Maybe it was the influence of Ruislip last year, maybe it was simply a reflection of the fact that it was a Division One versus Division Four contest but, whatever it was, our lads certainly put in a performance that blew Leitrim’s challenge to pieces this afternoon at McHale Park. They kept with us for a fair bit of the opening half but once we’d rattled their net for the first time twenty minutes or so in, we quickly moved in for the kill and we had the job all but done by half-time.
It was hard to know what to expect coming into this one, our opening championship match of 2012. I was one of those who’d voted for the decisive win option in the pre-match poll and I was pretty much convinced beforehand that we should win with a bit to spare but, of course, we’ve all seen examples of matches where we’ve been slated to win easily and have ended up in far from easy scrambles. For all we knew in advance, today could have seen us caught up in another one of these sticky encounters.
In the opening quarter, the visitors went pretty much toe-to-toe with us. It was clear that they’d come with a plan, one that involved a fairly robust approach in the physical stakes allied to a determination to funnel back and defend in numbers. But they also showed an ability to move the ball rapidly up the field and to have a right run at us.
Central to all this was their go-to man, centre-forward Emlyn Mulligan, who saw plenty of ball in this period and who quickly put Donal Vaughan on the back foot. Donie never got to grips with the Melvin Gaels playmaker and before the half-hour mark Lee Keegan had been switched across to the middle. From then on, Mulligan’s influence on proceedings began to wane.
What really turned the contest our way, though, was our ability to get goals at the right time, with the first coming from Alan Freeman just after the 20 minute mark. At that stage we were just a point in front – with our opening six points coming from Cillian O’Connor (a free), Alan Dillon, Kevin McLoughlin, Keith Higgins (after a trademark explosive downfield surge), Lee Keegan and Dillon again – but then the move which ended in our opening goal saw the ball rapidly transferred downfield by Lee Keegan to Andy who then quickly offloaded to Kevin McLoughlin. Played in by the Knockmore man, Alan Freeman twisted and turned to make space for himself before emphatically smashing the ball to the net.
This score was immediately followed by a well-worked point with Andy – who’d had a bit of a mare early on, when he just couldn’t succeed in claiming any clean ball – cleverly handpassing the ball in along the inline for Danny Geraghty. The burly Ballintubber debutant collected it, drove on and boomed it over from close in.
You could see then that we were on the cusp of cutting loose. The Brother had observed after about ten minutes that the high-intensity approach of the Leitrim lads would soon see them run out of puff and as the half-time whistle approached it was becoming obvious that they were already struggling to stay with us.
Two Mulligan frees cut the gap back to three as Leitrim fought to keep us within range. Then a bad wide by Colm Boyle, which came after a free for us in a good forward position, suggested that we weren’t yet ready to press home our advantage to the full.
This soon changed, however, when Donie raided forward to set up Andy who smartly smacked the leather past McCrann for our second major of the day. Andy was then hauled down by the neck just outside the square and Cillian tapped over the resultant 14-yard free. From the kick-out, Barry Moran rose to seize clean possession and then ran through the heart of their defence before pointing to leave us a full eight points ahead at the break.
It didn’t take a genius to see that the match was as good as over then. I had been chatting to one of the Leitrim supporters before the throw-in and he’d reckoned the only game plan his team had come with was to stick with us for as long as possible in the hope that doubt would then creep into our minds and that we’d get sucked into a battle for which we weren’t prepared. He’d cheerfully agreed with my assessment that we’d try to bury them with goals and it was already clear at half-time that it was those two green flags that had all but killed off the Ridge County’s hopes.
We continued to turn the screw after the break. Kevin McLoughlin’s point from play got us going, with the visitors responding via a Mulligan free. Then Cillian weighed in with four pointed frees without reply, as Leitrim strove with increasing desperation to halt the waves of attacks now washing strongly in the direction of their posts.
With the result now transparently beyond doubt, James started to empty the bench and soon four subs – Richie Feeney (for Boyle), Ronan McGarrity (for Geraghty), Conor Mortimer (for Freeman) and Michael Conroy (for Doherty) – had all joined the fray. The latter was no sooner on the field when he was providing the assist for Andy’s second goal, which stretched our lead to a yawning fifteen points with the best part of twenty minutes still left on the clock.
