Image: artofmanliness.com
It’s Wednesday, the talk about last Sunday’s hurling semi-final is starting to subside and our showdown with Kerry this coming weekend is moving centre-stage. As a result, the coverage is starting to ramp up so here’s a selection to keep you entertained.
Let’s start with the local angle. The Mayo News was out yesterday and it has loads on the game in its superb 16-page preview. The best thing is to pig out on the paper itself, either in paper or digital format, but there are a few morsels from it online that will no doubt be of interest.
In his tactics column (here), Billy Joe Padden talks about match-ups, kick-outs and meeting Kerry head-on in the physical department. Ger Flanagan has an interview with Kevin McLoughlin (here), where he notes that the Roscommon replay was the Knockmore man’s 45th consecutive championship match for his county. Also in the paper Ger has a Bluffer’s Guide to Kerry – here.
Onto the nationals where there’s plenty to graze on too.
In the Irish Examiner John Fogarty has an interview with Kevin McLoughlin (here) and there’s a Q&A piece by Tony Leen with Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice, which is here. In the same paper John Fogarty also ponders about which of our lads might be best able to take on Kieran Donaghy and that piece is here.
Over at the Irish Independent it’s a similar theme. Colm Keys has an interview with Eamonn Fitzmaurice (here), with the same writer also focusing on Kieran Donaghy and what we might do to pacify him (here). On that topic, the same paper also has a piece detailing that rather left-field suggestion from David Brady that Aidan O’Shea could be the man for the job.
Onto the Irish Times where the main focus is Darragh Ó Sé’s weekly column, which is here. Darragh looks back, through rose-tinted glasses (as he’s entitled to do), on Limerick three years ago and also thinks about what mood the Kerry lads might be in heading into Sunday.
Not hugely happy and keen to up their performance is what he reckons. He also believes they have it within themselves to do it and concludes that, despite the fact that we’ve competed at the top level for several years, “in terms of winning, Kerry and Dublin have always come out in the end.” Ouch.
Darragh’s right on the facts, of course. So too is Aidan O’Mahony, writing in his AIB blog, when he says that Kerry are “judged on All-Irelands, not on winning semi-finals against Mayo.”
I know that this rather forthright comment has got up some people’s noses. As well as being nifty on the dance floor, however, the Rathmore clubman has five All-Ireland medals in his pocket so I’d say he’s more than entitled to his opinion. To be honest, this kind of unvarnished honesty is easier to digest than the usual Kerry diet of soft grins and plámás.
On the GAA website, there’s also an Eamonn Fitzmaurice piece (here) and they too have an interview with Kevin McLoughlin (here), who has some nice things to say about the county’s supporters. Finally, over on the RTÉ website, former Tyrone player Philip Jordan previews Sunday’s clash in his column (here) while James McMahon has a piece with John Casey (here).
Plenty there to get your teeth into over the course of the day.
There’s a jackpot of €15,300 and stand tickets for the All-Ireland hurling final up for grabs in the Mayo GAA Players Welfare Lotto. Play the Lotto here.
Aidan o Mahony …
No nonsense. Tells us how is in in Kerry. Kerry teams are Not judged on beating Mayo.
No cute hoorism there. Great read.
Aidan O’Mahony’s piece may be from the heart but I find it infuriatingly condescending.
Maybe next year kerry might be getting judged on their 2017 semi final.
Hup Mayo.
Off the topic, but need help. Usually park in abbey street car park, but the last day was a nightmare in and out. Any recommendations on parking coming from m3, anyone ever park in the m3 parkway or Navan road parkway and get train from there? Sorry, but my usual ritual needs changing and seem nervous about everything.
I think Mayo will do it on Sunday. It’s a while (excluding league game v Dublin this year) since we didn’t bring our best game against top opposition. In fact it has never happened this team. They have always shown up on big days.
I think this is basically a rematch of 2014. I can’t see the calamity of disasters be falling us again like in Limerick ie crazy ref, our two top men knocking each other out etc. If the sideline calls are right (assuming everyone learns from experience)then we will win it.
Dublin is a step up but we will win this and then worry about them or Tyrone later.
Rochford’s Brigade, it is totally condescending but that’s exactly what they think us. We are no more than a nuisance for them in their way to get to a final. Great to get some honest feedback though, instead of filling us full of s#!t !
Can anyone help me and find out where I can watch the 2014 drawn and replay game it’s not showing it up on YouTube
I actually think that article by Aidan O’Mahony is the exact type of thing that someone like Mr. Darragh Berry etc. should be highlighting on Joe.ie etc. Call the Kerrymen’s bluff in terms of the yerrah and plamas that we always hear from them, i.e. this is what Kerry people really think about Mayo. They are winners, we are losers. Highlight their hypocrisy. No harm to show them in their true colors. The mask has slipped so we should jump on this. The exact reason they go on with so much yerrah and plamas is to avoid articles like this. I think it would be no harm to highlight it anyway.
