Our last-ditch victory over Monaghan last Sunday saw us start this year’s League in a positive way but the manner in which we succumbed so badly on home turf to Kerry tonight brings us back down to earth with a fair old bump. Not only because we lost but because we played so poorly on the night too.
Now we know how much our defeat of Kerry last August hurt them. They rolled into MacHale Park tonight determined to prove a point and they did this. First, and most importantly, in the scoring department, where their excellence won them the game. Second, in the physical stakes where their tactics, in particular in the second half, were nothing short of filthy.
They lost two players to red cards in the second half but, given the number of hits they landed and the severity of some of them, it’s a wonder they hadn’t a few more shown the line as well. Ref Derek O’Mahoney had a very poor game – his failure to stamp down on their pulling and dragging early on set the tone and led directly to all of the dirt thereafter – but poor reffing, nor Kerry belting, ultimately lost us this game.
It was clear right from the throw-in that the Kingdom’s youngsters were up for this one. They bagged the night’s opening two points, both from play, before an Evan Regan free got us going at the other end. A well-worked move across the field soon after ended with Barry Moran – who’d lined out instead of Andy, with Jason Doherty starting in place of Colm Boyle (though not in his place) – clipping over the equaliser.
The visitors then enjoyed a purple patch, shooting three points without reply. When our response came, though, it was an emphatic one. Aidan won a hop ball (which should have been a free in for a drag-down on Jason Doherty) and he burst through the cover before offloading to the inrushing Diarmuid O’Connor, who smashed it to the net.
That score should have lifted us from our slumbers. Instead, Kerry went down the other end and tacked on five points on the spin. It could have been worse for us too, as Kerry were awarded a penalty for a foul on Geaney but David Clarke saved Sean O’Shea’s spot-kick superbly.
A bit after that we had a penalty of our own at the other end. Diarmuid made no mistake with his conversion, his second goal of the night cutting the gap to two points. A long-range free from Jason Doherty then cut the gap back to one at the break.
We were lucky to be just the point behind at that stage. They were cutting us to pieces at the back and their forwards’ shooting was little short of sublime. Most of the ball that came into our half, though, originated from misplaced passes or fumbles by us further up the pitch, combined with being second to the breaking ball pretty much all night.
We briefly drew level after the break, when Jason knocked over a close-in free. Then we lost the ball – Aidan looked to be fouled in the process – they broke quickly and Crowley buried it. That goal had, in truth, been coming for a while.
Diarmuid responded with a point for us – our second, and final, point from play of the evening – but we found it impossible to get into any kind of rhythm. Kerry’s incessant fouling was a factor here, of course, but we seemed devoid of ideas about how best to cope with such tactics.
Kerry deployed a twin-track approach from there to the finish. In our half they were all slick movement and registered enough scores to keep us at bay. In their half, they were absolutely trampish and eventually lost two players to red cards.
But we lost Evan Regan, felled close to goal by way of a particularly disgusting hit. That one was red all day long but merited only a yellow on the ref’s eyes.
Cillian came on and although he bagged two points from frees he missed twice as many chances from placed balls. They weren’t all gimmes but the Cillian of old would have stroked three of them over without too much bother. It’s beyond dispute now that the Ballintubber man’s freetaking is currently a pale shadow of what it once was.
Ultimately, though, we lost tonight’s game because we were unable to make use – once again – of numerical advantage on the pitch. Kerry flooded their own half, fouled repeatedly as high up the field as they could and then prevented us from moving the ball forward fast.
From our perspective it’s a depressing result, made all the more so because a young Kerry team came onto our patch and bullied us fairly badly. When a ref is as abject as Derek O’Mahoney was tonight, players need to stand us for themselves and for each other and, sadly, we didn’t seem willing to do this tonight.
Obviously, not too many players stood out for us in this game. David Clarke did well between the posts – his penalty save was superb and he prevented other goalscoring chances too. His restarts were a bit hairy at times but I thought he did better in that area tonight than he did in Clones. Eoin O’Donoghue put in another battling performance in tough conditions, as did Aidan O’Shea who, no matter how many times he was fouled, was never going to win a free tonight. Paddy Durcan, Diarmuid and Jason Doc offered the most attacking threat for us.
The good thing about this League campaign is that there’s little time to brood about the game just gone as the next one is just up ahead. After tonight, this is probably all for the best. We’ve no choice but to dust ourselves down, identify our main failings in this game and head to Salthill next weekend with the aim of putting in a much improved performance then.
Mayo: David Clarke; Brendan Harrison, Ger Cafferkey, Eoin O’Donoghue; Jason Doherty (0-3, frees), Stephen Coen, Paddy Durcan; Jason Gibbons, Shane Nally; Kevin McLoughlin, Aidan O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor (2-1); Neil Douglas, Evan Regan (0-1, free), Barry Moran (0-1). Subs: Caolan Crowe for Cafferkey, Cillian O’Connor (0-2, frees) for Regan, Colm Boyle for Nally, Andy Moran (0-1, free) for Douglas, Fergal Boland for Barry Moran, Conor Loftus for Doherty.
Audio report:
Man of the Match poll:
Who was our MOTM against Kerry?
- Diarmuid O'Connor (24%, 128 Votes)
- David Clarke (19%, 99 Votes)
- Paddy Durcan (17%, 87 Votes)
- Jason Doherty (10%, 51 Votes)
- Aidan O'Shea (7%, 37 Votes)
- Eoin O'Donoghue (6%, 32 Votes)
- Cillian O'Connor (3%, 18 Votes)
- Conor Loftus (3%, 15 Votes)
- Kevin McLoughlin (2%, 8 Votes)
- Fergal Boland (2%, 8 Votes)
- Shane Nally (1%, 7 Votes)
- Neil Douglas (1%, 7 Votes)
- Evan Regan (1%, 4 Votes)
- Barry Moran (1%, 4 Votes)
- Ger Cafferkey (1%, 4 Votes)
- Colm Boyle (1%, 4 Votes)
- Jason Gibbons (1%, 3 Votes)
- Stephen Coen (1%, 3 Votes)
- Caolan Crowe (1%, 3 Votes)
- Brendan Harrison (0%, 2 Votes)
- Andy Moran (0%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 525
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The difference was Kerry kicked some fine scores……we couldn’t kick any and made no inroads against 13 men. It’s the old Achilles heel…..not enough scoring forward and sadly I have little confidence that well unearth any this year.
All – only getting to the comments now. Just want to caution everyone about how they criticise tonight’s performance. There’s a way to do it that’s okay and a way that isn’t (hint: anyone naming individual players and saying baldly that they’re “not good enough” can expect trouble).
It is very early but I hope it is not an opportunity missed
Mayo generally were poor and lacked cohesion. As I said it is early .
Really enjoyed the first half, it showed up some flaws that need addressing. David Clarke while superb as a shot stopper is struggling with his restarts. Ger Cafferkey struggles in big games since his injury. Stephen Coen has been tried as a HF, Midfielder, CB, HB, and has been exposed everywhere. Barry Moran has not got the mobility.Neil Douglas & Evan Regan sadly lack the physical presence needed. Cillian needs a break from free taking duties. The management obviously didnt look at Kerry Donegal game because they would have realised that S O Shea would have too much pace for us.
Positives – Eoin O Donoghue, Patrick Durcan, Diarmuid & Jason Doherty.
One other thing……there’s far too much pulling and dragging in GF that’s tolerated. It ruins matches as a spectacle and rewards cynicism. In rugby a trip is a sending off and rightly so. It’s time that lazy fouling was treated the same in GF.
This site is fast becoming the Arsenal TV of the GAA world. Win one league game and we’re the greatest ever, lose another and it’s Rochford out, Cillian out. We were poor tonight but for the love of god will some of ye show some balance.
A well deserved loss. Right footed frees from the right side ? 13 kerry men vs 15 mayo and still they had a free man for their goalie to kick to near the end.
Anyways, it’s still February so it gets a pass. I see the Millionaires gave Tyrone another trimming, Tyrone too get a pass, they need to be sharp for summer, not February.
it’s February 2nd wouldn’t be worrying about performances for another 4-5 months
Poor tonight but league is league. Plenty to work on. The only negative which I don’t see changing going forward is I cannot see Ger caff changing his form. Cillians frees will improve although we should not have changed free taker mid game. I hope that Regan or Douglas can yet make an impact.