By now, all of that early intensity had disappeared from the contest, the pace of which now more resembled that of a challenge match. Our replacements, however, still had every incentive to leave their mark on proceedings, with Richie Feeney prominent in both defence and attack and Michael Conroy busy and inventive in the forwards. Enda Varley, who came on a bit later in place of Andy Moran, also caught the eye with his obvious hunger for the ball, albeit in what was now a game where the pace was a bit the far side of slack.
We continued to rack up the scores. Ronan smashed over a nice point from well out, Alan Dillon finished a flowing move with a typically neat finish and Enda Varley – only on the field at that stage – thumped a left-footer over. A wide from the same player soon after was met with an indifferent silence, the ground already emptying as both sets of supporters sought to get away ahead of the traffic.
A good number of those who had left early would have been back in their cars by the time Kevin McLoughlin buried our fourth goal of the afternoon a few minutes before the end. Before that final green flag, Conor Mortimer had chipped over a close-in free and Michael Conroy had planted a lovely point from play.
Leitrim had by now – with five minutes to go – lost Fabian McMorrow to a second yellow and we were still showing no inclination to let up. Dillon, Mortimer and a number of others were involved in the build-up to McLoughlin’s goal and then Conor had all the time in the world to land his second point, this score from play also being the day’s final score, in a match where we ended up with an embarrassing, though fully deserved, 22-point winning margin to our credit.
It’s very hard to undertake any kind of critique on today’s performance. Leitrim were game but limited opponents and they simply couldn’t match what we had to bring to the contest over the seventy minutes. Twenty minutes, yes, but once we got going we simply steamrolled them. It wasn’t pretty, I doubt if too many Mayo supporters took too much joy in seeing our lads batter them into submission but – like me – I’m sure there was plenty of grim satisfaction that we’d done the kind of job on them that our 1/80 match-day odds suggested we’d be capable of doing.
Our full-back line wasn’t really tested today but all three looked after everything that came their way with solid efficiency. Kevin Keane couldn’t have had a more relaxed championship debut, Ger Cafferkey looked like a man well ready for more challenging contests while Keith was his usual busy self. Behind this trio, David Clarke didn’t really have anything to do but what he did he did okay.
The half-backs were, perhaps unexpectedly, the ones to raise the most questions about themselves today. Donie got a bit of a roasting from Mulligan and Colm Boyle didn’t command his area with the kind of authority that would have been anticipated in advance. Lee Keegan did well when moving across to 6 – it’s hard to believe that this was Lee’s first full championship start, so integral he’s now become for us – but the most eye-catching half-back performance today came from sub Richie Feeney. He’ll be pressing hard for a starting berth in three weeks time.
Danny Geraghty kept a low enough profile at midfield and I’d say it wasn’t just me that would have liked to see how a switch between himself and Donie would have worked out. The Ballintubber man did, though, see a fair bit of ball and he bagged a nice point in the first half. He should, I reckon, have been happy enough with how his championship debut went.
His midfield partner, Barry Moran, will be more than happy tonight. He put in a Man of the Match performance in the centre – undoubtedly his finest ever shift for the county – where he caught tons of clean possession and initiated attack after attack. There are still big questions about our midfield – most of them revolving round the issue of when we’re likely to see Aidan O’Shea rampaging around the middle third again – but you couldn’t fault the big Mitchels man’s contribution in this sector today.
Kevin McLoughlin also put in a very strong performance today and he kept popping up all over the place, his quick brain and quick hands keeping us moving. His late goal was a fitting reward for yet another good championship outing by the lively Knockmore man.
Kevin’s half-forward colleagues also did well, with Cillian deadly from frees and involved in many of our attacking movements. Alan remained further up the field today than he often does and I think this worked better for him and the team as a whole. The Brother reckons Alan might be better suited at this stage to a place in the full-forward line and I think he might have a point.
The full-forward line didn’t really sparkle but they all still had their moments. Andy couldn’t catch a cold for much of the game but he still thumped in two well-taken goals and while Alan Freeman didn’t see as much ball as you’d expect either he showed a real predatory instinct in the way he nabbed the game’s opening goal. Jason didn’t score today but he provided two or three lovely and very unselfish assists for points in the first half.
The subs did fine too, with Richie particularly prominent and Michael Conroy also intent on making his presence felt. Ronan got a rousing cheer when he came on and it was great to see the Ballinaman back in the thick of things again. Conor and Enda also did their bit to keep the scoreboard ticking over as the second half progressed.
