated above if we blew Tipp out of the water it would have been ‘onlyTipp’ and the worry then would be we’ve had our annual ‘great performance’.
     We’re in the AI final winning the semi playing at 30%, we outscored Tipp by 11 points from play (2-10 to 5pts), exactly what would be expected of a Div1 team over a very highly rated 3rd Div side and only hitting top gear for 10 minutes.
     We know from that 10mins and the similar short spells against Kildare and WMeath that we have it in us, we just need to do it for longer in the final. I have no doubt that we will, as playing against tougher opposition will hold our focus for longer.
     Up till now we have done what was required to win, keeping 100% focused playing those matches would have been extremely hard and the players are human afterall so an eye on the next game would always cause distraction. That’s all done with now and ‘one game at a time’ and one game only can get the undivided attention of both players and management with the only unknown, Dublin or Kerry ?
     Going into the finals of the recent past we were beset with problems; 2012 Andy our talisman of that year out, 2013, Cillian’ shoulder and Andy still not 100% recovered, this time we are in a great position squad wise, it’s bigger and better and bar injuries in the coming club fixtures we will be able to field our best team and have our best bench, Oh! and we are still’ under the radar’
     Time to believe MaighEo Abú

104. Ever get the sense we’re like a bunch of kids that have been spoiled rotten and now the sense of entitlement is out of control??

105. Bursts of brilliance yesterday…Just not enough of them for me to get giddy about an All Ireland That’s probably a good thing.26 wides is a shocking statIstic for a semi final and that was just our tally.. Are we seriously just going to pull a 70 minute performance out of the bag in September??Really hope my fears unfounded. .

106. Personally I am delighted to be in another final, for the first time ever we are in the final without having had one big performance on the way, we have not had to show our full hand and have made pre game and in game tactical adaptations to our benefit over the last few weeks.

     We will be going in as big underdogs which in Irish society seems to be where teams want to be, I always laugh watching managers and teams fight for the low ground.

     The biggest change this year is that we are not conceding many goals, even when tipp needed a goal in last 10 mins we just kept the door shut. This is great to see.

107. For the record I think Kerry will win next week, they have had all year to plan for Dublin and are due a win in this fixture. I think the loss of the 2 all star backs and the quest for back to back titles will be too big a hurdle for Dublin.

     That’s not meant as a low blow against Dublin, they are a fantastic team I just don’t think it will be their day.

     I know a lot of people disagree with this view but that’s my 2 pence.

108. Well said JJ. No matter what Mayo did yesterday they were never going to get praise. Who cares though. Tipp are a much better team than anyone gave them credit for. They have proven winners and real form in Minor U21and Club. Some of those guys yesterday never lost a game in Croke Park!.
     One thing I noticed was how they all keep dropping foot passes short and the receiver has to pick it up at his ankles.
     Ball handling generally has been an area that needs improvement. We are in for a great 3 weeks and mighty chat on the blog and elsewhere. Let’s enjoy it and keep the faith in management and team no matter what!!

109. At this stage no one can come back with any “I told you so”.

     Mayo have got further than last year and are going to play a team, who no one else could beat anyway.

     We simply have nothing to loose.

110. A point I want to note after yesterday.

     Jason Doherty absolutely roasted his man in the first half yesterday, bagged another goal and stretched the gap as being Mayo’s Top scorer from play in this year’s championship, with 3-4. After some of the abuse he got at league games this year, I’m delighted for him, and I always, always said, if we are going to win it, JayDoc is going to play a big role.

     Well done. We are there, again, and that’s all that matters!

     Up Mayo!!

111. By the way, we have a week headstart on getting tickets this time. Whether you have tickets sorted or not everyone, do your absolute best to source as many All-Ireland tickets as possible to get them into the hands of Mayomen and Mayowomen. We can not underestimate what affect a good, loud support can and will have in the final.

     Come on everyone, lets get to work!

112. @MaigheoGalin Gaillimh To answer your question Yes I do expect “constant roaring/shouting/clapping for 80mins”… I can’t speak today cos my voice is shot… I couldn’t get over how poor the supporters were today, but I think it might be because a lot of them were the day trippers. There were 4 ladies sitting behind me who kept consulting their programme to see how was taking our frees and who scored the goal, except they were calling out the names of the Tipperary players!

     One thing that I like about playing the Dubs is that if you can get the upper hand on them their supporters disappear… I don’t want us to turn into that, we need to get behind the lads and support them when things are looking grim more than when they are on a roll… With the help of God I will get a ticket for the final (all offers greatly accepted!!) but I for one plan on having no voice left on September 19th, win lose or draw!!

