Last night’s game won’t be remembered fondly from our perspective, as Kerry’s hard-hitting young guns claimed the spoils at MacHale Park, but it’s a performance that still needs to be analysed and this is what we do in the last edition of the Mayo News football podcast.
In this week’s episode we take you through the action as it happened, including that incredible drop-goal winner from Johnny Sexton in Paris, and then we analyse a match that turned out to be a real disappointment from our point of view.
Host Rob Murphy and I describe the key in-game events and then Rob and I chat afterwards with Mayo News doyen Sean Rice. After that Rob catches up with Billy Joe Padden and Mike Finnerty for more post-match ruminations while Ger Flanagan gets reaction from both Stephen Rochford and Eamon Fitzmaurice.
The podcast is now available to listen to on SoundCloud and iTunes and you can also listen to it here on the site either by clicking the player below or the one on the sidebar to the right. Have at it!
You know a lot of us myself included are on here giving out about last nights results and fellas that aren’t good enough etc but I haven’t seen many posts wishing Evan Regan well from what I seen at the match he took some belt and looked dazed and confused coming off the pitch. I know our guys didn’t set the world alight last night but they put in so much hard work and effort behind the scenes it’s unreal they really don’t owe us anything. I messaged Evan this morning to wish him well and fair play he had the decency to
Reply I think we should all show him we are right behind him and wish him well in his recovery.
How is his jaw? Best wishes to him and his colleagues, they met a kerry side that had a point to prove and will be a major force in the coming years. There’s a lot of skill in them, I can see them torching Dublin in a year or 2 and putting up a big score in a semi or final on them. As for Mayo, after last years adventure, I wouldn’t bet against them no matter how bleak it looks, they will do enough to stay in division 1 and Galway in May are the target they have as of today.
Next week, reape and Loftus and treacy should be played and told that they have to score from open play, we need a scorer from play to step up.
Yes for sure these guys owe us nothing, so many of them have served their county so well and continue to do so. But its now 2018, we are in a new season. new teams all around us and a new era most likely with so many teams trying to evolve and change. We have tried a few lads in the FBD and its time to continue that approach in the league all be it within a well balanced team. Its high time for us to deploy Brendan Harrison at full back for 3 or 4 league games. He has all the attributes for that jersey and could potentially be one of the finest in that role in the country.
So after today’s games Kildare, Tyrone and Donegal are pointless. Galway will be full of confidence and see beating us as virtually guaranteeing them safety as well as leaving us in a hole. On top of that losing to them would be in danger of becoming a habit. We have to hit the ground running next Sunday and take control from the outset.. We don’t want Galway safe with two or three games to play and able to concentrate on the 13th of may while we are battling for every point we can get A win is a must.
Fans should now demand Ciaran Treacy ,Conor Loftus and Brian Reape to be played.Reape has done very well on the Galway full back Sean Andy in recent times
We are going nowhere unless we unearth a forward. Fair enough he tried Regan and Dougie but there struggling,no score from play from either last nite.
Hopefully Tom parsons is back for Galway and he partners Aidan O’Shea with him and leaves space to try Reape Loftus or Treacy in the forwards.
Stephen Coen does not look to have the pace at this level Sean O’Shea left him in his wake last nite till Durcan was moved on him plus his shot on goal in a gud position was really poor, we would be better trying Michael Plunkett and Sharoize Akhram who both have serious pace.
I would like to see captaincy given to Colm Boyle especially next week against Galway and the rest of the season hes the most natural born leader we have, Aido and Cillian do not need the added pressure of the captaincy.
I think we should play Mc Donagh on Comer next week. Hopefully Parsons will be back–a lot of who we have available will depend on how the Sigerson goes this week.
That’s true regarding Brian Reape and Sean Andy. 2-0 to Reape over their two meetings.
Ger McDonagh is surely the man for Comer.
Treacy I think will make a big impact when he puts a few kilos on.
But sure JP Ciaran Treacy is bigger than both Neil Douglas and Evan Regan and was scoring more than Regan for Ballina last season, its probably Peter Naughton from Knockmore that needs to add a few kilos ,he is probably one of the most skillful forwards in the county at the minute hes tall enough but has a light frame.