So we’re back in the Connacht final with a second successive All-Ireland series appearance now looking to be on the cards. I sincerely hope we do make it back to Croke Park in early August as I have a second successive Connacht final RSVP to deliver, due to our impending summer holidays once the kids finish up at school. The provincial decider is sure to be a different kind of game to today’s lopsided encounter and today’s match wasn’t exactly ideal preparation for the final either but the lads did what they had to do today. If they do the same in three weeks time then they’re likely to do just fine in that one too.
Mayo: David Clarke; Kevin Keane, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins (0-1); Lee Keegan (0-1), Donal Vaughan, Colm Boyle; Barry Moran (0-1), Danny Geraghty (0-1); Kevin McLoughlin (1-2), Cillian O’Connor (0-6, frees), Alan Dillon (0-3); Alan Freeman (1-0), Andy Moran (2-0), Jason Doherty. Subs: Richie Feeney for Boyle, Ronan McGarrity (0-1) for Geraghty, Conor Mortimer (0-2, one free) for Freeman, Michael Conroy (0-1) for Doherty, Enda Varley (0-1) for Andy Moran.
* * * * * * *
A quick word about the minors, who laboured to a quite fortunate 1-6 to 0-6 win over Sligo in their Connacht semi-final in this afternoon’s curtain-raiser at McHale Park. Our lads never looked very convincing in this contest and their cause was helped in no small part by a very dubious penalty awarded to us shortly before half-time. Adam Gallagher, the team’s captain, converted the spot-kick with more than a little aplomb and it was this goal that eventually separated the teams at the finish.
Given the way the minor championship works, today’s win was the key one because regardless of how the Connacht final goes, our lads are now guaranteed a place in this year’s All-Ireland quarter-finals. Roscommon (who hammered Leitrim in their preliminary round clash yesterday evening) face Galway next weekend for the right to meet our lads in the final but on today’s evidence Tony Duffy and his backroom team will have plenty of work to get through (not least on basic team tactics) if we’re to have any hopes of landing our first provincial title at this level since 2010.
My thanks once again to Mayo Mick for his superb photos taken at McHale Park today, which I’ve used in this report (a few are mine but the good ones are Mick’s). It was great to meet up with Mick after the match and to see that he’s back on his feet once again.
Cleaned at number 6,the ‘goal machine’ held scoreless by one of the worst defences in the country,so much to look foward to when we meet a decent team.
Clement, do us all a favor and take your ramblings back to the Hogan stand.
Clement I suppose you will be backing Sligo to win the Connaught Final. ????. We had a problem with their t heir centre half forward in the early stages but management rectified that after 13 minute and the machine then moved smoothly . Well done everybody. Now for Sligo in Pearse Stadium ??????????????
maybe clements townies werent in the team take your negativity clem and shove it up the hogan stand then have a look and see if its up there if we won by double the score some people still wouldnt be happy would they clem
The very site you are telling Clement to return to boys by reacting like you are, the danger is you will turn this site into something similar. All he made was a comment with two valid points, one very alarming that a position we assumed was nailed down is not now as clear.
Beating Leitrim is in Mayos DNA, beating them by a big score is too. No fault of theirs, population and emigration has torn them to bits. A repeat of that score v Sligo will give me something to shout about and indicate we are a serious team. No….Sligo too good? Wasn’t it Leitrim that beat them last year. Those are the tests “big” teams should relish, lay down a marker and push forward.
I’d agree that Clement’s points are valid ones, even if the way he makes them (in the way that he’s also done in the past using a different nom de plume) leaves a bit to be desired. This is, after all, a site for Mayo supporters …
I think yesterday has reopened the debate about centre-back and, by extension, where it’s best to deploy Donie. Lee Keegan could easily play 6, with Richie Feeney taking his place on the wing; Danny Geraghty could also drop back to 6. Donie could play midfield but with Aidan O’Shea (we hope) returning there, what does this mean for Barry Moran? Could Donie be redeployed as far forward as 11 or is that stretching it a bit?
I think it’s also fair to conclude that neither Jason Doherty nor Alan Freeman (despite his goal) did enough yesterday to nail down their respective places for the final. Michael Conroy looks well-positioned to take one of those slots but what about the other? Is it time to think about shifting Alan Dillon inside, with maybe Pat Harte or even maybe Ronan McGarrity (this is PJ’s idea) at 12?