     In fact maybe we should organise some training sessions for the supporters for the next few weeks and practice roaring in unison!!!!

113. MayoMark, well said regarding Jason. A hugely important player whom I expect to be starting for the final. Delighted for him after all the unjustified criticism he recieved from the stands in the league. If Dublin progress, Jason will be getting familiar with Philly Mc, now that will be interesting.

114. To those who say that winning the semifinal is all that matters I have to say I disagree. Performance is also important. You need to see enough by way of performance to encourage you. Did we see that yesterday or indeed at any point this year? Yes! But only in patches. For the rest of those games we looked lethargic and sloppy. Can we up our performance for long enough in a final to beat either Dublin or Kerry. I really hope so but I’m not sure.
     To me we looked like an old pro boxer who has been through a lot but who can still produce flashes of brilliance and throw enough punches to see off lesser opponents. But he no longer has the energy or desire to go 15 rounds flat out. But he is still very dangerous! And maybe there’s one big performance left in the tank.
     I’m not as convinced by Stephen Rochford as many seem to be. I thought we were poor around the middle third for long periods and that Tom Parsons should have started. I thought Brendan Harrison should have been moved off Sweeney when it became obvious that Sweeney was winning too much ball out front. I thought Jason Doherty should have been replaced earlier as he wasn’t really having an impact despite scoring the goal.
     I hope Stephen can pull out a big performance because I believe he is a good guy and a gentleman. A big three weeks work lies ahead.

115. Who gives two shites what Carr, Flynn, Silke, Marty or any of the 3 grumpy men on the Sunday Same (no that’s not a misprint!) thinks or says about us. Was listening to Radio 1 coming out in the car and Marty and his buddies barely mentioned Mayo at all, it was all Tipp, their success at underage (but failed to mention Mayo minors victory in ’13 or the U21 victory this year!) and how the ref had screwed them. This is the same ref that moved 2 frees in within scoring distance (which they scored) but then failed to do likewise for Mayo. They claimed the red card was harsh, an off the ball punch into the mouth of McLoughlin is as red as it gets. Then again, after Big Bird Moran opened O’Haras pretty face in Connaught a few years ago he would be biased.
     Pundits are full of shit, the lot of them and we must remember that todays newspapers wraps tomorrows chips.
     We have to get away from this thin-skinned, overly-sensitive, desire that Mayo supporters seem to have, for all the pundits to love us, to tell us we’re great, to tell us we play fantastic football. As I posted earlier, I hope we are the most despised, hated and criticised team in the country as long as we win. F**k ’em all. Those pundits mean absolutely nothing to us. Less than nothing in fact. We know what we have and we a band of warriors that are not giving up on their dream and by f**k I’m not giving up on it either.
     Semi-finnls are for winning. Nothing else. All the better if you can win ugly, unconvincingly and without showing your hand. Heads down for the next 4 weeks and let’s leave management and players to do their thing in peace and quiet.
     HON MAYO.

116. Haven’t had time to read the comments above yet but am hoarse and happy today. Not elated mind, like after the Tyrone game, just satisfied and relieved for the lads and Stephen that they have now very nearly achieved what they set out to to do. They have done it in difficult circumstances – a managerial heave, a very late start to the season, a severely depleted panel for the first few weeks that left us on the back foot from the start, and delayed the bedding in by literally, months, a qualifier run that left very little time to work on getting the system fine-tuned.

     Yet this morning we are planning for an All-Ireland final, having won ugly throughout, and with no major injury concerns – so credit also needs to go to our backroom team on that front. We now have some breathing space to work on getting ourselves ready for the biggest game in our history – it really is that.

     Yesterday was not pretty. It would shake the faith of any supporter and it will undoubtedly ensure we are rank outsiders going into a final. Which is great. it was a no-win situation and if we have a big game in us (which I suspect very strongly that we do) I would prefer to see it on 18th September.

     Agree with the comments re the support being a bit flat. Someone said above that if the team go flat it’s hard for the crowd to be in full flow – but it’s really not. I can understand the mindset, but really all it takes is someone to take the initiative, get on their feet, start a chant, encourage the people around you to make some noise – it’s not that hard. Most people respond when they hear noise levels building. And it does have an impact. We’ve seen it with players and referees and I think we often underestimate our own role.

     Yeah, it’s distracting as a supporter and it’s tiring and hard work, but while we have little enough control over what goes on out there on the field, the noise is one small thing we CAN influence. AMC, you are spot on. I swear, there will be murder if we end up playing the Dubs and sit there letting them think – again – that they own the place.

     Loads of people above are saying the same and I just wish that those of us who felt the same could somehow all group ourselves together (10 in a seating group is not really enough) and leave the rest to their own devices.