Castlebarred
You can park around Ashtown train Station and get the train in from there. Come in Navan Road to “halfway house round about”.
There is on street parking or there folks going to Croke Park often park there Rathborne is the area by Ashtown train station
Thanks Pat
I think Aidan OMahoney should be applauded for coming out with the truth.
When Kerry meet Mayo in championship, Kerry almost always win. We can pin it to as many dressing room doors as we like. To get their respect we have to go and earn their respect. We have a lot of work to do on that score even if we beat them next Sunday. There are generational defeats to Kerry in championship in both counties psyches here.
@ JP – hard to argue!
Trying to be as neutral as I can I cant see how Kerry stop our running game on Sunday. For some time yes they can. But when the dam bursts we score heavily once we really start outrunning a team.
I just dont see enough Tadgh Morleys and Paul Murphys. Even with those two I dont see them stopping us up in our running game.
No surrender to Kerry.
Roll on Sunday.
As Andy Moran said: We’re Mayo and We’re in this together.
Maigh Eo Abu!!!
JP, running game is Mayos biggest weapon but are not going to run through them like we did against the ros, and they wont be as naive either. kerry are a different animal. Kerry are as cynical as they come, there will be plenty of fouls slowing down play and off the ball body checks impeeding the support runners. Mayo need to play it smart, vary the attacks between hard running and long kick passing, this will keep the Kerry half backs pinned back allowing space for runners like Keith and Lee.
@ JP – once more agreed.
BUT – our running game has only been successfully implemented against Roscommon the last day and I would nearly go back to Dublin 15 Semi before that.
Did we not have it in us in other games!? What makes us think we will be able to do it again the next day….
A player tells it as it is and people are upset by it, yet all week posters are going on about yerra this and yerra that. If we win on Sunday we start on the road to earning respect from Kerry. You can respect a person or team, it doesn’t mean you have to fear them.
@JP
In regard to Paul Murphy, my hope is that Diarmuid brings him on the tour of Croker and that neither one gets a mention in dispatches. If Diarmuid manages to keep him quiet then we’ll be a long way towards winning the game and Diarmuid will have played a huge part in that. A man who has to be living on borrowed time is Shane Enright. He dodged the line in Limerick, against Dublin and most recently against Galway, surely he’s due a red and I predict our running game will cause just that.
I would not mix up our game all that much. Running game from start to finish. The whole point in the first 50 mins is to pound their defence into ticks, yellows n black cards.
I dont see us getting much joy out of long ball.
Exactly jp, people getting upset about every line taken now ffs. Kerry always beat us bar 96 semi in my lifetime and I think the history is 18:4 to kerry. Why would they think anything of us ?
“If we win on sunday” “mark my words we will beat kerry”
I see the kerry boys have got to you Liam.
Fair play to O’Mahony but their arrogance is breath taking.
“We’re judged on All-Irelands, not on winning semi-finals against Mayo.”
He put in the “against Mayo” part there when there was no need.
It wont be as simple as to just run at them. They will drop their work horses in the half forward line back
to clog up the space then try hit the full forward line with long balls.
We can do it but i still think its a big ask. Their inside forward line is electric and they have real quality on the
bench that we simply cant match. I love the idea of Loftus coming off the bench and making a difference but it’s very unlikely.
If we pull it off it will the tried and tested playing out of their skin, scoring a couple of goals and not conceding anymore than 1.
I expect a tsunami of high balls in to Donaghy early. Hammer the hammer as they say.
Thanks for that reading list Willie Joe.
Kerry are right to be condescending, they have every reason to be. What we should be doing is calling out all those reversals we need to to get even with. A 10 point win for us on Sunday wouldn’t even begin to address the list of humiliations they have dished out over the years. Here are some:
1972: Kerry 2:11 Mayo 1:9 (League Final)
1981: Kerry 2:19 Mayo 1:6 (semi final)
1997: Kerry 0:13 Mayo 1:7 (AIF)
2004: Kerry 1:20 Mayo 2:9 (AIF)
2006: Kerry 4:15 Mayo 3:5 (AIF)
2011 Kerry 1:20 Mayo 1:11 (semi)
2015 Kerry 3:16 Mayo 3:13 (replay semi)
I was at every one of those and they still burn in the memory. So it’s not only Limerick we need to remember, there are a lot more where that came from.
Not at all Sean, just telling it like I see it. Posters here going on about Kerry spin all week and then O’Mahony says it like it is and he’s called arrogant. I respect Kerry as a footballing county that has won 37 All Irelands but I firmly believe that our players have zero fear of them and why should they? Bar Higgins, Andy and Clarke, they’ve only beaten these players in a replay in 2014, they’ve no baggage. You keep saying Kerrymen are hard men, while this may be true, are you telling me Colm Boyle or Seamie O’Shea are soft? Tell me a player who is relishing the prospect of seeing Lee Keegan sauntering up to them on Sunday with his hand outstretched and his rogues grin beaming at them?