Yes I agree Ger McDonagh has to start full back next week on Comer , Ger Caff is not aggressive enough to mark Comer and Sharoize or Plunkett at centre half back.
About Ciaran Treacy Im thinking more a big impact. For that he needs to be a bit bigger/stronger.
Clarke
Harrison McDonagh ODonoghue
Boyle Durcan Nally
Parsons Gallagher
McLoughlin OShea D OConnor
Doherty Reape Loftus
Adam Gallagher isn’t a midfielder at intercounty level. Maybe play Aidan alongside Parsons and Gallagher in the forwards.
Having said that, Galway look to be flying and playing a half fit midfield combination could be dodgy.
It maybe a start if Conor Loftus gets more than 30 seconds on the pitch, and Adam Gallagher left on the bench again. Kerry demonstrated if your good enough you’re old enough. Sean o Shea is still U20 I believe, and you hear it’s to early for the likes of Matthew Ruane. Not sure what the average age of the team was but hats off to them as we were outclassed all over the pitch last night. Manager really needs to react quicker on the sideline. Midfield totally outclassed by a U22 player Barry o Sullivan and Jack Barry a couple of years older. Douglas was beat for every 50/50 ball, Coen a manager favorite may need to move back to the fullback line as his distribution and attempts at scoring are woefull. How on earth did he line out as a half forward last year. Better put this one behind us but the manager doesn’t appear to want to chance his substitution strategy or lack of one. How are young players going to learn if they don’t get playing time. Sigerson shouldn’t be an excuse nearly half of that Kerry match day panel are playing Sigerson
UCD
Jack Barry
Barry o Sullivan
Brain o Seanachain
DIT
Ronan Shanahan
DCU
Eanna o Conchuir
UCC
Jason Foley
Brian o Beaglaioch
Sean o Shea
Killian Spillane
Andrew Barry
Tralee IT
David Clifford
Kerry lost young star David Clifford to what looked like a hamstring strain. He’s been playing Sigerson. I think our management has been good at managing injuries especially last year when only Keane ruled out with a serious injury.
Few of our players e.g. P Durcan play Sigerson but most held back.
That said changes were too slow last day… even Andy made wrong decisions because the rot had already set in. Reminded me of Tyrone at home a few years back. Kerry were no great shakes in some facets (few bad wides though not near as many as us) and their backs were there for the taking if we stopped kicking in so much before our collective passing radar gets fine tuned.
BackdoorSam, I think it goes without saying that everyone wishes Evan all the best.. He shouldn’t have to put up with such an assault as was committed on him yesterday evening.. He got hard time from the Monaghan defence last week as well, some of it well within the rules of MMA, but not Gaelic-football… I think it’s past time a ‘Citing Panel’ was brought in use by the GAA… An act of thuggery as was administered yesterday on Evan was away worse than anything that the Monaghan defence threw up , should in my opinion receive a 3 match ban at least!… I don’t know the nature of the injury sustained by Evan but we certainly missed him when he left the field…… I agree that we need a more robust player than Ger Cafferkey to try and curtail Damien Commer, who is in a rich vein of form at the moment… That not saying that Caff shouldn’t play, just not on Commer. Not sure if Kevin Keane has reacquainted himself with the world of football enough just yet for the job,.. But Kevin has put Damien in his pocket in previous encounters… Ger McDonagh might just be the man for the job..
On rewatch David Clifford left Caff so badly for dead on the turn. Gained so much time and space to settle and shoot. That lack of agility will always be exposed by accurate forwards as they will go on to shoot the score to highlight the root cause, lack of agility by the defender.
Time for performance of refs to be analyzed and rated, need some accountability
The ability of refs to remain unbiased when doing their job is sadly lacking, Don’t expect refs to get everything right, all one asks for is fairness for both sides.. Seen prominent ref last nite on TV( clear for all to see )high fiving a Dublin player before the start of a match… Clearly this ref has no idea, or understands how our unconscious and conscious bias effects our work and view point. What does Aidan o Shea have to do to get a free? What protection against thuggery was afforded Mayo players last nite.? . Why was a ref from Munster selected to ref the match?