117. Kind of agree with the general outlook here that we are happy to be there but we are playing poorly but another way to look at it is that we are beating teams by playing for 25 mins. They are doing enough to beat teams and you cant ask for much more than that. If any county knows that finals are all about performing. This team is usually good for one massive performance hopefully this time its in the final.

     Im also hoping that the negative coverage in the media will spur them on. I normally don’t give a sh1t what people say but I think the general “they have no chance” narrative is over the top. This is a team who have pushed both Kerry and Dublin close in the past few years, we are not a million miles away.

     Also The Marty squad first time leaving Dublin. I had to rewind the Sunday game a few times on both the black and the red cards to try and see how they could possibly comprehend that either were not correct calls. From what I understand they were trying to imply because Tipp were underdogs they should have been reffed differently? What a load of rubbish.

118. Good to see Galway in the minor too, nice to have another team from the West up there on the big day

     Club Championship might be no harm at all next week, takes the lads’ mind off the game at this early stage. I always thought 4 weeks waiting for an AIF is farcical but it might just suit our lads in this particular year. Agree with a poster above who says that this year we have no real drama or subplots leading up to it (Cillian O’Connor “will he, won’t he” stands out). And cannot agree enough with the poster asking for no songs!!! maybe Facebook will have to be avoided in the coming weeks, no harm anyway!

     “There were 4 ladies sitting behind me who kept consulting their programme to see how was taking our frees and who scored the goal, except they were calling out the names of the Tipperary players!” Haha personally I’ve no real issue with the bandwagoners myself (Lets be honest each and every one of us hasn’t jumped on some sort of bandwagon at some stage) but from going to football and hurling finals over the years you’d hear some gas stuff! 😀

     In 2013 some lady behind me “who’s number 10, {looks at programme} go on McLoughlin!”- this in the minor match! Last year at the hurling, someone actually made up to get up and leave behind me after the minor match very happy with how Galway were All Ireland hurling Champions! Pity the showpiece was still to come :D. They couldn’t fathom at all how there were two matches when the boyfriend tried to point it out! Some lad was in my seat one year beside his mate, he thought you could just go wherever you wanted when he got in! In fairness it turned out he was only a few rows back anyhow! They all add to the occasion though, I’ve no issue with anyone wanting a good aul day out myself. I wouldn’t refuse tickets to the World Cup Final even if I’d no interest in either team playing!

119. “has jumped on the bandwagon” that should read!

120. Im delighted with the win yesterday, we played for the last 10 minutes of the first half and blew them away and turned off the tap for the rest of the game. I’m delighted for the squad, they were vilified in the press for removing the previous management team, they have proved them wrong. Alot was said about Rochford was inexperienced and club football is a different animal to inter county. He has proved them wrong, with his tactical astuteness of tyrone game and for bringing barry in for full back which nulified the tipp attack. The main thing we learned from yesterday is that we did not concede a goal and i hope that form continues into the final.

121. Anne-Marie – I was stuck in traffic when I heard you on the Marty Squad…you did sound like you were shouting for 76 mins 😉

     I was in section 305 and I am seriously considering swapping my season ticket seat for a hill ticket for the final as the fans around me were as exciting as watching paint dry. One man was telling us all how the ref was correct while marking his match programme. Another was giving out about a young lad trying to get the crowd going and another saying “sit down, sit down”…these clowns think they are in their front sitting room…ye are SUPPORTERS at the actual game for fcuk sake.

     People demand the team never give up out on the field and give it their all…can we say the same as supporters? I don’t think so.

122. Outside the Pale

     I have to take issue with your slight on O Hara….you can say what you want about O’Hara but i don’t think your case stacks up that that his motivation is his smarting from his many thrashing at the hands of mayo. In his 18 or 19 year playing championship i think only one loss (2008) could be classifed as a thrashing based on the stats gathered by WJ. All other wins/losses were pretty close affairs:

     O Hara v Mayo

     2012 Connacht final 0-12 v 0-10 win for Mayo
     2010 – C SF 0-15 v 1-8 win for Sligo
     2008 1-15 v 0-7 win for Mayo
     2003 0-14 v 0-11 win for Mayo
     2001 1-12 v 1-11 win for Mayo
     2000 1-13 v 1-10 win for Sligo
     1997 Connacht final 0-11 v 1-7 for Mayo

     as such i think you’d have to surmise some other motivation of which there could be plenty.

123. In relation to our silent supporters

     there is a big difference between “not being in full flow” and being as timid as we were.

     I’m oldish, and do roar a bit, positively, but nearly lost it with the mayo pups who looked at me as if I had two heads with my roaring, instead of them being the noisy ones.