Controlled agreesion is crucial on Sunday- not a day for hot heads, BJ in the News states a running game is needed which I agree but all season the tactics have been to bomb long ball into FF line.Two Kerry backs who like going for a bit sight seeing are Crowley and Mark O Sullivan who like going on solo runs which means they can be bottled up,as for midfield it’s important that Mc Laughlin/O Connor picks up the loose ball which Walsh will do for Kerry and in the full back line Donnie breaks it to O Boyle/Higgins and for kickouts we need to go long when Donaghy is in ff and vice verse when outfield where AOS should dominate
I wonder whats the chances of this game ending in a draw on Sunday and the replay going to the neutral venue of the spanking new Pairc ui Chaoibh or however ya spell it. Yes perfect. Equal distance from both counties!!!.
You wouldn’t rule it out, would ya.
Has a replay date and venue being decided yet and agreed by all parties including our lot who always represent us fantastically? Or will it be decided at a hastily set up meeting on Sunday evening between the powers that be.
I always feel that these matters should be agreed in advance. Like a cup final or semi final replay years ago. You always knew when and where it would be. The ways its done now its like the GAA never even considered the possibility of the scores ending level.
A list of results from former times v Kerry shows exactly what we know of then…..Mayo were not good enough and that was that! We went in hope and returned with not too much joy regardless of opposition. That long dismal string of tail lights back into the old county continues to haunt.
But we have now a new animal for the arena, of sharp teeth and strong bone and that is that!
Galway v Kerry…..G goal chances were one man efforts…a bit of smart play would have made an awful difference.
Donaghy to contest with AOS in MF if necessary and back to shadow him when AOS is FF ….carded and off this time!
Wet pitch expected… lot of dirty ball esp around the middle. We will win this game and not from behind …thanks!We do our own things and bother them to counteract and operate off the back foot. They won’t be liking that too much coming from the Mayo fellas.
Suas libh Muigh Eo aris agus aris eile!
Play a man in front of Donaghy with Vaughan at FB. Push up on their kick out and play a 3 man CF to insure at least breaking ball and stop Moran from going through, make sure they don’t get easy possession, and tear into them from the word go. It is important to get the first score and then we are on the way.
It’s obvious I know, but if we can shackle JOD, Geaney and Donnaghy to maybe 1-4 between them, we will win Sunday. Long balls are going to come in whether we break even in midfield or not. Need Keith or Boyler back sweeping, as I think Paddy Durkan will man mark JOD. If Cillian and Andy find their range early, we will have every chance.
Fair play to O’Mahony, tells it how it is. Why should they respect us? Do we seriously respect Sligo, Leitrim or Roscommon?…..do we f**k!. And, 2 of them have beaten us since we last bet the kingdom. Theirs only one way to earn they’re respect…..
Can I just throw it out there?
I couldn’t give two buttery balls of shite if we have Kerry’s respect or not.
Where might you come across Two Buttery Balls On Shite nowadays MayoMark?
MayoDunphy, that’s true and we all know that only way to get respect is to just go and beat them… Allot of talk and colum inches dedicated to how Mayo will deal with Donaghy, too much… On some newspaper it was written something like that the music of ‘Jaws’ should loom large when the ‘Star’ comes into Mayo’s view… Some of the obsession with Donaghy brings to mind something more like the ‘Ghost of Christmas past’… By my way of looking at it, and I have taught about this allot, I honestly couldn’t care less if Donaghy scores a hat trick and win’s the MotM award, just as long as Mayo are ONE SINGLE point ahead when Maurice Deggan blows the final whistle next Sunday, that’s all that matters. Against Galway Donaghy won the MotM Award and scored 1.01 winning another gimme free, that’s 1.02, against a Rookie full back (questions for Kevin Walsh on that particular decision) the whole starting Kerry full forward line managed 1.06 with former PotY James O Donaghue coming off early having been held scoreless from play, Geaney was more successful, 0.03 from play and one free… Hardly mind blowing against Galway’s worst line and with Kerry totally dominant around the middle third…. Mayo can do this, win the game, let’s make sure that memory of next Sunday will haunt the Kingdom for year’s to come,… What do you think of that Donaghy?
I am delighted that Aidan O’Mahony said what he said. The whole reason that Kerry invented plámás and yerrah was to guard against their ex-players etc. coming out with comments like the ones he made. It is rare for a Kerry player to let his ego get in the way of what he says. We seen Liam McHale let his ego get in the way of what he said before the Mayo and Roscommon game, i.e. ‘I am the best coach in the country’, we seen how that ended up. As they say, its all about the inches and if the comments that O’Mahony came out with means that Mayo supporters are riled up by what he said and shout even louder for our team then that is advantage to us.