We may have won pulling up yesterday but we still have a few big calls to make on team selection ahead of the final.
Donie made a slow start on Mulligan and paid the price for it (and fair play to JH for his ruthlessness in making the switch). But look how he reacted – the next time he got the ball, he drove through the entire Leitrim defence before offloading to Andy for the killing second goal. And he played well for the rest of the day.
No matter how often you tell Mayo players to take opposition like Leitrim seriously, at the back of their minds they know they will almost certainly win. History, home advantage and the effects of emigration were all in Mayo’s favour yesterday.
Mentally, the odd player will slacken off that 5 or 10 per cent. A wake-up call is sometimes required : Donie got that. But the whole team – not just Vaughan – took about 20 minutes to step up to the pace yesterday.
I don’t think that this means DV is no longer centre-back material – remember how he fared against Cork, Kerry and Dublin in recent months. I think we’ll see him back at no. 6 and very tuned in come Sligo in three weeks’ time.
If we are to consider ourselves to be in the top 4 in the country then we had to beat Leitrim by at least 15 points and indeed we will need to beat Sligo by 10 before we can have any hope of progressing further in the competition. Get real lads all 5 other Connacht teams are in the lower leagues and NY is just developing the game. As time goes on I am more of the opinion that Vaughan needs to be pushed further forward. These light guys will have no hope when they come up against teak tough defenders from Cork, Dublin, Donegal and the likes.
Beat Sligo by 10? I don’t know Mayojoe – they stuffed Galway in Pearse Stadium, that’s something that Mayo teams haven’t done very often. Mayo should be good enough to beat Sligo at a neutral venue but it’ll be easier said than done. Sligo beat Mayo in 2010 and Kevin Walsh is no-one’s fool.
It looks like the decision on the venue for the final will be made tonight. @MayoGAA have said that an announcement will be made as soon as they get word on it.
Well said DavyJ, I don’t think we should dismiss Vaughan’s role as centre back after a dodgy 15 minutes.
I’d be more concerned with our full forward line. We really need to settle this area. Was disappointed that Freeman (despite the goal) and Doherty didn’t take advantage of their opportunity. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see Mort starting the next day.
A big strong full forward is a must, but I can’t see who would best fill that role. O’Shea and B Moran have been tried there, now they look like our first choice midfield pair.
Still, well done to all the lads on a fine victory. You can’t ask for much more than winning a championship game by 20+ points, no matter who the opposition are.
First off, job done and done well.
It is very hard to judge performances on that yesterday, opposition was really timid, GAA need to sort these david and goliath clashes by revamping the whole championship, thats another days debate though.
Our of yesterdays game, i would be looking to push Vaughan into midfield tbh, i think it would suit him, id start Varley too for the cf.
It would be good if we got a challenge match before the cf, Kerry would be my choice if it could be arrange.
Overall id still say we’re short of being serious contenders, could see Donegal/Kerry/Cork and Dublin beating us tbh but hopefully there is improvement between now and August and i’m wrong.
Kevin Walsh wont have learned too much from yesterday, but neither will Mayo. On a day that we in total control we only got 3 scores, goals from the starting full foward line.Is there something to learn from that? I’m not sure myself we had 13 different scorers on the day, 12 different scorers from play. Still we’ll need a few points from play from the full foward line V Sligo, think James Horan has plenty of options there, remember its quite a while since Andy Moran played at no 14 & I can’t remember this particular full foward line starting a match together, so James Horan will have some fine tuning to do in this area before we meet Sligo. Great to see our wing fowards playing so well, Dillon showed just how good a foward he is when freed from having to win the broken ball around midfield, & Kevin McLoughlin is just Mayo’s best player this year in my opinion, he has an engine as good as Colm Mac’s an that saying something.Great also to see Barry Moran having a stormer hope he drives on now & repeat the performance V Sligo. Our back’s were on totally on top last 50 minutes Keegan / Vaughan swap worked well & Richie Feeny looked good enough to be a possible starter for the Connaught final. So I think James Horan will make a few changes positional & in personell with in my opinion Conor Mortimer,Richie Feeny chomping at the bit to break trough, Big Barry Moran likely to have a new partner, maybe Donie, maybe the one of the O’Sheas might be recovered enough to make an appearance if not fit to start, In any event we have plenty of cover in this area with Pat Harte, Jason Gibbons & Ronan McGarrity all wondering when & if they will get there chance, our best option is beyond doubt AOS but a big question mark remains over his fittness. So congrats to the lads for a very professional display, tougher challenges lie ahead & no doubt we”ll learn much more from our Connaught final tie next time out.