     Great credit to dub fans, they don’t go missing when the team are in a “flat patch”

     Job was done yesterday. The big job will need concerted effort from all.

     Peadar

124. I watched it on gaago and heard a lot of Tom carrs rubbish talk, it’s a pity he’s given a microphone at all, he makes Donald trump sound sane. Anyway, on the game itself I am really not sure what to think, even allowing for a really good Tipp teams effort we seemed very flat footed. I know people say we we not showing our hand but how does a team hit 1-07 in 9 minutes after such a poor start and then switch off for so long? Are they really able to push a button and turn it in? Or what?
     I’ll enjoy the buildup to final and book the flight etc in hope that we go into the game ready to fight from the throwin. Anything less than calculated attack will not work against either of the two left. My preference is to play Dublin and I cannot see Kerry beating them so we better be prepared for the dark arts and verbal stuff and not react to it.

125. Better to win a bad semi then loose a good one. Remember 92 when Donegal beat us in one of the worst semis in history—they went on to beat Dublin in the final.

126. @toohollow
     I would have to disagree with you completely regarding the Dubs. If they go 2/3 points down the hill is as silent as an idiot at a table quiz.

127. Brolly said we should be ravenous and Spilliane said we played with fear. Lets just wait and see who’s ravenous and who’s fearful come the 18th of September. I am delighted. Lets not forget the miles our lads have on the clock, and here they were, playing their 6th game in 9 weeks. Its been a slog at times but we’ve got through it. We’ve 4 weeks now to get the bodies and minds right and isn’t it just a bonus that every man and his dog will be writing us of as also rans in the run up? I hope Kerry and Dublin beat 7 shades of shite out of each other on Sunday, and I hope they play the greatest game of football that there has ever been. in fact I hope they draw and it goes to replay. The fact of the matter is neither will have any real idea how we’ll set up against them until the ball is thrown in. I expect Stephen and his team to have a plan and for the first time since May we have a decent period of time to hone that plan and really figure out how best to put a 70 minute performance together. We have never sent a more experienced bunch of players into battle, in my lifetime, as we will on the 18th of September. The dream lives on for another while yet…

128. Does anyone know if there Is even the smallest chance that Cafferky could be available for the Final?

129. Ciaran, your post brings to mind a random moment yesterday. As my daughter and I made our way down Ballybough Rd on our way to the Cusack Stand we passed by three Tipp lads involved in animated discussion. I smiled to myself when I overheard the words, ” No,
     I’m telling ye. The Hogan is on the other side”
     And there we sauntered past them, almost able to make our way to our seats blindfolded we’ve been to this shrine in our lives so often. For a brief moment I considered what a legacy we have been bequeathed and what a privilege it is and always has been to have been born in Mayo and support our wonderful football team. Of all eras.

130. Tonight is the last night of the Knock Novena…is anyone going? I hear Pat Spillane and Joe Brolly will be leading the hymns.

131. I really hope that the Dublin and Kerry game does not end up in a draw. We seen the last couple of years that the team that was waiting on the wings, Kerry last year and Donegal in 2014, didn’t perform well in the final. I remember Eamonn Fitzmaurice, the Kerry manager, talking about this last year, Kerry were training in limbo for two weeks after beating Tyrone, not knowing who they would be meeting in the final, while ourselves and Dublin were battering each other.

     It probably is a good idea to let the players play with their clubs this weekend, just fingers crossed that no one gets injured. They always allow this in Kilkenny and it doesn’t seem to do them any harm. Then by this day next week we should know, bar a draw, who we are playing in the final. Our management team and players can then get down to serious work with both finalists having a three week break until the final. Roll on the All-Ireland final, it sounds great to be saying that!

132. Ger Cafferkey is on crutches. He did a similar injury to Paul O’Connell in that the hamstring detached from the bone.

133. Flat warm up flat performance was very much like a few games already this year.
     Was talking to a few neutrals after the game and they can’t understand when we get on top we seem to sit back and over think what the opposition are going to do next.
     Can’t disagree with them.
     Higgins break was just like last year when we were 7 down against Dublin lifted the whole team.
     Was nervous for awhile in the second half but we pulled through,thought cillian got a lot of special treatment off the ball think he will be at his very best come the 18th.
     Couldn’t careless what’s said about us anymore.
     What I do know whoever we have up next won’t get a lot info on our game plan from yesterdays game or any other game all year,can only be a good thing.also thought paddy done well yesterday.Tommy the tool Carr should be the least of our worries.
     Enjoy the few weeks ahead this is where we wanted to be and we’re hear.