In relation to our running game, when we used an exclusively running type game in 2013, 2014 and 2015, we ran out of steam and players. In 2016 when Stephen Rochford mixed up our tactics we went the distance over two games with the Dubs and had the chance at the end of normal time in the replay to bring the game to extra-time so you’d expect to see us mix up our tactics again for Kerry.
Maybe start with a mantra of keeping it tight, don’t concede a goal. Then push on before half-time with a blitz, as we did in a few of our games last year. Its all to play for anyway. Keep JOD, Geaney, Moran and Donaghy as quiet as we can. Rochford is usually good at getting his match-ups right. Then run hard at them when we get the chance, especially Kevin Mc, Lee and Diarmuid. If we get on top in the middle third then we are in with a great chance. Roll on the game!
As the summit begins to peep through at a neck strain angle some chaps are quietening again and wandering abit….with private thoughts I reckon. I know both Rochford and counterpart will be looking for an early onslaught to make a mark. The outcome of that collision could determine the result of this game …. but not absolutely! Such is the polynature of games at this stage in the C’ship and such will make this game one of the stand out games of season ’17.
Philoron ….you have a good recipe there… all the bits surely
Well put MayoMark. Why are people so concerned if we are respected by Kerry or any other team for that matter. It doesnt make a blind bit of difference what anyone thinks of Mayo. I couldnt care less.
@philoran
Playing a man in front is a tactic which worked well for the dubs v AOS. So you could certainly be on to something, especially as sacrificing Parson would be a huge ask. Otherwise let it rip take the game to Kerry at every opportunity and let’s hope our forwards have sharpened up sufficiently
MayoMark balls ? of all kinds are what’s needed Sunday and we’re not short, note again Kevin Mcs reference to support so hope to hear yeall, the lads will be throwing the kitchen sink at it for sure, big donnaghy a bit of distraction, at best he’s good for 35 mins, I think Clarky has a big knee which might be handy, not advocating this mind, just saying it’s possible, Maigheabu
Great stuff there HSE. Mixing it up is a good strategy and I noted a lot of kicked passing the last day, even as the running game was playing Puck with Roscommon.
Now for some good news!
I posted some depressing stats a short time ago. Now here are results for all games against Kerry since 2012. I’m excluding Limerick on the basis that this was a one off exception to the rule – any rule.
All results are league except where stated:
2012:: Mayo 1:12, Kerry 1:12 (League semi AET at Croke Park: Mayo 2:15, Kerry 1:17)
2013: Mayo 0:15, Kerry 1:6
2014: Mayo 2:15, Kerry 1:13
2014 Mayo 1:16, Kerry 1:16 (AISF at Croke Park)
2015: Mayo 2:11, Kerry 0:10
2016 Kerry 2:13, Mayo 0:14
2017: Mayo 0:15, Kerry 1:10
League results have to be taken with a pinch of, salt for both teams. Still, there is consistency there across 6 years, with only 1 defeat, 1 draw and 5 wins.
In 2 knock-out matches at Croke Park, it’s 1 win and 1 draw.
Let’s draw encouragement on recent stats and hold all the grudges for those defeats over the years.
Sorry folks,
Just read Aidan O M’s piece and all it says to me is that the Kerry supporters are not intrested in thrawling over the moments or incidents fair or foul that cost us in a Semi Final. His point is not a slant on Mayo but a confirmation that the Kerry supporters see themselves as supporters of the best team with the best exponents of the game rightly or wrongly. Is it arrogant ??? God damn right it is but that is the pressure our players have to deal with… I can’t call the result on Sunday but if we lose the players and management will get it in the neck if rhey are not carried out on their shields,, simple as
Mayo need to win on Sunday…by a point or ten points..it doesn’t make the slightest difference….a win is win is a win.
Donaghy has 35/40 in him max. I don’t see him starting however. He will be sprung from the bench.
I hope we can do the job but based on our most recent performances, apart from the Mayo/Roscommon replay, I just cannot see it. Would Dublin/Kerry come close to losing to Roscommon?? Not a chance…they would clobber them first time around.
Kerry have one major weakness however. Their defence or lack of it. Mayo can exploit this big time. We need to ‘shock and awe’ Kerry in.the first 15/20 mins.
Kerry are not a very strong outfit overall. Dublin and Tyrone would both beat them in the Final.
However their forwards are sharper than ours’ and compete favourably with Dublin and Tyrone’s forwards.
Allez Mayo!!
