Another championship match involving the county – this one devastatingly different from the ones that preceded it – and so it’s time for another edition of the Mayo News football podcast. This one focuses on yesterday’s extraordinary crushing of Roscommon in the All-Ireland quarter-final replay at Croke Park.
On this week’s show, we hear from Paul Earley for Sky Sports, Ciaran Murphy of Second Captains and Frank Roche of the Herald. Ger Flanagan and Edwin McGreal take you through the game and Mike Finnerty anchors the show. Stay tuned for the thoughts of Keith Higgins too.
This latest episode of the podcast is now available on both iTunes and SoundCloud and you can also listen to it here on the site – all you need to do is click the player below. Enjoy!
Waiting all day for this one!
Looking forward to it.
Hopefully it will bring a bit if perspective back. Can’t believe over reaction and expectation after yesterday’s win.
Perspective is very important but we should have no fear on that front. The players and management have ‘been there worn the t-shirt’ and will be well grounded. They deserve praise and credit for yesterday’s performance but now that Kerry are in view the minds will be focussed on the mamoth task in hand. A Kerry friend of mine was quick to text me at full-time yesterday ‘Mayo for Sam’ and ‘it’s Mayo’s year’ which quite frankly got under my skin. It does highlight the view from Kerry of us. I would love to put one over on them – I believe we can do it and any coach will tell you that a team is at their most dangerous when they have a wrong to put right.
Kerry are cute hoors at telling you you’re going to win, a fella said to me in Limerick ye have it in the bag, I smiled knowing well what he was up to. Don’t believe a single thing they say when it comes to football. They’ll tell you what you want to hear. And don’t tell them anything about the team if ye have any inside news.
But yes we have a wrong to right and that will greatly motivate our players. The more Kerry style cute hoorism we do ourselves the better. Say it was just a flash in the pan and something Mayo can’t repeat. Even 10% or 20% complacency among their fans is enough to keep some of them at home. They may be good at it but every time we meet one tell them they are the real AI favourites and should have beaten Dubs by more in league final. And that we’re huge underdogs. Repeat often enough and they will believe it.
Kerry will be huge opponent and favourite for a reason.Of course we can beat them but we cant have any more off days.It is no ones fault when we do but that wont make it easier.
Can we accept this is our best team with Keegan and stop promoting wholesale changes.
If these lads cant do it then it cant be done.
One man that we have full-time in our team in 2017 compared to 2014 is Tom Parsons. In the 2014 drawn game Jason Gibbons started at midfield. David Moran kicked two points in the opening half. Tom was brought on at half-time in that game and was a big addition, especially with us being down to 14 men after Lee Keegan was sent off. Barry Moran started the replay but he didn’t really look fully fit enough or match fit to take on David Moran or Anthony Maher. Tom came on in that game as well. Overall Kerry came out on top in the middle third that evening. So in terms of coming out on top in the midfield battle on Sunday week, Tom Parsons starting the game should be a big addition for us.
We actually did not play well in Limerick and lived of scraps for long periods. We got cleaned at midfield. Our forwards were very economical. The biggest injustice that day was Enright not getting sent off.
“Cant believe the expectation after yesterdays win”
Yet to read a comment or hear anyone I know say we are going to win an all Ireland. I dont understand where these notions come from, tis the same on social media . Just show me some evidence to back up your claim.
I agree. Nobody I know is saying that at all (that Mayo will win the Al) . The sole focus is on getting a performance which may or may not be good enough to unseat Kerry. I think that’s just lazy stereotyping coming from some (from outside the county) who remember how hyped we used to be in getting to finals in the nineties and noughties. We are a far more grounded bunch these days. Midfield will be vital for us but so too will a bit of luck – something we didn’t get in 2014.
i passed James Horan on Jones’s Road yesterday. That wasn’t hard as we were both going in opposite directions. How about that for ‘consistently competitive’ was something I did not shout over to him, because I wasn’t alert enough to pass such a smart comment.