134. Was talking of Ger yesterday as we made our way back down Clonliffe Road. For all his years’ service and the role he has played, to think he will have to sit this final out is cruel.

135. Hoping for a draw this Sunday in the “real” owl final. Then the owl replay on Saturday 03rd Sept also ending level after extra time. Then the 2nd owl replay on Sunday 11th September also going to extra time before finally a winner emerges from a titanic battle and the owl cup gets presented there and then to either the unbeatable owl Dubs or magnificent owl Kerry.

     Sure Mayo and our silent owl supporters needn’t bother turn up at all on the 18th. Especially the fella who was in McHale Park in June v Galway and did not even realise it was a Connacht championship game that he was watching. Thought it was just an owl league game or a friendly.

136. Absolutely agree with Anne Marie we as supporters really need to cheer and support more I was shocked at how flat the athmosphere was when the team names were being called out there sa no cheer for them fair play during the parade there was loads of Mayo flags but we really need to cheer on the lads more I am hoarse today and feel as if I had 20 pints last night (I hadn’t one) I’m going to shout and roar my head off at the final because these are the days I dream of driving to work on dark November mornings we have one more shot at it on September 18 let’s raise the roof

137. Anne-Marie, yes its cruel on Ger to miss the final especially as he was in flying form during the league. If it is an injury similar to O’Connell then its a nasty one. You would have to fear for his future in the game. Tommy Walsh suffered a similar injury in Australia which put pay to a career down there and he never fully recovered. Really hope to see Ger back again in the green and red next year.

     I think in the furture we will see Harrison move into the fb role once he gets experience and builds up physicality for the position with the emergence of O’Donaghue at right corner. Harrison really is turning into a top class defender.

138. I thought Harrison had his hands full yesterday with Sweeney and should have been moved off him.

139. Joe Brolly criticising Andy Moran for waving at the fans in the crowd. This is coming from a man who before being on tv was really famous for blowing kisses at the crowd when he scored a goal.

140. Think it’s utter madness the players will be playing with the clubs this weekend. Utter madness. If any injury occurs to any of our main players, we’d be in huge trouble in the final.

141. Diehard, credit must go to Sweeney, he is a quality player but I thought Harrison was very good yesterday as he has been all year. How many times did he rob the ball off the attacker yesterday. Thought he gave a very assured performance. We will need him at his best in the final as he will most likely be picking up Brogan or O’Donaghue.

142. In relation to Harrison I thought he was harshly judged at times by the ref. On two occasions he tackled the ball cleanly from behind but on one occasion Coldrick called a free against him and on the second the loose ball rebounded back to a Tipp man. What did Sweeney score from play? 2 points. I’d have taken that before the match.

143. I’m worried…..

     Can someone point me to some proof of why some people think is the best way to come into an All Ireland Final?

     When’s the last time a team won a final against a team like Dublin or Kerry after stumbling into the final?

144. Once again home and dry, rested, breakfasted and our bravest of warriors have scraped through in a not so pretty, fairly unconvincing and lamentable fashion. It must surely be the strangest season ever for Mayo players and supporters from the point of view of the standard of play as presented by the players yesterday. It was fits and starts stuff from beginning to end in true reflection of other games played this year.There was none of that ,take it to them, as was hoped for at this stage. And still we got the victory. Other years it would have been bye bye blackbird. Is this a new ploy bred from these so many years of torturous endeavour to gather up that big silvery cauldron into the arms of the living and dead on the planet of Mayo? Or are we building to another great nightmare in a couple of weeks time? That is the question and lthe answer will be on coming!

     This team deserves all the plaudits that can be given to any team that ever or never won an all Ireland and perhaps even more so than many, for its seeming eternal persistence in the face of continual ultimate denial.
     The words don’t come too easily at the moment after such a poor performance. There was not one instant of proper preconceived off the shoulder run during the whole of the game.We had a few winning scores that brought the result plus a scattering of plays that ensured our survival into the final, aided by a wrongful depletion of an already depleted side.I have no word for that decision!
     One might say that it’s remarkable that we ve gone so far this year but that would be an overstatement.Perhaps one might suggest that our present good fortune can be adequately explained by the state of the game at the present time through theoughout the country. iMO the condition of things also ensures the ongoin presence of just a certain few counties in the later stages of the championship . How would Tipp have done if they had all their players available and ditto for many other counties I would imagine?
     But back to the happenings of yesterday. Above all else I was let down greatly by the lack of adequate coordinated movement going forward beyond midfield. We just don’t have it and a month will not make any difference in that area. We all must admit that it’s smart movement off the ball that gets the ball to scoring hands. In its absence we are left with a very shaky strategy up front … long balls to the odd individual and hope for the best! Not a sinners soul in sight to make that extra bit of play to take the score with conviction.
     Having said that, it doesn’t mean that such a strategy won’t win an all AI, but it won’t fill a team with the nec confidence that’s requires to exist out there on that pitch on AI day. And again , having said that, there are those certain unknown, on the day occurances which can upskittle any amount of analysis.
     And so on we go,colours and flags at the ready, dates and times set aside along with all else, so we can sail once more in that haunting sea of green and red! Ar aghaidh linn!