Mayo will learn from last nite , and will get the opportunity to put Kerry in their place later on this year. But Kerry are on the way back a lot quicker than people think….Hope Mayo have SAM by the lugs by then. Lastly lets lay off the personal criticism of players who stand up to be counted and take frees.. Questions need to be asked why well established left footed players on the squad are not racing over to take frees on the right that are easy for left footed players……
Diarmuid OConnor will fit to play at midfield and make space for Adam Gallagher. Reape at corner forward. I would continue to try Coen at centre half back. He is still a quality footballer.
Big problem at full back. Cafferky a disappointment this weekend and Keane not the answer. Ger McDonagh not for me but he could be worth a try.
I honestly don’t think it’s fair to consider Akram starting. He could be an impact sub because he offers serious pace, makes good runs, and needs to be given early ball. He is also playing sigerson this week.
Any posters getting to those matches please keep us updated.
A poor performance, we grabbed defeat from jaws of victory, cillian needs to spend this week practising frees or else leave the frees to doc, AS supporters we need to up our game. the cheering and shouting support from the stand was poor last night.IT was so different from ennis and limerick in the summer.we need to bring our cheering voices and flags to salthill next sunday .we need to beat galway on sunday to take the pressure off,and lay down a marker for MAY
@richardmgd Harrison was played full back last night on geaney and in truth struggled and didn’t have a good game however as he has had a few good seasons he seems to get a pass but the lazy analysis by people that may or may not have been at the game is that caff was roasted etc. I really do despair at times…mayo the best fans in the country my arse!
Caff was subbed after 20 minutes and was injured for 5 minutes before he came off. He deserves a chance to see if he can build on the Monaghan game although I hope he’s not put on Comer next week. I don’t like the idea of playing Diarmuid in midfield. He’s a real scoring threat and goal poacher from wing forward. Leave him there.
Will galway bate mayo.
Not a change?
It’s about time our forwards sat back and took a long hard look at their performances over the last two League games. Their lack of pace and movement off the ball and their fear of shooting makes one wonder are they getting any forward coaching at all. They seem to be playing with fear all the time and their build-up play is so slow it allows defenders plenty of time to get back in position. Another thing, we don’t seem to have one forward with the pace, skill level or strength to take on and beat his man, a rear sight indeed in the current setup.
I think we will beat Galway and we have too
If I am right when cillian was a minor, Maurice Sheridan was brought in to help him with the frees ,maybe it’s time to bring him back as cillian confidence from frees is gone,doesn’t look the player he was,Jason has to be free taker from now on.
We are sound for defenders but it’s scoring forwards we need,we have to try reape/Tracy or naughton as I think neither Regan/Douglas are county players,
I also think that Jason gibbons is a good club player but struggles outside of Connaught,maybe worth a try at full back when Seamus and tom p is back,something like Mickey Harte done with Cormac Mcnallen,I also think management are very slow in making changes,time to try something different or we will come up short this year again?
So we were beaten by a hungry young Kerry team. It’s hard to take but game 2 of league…won 1 lost 1… I have total faith in this Mayo team and management. They’ll do what they need to and be there once again as one of the last 2 standing. We’ve become obsessed with winning AI and I believe we need to start enjoying our football again. Maigheo go deo. Always Mayo.
Fenton plays midfield for Dublin but. Carves out and takes his scoring chances too. I don’t see why DOC could not do the same. Current midfield very limited, tho Nally is able to take a long range score and I have hope for him. Coen is capable of man for man marking job and may be the man for Comer, provided he has learned from the very capable Sean O Sea. Coen might be more suited to Come.
There is a worrying inconsistency about Cafferky, but I accept he should not be judged on his twenty mins last sat.
Ger Cafferkey picked up an injury early on last night and left the field with little more than 20 minutes played. To allege he was inconsistent is absurd, he was INJURED!
Based on Galways performance today, we are in for a very tough afternoon in Salthill next Sunday. I said whoever won the physical battle would win last night. Did not think it would be Kerry. Same applies next Sunday but this time cant see it being Mayo!