But consistently competitive is what we have been. Seven semi finals in a row, and some brilliant memories to carry with us. We may do nothing from here on in, but the journey so far has been mighty and I’m old enough to really savour this stuff – for the next few days at least. Time enough to worry about Kerry, shortly.
My man of the match? Voted for Keith, but in reality Rochy was well in the running. When i came out of Croker last week I was really down; felt we could be a beaten docket and that the Rossies held all the advantages for the replay. Maybe it’s the fact that two more QFs have come before the replay, but I was saying to myself that we should be going through a brick wall to get onto the field by Monday, and what had the Rossies really done apart from the 2 very good goals? Rochy had really got them mentally tuned for it when they started yesterday.
So it was, that I was able to relax yesterday, and at the 66th minute i said to my Mayo neighbour, ‘there’s no way we’re going to lose this one now’.
A brilliant performance yesterday that silenced the completely over the top criticism both inside and outside the county and we have headers on here telling us to calm down. Jesus Christ but I really wonder about some people. No one here is getting carried away, nor is anyone I talked to, yet we cannot even savour a 20 point drubbing of our noisy neighbours for 24 hours. I’d say some of ye must eat a bag of lemons for breakfast your that bitter.
I returned to work in the heart of Roscommon today. I told the boss that he didn’t have to pay me for today, just being there was payment enough.
Sean Burke don’t understand are you saying people should be making bold statements that we’ll be the AI winners…. or the exact opposite that we have no chance. If it’s the later why do you bother supporting Mayo?
What people think I sense is we have improved greatly but need another huge performance against Kerry and if we win that worry about Tyrone or Dublin who are both motoring well. Most people think Kerry are a very good team but not world beaters and particularly that their defense can be got at. If they patch their defense too much it will blunt their attack. An OK Mayo team beat a very weak Kerry team in the league but they came good in the final. Roscommon imploded a bit worse than the other 3 losing QF teams but our pace intensity and relentlessness were top notch. If we replica even close to that then Kerry will be in a huge battle.
Kerry’s best defensive performance in recent years was in the 2014 AI final where they played a double sweeper to perfection until near the end when they would probably have been beaten by the worse team on the day had it not been for a goalkeeping error. They now have more seasoned personnel apart from losing 2 veterans but not convinced they are any better in that zone. They were unable to mark Cillian in 2014 especially in the drawn game and if Aido drifts in a few times he could do untold damage. Limerick was both teams most courageous performance and would hope Mayo dig deep from that experience much like Galway vs Tipp trilogy in the hurling.
Kerry capable of a better defensive plan than their last game so our management team need to be adaptable. If any if Kerry’s plans backfire we need to seize on them.
I’m expecting a momentous battle against kerry. Both teams will be fully tuned in. Mayo will have to be dogged. Every one knows how well kerry can play if they are given the room and allowed to play. They are also teak tough and won’t mind the physical stuff either. We have the ammunition to go toe to toe with them and the experience and plenty of incentive. It’s a tough one to call. You would expect kerry to be slight favourites but not overwhelming favourites. That’s exactly what we need. Outsiders to win.
I’m hoping the Dublin Tyrone affair is explosive. I can see cards been given out in that game, in fact that’s a certainty.
Mayo’s strategy will change again for kerry. I think it has to. Give them a little something they are not expecting. I know Donaghy is a big player for them and has been doing well. Using him though points to them lacking something else. If they thought they were playing top football all over the field believe me they would not be sending in these high balls route 1 to Donaghy. They are using him because their usual brilliant standards aren’t quite up to scratch. Think we have a real chance of coming out on top but it isn’t goin to be easy. Nothing has been easy this year except for yesterday so I think that helps us as well. Really looking forward to this encounter.
Over reaction this week is the same as over reaction last week except its in a different direction. Sure we played well yesterday and didnt play well last week and so many get carried away in both directions. If we lose to Kerry the knives will be out again, but if we win I think I will over react myself.