145. “Think it’s utter madness the players will be playing with the clubs this weekend. Utter madness. If any injury occurs to any of our main players, we’d be in huge trouble in the final.”

     Thats the difference between the mindset of a fan and a player. The county team is the output of a proper functioning club scene. you sacrafice the club scene for the county team and your county team will quickly go down hill. As someone pointed out – Brian Cody never has club matches called off in Kilkenny – his view is players are just as likely to get injured in training as they are in club matches and real matches as opposed to training matches keep players sharp. You never hear the players complaining about playing club matches – to paraphrase taylor swift…players love to play! Especially the ones warming the bench most of the time that you may ultimatley have to rely on with 10 mins left in an All ireland.

146. Club games going ahead is the correct decision. It all starts at the club. Players can injured in A v B games. We still have 3 weeks after the club games to re-group and get back to preparing for the final.

147. Don’t get me wrong, I like Harrison and his place on the team is assured. However, yesterday he was playing Sweeney from behind a bit too much for my liking. He needed to get up level with him and get a hand in to disrupt posession. Sweeney won a lot of clean posession and I think a different marker might just have suited him better.
     As regards kevin Keane I can’t see him featuring in the final. His confidence has to be low at this stage. If Harrison could play full back then Barrett would slot in easily. What we need in there is pace and tenacity. Size isn’t as big a factor as it used to be. It only comes into it if faced with a guy like Donaghy etc. and in that case we have a solution.

148. I can completely understand people’s worries about the team and saying you can’t just turn it on. The only thing I can say is that we never really looked like losing this from Doc’s goal onwards. We never really looked like losing the Westmeath game or the Kildare game – both similar sort of performances to today. But we needed to keep going all the way with Tyrone and we did and we did enough to get of there with a win.

     Too often over the years we’ve been done by soft goals. I think the mantra this year is NO GOALS. A few times in the 3rd quarter I saw our backs leave a man free for a point to ensure the runner doesn’t have a goal chance or take the foul and give up the point.

     We had Tipp sussed, like we had Tyrone, and I think no matter which of Kerry or the Dubs get to the final we will have a plan for them. If it’s the Dubs I expect Leeroy to stick to Connolly, Harrison (our tightest back) to take Brogan and a regular sweeper (either Keith or Kev Mc). The rest of the backs will be content to push players out to the wings and beyond the 45. Andy and AOS will look to cause problems in the air and force O’Sullivan backwards. That could soften up the Dublin HB line with no McCaffery or McCarthy and possible Kilkenny trying to hold the centre.

     Kerry a little bit more of an unknown at this stage but they will have to show their hand against Dublin and we will have three weeks to plan for that.

     Overall delighted to be back in a final after two agonising semi-final replay defeats. We’re looking cuter, more tactical, more cynical and more Northern that previous years. In the final in 2013 Dublin powered to the final but delivered a grey and dull performance on the day that did just enough to get over the line – did anyone care? Did they shite.

     Thought Aiden, Andy, Keith, Big Barry, Durkan and Vaughan all did excellently yesterday. Keegan, Boyler, Diarmuid and Doc all did what was asked of them.

149. Different people behave differently at games, some shout and roar and are on their feet most of the game, some studiously watch the game in almost complete silence, most cheer when there’s something to cheer or when they want to give the team some encouragement.
     In any case, it’s an individual’s choice – they’ve paid their money for their ticket, they’ve made the journey, they’ve been to maybe as many if not more games than the loudest fans. So cheer as much as you like, but don’t think you have the right to lecture everyone else.

150. Yeah, and feel free to abandon the team like was done in 2013 when we had the slightest glimpse of failure in our sites.

     Not a go at you tubberman, but us as a collective.

     If we give up, then what’s the point?

151. Kevmy agree with your analyis with one exception. I think it will Dublin in the final too but I expect that Gavin will deploy O’Gara against us at FF. If we have to deploy Barry at FB again to counteract O’Gara it’s not an ideal situation.

     Fully agree though, no goals conceded again yesterday due to smart tactics and good man marking and that was the real winning of that game.