It is only February but one would expect that basic skills would be done well – like kicking 20 metre frees. Kerry moved the ball much faster and avoided tackles.
Redcol’s comment hits the nail on the head, very honest piece of analysis!
Lot of doom and gloom here. Look I didn’t think it was all bad. Plenty of flaws shown up but some positives too. Jason doc looked very sharp and willl be an important component in summer. I thought Barry Moran played quite well. If he stays injury free, he will be a good addition. Regan, Douglas, Nally and Coen were the men I was most interested in watching. Douglas is very light, and at 29 won’t really bulk up much more. However he moves well for the ball and I’d put him ahead of Regan for a squad place based on tonight. Nally is not too bad, but a bit sluggish for this level. However we could have done with him in last 15 min against the 13 man wall defence for some long range shots. Coen – jury still out big time for me I’m afraid. Sean O’shea played well enough on him, I think Stephen will have to shape up over next few months to secure a squad place. Cillian frees were terrible. We need a left footed freetaker (not Kevin Mc L) and it’s a pity regan went off injured when he did. EOD was okay in the corner and some of our big players were clearly not fully tuned in. Diarmuid played quite well which is good news.
Kerry defence is still very suspect and those kids will not win an AI in 2018 in my opinion. Beat Galway next week and we are nearly safe. Not really interested in much more than that from this campaign in terms of results.
The ref was average, AOS was clearly fouled in the direct lead into their goal. Gavin Crowley should have walked far sooner, seems a bit of an oul mullocker who aims to wind up opposition players more than anything else.
How fucking annoying was Liam Hassett in the bib also??
It’s only first week of feb so not worried about rustiness of the players at all. People need to chill out and not panic.
Finally Donie Vaughan should not feel too bad tonight – it’s a huge assumption that we would have won Sam with him in the field last sept given our inability to play against 13 men!!
Redcol agree with everthing you’ve said but if one being constructive its bening anti management.
Kerry were fired up for this game. We didn’t know how to use the extra players. We kept using the player in space, but not forcing the opposition to commit.
The lack of a left footed free taker cost us this game. If the free is on the wrong side and unlikely to be scored, we should just have a go rather than using too much time in this particular situation.
Not a bit surprised with that result. Actually predicted it earlier. We really seem to struggle at home in the league. Kerry had the more natural scorers, we are extremely limited as regards long distance shooting. Jason should of stayed on frees, I wonder are those missed free kicks in the AIF’s starting to haunt Cillian??. Anyways its only Feb, a win in Salthill next week and all will be well again.
A young a supposedly inexperienced Kerry team come to MacHale park and picked our pockets, this was not meant to happen, but it did, so now what? I would suggest that Rochford should now throw caution to the wind for the remainder of the League and give youth its fling, as it’s quite obvious most of our regulars just need a break.
Kerry deserved to win. They were far sharper and looked likely to score on most attacks. On the other hand we didn’t. One point from play in the first half sums it up.
That said Kerry were very cynical. They pulled and dragged all day and the ref seemed to be happy to let Aidan O Shea be mauled almost every he got the ball.
I didn’t see much from the fringe players to indicate they might challenge for a place come the summer.
Disappointing, but no point getting too worked up about result – Kerry very fired up for it tonight, lot of good youngsters in their front two lines. Diarmuid, Doherty and Durcan good this evening.
Pity that none of the reserves / new players – O’Donoughue excepted – really put their hands up for a starting place tonight. Might be a case of 16/17 players again this season, unless some of them can shape up and quick.
Also, irritating that the umps missed that Cillian’s first free was good (clear on the television), but shouldn’t be an excuse for the wider issues he’s having from dead balls the last little while.
Regan going off was turning point in what looked like a very dangerous, cynical tackle. Hard on him given Buckley’s challenge on him a few years ago in Kerry. If Evan goaled today before that challenge, who knows, we might have stole a win. Kerry cuteness obvious after that: foul like hell over on the right as Mayo have no other left footed kicker.
Kerry’s shooting great and they deserved the win. Hungrier for breaking ball and much more up for this match today.
So what do you want @redcol , hennelly back in goal ?
Having gibbons and Moran midfield is a poor option for an goalkeeper
Shambolic. To be humiliated like that by a bunch of youngsters – 13 of them at that for over fiften minutes is simply not acceptable. That was a performance deserving of relegation to division two. Forget All Irelands – times up.
Kerry were more cutting in attack particularly in the first half. But we gifted them at least 4 pts from not clearing our lines and a poor kick out. We missed 3 or 4 gimmes of frees that we would normally get. Not the end of the world in losing.
However anyone there tonight will never forget the single most incompetent display of referring you will see this year. Bar none. Failure to keep up with play, yellow cards instead of reds (strike or attempt to strike is a straight red), rewarding Kerry cynicism by not dealing with all the off the ball assaults that our lads were exposed to. Almost never bringing the ball forward when Kerry blocked us taking frees and would not releasethe ball. Kerry were an absolute disgrace tonight in their cynical tactics and if that’s what they have to resort to in order to win games they are welcome to it. Cowardly thuggery that went unpunished and when our lads tried to defend themselves and sort it out themselves they got carded.
Looking at the abise Aidan O’Shea has to put up with you would wonder why he bothers playing at all. He is targetted constantly and if he defends himself he gets punished.
Rant over.
For now.
Out of 10 forwards 6 starting and 4 subs we they scored the grand total of 1 point from play!!! I think that tells its own story.
On another note a bit of perspective on ger caff he was replaced because of injury, he seemed to pick up a couple of minutes before being subbed and before that hadn’t been doing too bad had conceded some scores but had also won some ball. We were basically very open with good ball going into the kerry inside line it’s not easy defend.
They say you learn more from defeat and one thing I hope Rochford beats into the lads in the dressing room afterwards was that they were bullied tonight by kerry kids and let them store that and not let it happen again if we meet again in August in croker. Alot of complaints that kerry were dirty I would have no problem with them if we were a couple of points up and 2 men down I’d hope we’d be every bit as cynical and dirty and wasting time.
Redcol and Larry Duff pretty much say it all for me.
Also, Hassett annoyed the *^%# out of me. He was on the pitch for more time than a number of Kerry players. Towards the end (and with Mayo attacking) when a Kerry player went down he was in on top of him like a flash ensuring that he stayed down. He then engaged with referee and linesman in an aggressive manner. All of this to suit the cause of his team who were clinging on.
@mayoman I would give Patrick O Malley a league game or two, I have watched him closely since 16 years of age and his restarts are of a very high quality
Mayo at sea with crisp, fast Kerry passing. We passed to feet too often and heavy pitch bogged it down. Kerry could have been out of sight by half time. Obviously those young lads were much fitter than us.
They were also very dirty and it worked for them. Disgraceful foul on Regan when he was bearing down on goal. You can get away with that in Gaelic Football. It works. Two real positives from the game were the performances of Diarmuid O Connor and Jason Doherty. Its great to see Diarmuids form coming back. We’ll need that come the Summer.
@redcol … would you not agree thought that having Barrymoran and gibbons midfield is a poor option for any keeper in midfield ?
Stephen coen has been tried in numerous positions , he does not have the pave for inter county football
I hope Evan Regan is ok that looked
Like a nasty injury. So it’s on on to Salthill
Where a win there would boost morale big time. Keep the faith.
Kerry are obviously using the league to build a panel of players for the championship. On tonight’s performance, they will have a hardened confident bunch to springboard onto the championship and super eights with confidence.
Now what are we trying to acchieve in the league because it does matter in relation to our frame of mind going forward? It may well be only February but we may not be as lucky as other years.
In particular I think it’s very hard on Adam Gallagher. Why did we see Fergal Boland before Adam tonight? Fergal got a good run of league games last season, Adam needs games against top opposition.
Nally o donnaghy and Coen collectively got toasted but will benefit from the experience. That’s the only positive I can take.