In 2014 Mayo were 7 point a better team than Kerry and this would have been the case had Horan tagged B.Moran with Donaghy when introduced, ref was the difference in the replay big time! Now what has happened in the mean time, Kerry losted O’Mahoney, Young, O’Shea; and O’Donoghue was playing better then than now (hope it continues on Sunday). P.Geaney is playing better now than 2014, much better. Fitzgerald is not a corner back and Enright is due a red card. Mayo have Clarke(allstar) for Hennelly; Harrisson(allstar) for Conniffe; Durkin for Cafferkey; Parsons for Moran; DO’Connor for Dillon; not to mention Loftus & a real contender in Nally. Now I put it to you is this not a big improvement on the 2014 team? Don’t put much weight on the performance of both team to this stage, its meaningless. Mayo at 5/2 is great odds, seldom you get such value!!!
The closer is comes to the game the more confident I’m feeling its going to be greatttttttttt mark my words.
Funny Gamechanger10, I seem to recall plenty of Kerry fans giving out that they were robbed long after they weren’t given a scoreable free in the dying moments of the all Ireland semi against Dublin last year. Or still lamenting about Joe mcquillan giving cluxton that scoreable free in the 2011 final.
Fans from other counties are always welcome here but don’t come on here like you’re better than us. We follow our team throughout the country when they’re down not just when they’re in a final (something your so-called supporters could learn a thing or two about), and if this bunch of lads do fall they always go out on their shield. We don’t need to hold them to a standard, they’ve more than proven that we can always trust them to give their all when the shit hits the fan. If their all isn’t good enough so be it…we dust ourselves down and go again. We are Mayo, we are resilient and we are coming for yee
Clarke
Higgins
Barry Moran
Harrison
Barret
Boyle
Vaughan
Durcan
Parsons
SOS
Keegan
Mcl
DOC
AOS
COC
In Billie Joe’s article he discusses discipline.. he says that Vaughan and Keegan are one card away from missing the final. I could be wrong but is it not the case that yellows and blacks don’t carry into the final so clean sheet to play from in that sense. Earlier in the week I was one of the ones calling for the Kerry punditry (and all pundits) to tell it is as it is and cut out the auwl plasmas bullshit and in fairness the stuff that has come out to date does that.. like it or not they say it as they see it. Ha ha.. well said Mayo Mark. Confidence or lack of confidence based on past history is just that.. history.. let’s go out and beat them and create a new narative. A winning one
Toe to hand I believe you are correct that if keegan or Vaughan picked up a black and mayo won then they wouldn’t be suspended for final but instead ist championship game next season or if game ended in draw then be suspended for replay
My in depth analysis of Sundays game.
Who’s goin to win ?
Mayo.
Why ?
We’re the better team.
Goodnight everyone.
Sometimes history repeats itself,. Kerry don’t like playing the Black and Red… On the other hand, she wore a glove!
Goodman leantimes.
I was in a strange room the other night.
The furniture was real but the curtains were drawn.
Our time has come
I think with respect that you have missed my point ,,,, beyond this I fail to commit … Mayo are a serious outfit and I am nervous ,, if you doubt me than you know little about your team,,
Revellino – Open up your Curtains, to see for certain, what you know you know.. And in the East the Dawn was breaking,.. while the world was waking,… The Kingdom was shaking and every word is true…. There will be no worries about Donaghy, Geaney or O Donaghue… We follow a different Star, the ONE that’s shining, but it’s not shining for Kerry’s Blue…. So be content, with change in the usual script….This one’s not meant for the usual crew .!
Mayo believe they have great team, the best Mayo team of all time. if a Kerry man says it, it’s all yerrah/plamas/cute hoorism. I don’t get it. It is well known that insecure people find it hard or are unable to accept praise. This yerrah branding is just a myth. I know quite a few Kerry people that expect Mayo to win on Sunday. I guess they are only trying to out yearrah each other.
Liam, I was replying to someone who said we should do the bullying re hardmen of Kerry, they will never be bullied by Mayo.
To the game itself, I make no apologies for thinking Kerry will beat us . Its nowt to do.with being a bad supporter either , I will dust myself down and roar them on believing we can do it on the day , thats my role as a supporter and like every other Mayo fan who travels around watching the county team, I love these guys , they have been superb.
Ultimately Kerry are at a very different stage , they have such classy forwards too . The examiner a couple of days ago listed the kerry bench and followed with the line theyd all start for Mayo. When reading I imagined what it would be like to have a darren o sullivan in Mayo. And I guarantee to you if we lose , that is where the talk will lie “the better forwards won the day”
To beat Kerry, we will need massive games from our big players , Cillian will need to convert nearly everything , we will need to break even minimum at midfield, clarke will need to be in rich form from kickouts and I believe rochford will need to bring something new to the table , id start evan regan for his left foot alone.
As roman moroney the feard mayo mafia don once roared about kerry.
Those fargin basterges
I’ll put their bills in a slang
The fargin iceholes
This is fargin war.
He had a bad temper didn’t like kerry and his pronunciations weren’t very good either.