     Forward play is very static though. Personally I would deploy Keith in HF line again to inject that much needed pace. How about Conor O’Se as an option at FF to keep McMahon occupied and take some of the pressure of Andy and Cillian?

152. Fair play to the lads on getting to another AI Final. The resilience and determination of this group is second to none.

     Am I the only one who thinks that Kevin Keane not starting isn’t such a great loss to us afterall? We seem a lot more solid in the backs without him.

153. I know MayoMark, I was there in 2013 and remember thinking how flat the atmosphere was. I think there was a general feeling of inevitability about the game early into the second half – a flat performance on and off the pitch.
     You can argue was that coming from the supporters in the stands, or the performance on the pitch. In my opinion, supporters react to what’s going on in front of them.

     Unless you want to bring in soccer-style songs/chants, I can’t see how supporters are going to generate a sustained noise when there’s nothing happening on the pitch to cause spontaneous shouts/cheers etc.

     Anyway, the main thing is we’re in the final, and I fully intend to be hoarse come 5pm that day! I was a bit hoarse yesterday too, so I mustn’t be one of the silent mob 😉

154. Anyone listen to Eamon O Hara after the game…christ if he is getting paid for giving them sort of opinions I am in the wrong business. He claims the hype overdrive is going to happen in Mayo now. Reality is last time Mayo went into hype overdrive in my view was 2006….TEN years ago.

155. Could you imagine if Kilkenny lost an All-Ireland final, Brian Cody coming out with a comment at the end of the match about the Kilkenny supporters not making enough noise and that been one of the reasons why they lost. He wouldn’t make an excuse like that.

     By all means every supporter that wants to shout their heads off, do, I was hoarse myself this morning at work but Brian Cody would know himself that his team had lost because they weren’t good enough on the day. That’s the way it has been for us since 1952, we have not been good enough on All-Ireland final day.

     We have a chance to change that in 2016 and by all means any supporters that want to make as much noise as possible do, as it can’t do any harm but it’ll be up to our players and management to make sure that we are the best team on the day.

156. Anne Marie & AMC and anyone else who feels we need to up the ante the next day in terms of support.
     I am a season ticket holder and happy to join a seating group if this helps.
     Strength in numbers even if only ten to a group! To be honest I feel like a bit of a plank if I’m the only one roaring in an area.
     A few of these groups strategically placed in the sections allocated to us could get the rest of the Mayo support in those areas going. Then you’re hoping for it to spread and be maintained further away.
     Let’s do all we can the next day to be the sixteenth player!
     Some top secret practice sessions on the top of Nephin might also help as alluded to earlier in the thread.

157. To the previous poster about stumbling into a final, remember 1992 donegal beat mayo in an unforgettable semi final and beat Dublin against the odds in the final, as for Mr Carr and his commentary I think Rte should come out an apologise for his performance , for a man in his position it was unacceptable, aside from his personal comments he was totally biased against mayo probably because he is from tipp and is a friend of a man who dislikes the mayo team.

158. Well now that I’ve calmed I’m trying to process the match. I have not watched it back on TV yet but when I do I’ll be putting it on mute to avoid our friend Tommy. Something I think that hasnt been mentioned it how the change in sweeper affected our attack, now it was the right decision playing Barry but it did not allow us to attack properly from deep. When mcloughlin is sweeping he is gone up the field at pace which is where we have been good this year, barrys job was to just defend. I thought kevin was a bit off in the half forward line as a result of him not playing there this year. Our purple patch at the end of the first half came as a result of keith running from deep which is where we missed mcloughlin sweeping. I actually thought as the end of the first half it was a very good controlled performance from Mayo.
     I was taken aback and I think so were the team at Tipperarys intensity at the start of the second half, they were hungry for the ball, absolutely ravenous, reminded me of our purple patch in the 2014 semi and 2015 semi when we were down and needed to come back. I do think Rochford was a bit slow to make a change here, the game was calling out for Tom Parsons and COS. At the same time I wasnt worried, Tipp could not keep that level up for the whole of the second half. Quinlevin was down with cramp before taking a free on two occasions.
     All in all, job done, some players were good, some were average and some were below what we’ve come to expect. I will wait until I see the match again before I comment further.
     Thank God for the season ticket, 77% attendance has my ticket guaranteed so it will save alot of begging this year.

159. Now, I said after defeat to Galway that Mayo should not panic and just take one game at a time. To their credit this is exactly what they did. You are now in AI final as underdogs which suits this team. Stephen Rochford is also putting his stamp on this team in a competent manner. I can see the scope for huge improvement all over and I am quite confident you will be taking those steps up the Hogan stand come September. I am also delighted our minor team will be accompanying you on what I feel will be a glorious journey/day for Connaught football. They certainly are a fine stylish team which we are proud of. Ceart Agus Coir – Criost Linn!