Not a hope I think we’ll get playing Kerry in a challenge. They have too much on their minds with the qualifiers. It would be interesting to see how DV would manage in midfield but surely it’s too late now to be making such a big call in a Conncaht final what with all the midfielders on the sideline waiting their turns for a chance.
Great thing about ysterday was the the performance overall. It proved that we should be taken seriously this year (at least by ourselves if not by the rest of the country). It also showed that their are places up for grabs and fellas will have to perform in training and on the day to keep in the loop. It’s the right way to have it.
Only serious drawbacks I could see were for Leitrim. Brolly made a very good point on the Sunday Game last night. He said that Dublin had just won new sponsorship from Vodafone worth 6 Million over 5 years – i.e. 1.2 Million per year. Leitrim he said have to operate on a budget of 20K per year. Thats a shocking difference and is just another example of how far the game has come.
Really we are in the professional era of Gaelic games in everything but name.
I am not saying we will beat Sligo by 10 points. What I am saying is that if we dont we will find it nigh impossible to beat the likes of Cork and Dublin. Going on the Sligo beat Galway theory is all one thing. Their personnel have not changed much since last year when Leitrim beat them.
i dont buy that at all mayojoe and likewise i wasnt down with john cuffes assertion that we needed to hammer leitrim, i owuld be happy with a 1 or 2 point win all the way to the final as long as the team were developing and beating whats in front of them , in 09 we hammered the rossies at the semi stage and then got past galway only to surrender to a poor enough meath team.. its no indicator at all , in my humble opinion.
I see what you’re saying Mayojoe – and I hope that we do give Sligo a trimming. But remember we squeaked past Roscommon by a couple of points last year in a poor Connacht Final. Not many would have given us a chance against Cork in the Q-F based on that.
Whatever about the margin of victory – if it is to be a victory – I just hope that Mayo get a serious examination from Sligo, that we get put to the pin of our collars and have to dig deep. The team had to do that last year against London, Galway and Roscommon and I believe that stood to them against Cork.
Kerry were a bridge too far but hopefully the two good results against them in the league will help psychologically if we have to meet them again. Please God we’ll get that far that we have to worry about it!
well done mayo. 4 20 and still some are not happy. i suppose thats mayo folk for you,
Just gonna throw this idea out there. Cork have benefitted well from playing Pearse O’Neill at CF but playing almost as an additional midfielder with license to burst forward. Aidan O’Shea complemented by Vaughan and B Moran could do this. The way I see this working is
Vaughan as the defensive/box 2 box midfielder, with Keegan goalside of him at kickouts
Moran holds the centre with McLoughlin and Boyle off him for breaks
O’Shea as the attacking midfielder with Feeney working off him, and Dillon if necessary
Dillon playing and staying on the 40, closer to goal without the necessity of working back all the time. In front of him an orthodox full forward line. That way we have 3 potential fielders, and 4 outballs from midfield for quick ball to be played into.
Mortimer, Doherty, Freeman, Gibbons, McGarrity, Harte, Varley, S McHale, S’Shea, D Geraghty and Hennelly on the bench are good impact subs.
Clarke
Keane Cafferkey Higgins
Feeney Keegan Boyle
Vaughan B. Moran
A O’Shea Dillon McLoughlin
Conroy Moran O’Connor
Is there any link that you could watch the Sligo/Galway game on?
Id like to see it again.
Ignore my post , i’ve got it.
http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10032040
It’s on the RTE Player for the 9th of June:
http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10032040
I heard someone say at the match that o Connor should have being off,what do you think he should stay corner forward anyone agree
The venue for the Connaught Final – It is being fixed to-night. I was in Castlebar yesterday and it was my first time in the new structure. On previous occasions during the year for league games I was on the McHale Road side.The TV/ Press box turned out well after all the turmoil.
The new stand should have a gangway the entire length that would allow people to walk from one end to the other and it should be half way up. If you want to get to the end of the stand you ask people to stand up. If you try to carry coffee/tea through people it is dangerous. You have to go down to the front wall to walk the whole way to the end of the stand.. Are the vomiteries sufficient to let the crowd exit?