@Sean Burke. Yes, Kerry have the better footballers and forwards talking purely in the skill, kickpassing and shooting sense. But games aren’t won like that anymore. I would say anything up to 60% of the game now is pure athleticism. On that front I think we have a big advantage. If you look at our fast or powerful players who are either closing down or counter attacking Keith Higgins, Lee Keegan, Patrick Durcan, Aidan OShea, Kevin McLoughlin, Diarmuid OConnor, Donal Vaughan, Colm Boyle, Seamus OShea, Jason Doherty and Tom Parsons.
You are either talking about speedsters or big physical workhorses. Lee and Aidan then being two special players. Games are usually won in that middle eight and it is the above 11 players who will be buzzing around the middle of the pitch either hitting hard with their size or moving the ball quick with their pace from first minute to last.
What Chris Barrett has added at 6 is a bit of composure. Similar at the other end of the pitch where Cillian and Andy are adding composure in terms of winning the ball and either getting a shot in or laying it off to the correct man.
I see the IT’s Eamon Donaghue has another mischievous piece in today’s paper pointing out our weaknesses and all of Kerry’s strengths. He did another nice piece in the lead up to the first Roscommon game helpfully pointing out what player’s left in the championship had accrued the most cards, who was the most cynical team and who was near suspension, with two of our players top of the list. It’s good to see that Eamon, who hails from Roscommon, has such a healthy interest in our wellbeing. With friends in the press like himself and Martin Breheny, who needs enemies.
Hi Sean….great craic. Is that yourself in the great pic at the top of the thread above….just to the left of the big fluffy cigar puffing kerryman? Faggy Joe is holding his own on the other side and Micky Davitt is in contemplative mood. I see George Smutts though in the other corner is about to take action….I’d move if I were you!!
Respect forgot about it, doesn’t matter a hoot. What matters is match ups, hits and the crowd reaction. Galway got away with several big hits in Salthill and when they were illegal their crowd enjoyed it even more and enough of those actually swung the game their way.
I rate their forwards and Moran Maher midfield (not sure about Barry) but not sure about their backs. I rate our defense who are a tough bunch but more than 6 needed back there in modern game. Tyrone use around 12 or 13.
Players and fans need to feed off each other. One good thing is Mayo’s focus is on this game alone. Kerry must be on alert to be boring in media as bar AOM no one seems to have said anything of consequence. I would like to see another war and obviously Mayo to win.
@Castlebarred
Just be aware that the train from Ashtown only goes every hour on Sundays.
Donaghy, Donaghy, Donaghy……man in front of him, man behind him, man up his arse…Vaughan, O’Shea, Keegan, Mother Trease…..I’m fed up of all of it.
If a long, high ball does come in and IF he’s in full forward and IF he’s on the pitch them the only Mayoman that can have him fully in his sights is Davaid Clark. Then as the children’s song goes:-
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes
Ad eyes and ears
And mouth and nose
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes
Feet and tummies arms and chins
Arms and chins
Feet and tummies arms and chins
Arms and chins
And eyes and ears
And mouth and shins
Feet and tummies arms and chins
Arms and chins
Hands and fingers legs and lips
Legs and lips
Hands and fingers legs and lips
Legs and lips
And eyes and ears
And mouth and hips
Hands and fingers legs and lips
Legs and lips
LET KERRY WORRY ABOUT US.
Darren O’Sullivan would not make the Mayo team at this stage of his career.
Is he really better than AOS, DOC or J Doc ?
He can’t get in the half forward line for Kerry which is not their stellar line.
He did not even get a run against Galway.
Far too much respect being paid to Kerry. They have real quality at midfield and in the FF line but Mayo
have a better spread throughout the whole team.
My head is melted with the backlash im receiving from people I know , all im trying to figure out is why a team that gets to semis and finals consistently over a seven year period always fall short against the winner . It cant be just bad luck albeit weve had our fair share of it , we have to be lacking something , has a team ever even in the history of the game got to seven semis on the bounce without collecting the prize?
Please dont make out im being disrespectful in anyway , if you know me for a day youd know Mayo gaa consumes me . I am nervous I admit and possibly ranting a bit .
Reading through the posts and the general consensus is that Mayo have the superior Defence. Granted we do have better individual players in this area, I am far from convinced we have the better defensive strategy. Defensively Mayo have been average at best throughout the year, sometimes atrocious, coughing up several goal opportunities each game. Cant judge our defensive system on QF replay as Ros were hopeless and we dominated at mf which wont happen this sunday. We will know at 3:40pm on sunday if our defensive system is working and on top. Until then we cant say for sure if our defence is superior to Kerrys.
Liam
Believe it or not, that journalist is doing Mayo a favour. Kerry Dublin final is what’s expected,so let them keep talking, as we know ,things rarely go as planned in sport, specially when you have a team like Mayo involved so let’s just enjoy this buildup and maybe we will be surprised st how wrong the media were
@Dave +1!!!