Kerry’s Sean o sea outstanding, great find… for Kerry
Wouldn’t worry too much about result but would worry that we are lacking a top class scoring forward for 2018.
Every other part of team will be ok .
Compare and contrast the ease with which Kerry could take scores and our laboured approach.
Omens not good!
Breeze blowing from ‘bacon factory end’ was quite strong and Eamon O’Hara’s description of easy chances missed a bit unfair!
The biggest thing thats comes out of tonite that after our 16 top players in the county there is no one stepping up, and there seems to be no faith in the youth from management bar Eoin O’Donoghue, even the National media kno this.
Fair enough he tried Douglas and Regan but it seems bar both been very skillful there both struggling with the physicality of Senior level football.Why not try Ciaran Treacy and Peter Naughton who are both over 6 foot and know where the posts are.
Jesus lads it’s February my God ye would want to get a life, players going at 50 percent it’s not the end of the world ye miss the while point of the league get players back into thimgs slowly it easy seating in the stands and writing the blog afterwards that’s why Mayo win nothing.
To be honest, Gallagher missed a golden oppurtunity to win it up in Clones, dropped it into keepers hands from 20 yards out, luckily Durcan saved his blushes…he seems to be the new richie feeney on here. But im sure he’ll get another chance before the leagues over.
Kerry were much sharper, and fair play to them being cynical, they have the 2 points. We’re well able to pull and drag when it suits us. Like to see reape, freeman, and treacy get a run against Galway…if their not tried now, when will they be?.
We made it easy for Kerry in the first half far too much space given to their forwards.Essentially we made too many wrong decisions at key moments. Have to say Kerry turned game into a brawl in second half disgraceful stuff .Not saying we would have won but it xertainly played into their hands.
Talking about a two time Allstar Goalkeeper who is obviously very good. Sometimes I feel he can get a little frazzled on his kicks. There are a lot more qualified people than me to assess his kicks. Sometimes they hang and it makes it harder for a midfielder to catch them without the ball being broken. I am not calling for him to be dropped for Championship just to have a look at another alternative. His kickouts were not the reason for defeat tonight. We would be stronger in Midfield if we had Tom P and Seamus no doubt.
Echo the sentiments on Evan, he looked very shook up. Hope the lad isnt badly hurt he has had a rotten time with injuries. Would like to see Crowe / McDonagh given a shot at the Full Back Jersey also. I am not too upset tonight, these games are vital to learn about lads.
Who cares what Kerry do in February disappointed with result but I’m very confident if we meet them in later stage of championship we will walk all over then. End off. Proved it last year. Mayo forever.
It’s only February I know, but that performance was so poor. Kerry were more physical, more hungry. Our fringe players should have been chomping at the bit, but that wasn’t the case. Of the new lads, only Eoin O’Donoghue is staking a claim for a starting jersey at the moment. That is the most disappointing thing because it’s only a few pieces we are missing if we can hit form in the championship. If we don’t beat Galway we could be in serious bother, because it’s the Dubs after that.
On a positive note, Doherty was excellent in first half & Diarmuid was much more like his usual self. Why Doherty was relieved of the free taking duties when Cillian came on I do not know. However, we shouldn’t be relying on frees to rescue a game against 13 men!! It was like watching rugby in the 2nd half & I don’t mean the tackles. We had everyone in their 45 at times, crowding it out & thus ruining any chance we might have had to work a score. Then we were inevitably exposed on the counter attack. A bit like the Cavan game last year.
Anyways, surely we can only improve from here
Not sure what was worse losing to such inexperienced Kerry team at home or losing to 13 men for the last 20mins or losing and scoring so little from play. Up there with one of Mayos worse league results in recent years.
JUST AWFUL 13 players v 15 and they controlled the game Awful.
– Its a simple game really and Kerry kept it simple they used their pace and ability to kick points from 30 yards out from play
– They roasted us down the right flank for most of the first half.
– Paul Murphy played puck in the second half, he got so much time and space on the ball.
– The second half was cat from a Mayo perspective extra men, simple frees missed, no attempt to score from 25 or 30 yards out from play. The fizz went out of the players and the Mayo crowd in that order.
– The ref lost control of that game early on, I was along the side line and rarely seen a more niggly and downright cyncical league performance from a Kerry team.
– Doubt we will be meeting Kerry again this year but we sure as heck will be meeting Galway not once but twice. Win needed in Salthill next Sunday to tick a lot of boxes that are currently marked X.
Kerry are the most cynical team in Gaelic games. Pat Spillane makes me laugh when he moans about Northern teams. Ref let far too much go for far too long.
But
We were awful and deserved to lose. There is a reason Rochford has always and will continue to turn to Seamie,Donie etc in the Summer. The rest are not good enough! We will be there or there abouts again but anyone expecting a new forward or midfielder to be unearthed is going to be disappointed.
There is a huge gulf between club and county. Neil Douglas a case in point. Can’t win his own ball. Would be are alive by the big boys in Summer. That’s why 3 different management teams didn’t pick him despite good club form
I’m normally an optimist but was very disappointed tonight. Kerry won individual battles 11 or 12 to 3 or 4. While inside line struggled (Jason being the best of the 3) the quality of ball going in was poor. I could see from a fair bit out Kerry were going for that goal. If Boyle and Keegan on the pitch would they have scored it. The rot had set in before Andy and Boyler came on though Cillian missed ones he would normally score. Surprised anyway we took Jason off the frees as he had scored his to that point. Wasn’t broke so why fix it.
I rekon we’re behind Kerry in training but still we were poor.
Being only 1 behind at HT was daylight robbery by us.
Time to move Cillian off frees and see how the others fare.
PS who is team captain, if Cillian freshen it up. P Durcan continues to show leadership. Also Tom P or Aido could be given it. Boyler and Keegan also big leaders.
I thought kerry were very sharp tonight. They deserved their win. Some great scores.
Mayo have plenty of areas to improve on. Think the different players are having a little difficulty settling in to the system.
Somethings didn’t seem to work for us tonight and this seemed to dilute the play all over the pitch. Thought Diarmuid O’Connor looked dangerous but overall, not a cohesive team performance.
Think Kerry are going to rapidly improve. Dubs have hit their ceiling and I think their best days are behind them. Kerry on the.way up and Dublin on the way down. Mayo will be much better in a month or so. Chin up.
Dublin on the way down? Based on what exactly?
Two things. Correct me if I am wrong, but Cillian did not take over frees from Jason. He simply took over the frees from the man he replaced. DOC still took frees from his side
Secondly, why we are so hell bent on taking the second most accurate player with a dead ball last year off dead balls will always remain a mystery to me. Beaten only by Dean Rock.
Cillian will, I repeat, will be our free taker this year. And so he should.
fitness; fitness;fitness;
Time to try out players & see how they do
Changing free taker was a mistake
Now we know the value of Jason Doherty
Kerry still bad in the backs
After two rounds of the league it appears last year’s form is continuing into 2018, a case of deja vu.
The Dubs have hit two high scores and have turned in on when it really matters in the 2nd half in their two league matches.
Kerry have been reignited with an influx of a few very good players.
Mayo are badly missing some of their first 15 from last year through injury.
I didn’t see the game but one wonders has the manager any say on the choice of free taker at any one time.
Surely their is a guy in the County that can hit frees on the right wing, this issue has persisted over the past 3 years.
Is their a few guys on the panel for too long now?, is bringing back older guys the right way to go?, how many chances / games does a guy need to prove their worth?, for me it’s a tell tale sign if a guy keeps getting put into different positions on the team and doesn’t stand out or make an impact in any position.
Alot of work to be done and I hope the injured guys are back soon.
Dublin on the way down Ravellino based on what evidence?? Beat Tyrone by 5 points with 14 man away from home. It will be Mayo V Dublin again this year.
No dressing it up, that was as bad a league performance as I’ve seen. Although we were always going to struggle early in the year so no need to panic too much.
I looked at the stats there and Clarke actually did better with his kickouts than the Kerry keeper. The main problem was lack of any forward plan. Poor delivery into the forwards and Doherty was the only one capable of winning ball.