160. Watched re run of the game and thing that stood out most was tommy gluaistean. I never heard such one sided analysis. Seriously, because carr isn’t a serious analyst, we just need to focus on our performance. Lets be honest it was not good. Tipp were spirited but they are no world beaters, they only scored 2 points in last 20 mins. But apart from the 10 mins before half time we underperformed. Didn’t think individually that our backs were great, though collectively they only conceded 5 from play.. We used to pride ourselves in the tackle but now we are conceding a huge amount of frees which is allowing other teams to stay in the game. Thought Higgins and Durcan the pick of the defence. Harrison struggled with Sweeney, Keegan fouled quite a bit and I really fear a sending off shortly, Boyler did ok and I suppose Barry did the job he was asked. Really worry about us setting up without a proper FB and it seems Keane is going down the pecking order. Mid field struggled with neither Donie, Seamus or T Parsons playing to their potential. Aiden was crucial for us around the middle and had a good game. Up front Andy had a brilliant first half but was well contained in the second, Jason got a crucial goal, but missed a few chances, DOC got 2 good points but just did not seem to be on his game, K Mac looked confused after improving more and more in his sweepers role. Biggest concern was Cillian who never got into it after a brilliant game v tyrone. I couldn’t understand his short free to Andy in the second half when we desperately needed a point to settle us. Most subs not on long enough to be judged but fair play to C O Shea for his goal This is not meant as a criticism of the players who I think are absolutely fantastic to have qualified for 3 AIF s in 5 years. We should be proud of them. They are human beings who cant always play brilliantly. I felt about 13 of the starters played well v tyrone, I felt only 5 or 6 did yesterday. But we are in the final and maybe they will all play well that day just as Donegal did v Dubs in 1992 after a fairly inept performance against us in SF Finally well done to management. They have somehow managed to get us through to a final and we are only one big game away from what we all desire.

161. Harrison was very unfortunate on a couple of occasions yesterday. I thought a couple of decisions went afainst him when he’d stripped the ball cleanly enough. He held Sweeney to two points from play and that’s a decent return from him.

     Quinlivan didn’t score from play either so that suggests we were decent defensively – apart from the concession of frees. I’m not going to rant about the ref but I think Tipp benefitted from a few soft ones bequethed to the underdog.

162. @Tubberman you have said exactly what I was trying to say re. supporters above only better!! I saw the suggestions in other comments about groups trying to sit together & a huge flag on the hill, all seem like good ideas.

     So delighted for these player to have got themselves back to the AI final, please God & all the prayers in Knock they have what it takes.

163. I have to go against most comments here and be a realist. Judged on all years performance from this Mayo team they are not good enough to win an all Ireland this year.
     Mayo looked nervous in both da end of Tyrone game and game yesterday. God knows what they be like in final.

164. Right folks, here is the season ticket page on our website. http://mayoclub51.com/members/club-51-seating-groups/

     There’s a call to arms on our Facebook page too if anyone is interested.

     If anyone above wants to set up a new group, (it’s very easy if you have a Cairde or Croke Park season ticket) just go to the contact page on our website and drop us a line.

     Seamus, would you set one up?

165. Replying to Turnip Head
     As regards the advantage of stumbling into fAI inal the perfect example was Galway in ’01. They barely scraped past a very average Derry in semi and were given little or no chance against a Meath team that had anihilated Kerry in other semi. Listening to the negative commentary a certain pride unleashed in the Galway psyche that said it’s still 15 v 15 so let’s see.. and this strong mentality filtered through to the team. As it turned out Meath’s performance dipped and Galway’s improved immensely. My point is we all know that Mayo have one huge performance in them, and although the inevitable hype will soon kick in the difference this time is the hype will act as a catalyst for this sought after performance. A good economic analagy is that in time of recession a stimulus (hype) is needed..

166. Cantini and Yew Tree, I’m sorry but I disagree with ye entirely.
     There’s a far greater chance of players getting injured in club games. County players attract a lot of attention in club games and as a result, are at greater risk. Plus, it’s very difficult for lads to go out knocking lumps out of one another in club matches on the Sunday and then come back together harmoniously on the Monday. As David Brady said on Twitter, mind is as important as the body. It’s also taking 4/5 days from what’s valuable time to Rochford and the squad.
     Now, don’t get me wrong. Club players are treated badly. And it’s up to the GAA to do something about it. But three weeks out from an All Ireland final is not the time to do this. It’s too bloody risky.

167. I will Anne Marie. Thanks.
     Was going to drop into the Mayo 51 site anyway. Onwards and upwards!