I’m loving all the journalists waxing lyrical about how Mayo will manage the great Star! It’s like the whole country have forgotten we have a team… a pretty good one to boot! I’m sure Stephen Rochford has a few surprises in store, and I doubt any of them will revolve around the Star!! Can’t wait for Sunday! Time to stand up and be counted… We haven’t gone away you know!
I think we all agree this is the best Mayo team since the 50’s. Are this Kerry team as good as the one that destroyed us in the 00’s? I don’t think so. With the talent coming through in Kerry, I believe the future belongs to them so this is our chance….take it with both hands, don’t back an inch, no surrender.
I can’t wait for Sunday.
Hi Sean Burke,The best stat I read is that the last 5 teams we played in semi and obviously final have won it
I think mayo supporters are getting a little carried away based on 1 performance. Yes we were excellent against the rossies but we’ve struggled all year. Defensively we give up numerous goal chances every game. And tend to start matches very slowly and then need to make these huge comebacks.
Kerry on the other hand are league champions. They were excellent in that final. They have strolled through their championship games in 2nd gear.
If we give up goal chances against kerry it will be game over.
If we start slowly it will be much harder come back.
There is no way they will allow keith run from deep like he did again the rossies
Donaghy is a huge worry .. he could cause chaos .. we just dont know
What worked against the rossies wont work on sunday.
Looking forward to see what rochford & co come up with ..
Going on form over the 2017 season youd have to fancy Kerry.
But this is Mayo .. i just hope we keep it tight for the first 20 ..
AT – I have yet to see Mayo fans getting carried away before this massive game. If Mayo can bring the same intensity and form as we showed in the last game we will be right there with Kerry…..and what is wrong with enjoying the build up or getting hopefull?
There is a section of fans in this county now (I am not saying you) that always play the down card and scorn at those enjoying themselves. They will then be there as high chiefs looking down on the rest of us when/if we get beaten. If that is the outlook they have why flipping bother with the whole thing at all?
Agree Sean ,Kerry have better more natural forwards but Mayo’s backs are excellent…. What I can see happening is Donaghy pulling to the wings at times and Kerry kicking high balls in on geaney who is also excellent in the air …still wouldn’t die of shock if we beat them to be honest …think the back door will do us good… Looking forward to Sunday …very calm for some reason… Strange feeling on match week
We really are blessed to be able to support this great team for the last seven years.I was just looking back at results in the 70s. In 1977 we drew with Leitrim in the 1st round of the Connaught Championship and lost the replay. In 1978 we lost the 1st round of the Connaught Championship to Roscommon.That was 3 games in the two years.I make it that Sundays game will be our 16th game in the last two years.Good luck to team and management on Sunday.
Maybe we should look at our teams that have won All-Ireland titles in the last few years and see what they did differently than our losing teams. Our minors in ’13, our u21s in ’16 and Westport this year. They all produced a lot of flair play up front, our u21s scored 5 goals last year in the final against Cork. Something for us to think about anyway…
If mayo were to win AI there will still be supporters on here telling us to take it one game at a time !
In other news the weather forecast is grim
Ah I think people in Mayo pay way too much respect to Kerry just because they are Kerry.
We think their players are better than ours just because they are from Kerry. Many of them have an all Ireland and that automatically elevates them to be better players. Many of these are on the bench, and they are there for a reason. This team has failed to beat Dublin in 3-4 attempts in recent years, so they are hardly world beaters. There is just as much pressure on them to deliver on Sunday as us, if not more because no one expects us to win.
The main thing Mayo have to do on Sunday is once and for all discard this Kerry inferior complex and deal with the game on its football merits. If we do we will succeed. I would say management are addressing this and with that I am confident we will come out on top.
How many more days???
Jesus I’ll have to get a new hobby or something to busy up my time between now and Sunday! Maybe there’s something to be said for heading to Knock and the Novena.
The faster and sooner Sunday gets here the better.
Before we all start crying into our beer why are we looking back in anger? We strolled through Sligo, had Galway at arms length until the sending off, second half in Ennis result never in doubt, 14-7 ahead in Limerick when Rochy forgot his hat and got sunstroke and we know what happened the last day. Kerry, be afraid, be very afraid!
Facethe ball … Must agree with you.
Only Paul Murphy would make the combined selection from half forward and half back lines. Johnny Buckley would also get chosen if moved to one of the wing forward positions.
Of the midfield it would be Moran and Parsons.
Full fwd line all kerry.
Full back line Harrison plus one from kerry & one other from Mayo.
Goal keeper Mayo.
Our worries are over Marty prayed for us on the alter at the Knock novena yesterday
I would also not take JOD over COC.
COC offers much more than JOD in general play.
Ah no yew_tree im all for enjoying the build up and I’m hopeful. Im an optimist but a realist too.I know we have a good chance but I’m looking at it on form over the year not on emotion..