In fairness that was a depressing game. The ref was close enough to a health and safety risk, he let way too much go early in the game and only late in the game remembered what the black card was for. At that stage he had no control over the game.
Kerry were cynical, but the fact remains a bunch of young bucks bullied our fellas this evening in our own backyard.
For the life of me I can’t understand why Jason Doherty was taken off frees when COC came on. Jason was clearly psyched up for frees from the start and Cillian wasn’t, and it wasn’t fair to either. Seemed like a case of, if it’s not broken break it.
The playing into the corners in the second half to my inexperienced eye yielded nothing. I know there was a blanket but shooting into corners all the time seems a waste of time. Kerry were under pressure when we ran at them.
Ball handling and interplay was poor enough tonight and a lot of good ball was given away needlessly.
Look it is the first week in February, as the song says “ Things can only get better”
Cillian is a top class forward, despite what the trolls might say, and is an automatic starter for us. However, I would give him a break from frees next week at least. Let Doherty take them and if Regan is injured, start Fionn McDonagh for the left footed ones.
Positives tonight were Diarmuid’s form as well as Paddy Durcan (he really is rapid quick).
Who is captain matters little. Its what gets done on the pitch that matters.
Consider what happened to Even Regan when he bore down on and threatened the Kerry goal. He was unceremoniously dispatched to A&E.
No Kerry forward had any need to fear a similar fate at the other end. And the referee facilitated this type of play from Kerry. They saw that and continued with it. Seeing Even Regan hobble off, not knowing what day it was, I wondered when last have I seen a Mayo defender dish out similar treatment to an opposing forward. And then I remembered Turbo Tom. Not since Tom Cunniffe fairly and squarely rendered Peter Harte a cripple have I seen a Mayo player put the fear of God on any encroaching forward.
We should not have allowed ourselves to have been bullied and messed around with in our own ground. That’s a bad message to allow to get out there.
.
Is David drake and Conor o she’s injured or just not making the squad ??
Lesson for Rochy re free taker
Last years semi replay v Kerry Jason Docherty kicked a difficult free and 45 after COC was black carded @ a crucial stage of the game. A friend of mine from Limerick was quite irate he wasn’t handed the responsibility in the All Ireland final and in his opinion cost Mayo the game..
Tonight again Doc looked confident and assured with free taking duties and was unfairly removed from those duties when COC was introduced a decision that I found baffling..
I agree totally with Redcol and others.
It is the reality.
We seem to have gone another winter and possibly National league without unearthing a forward.
Regan was very average, does not appear to be in sync with rest of forward line.
Example, in fifth minute, ball was sent into Doherty on the 21 yard line.
Regan should have ran right at him to get a pass and would have been clean thru on goal, he never moved.
Coen tries hard, but as mentioned numerous times, does not have pace for this level. Most likely will not change.
I could not care less about losing a league game in early February, I am a lot more concerned that we are in year three or four with same forward line. That is the bigger concern, not all current managements fault, but our underage coaching of forwards for past decade has been shit.
Not sure who was responsible, but the young Kerry players, have been very well coached since u16. What happened to our potential.
We have been at the top table at senior level now for eight years, with little or no new blood in forward line.
Wide ball. I think their on the way down because of the age profile and last year’s indications. Brogan, McManamon, Mcauley are on the wane. Some of their other players seemed below par last year.
They had to play 2 proper games last year. They lost to kerry in the league final and won contoversially against us in the all Ireland.
I’m not saying this is the year but I would be much more concerned about Kerry than I would about Dublin. It wouldn’t be wise to focus all attention on the.Dubs.
People on about a right sided free taker? Regan got 4 from 5 last weekend and would have scored those four missed frees this evening too had he not been assaulted, and that is the word, by a Kerry defender who went relatively unpunished. It was the first time in the game that Regan got to attack his marker and he put him on his arse with a swivel and a shoulder drop. He was then cleaned out by a cowardly blind sided challenge. Thing is, the ref had lost such control as regatds punishing Kerry players, they knew they would get away with it.
That ref endangered players this evening, he was a disgrace.
I would be very sceptical of that Revellino to say the least. Dubs aren’t going anywhere unfortunately.
Sourceoftherobe that’s pure shite about landing opposition players in A&E, any decent ref will punish that. Tonight I thought it was black or red for Kerry lad but intent was not clear (seen on telly with replay). Enough doubt that it might only be yellow. Black more for pulling lads down and body checks rather than high tackles.
Also don’t believe Turbo Tom had intent. Lots of forwards hobbled off him purely because he was hard as nails. Don’t recall him receiving too many cards in his day.
Also I beg to differ on Captains. They have some impact. My preference is freshen it up but if management stick with Cillian I will be fine with that too.
Mayo were complacent again and paid a high price. John Casey ( former Mayo player) in Fridays Mayo Advertiser dismissed Kerry’s challenge, did some of the Mayo players believe him? Dublin are NEVER Complacent, Kilkenny of old were never complacent. The IRISH RUGBY TEAM in Paris today believed the hype and nearly paid the price. Do we on this Site also contribute to Mayo being complacent? I totally agree with Sourceoftherobe views.
Jason missed a sitter of free near the end.
Why did we keep playing that side of the field all the second half.
Kerry were fitter hungier and totally desevred their win.
Our support play is pure shite.
Some very bad decisions made by experienced lads in the last 20 mins.
Watched it after i came home and just think nothing went right on the night.kerry should have being 7 or 8 ahead at half time.
A night to forget and hope injurys clear up soon.
As for right side of pitch free taker bar the other lefties Aido and Kevin Mc, Andy seems very accurate from that side, he sometimes grabs the ball in chasing games and bangs it over quickly to avoid losing time and never seen him miss one. Cillian was reputedly working on taking those with his left a few years back but never materialised. Hennelly was also supposedly kicking frees with both feet for his club. Obviously prefer if it’s a lad’s dominant foot. Regan could have goaled after nice side step but for the high tackle and he’d then be back in frame for summer. Looked bit more dangerous than Douglas though both on end of poor distribution. Aido took frees from right in his first year intercounty but not since. Can’t understand why Kevin Mc doesn’t like them as he’s accurate from play but great servant in all other areas of the game. Ignoring tonight, Cillian’s percentage has been slowly dropping from 3 or 4 years back when he nailed them and Rock would sometimes miss. Now Cillian misses a few that are relatively easy, something we never saw in the past. There’s about half dozen other right footers Jason, Alan Freeman, Adam Gallagher, Conor Loftus, Neil Douglas and Andy who might fare better. Loftus has a lot of confidence about him, like Cillian at same age.
I would say dominance goes in cycles. Dublin were very dominant in the early 70s. Won 3 of 4 all irelands and.were beaten in the other. Then in 1978 kerry came along and bet them 5 11 to 9 points. I don’t believe Dublin are going to maintain what they have achieved since 2011. This Dublins teams cycle is coming to an end. Theyve had some fine footballers but their dominance has owed more to physical strength and athleticism than pure football. They never played pure football like the great kerry team, mind you.they have played good football. When Fitzmaurice gets his team balanced out they are going to be the team to beat. They have lacked top level players for the past number of years but I’m afraid they are putting together a team that will be better than what we’ve seen from Dublin since 2011.
I don’t think Mayo were complacent. They just played badly and it eventually affected or infected most of the team. For me only P Durcan, Jason, Diarmaid and David Clarke played well. Most of the rest were below par. Of those 4 only P Durcan truly shone, Clarke though yet another penalty save is impressive punched a few goal chances out to Kerry men. Fellas we all wanted to see like Nally who I’ve been a fan of and Coen were below par. Kerry Goalie was well dodgy, should have tested him more.
Kept losing breaking ball and on one occasion Aido an Gibbons banged into each other with both rollicking the other.
Need Buckley to work kickout strategy which was successful in AI SF replay and AIF. Seems like players didn’t know what approach to take tonight. That said we probably did better than Kerry on their kickouts.