The Taoiseach and other V.I.P’s were in a front row over the tunnell and every Tom Dick and Harry was passing them and blocking their view and of course shaking hands with them. They should have been put back about five rows so that they would have an un-interupted view or else have the short passage in front of them blocked off.
Donie Vaughan at midfield?. Please spare us another genuis for midfield, It now seems that anyone who cannot play in their position are now to become great midfielders.
You have Aiden & Seamus o Shea, Barry Moran, Jason Gibbons, Pat Harte, Ronan McGarrity, Danny Geraghty, and now Donie Vaughan, You have half a team all midfielders. Not one of them would them would get on the Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone or Donegal subs. After looking at yesterdays display we are a long, long way off winning Sam, For 20 mins a Leitrim team gave as good as they got. Its grand to say Barry got man of match award. Against Donegal, Cork, in league went hiding. Also we will never get a national title as James has never picked the same team in all same positions for 2 games in a row. Again yesterday he brought on Mc Garrity and he didnt show any better than last year, Danny Geraghty has not got pace for midfield.He got cleaned at midfield as did Barry in the first half. My man of match yesterday was Mulligan, what a class act. A lot of fellows were caught out yesterday. When you had to replace all the greats 13,14,15. then it is time to take stock. We require men not boys, Please spare us another list of midfield failures. When it comes to picking players look at who is natural footballes for that position and stop making places for ” he might suit there if”.
Very positive from true grit. What does he want or expect. Critical of Moran McGarrity and Geraghty and the entire full forward line . Maybe true grit knows some players that James H hasnt discovered yet. Team did ok yesterday against admittedly limited opposition. Easy option is to compare us to dubs cork and kerry and say we re not up to it.Lets see what these guys can do before being over critical.
Regards Donie Vaughan’s struggle with Mulligan early on it is not possible for a centre half back to mark a man who is constantly roving to the wing while manning the pivotal no 6 spot and keeping the centre of defence intact. When Keegan did the man marking job Vaughan was able to concentrate on his main role with good effect.
Remenber Tony Hanahoe taking Tim Kennelly around Croke Park while Mullins and Brogan rampaged through the centre?
More significant early on was the fact that Leitrim’s midfield was more than a match for ours until Shane Moran’s influence declined – due I am told to a knock he sustained about thhe 20 minute mark and which prevented him from lining out for the second half.
I would continue with the present full forward line as with Mortimer/Conroy/Varley the goals were not coming and we need to up our goal scoring rate. While those three are excellent in their way their first instinct is to go for the point and they will hardly change now. Doherty and Freeman may not be the answer but it is worth persisting with them until we know.
Regards the minors, I have never seen a good minor performance at this time of year. Most of them are just out of Leaving Cert exams and not in football mode for the past few weeks
Looking forward to a long summer = both with minors and seniors.
Relax there True Grit. 20 minutes of a minnow going hard at their opposition was to be expected. As you know this is the case in all sports – think Ireland rugby vs any team in the 90’s!
Also to put the performance in context you will recall that Kerry had a sloppy opener v Tipp earlier this summer. Mayo won by 20 plus points yesterday. That’s a hammering at any level.
Vaughan is a half back and a damn good chb at that. He was nominated for an All Star last year – he had a poor 20 minutes; big deal – he dealt with it and ended up playing well. His positional sense is very good and he also causes havoc when he runs in straight lines at pace.
Freeman and Doherty will struggle to hold their places. Mortimer should play vs Sligo. Im a fan of Varley. His first instinct is always to shoot which is a good thing! AOS if not needed on July 15th will certainly be required in Croker.
Forget the big man at FF Horan tried it – bar an exceptional talent you need a natural full forward to play this position not a converted midfielder. Mayo have great pace in the side – they are better conditioned than last year too – both will be needed in the open space of Jones Rd ( if they do the job in the Hyde next month!).
Jesus theres no pleasing some people .. As the T Davis said on the sunday game…… we’re damed if do and damed if we don’t. Mayo went out to do a job and in fairness they applied themselves well . Leitrim gave it a go 4 about 20 minutes but the out come was never in any doubt.. the amount of chopping and changing people want ta do wit the team now is mind boggling.. according to some people half the team is no good or are in the wrong positions or are not county standard.. with regard to AOS I would hope he resumes training this week because he has lost a serious amount of work just when he was really showing well..and we really need him if we are involved in the latter stages of the championship..