I am not suggesting he his inconsistent based on his performance last Saturday but more on his performances over the past year. His return to his more usual self v Monaghan is encouraging but unfortunately it’s equally absurd to elevate him based on one good performance. Is Caff the man to mark Comer next weekend and other than injury, if not why not? I think every supporter in the county would love to see him back to his best. We certainly need him as we are grasping at straws…..
Thanks for that clarification, Ontheditch. Your original comment read to me like you were drawing conclusions based on last night but your subsequent one clears that up. I’d agree that Ger has struggled since he came back from that horrendous injury and I’m not sure I’d have him on Comer either.
Well said w.j. cant wait till galway game is over.
I just hope most of the comments are wums.
Its only early feb.
Watched the game when i came home nothing to what i saw in mchale park
As i said before well done kerry.
Np WillieJoe, we would all love to see him back at his best, he is always a quality player, one of the best full backs we’ve ever had in a position that has often been our Achilles heal.
Caff is a true mayo man in that he is doing his damdest to come back from an injury that would have sent lesser men to hang up their boots. The Monaghan game was so good for him mentally, let’s hope the latest injury is a minor blib.
It’s time for cool heads and if we don’t beet Galway so be it and it’s not fair to say players names having bad games because there family’s are on this site too please stop because the players them self, s know they had a bad game
Let’s me honest here Willie joe and call it out …
Ger has been very poor the last few years , put s fast forward on him and he hasn’t a hope … it’s embarrassing
Ok he played well last Sunday , but see what happened him the first 15 mins
Imagine what he would be like in summer , when the ground is hard and lads flying fit
Come off it, Mayoman – Ger was out for over a year, with the same injury that ended the career of Paul O’Connell amongst others. I don’t think he fits into the way we set up when we get to Croke Park (in the same way that Kevin Keane didn’t in 2016) and I doubt, if we get that far, he will this year either. But I won’t castigate him for the short period he was on the pitch last night – plenty of others in the backline had a rough time in trying to contain their men. Ger was far from the only one.
National League panel going by last 2 weeks
David Clarke
Robbie Hennelly
Brendan Harrison
Ger Cafferkey
Eoin O’Donoghue
Colm Boyle
Paddy Durcan
Shane Nally
Stephen Coen
Caolan Crowe
Sharoize Akram
Ger McDonagh
Michael Hall
James Stretton
Aidan O’Shea
Jason Gibbons
Danny Kirby
Barry Moran
Diarmuid O’Connor
Kevin McLoughlin
Andy Moran
Jason Doherty
Cillian O’Connor
Evan Regan
Neil Douglas
Conor Loftus
Fergal Boland
Adam Gallagher
Ciaran Treacy
Fionn McDonagh
Injuries/Break
Tom Parsons
Keith Higgins
Chris Barrett
Donie Vaughan
Seamie O’Shea
Lee Keegan
To be fair Willie Joe Ger was getting roasted before he got injured. It was a bad call by management putting him on Clifford a 17 year old with pace to burn that’s going to be a huge star
I’m not sure he was being “roasted” Backdoorsam but Clifford was proving a handful alright, just like O’Shea and Geaney were too.
Best wishes to Evan in his recovery if it is indeed a broken jaw
Cafferkey was excellent in Clones–back to his best. This was not the time to show your hand re matchups.Cool down everybody. If regan had avoided that tackle & goaled he would be a hero now. Hard for forwards to prove themselves on that type of ground.
Had a comment all typed out but the internet dropped and I lost it all. Probably just as well – it’s a Monday, I haven’t had any coffee this morning and I’m frozen in my office so I’m pretty sure I’d have fallen foul of moderation on this one. But let’s just say I’m firmly in Liam’s camp on some of the comments and histrionics here.
Best wishes to Evan, I am really gutted for him and I really hope he recovers soon. What happened was the equivalent of assault and it is absolutely galling to think there will be no repercussions. Kerry were red rotten, filthy on Saturday and it’s clear that the young lads are learning well from what came before them. What’s more embarrassing than the result though is the way we let them away with it on our home ground.
Delighted to see Diarmuid having a good game and hopefully it signals a return to his top form. I agree that he needs to stay on the wing.