Another home defeat , ouch ,
But it’s February, no change from this time last year , or the year before,
Kerry were hungrier , they took their scores , we didn’t simple as that , the bloody ref lost control from early on ,he hasn’t a clue about that rules of the game , I don’t believe singling our players for criticism is going to do anyone any good ,
The only name checking I would do is the decesion to take the Free taking duty off Jason , that seems ridiculous, who made that call ?? granted cillian is off the boil , but Christ he has got us out of many a tight spot , people ridiculing him and his ability in feb need to breathe deep ! Positives for me tonight were Jason , Aido, diarmuid and Paddy Durcan , Durcan is a serious bit of stuff , real gumption , a leader in My mind , Eoin put in Trojan Work load again ,
Hope Evan isn’t badly hurt he looked totally out of it after that assault , Kerry were filthy , would seem the sting of last years defeat was their motivation tonight ,
it’s off to Galway we go ,heads up Lads and lassies ,
Keep the faith
I don’t know if it was the attraction of those new Galvin inspired Kerry jerseys but on, at least, 7 occasions the ball was planted in their midriff from a Mayo boot, without the offending player being under much pressure. The Kerry boyos read the ref early on(or already knew his form) and decided they could dish it out without much censure. Are we still too nice considering what happened in the last two minutes of the AL final. Its early days but if we can”t clone the cute Westport man we need to get a bit nasty too and plan ahead for the risk of the dreaded black cards. in other words, don’t expect refs to protect our players.
Player ratings
1.David Clarke 7
2.Brendan Harrison 5
3.Ger Cafferkey 4
4.Eoin O Donoghue 7
5.Shane Nally 5
6.Stephen Coen 3
7.Paddy Durcan 7
8.Jason Gibbons 3
9.Barry Moran 3
10.Kevin McLoughlin 6
11.Aidan O’Shea 6
12 Diarmuid O’Connor 8
13.Evan Regan 5
14.JasonDoherty 6
15.Neil Douglas 5
Subs
Caolan Crowe 6
Cillian O’Connor 4
Andy Moran 5
Colm Boyle 6
Fergal Boland 5
Conor Loftus only got 1 minute on pitch
There was a development panel set up last year with 5 Players Seamus Cunniffe, Adam Gallagher, Matthew Ruane, Brian Reape and James Carr. None of these players played tonight.
I was at the game. Kerry were dirty, physical and cynical and had the backing of the referee. We didnt get involved physically but maybe should have. Evan Regan was in on goal and was taken out, i’d say he has a broken jaw at the least, I was close to it. Definitely concussed. Ref gave a yellow. Gave blacks for less. Players sent off for Kerry were applauded and lauded by there management. Hassett the Kerry selector made an ejit of the ref and spent an hour on the pitch. We have alot to learn. That said, I suppose its only February. I will be diplomatic and I won’t name the 2 or 3 players that are not good enough to be involved, its obvious enough. Midfield needs to be sorted.
A depressing night surely but as so many have said it’s only early February. But nevertheless there are lessons to be learned.
Lesson 1. Neither Evan Regan or Neil Douglas are able to win their own ball. This was proven in Monaghan also. We can get away with one such player in the full forward line but not two.
Lesson 2. Our defence [full backline] give too much leeway to opposing forwards, 2 – 4 yards behind them when beginning a run for possession. You don’t make up that distance at county level.
Lesson 3. We need to look at our freetaking strategy. Cillian is normallly pretty accurate from the left or in front of goal but he has missed crucial late frees against Dublin in the championship when they really counted. He is not at all reliable when kicking from the right.
Lesson 4. Have we any strategy for 45’s? Douglas seems to be the only reliable kicker at the moment. Strangely I don”t think we got one tonight until after he was replaced.
I think that’s enough for tonight.
Sean Doherty Yeah, definitely Kerry were incredibly cynical.. But They did end up with 13 men…. And we had the free’s to win it… I sincerely hope you are wrong about Evan Regan regarding potential injury , I taught he done alright tonight, prepared to take on his man..and I taught anytime any Mayo man took on his man, Kerry took down the man and (ask no questions, take no prisoners) rotten to see.. Look Kerry will have no sympathy, I think referees have bought into this (Kerry pure football MYTY) to a certain extent… What can we learn from this,?… That’s the question!
Wayching the game today I thought the black card had been abolished. Every time Mayo broke at speed the supporting runners were wither tripped or dragged back by their Kerry markers
Mayo mark – yes, you are wrong so will correct you.
Firstly, Cillian came on and took over the frees, his first miss was straight down middle, Doc should have taken it . He also took one ball out of Andy’s hands and went on to miss that one too . At the end Andy put on over before Cillian that off him too.
Secondly, was he second most accurate kicker last season? Any proof of that? That was a stat banded round from the season before and a very lazy stat as well . Any free kick taker for mayo will be up there because we get so many easy , tap over frees due to being most fouled team. His kicking last season was awful, only good kicking we saw was when Doc took over when Cillian was off .
You got one thing right, he will be the free taker his year but that is not to be celebrated, it’s down to his arrogance and acceptance that unless he takes frees his score tally will be low and management not being strong enough. If he is our free taker then no Sam again. I said this at start of last year and it’s the same again. Cannot be trusted when tight margins win big games
Jc your on a really mission to prove yourself right.
Cillian came in cold to a match and missed the first from his wrong side.it was jason that missed the one you say straight down the middle.
Yes his confidence is bashed a bit over the last few years but still one of the best in the business.
I agree with JC sadly but it has to be said that if Cillian
Is our free taker we will not win Sam indeed he doesn’t contribute to general play much either and compared to Aidan O Shea who gets awful abuse and gets dragged around the place his temperament Is questionable. Also if we keep persting with Caff at full back we won’t win anything he has been a great servant but got roasted last night and in his last big championship games for Mayo. You have to admire the Kerry management who put their faith In a load of young lads last night and
It paid off. Only 5 of the Kerry team we beat in August started last night. We are much too conservative when it comes to blooding new players but I have faith in our management and I expect things to change for the Galway game
Some lads here don’t like people criticizing the team. Ye need to grow up. The team are not beyond criticism. It was a shambles of a performance.
Yes it’s only the league and it’s not the loosing that worries me but the man or of it. Without naming names there are a few lads there simply not good enough.
Is Brian Rape injured? The dog in the street knows it’s a new forward we need to unearth for championship.
I really thought Kerry were cynical as well But if that’s what it takes to win then let’s learn the dark art’s too
I don’t want to prove myself right. I would like to be wrong and see Cillian kick us to success. I just can’t see it . Einstein said doing the same things and expecting different results is insanity . Well that’s what we do. Players are big enough to have the truth pointed out to them, people here seem to disagree with that. Players improvement comes from accepting their weaknesses.
Yew tree dont mind lads getting criticize at all
2 forwards got a chance again tonight and to be honest its not going to happen for them.
Some lads have important games with colleges and maybe thats the reason not played.
Dropping cillian makes no since whatsoever to me but thats my opinion.
Eod goal stopped on the line and 4 missed chance in last 20 then it would be like after last weeks game on here.
Nobody last night on the mayo team put there hand up and said this is my jersey and thats what needs to change.
Where is Brian Reape and why does Loftus only get 45 seconds.
Nothing would have made a difference for us last night however.
That win in Monaghan looks valuable now
Fair point jc.
Think all he has to do is walk down the street in dublin and he will be well reminded of some of those frees.
The lack of the underage development is starting to show. Rochford and his coaching staff have a lot of young players in training. I am sure if he thought they were close to been good enough for intercounty football he would be playing them. We saw last night some very poor performances from lads on the fringe of the team. When these lads weren’t getting game time we were calling out for them to be given a chance. Reality is Kerry have won last 4 minor allireland without even breaking sweat. In the same 4 years we have been well beaten in Connaught with some sure performances.
A poster pointed out above that Conor o shea or drake were not involved again last night
Can anyone share some light ??
I seen drake in gym gear when I was going into the stand , is he injured or just not making the squad ??
Does anyone know ?
We’ve been here how many times before?
Not the time of year to be jumping to conclusions.
As is often the case with Kerry, they looked the more natural footballers, able to play more on instinct and off the cuff.
Mayo are like a well oiled machine come the latter stages of championship in the summer, excel playing to a system with runners from deep ala Higgins, Keegan, Vaughan.