Would also think a win would really do wonders for our young manager. Thought he had a great year last year but needs to take down either Fitzmaurice or Gavin or both. Think it would really help his development as a top class manager.
I know we bet Hartes Tyrone last year and did brilliant against Dublin but to beat Kerry would bring Stephen up to the next level. It would be a huge confidence booster for him before an all ireland final and would also build the confidence that the team have in him. Think we need all these little percentages to win Sam.
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Donaghy didn’t start and was torpedoed in at some point after the break. Who knows, they could even start Barry John, and really test our full back line with skill and pace from the start. This is where Keith as sweeper is going to be of real benefit. I must say at the start of this season I’d have put my house on it being the role again for Kevin Mc. However, Keith now is excelling in the role and looks to have gotten a new lease of life. Good timing for us. We’ll need every bit of it.
Aside from the obvious quality full forwards Kerry have, players we also need to be concerned about are D. Walsh and S. O’Brien. The latter is an absolute speedster and line breaker and makes towards goal if he gets a sniff. I think he’lll start. I’d also add Paul Murphy to that list as a massive threat.
Buckley, Walsh, and David Moran are the ones who’ll be launching bombs into Donaghy. I agree we can’t always stop this but we need to put extreme pressure on the passes to reduce their quality. I don’t think Kerry will get the same space outfield as they did against Galway, who were simply beaten before they took to the field. Lee will be lurking in the general outfield area and will help to execute said pressure.
More than anything, it’s time for us to focus most of our energy on our strengths and build on what we saw on Sunday. We have to be mindful of our misses too, including balls dropped short and easy goal opportunities spurned.
I’m listening to the podcast while at the same time savoring that magnificent performance by Mayo yesterday. I always knew we would win this game but not in the way we did, and I very much doubt anybody else did either. To say that Roscommon was poor is to do a disservice our guys who brought that ruthless streak and power that we know they’re capable of but hadn’t seen all year. In hindsight, the drawn game has turned out to be a blessing and the renewed confidence and belief for both the Manager and players following the replay, are exactly what they needed before meeting Kerry, a game they now have every chance of winning.
If Willie Joe will allow me ,two rumors I heard this week Kerry will let us play sixteen men to get them ready for Dublin, and Mayo management are sending for Paddy Pender ,to mark the Star in reality not too much difference in either age or mobility, look let Kerry worry about us,let us enjoy Monday, up mayo
Nice one, Corick Bridge! I’m happy to suspend the rule on posting rumours for this one.
good friend and passionate Kerry man revealed his honest opinion of us,
His “honest” view is that if Kerry don’t beat us comfortably then he wouldn’t go to final”
i could go on, but dam i hope we smash them…
No more than our team, we are all long enough on the road to be experienced enough to ignore the Kerry/Dublin media mafia. It’s all self-serving bullshit out of them anyway. We all know that they both will be very wary of playing us because they know that they will be put to the pin of their collars to beat us. In fact, I believe the more they talk/write about us, the more they are worrying about us. If we play to the very best of our ability for 75+ mins we can beat both of them. The problem we have is reproducing our very best for long enough when we do meet them.
Kerry will be clear favorites, a tag they are comfortable with. We will be underdogs, a tag we relish. For now, I am going to savor Mondays victory and worry about Kerry on Sunday week. If our demolition of Roscommon, and our indifferent form up to that game, has taught us anything it is that we know absolutely nothing about what is going on behind our well sealed dressing room doors. And that’s as it should be. It proves that our lads are not fatigued (mentally or physically) they have bucket-loads of fight left in them, our management have won back huge credit and trust, and, yet again, it proves that we are without equal when it comes to supporters. We have followed our lads to the deepest of wells and back again. We have dragged them up off the floor on more than one occasion when they needed it and, in Limerick before the start of extra time in particular, we let them know we are still with them. Now, the challenge is to repeat it on Sunday week.