Only O’Shea and Durkan provided this outlet last night, our forward play depends so much on our running and support game, take this away, and with forwards on the field last night lacking in physical presence, scores from play are going to be difficult to come by on a damp cold pitch in February. Especially against one of top teams in the country regardless of age profile.
As has been mentioned would be great to see Gallagher, Reape, and Carr get some game time in the league, from what I’ve seen these players are better equipped to mix it physically and win their own ball.
why is Conor Loftus not getting proper game time? The one new forward who looked to be good enough last year.
Loftus/Ruane/Reape/Akram need to be getting proper game time now if fit/available. Otherwise there not going to be viable options for the championship in any capacity
Also it’s time to try the likes of Paddy Durcan at wing forward to see how he would go there
I’m one of the people calling for change of free taker but I have to acknowledge that when in serious pressure cooker situations Cillian is often very good with nerves of steel but in last 2 to 3 years that’s softened a bit not withstanding his brilliant point from play in 2016 drawn final. Some players focus on the positive all the time and others (Roy Keane type mentality) are so competitive only winning matters . Take a look at all the shit happening around the world. These lads playing in a field of dreams albeit at huge sacrifice. Look at all the great games they’ve given us. All that matters in sport is from today on.
Loftus played Sigerson this week so maybe they were resting him but then again so did paddy.
what was the point in bringing on C Loftus for 40 seconds at the end of the game ? surely he is worth one full game , other teams play19 and 20 year olds with a lot of success ,why cant Mayo give new blood a chance , there are players on the panel for the last 5 to 6 years and have got plenty of chances and haven’t and wont make the grade , get rid of them and at least try some new blood
That’s three games where the opposition has been short two or three players at the end , their tactics are plain to see and bring nothing to the game.
With respect Mayoman Drake and Conor O Shea are not the answer. Conor Loftus should be starting game he has buckets of potential and will be a huge player for us in the coming years. I can’t understand why Rochford only gives him a minute or two in games
I hate losing, particularly to Kerry, especially when they are a team of rookies. The only good that might emerge is that it may partly take the edge off their desire for revenge at being beaten by us in the AI semifinal last summer. But that’s about it.
The reality is that both Kerry and Dublin are uncovering some very good young players and we are not – not yet anyway. Yes Eoin O Donoghue is starting to step up but he is a defender. We already have plenty of them. It’s up front we could do with a really good young forward. Neil Douglas is good but at 29 the fact that he hasn’t managed to stake a claim before now doesn’t fill me with too much hope. Evan Regan threatened to be a revelation until he got clobbered against Kerry a couple of years ago. He hasn’t made it so far. I don’t know why Conor Loftus hasn’t established himself yet but for one reason or another he hasn’t. Maybe all of this is because the 6 forwards we have are the best we have by a long distance and that the rest can’t get a foothold.
I have a nagging feeling that unless we drop a few of the fringe players who have not established their credentials and introduce a few young lads to the 26 we will soon start to slip down the pecking order.
You cant just throw in young players for the sake of it. Rochford knows wat hes at, he has given Douglas and Regan 140mins each in the league (granted regan got injured) with a fairly experienced team around them. Maybe he plans to give Loftus, Reape, And Treacy the next 140mins? With a few regulars thrown in. From what ive seen, Douglas might not make the grade, Regans left foot gives him an advantage. Its up to Reape/Gallagher/Treacy/Naughton to put their hand up over the next couple of weeks. My bet is Reape and Treacy will shine, and along with Regan will make the championship panel.
Lads, Cillian came in cold he had his tracksuits and training top on and didn’t do any warm up before being called on for Evan Regan. Even Bryan Sheehan (one of the greatest free takers of all time) said its hard to come on and take frees like that. Secondly didn’t he have the flu doesn’t it takes 3 weeks to get over it. So in my opinion I still think he should be our free taker.
Apparently Evan Regan has a broken jaw. No suprise . It was bordering on assault. Yellow card. The ref didn’t realky affect result but he failed in his primary duty which is to enforce the rules and protect the players
Time to move on from last nights match, whatever happens next v Galway, Mayo need to beat the Dubs once and for all on 24th, lets change tact, instead if playing light / small guys, pick a team with more hard fockers, let them take the black cards that will be dished out.
With all the guys that have played in the fbd and the league, do ye think a team could be assembled to bring the game into a battle?.
I’m my playing days, I was always raring to go in the following game after a defeat, particularly if beaten on the physical side.
If the team is not really up for it on 24th, then we all may forget about the championship.
Agree mayo 88
This team HAVE to beat the Dubs in the league this year. I don’t care what anyone says they have to beat them to get the bit of extra belief needed that they can beat them in the summer. Yes we have drawn and got close but haven’t beaten them .
Galway to a lesser extent as well but it’s not as big a factor for me
The Dubs have to be beaten
We really need to look to youth for alternatives.
Gibbons and Douglas have got chances over the years but we have better and more mobile options. These lads are not the answer either as starters or subs
Also has Donie Buckley left? No sign of his at last two games
Does anyone know if the match is shown again on eir sports anytime today or during the week?
I think claiming that our top ever scorer in championship football is some sort of ego maniac who won’t let anyone take free because otherwise his tally will be low is absolutely disgraceful. In fact, you have some cheek to claim I am using a “lazy stay” while coming out with a line like that. Cillian has enough to deal with taking this nonsense from Dublin supporters, and now he has to get it from home as well?
Here is some “lazy” analysis from the best GAA statistician available.
From the don’t foul website
Deadballs
C O’Connor has been rock steady on frees throughout his career converting, when the pressure has been at its most intense, 86% (0-55 from 64 Expt Pts of +4.99) in semi-final and finals alone from 2012 to 2016. His range does appear to have shortened however.
The above chart shows C O’Connor’s 2017 frees in yellow and using the same boundaries as the Rock chart above we can see that O’Connor is as good as ever “inside”. He has recorded very similar numbers to Rock at 95% (0 – 35 from 37) however he has definitely struggled “outside” recording a very poor (relatively speaking) 35%.”
Feel free to visit their website for more lazy analysis
Have ye watched the Dubs in the two games so far, they will fookin ate us alive at the moment the shape we are in unless theres a significant improvement and in the two week timeframe id guess thats unlikely.
Someone commented it’s embarrassing to lose to kerrys 2nd team…what’s more embarrassing and with all due respect are some of the comments here. While everyone is entitled to an opinion very few have mentioned how flattering the scoreline was at half time. Were we cleaned out at mf? No. How many marks did kerry get vs mayo? I still think Jason Gibbons was poor yday and poor vs monaghan….pulling out of tackles and yday and vs monaghan he didn’t know what to do with the ball in front of goal. I also saw a comment about our forwards only getting a point….well.straIght away DOC got 2 goals. It’s the old story of having poor forwards last night. Cillian was awful and we could have won it. Kerry were filthy and their backs were awful and that’s where it came down to. We stood off them and let them kick scores and couldn’t kick any ourselves
@Mark,
Don’t you be coming on here with your facts and figures, don’t you know that a lot of these posters have a bigger agenda than the Daily Mail and just as much knowledge about football. A county half full of manic depressive, chicken licken supporters with the usual suspects leading the charge.
Caff was good against Monaghan , you put a fast forward on him , he will be eaten alive… not a bold statement …. but fact … the last few years have confirmed that
MayoMark, well said, some of the abuse Cillian is recieving is absolute disgrace. Scapgoating him for last nights result is a joke, he wasnt on the field for more than 20mins, it was a poor Mayo performance all round lets not make it about one man. Some people actually posting that his free taking cost us All Irelands! We wouldn’t have been close to winning an All Ireland without his kicking. Its not arrogance on his part that he took over frees when he came on, he is the designated free taker, its the same with other teams and other sports, the main guy comes off the bench, he takes over his duties. Cillian will be taking the frees next weekend and for the foreseeable future, he has been our go to man for the past 6 years and he will be again this year.
Sean Burke, id agree Dublin look impressive, but thats no different to this time last year when they were breaking records or years before that when they won 4 leagues in a row. Dublins main advantage is not money or population, its location. All their players are in the same city, they have full training all week every week, thats why they are so good early in the year. Mayo dont have full collective training this time of year, McEntee takes the Dublin based guys up there. We dont have full collective team training until later in the spring. Dublin are well ahead of us in terms of preparation and training for now but we will catch up like last year. Theres a reason why we rearly challange for a league title.
A poor performance last night, but id say the majority or negative comments on hear are very similar to comments made after the Dublin league game last year or the Kerry league game the year before. Mayos training programme is built towards being at full force in August/September not February.
Time to move on from this result and look forward to next week. When is the Dublin game its it March or this month.
Will some one tell me who did the counting on the attendance yesterday? II k?
The new stand takes approx. 10k. At bacon factory end, and Mc Hale road stand unless I am blind there was more than 1.2 k. Don’t come back and say oh kids are free. Its the number of bodies who take seats is the attendance, not some pie in the sky numbers that the GAA trot out. As for last night, we played Galway in FBD, and they were down to 12 players and we could not beat them, same failure again last night. We have not got ONE FORWARD as a target man that you can kick a ball into and he will catch it. Kerry had forwards who made the ball do the work and that means putting it over the bar. We have fellows who keep passing the ball back and over and is afraid to kick it over the bar. Jason Gibbons did this last night, got a ball and went around in a circle soloing the thing waiting for someone to pass it to, instead of giving it a lash over the bar himself, even if it did go wide, this what happened when he gave it to another player. When he gave the pass the player who got it the ball was taken off him. We are afraid or not able to kick the ball over the bar. How many times did we break down the ball at midfield and we had nobody able to collect the breaking ball? Midfield was not the cause of us loosing this game. We used 10 forwards last night and what did they score from play. 1goal and I point in first half, and a point or two in second half. As for the referee and his linesmen and umpires, they were a disgrace. Those were the worst I have seen since Reilly in Limerick. Hopefully we got rid of the dirty diesel last night. Looking forward to Galway.
Good aul liam here to slate the Mayo supporter again, are we allowed challenge your comment this time? Whats the specifics of these agendas amongst supporters? And wtf does chicken licken mean?
Also seems a tad rich to bash supporters for voicing their opinion on what they perceive as perhaps as a negative to team development whilst you are allowed to tell us that management musnt know anything about club football in Mayo by leaving out your clubman in charlestown.
Like I have said previously your patronising belittling comments and generailisng a massive section of our support base in a negative manner is disgusting ,its so constant too. Everyone says things now and again but you never quit with this line , if its not about a county song its about attitude or a sly dig about seeing me in mchale park eating chips (whatever was meant by that I have yet to figure out)
When it came down to it, Kerry were able to score far easier than us. Their forwards (Sean O’Shea in particular) looked like they were months ahead in terms of fitness and preparation. They were able to move the ball quickly from defence into attack and take their scores without much resistance.
Our forwards are getting a hard time here, and a lot of people are bemoaning the lack of scoring forwards, but the fact is we conceded 1-15 and in truth it could have been a lot more, given the missed penalty and the numerous wides, including a fisted effort towards the end which should have been over. Unless your middle eight and attack have a supreme day at the office, there’s not many teams who will match a score of eighteen points on a cold wet night in February. We can do it in the summer but our league form in previous years has not shown us to be a team who can get regular high scores.
Dublin, after their hammering in 2009, put in motion a plan to shore up their defence and make them a very hard team to beat. We need the same kind of plan in Mayo. We need a holistic view of all the defenders we have available to us and see what exactly needs to be changed, because without an overhaul at the back we are going to wind up with the exact same results as before, close but no cigar.
That is not to say we have don’t have problems up front, of course we do, but I get the impression people are frustrated and are lashing out at the same old targets, when in reality things are a bit more complex than Cillian O’Connor missing a few frees. It was a piss-performance all around, but better we see it now than in August!
Also, despite it being only February, only being the league, Mayo not being a league team, etc etc. I found it very depressing at how good the Kerry young guns were last night. No fear whatsoever. We looked tired and bereft of ideas in comparison. There are serious things brewing down in Kerry. That, more so than the result, is what I took away last night.
Donegal were getting rave reviews for their youngsters in the league last year…they were all flying fit and putting up big scores. Didn’t do them much good when trounced by Tyrone and bet out the gate by Galway in the summer. Different teams take different approaches to the league. Fitzmaurice is feeling the heat after last year, and probley felt he had to go for the league with young players, he’s trying buy himself (and them) time. So he pulls out of their fbd equilavent and probley has them training hard since November to gain a physical advantage….we on the other hand were sipping pinacoladas in Kular Lumpur 16 days ago. So a bit of perspective is needed.
Im not saying we dont have problems, we all know we do. But its the same every league, and especially in MacHale park. But their we are in Summer playing in AIF’s. So a bit of perspective is needed.
People also forget that the entire Kerry squad are all based in around Munster and Kerry. They’ve probley had upwards of 25 full squad sessions since November, we’ve had ZERO. Clifford gone to Tralee IT, probley could have walked into any of the top Universities in Dublin, but stays in an I.T in Kerry….tis an amateur game alrite, ahem.
I can accept that they may be ahead in terms of their fitness. But for a young team Kerry were so cute… And cynical. That was the most concerning thing for me. We’re on the road so long I thought we’d give them a lesson in game management.
They got away so much in my opinion. Certain Mayo players were targeted from the word go. O’Shea had to work so hard to get a free. But we can’t see depend in referees we have to meet fire with fire and do to them what they do to us.
9 all Ireland semi in a row,
5 all Ireland finals in that time and we’re still crying about cynical fouling and refs. Yes the ref did not protect players. When will we wake up. We can’t change refs or do anything about the opposing teams. We left ourselves in a perfect position with 20 minutes to go 2 men up, but wasted so much of our time getting drawn into handbag stuff. No scores for that. We learn nothing sense 2014 replay, no fights till Kerry were winning. We can blame the world and its mother but we will get the same results until we wise up. Our biggest problem is we don’t dish out that kind of punishment to our inferior teams
Ger, Donie Buckley was at the game last night sitting with the non togging members of the squad
Sean Burke/Liam – personal insults and attacking each other serve no purpose so please tone it down. On this occasion, Liam, I think you’re most at fault, there’s no cause in generalising about supporters in that way.
On the post-match reaction in general here on the site, I think 99% of what’s being posted is absolutely fine. It was a poor performance and a depressing result and people are well within their rights to be critical. It’s good to see that the vast majority can do this in a reasonable way. Well done all.
When, evaluating Cillian contribution,we definitely have to factor in, Neil Douglas, Evan Regan and Jason Doherty percentage return from dead balls recently , all far far superior to that of Cillian’s… How good was he Cillian from general play when he came on as a sub both in Monaghan and against Kerry last night? … How close did he come to getting sent off in Monaghan.? …. I have absolutely no doubts about the value and merits of Cillian O Connor, and that he will find the form to make him one of the best forwards in Ireland again in the FUTURE, But everyone has to deserve their place in the match they are playing in ,! On ‘CURRENT’ form, when Cillian is on the pitch, the question has to be asked, is he keeping someone with better ‘CURRENT’ firm off the pitch?… The question answers itself!… Another thing, 11K + fan’s , at yesterday’s fixture, I found that hard to believe, looked much more like 15 K. or 16 K….to me…. That also raised a question, if there were only 11K +. at the match, where were the 27 K or thereabouts + of empty seats?
If you look to stats to explain a forward them something is not right . I don’t remember the highlight moments of a forwards career been based on stats . Stats are used to defend or provide evidence. Top forwards don’t need to do this . They step up and provide moments that win and people remember and you don’t need a website of facts to be reminded of what their quality. In Kerry or Dublin they would call out bad free kick taking for what it is, that’s why they succeed, in mayo you get abused for having an agenda. That needs to change or lack of success will continue
I believe that our tall powerful players are on a strength and speed program. Hence they’re not in the match day panels. We will see Drake, COS, Brian Reape, Ger Mc and Kirby to finish out the league.
At least we are learning our weaknesses early.
Kerry got the win, but I’d be confident we could overpower them in the summer.
Leantime
another thing, 11K + fan’s , at yesterday’s fixture, I found that hard to believe, looked much more like 15 K. or 16 K….to me…. That also raised a question, if there were only 11K +. at the match, where were the 27 K or thereabouts + of empty seats?
Ya good point. Either they are lying about all these 10k plus attendance in other league games or yesterday was a lie.
We got a good tough examination last night. I think we. earn alot more.from last night’s game than the Monaghan game. There is nothing better than been shown where and what needs improving. There is alot of work for the managment now to make sure that we are ready for Galway next week. Last night, though dissapointing might have been a blessing in diguise. The lads are entitled to an odd not so hot performance, especially at the start of the year and with experimental squads. I’m looking forward to seeing an improved performance next weekend.
The sports lad on the rte 1 news last night started off by saying Mayo had kept.their 100% record alve. He mentioned another couple of times during the report that Mayo had won. He had to finish off the the sports report by saying “actually Kerry won the game”.
Can we all just recall the cold March evening last year in CP when the Dubs walked all over us and then flash back to AI day last. Cant compare the 2 games. IT IS ONLY 2nd leage match in Feb. With trying new lads and training just beginning this team will as always be there when it matters.
As for Cillian I think it’s unfair to be suggesting at this time of the year that he be replaced for free taking. Like Aiden he too puts up with an awful lot of abuse outside our county. Cillian is our greatest Mayo warrior in many years and we must not forget but support and encourage.
What does ‘chicken lichen’ supporters mean?
Please explain!
A team with 13 players on the field will have to resort to fouling…..they did…..and we missed 4/5 scorable frees to either draw or win (a game we played terribly in) . Hope Reagen is okay…..that was some wallop he got…..should have been a straight red
I believe you need stats ,all the top sports in the world use stats so must be valuable i am not in the slightest bit worried about Kerry when we meet them again we will be ready,as somebody has already said Donegal were the best team with young players last year but come summer they found out it is a completely different game,the biggest worry is the failure of new players to stake a claim for a place in the fowards,as you will already know I believe Stephen is the best manager in the country and would grasp with open arms If they were good enough,perhaps F Boland and C Loftus will step up but otherwise we will be relying on the same panel,which is just not enough we need at least six players good enough to bring on to get over the line,anyway we now can enjoy beating Galway next week
JC, you asked for the stats!! And now the stats are a problem!? Make up your mind man.
“stats are used to defend or provide evidence”. Is that supposed to be a counter argument? I am baffled by that.
I will indeed use stats to argue against baseless comments and vitriol that our players have to face when things aren’t going completely, flawlessly right. You were the one who claimed that Cillian demands to take frees (by taking by advantage of a weak management) because he knows it boosts his stats. Now I know evidence is something you don’t take seriously, but do you care to back up that claim?
In fact, don’t bother. I’m done with this. Cillian will continue to be our free taker because – and this is vital – he is our best free taker, and as demonstrated, is only bettered by Dean Rock in the entire country.
See ye in Salthill.
For anyone who is wondering Chicken Licken is a story about a chicken who thought the sky was falling down,brought a whole gang with him to tell the King..when in fact an acorn had fallen on his head..Lets be fair we have had many a chicken licken moment on this blog over the past few years..
And to echo a point made above Dublin have all their players at their disposal training together constantly,Kerry have TWO players in Dublin and we have EIGHTEEN..But that surely couldnt be a factor in our poor league form could it???!!!
Regina
I’m sure it has a major bearing on it. We can’t get too excited about losing to this kerry team in February , they will be the team to beat before long. Dublin’s AllIreland will be taken away by them I am thinking, though I’d never bet against this Mayo team, ever. They are a summer team and that’s not up for debate.
Mayo mark as they say in north mayo take plenty of no notice.
Mayo mark , I rubbished stats in the first place because they tell no real truths. There is circumstances in matches such as kick importantance etc that define the quality of a kick taker. Stats not show this , they are lazy because they include no analysis and like I say, great players don’t need people to tell them their stats but I don’t think you understand that concept so I will leave it and will also make no further comment on Cillian . Should he kick us to success this year I will be first to apologise and I will be delighted to do so. As for the see you in Salthill comment, I won’t get into a petty discussion about trying to prove who goes to the games and is therefore the greater supporter . Good luck ?
Jesus JC, I was putting that comment about Salthill out to everyone. I couldn’t care less if you go to games or not, or anyone for that matter.
Ok – my mistake. Hopefully a better performance than last night and I hope Cillian does the business
Stats tell the exact truth,you can have an opinion but not your facts if anyone believes that COC is not good enough to play for Mayo we have a problem,a real leader and will be at the front when we get there
The comment was that he shouldn’t be taking free kicks , not that he shouldn’t be in team. Secondly, at top level sports statistics are used but analysed very carefully because that are misleading, I have tried to explain that but maybe you need to do some reading into that . It is like saying a player is the best passer in the game because that complete the most passes, that doesn’t tell you how effective the passes are . As for being a leader , question marks there , he was sent off for club in county final with game to be won, that’s a stat and fact
Good spot there REDCOL in response to Ger Bohan on Donie B. And on the attendance completely agree – at least 15k there. Did anyone hear the Kerry roar at the end – they were there in numbers. Mikey Sheehy’s barbs must have hit home.
MayoDunphy, There is a massive difference between Donegal’s young guns last year and Kerry’s this year, Kerry have won the last 4 minor All Irelands and have several more talented young players that were not used last night. David Shaw to name but one is a first cousin of Aidan, Seamus and Conor O’ Shea is an exceptional talent, far more skillful than his cousins, a lethal forward with the O’ Shea physique to boot. Watch out for him in the years to come.
I did hear that Aussie Rules may be beckoning though.
Any one know is Alan freeman on the panel
Yes he is.
I used to love this site but sadly you have been told or threatened that to state your true opinion is no longer allowed. I get that going overboard on a player needs to be mediated. However I agree with someone’s analysis of this site calling it the new Arsenal T.V. Willie joe I love this site but allow people to call it as it is and regrow your balls as a man. This was the best Gaa blog at one time. Players need to realise they are watched from the stands and judged accordingly. And if they are critized then should learn from it. Should a player be named absolutely!!! You put on a green and red Jersey you should respect what that entails. So I will no longer follow these rules anymore. And it’s this fucking arrorgance of being happy as a runner up as well as the complete compliance to adore the Mayo GAA mafia I absolutely deplore.
Pittsburgh – I’ll ignore the personal abuse aimed at me in your comment. But I won’t ignore the fact that you clearly don’t know the rules about commenting here on the site. Criticising individual players after a game isn’t prohibited, it’s how it’s done is important. If anyone wants to go down that road – and plenty do, all the time – specifics to back up the allegation are required and what isn’t allowed is a lazy-minded “he’s not good enough” assertion. So, if you want to continue commenting here, then, yes, you’ll have to follow the rules. Maybe go and read them first before aiming bullshit allegations in my direction too.
Don’t need to press the panic button just yet lads. The big difference for me is the natural speed of our inside forward line combined with poor kick passing. The separation the kerry lads got from their defenders before they received the pass was really impressive. There was times in the first half that they had 2-3 meters separation which makes the pass into them a lot easier to execute as you can give a 35m pass out in front and they take it at speed and turn with no pressure. This puts the defender on the back foot and gives the forward a number of options. At the other end every time Regan/Douglas/Doherty got the ball they were swallowed up by their marker immediately. Its not that they are slow but we delay the pass until the very end and the defender is touch tight by that stage. The few times doherty and regan managed to get away from their maker the pass was hit high so they had to slow down to adjust and take it above their head and by the time they had it under control it was too late – swallowed up. Twice Douglas make good runs out in front pass was delayed, he stops , goes again then received a hand pass to his knees and by the time its in his possession he has no room , at the very best he might get a free but most likely swallowed up. I know we got our peno from Paddys great run and fist pass to Douglas where he was fouled but if that was a yard out the pitch all we would have for it would be a 14 yard free. I love to see the bursting runs but would prefer them to be coming from our half forward line which would give defenders less time to set themselves up and drop in front of goal. Last year our kick passing improved greatly when we got to croke park so maybe its only a sharpness thing . Unfortunately this year we need to be very sharp in May.