People always over react to a great performance or a terrible performance. I just think Kerry hold more aces up their sleeves than us. With a much stronger bench. We are very inconsistent.
They will employ the dark arts to block our runners on Sunday. While it’s impossible to judge how the dinghy conundrum will pan out.
That’s why I think Kerry will have to much for us BUT who knows .. we are capable of beating anyone on our day .. these are the days to cherish as a mayo supporter ..
Just listened to Joe Brolly on theach throw in podcast. …
Very low regard for Aiden O’Shea ….
only ever recalls his so so performances v Dublin.
Never mentions ’12 semi final v Dublin. Quater final v Donegal. Every game v Tyrone and drawn semi final v Kerry 2014 when he said …. “he would die happy if he had a son who could play like that”
Also did aiden not take care of Murphy in league game in Castlebar this year when only 50% fit.
Pity Mayo don’t have two aiden o Shea … one for full back for Donaghy and onexternal for center forward.
One thing he may be right about is Paul Murphy to tag keegan if keegan plays as a no. 5.
Kerry have other options to play as a half back.
To see Keegan v Murphy would be some battle.
Both brilliant.
It’s hard to be too optimistic given our history against Kerry. We have to concede that on most occasions they’ve been the better team and the results show that. The ones Mayo regret, the very winnable ones, were 1997 when we had a better team than them but gave a very flat performance on the day and were tactically very naive in dealing with Maurice Fitzgerald who won the game for them on his own. 2014 was another year when we had the better team but again tactical naivety cost us that semi-final – we would have won the first day if we had a strategy to deal with the introduction of Donaghy.
I don’t expect to see tactical naivety on Sunday. I expect that we will be well prepared for whatever Kerry throw at us and I’d expect that we’d have a few aces up our sleeve as well. We’ve been flattish all year with the exception of the last day against the Rossies but that to me is very similar to last year when we didn’t play well apart from our joust with Tyrone. I didn’t see the All-Ireland performances coming last year and was pleasantly surprised with the way we measured up to Dublin and with a little nod from Lady Luck, we could have climbed those steps.
That’s what gives me hope, the similarity of the two years and how we pulled two top-drawer performances out of the bag late in the year. If we can reach that level again on Sunday why should we fear Kerry ? Surely the Dubs are at least as formidable as Kerry and didn’t we stretch them all the way last year ?
If we can deliver that level of performance again, there’s no reason why we can’t win.
I don’t give a damn about any past record Kerry or anyone else have. All that matters is the present and getting the better of whatever Kerry 20 or so players get game time on Sunday. All other stuff us irrelevant. Our lads have plenty of experience and are better than at least half their lines. They have inside threat and it should be an intriguing game. I agree with poster who says Mayo have better defenders but not necessarily system. In 2014 final vs Donegal Kerry played the best I’ve seen them play defensively (system) but though better on the day they still should have lost that game but for a goalkeeping error. Also Sean Burke, I haven’t had a go but in my opinion before games fans should be optimistic, otherwise why bother going. We should always believe our team can win. Sport is about the possible.
@All the way-, Great post ,and bang on the money… In your first line you say ‘it’s hard to be TOO Optimistic ‘ Agree with you there, but I am OPTIMISTIC all the same, don’t think there is any danger of complanacy with Mayo… Tommorow or Saturday the team will be announced, it will be hard to get too excited about the proposed line-up – no point in getting annoyed about the non inclusion or inclusion of player…. We won’t know until many of our supporter’s look at the big screen in Croker – Kerry will know about 10 minutes prior to that… Except one or two surprises…. Question for me is… Will Kerry be as unpredictable as Mayo?…. Mayo have been evolving as the Summer progresses, true they have had more chances to evolve and in that time mixed a number of styles…. It always seemed to me along this Summer’s journey that we had one eye on the game we were playing, and another eye on another game… With the realitive luxury of 13 day’s to prepare, and half preparing all Summer long.. This is what Mayo have been preparing for…. Sunday will be our day!
The past is history and history is the past, what has happened has happened and nobody can do f*** all about it. The future? You can predict it but will your predictions actually happen? What’s important is the present, live in the present and everything is possible, you can influence it there and then. So come next Sunday at 3.30pm that will be the present and you can do something during it. At 3.31pm you will be in the present 3.30pm will be history and 3.32pm will be unknown, and so on and so on. If you live in the present, concentrate on the present and do everything you possibly can during the present then you succeed . Mindfulness is one f the greatest attributes anyone can have, so come next Sunday let the Mayo team be mindful of what’s going on around them in the present and then everything else will come together .
HEAVY OR WHAT..?……BUT IT WORKS…….!!
There is a saying in Kerry, ‘Hammer the hammer’, based on Eoin Liston’s article in The Indo today Aidan O’Shea looks like the man that they will be targeting. He mentions the following:
The ‘Mayo News’ compiled an interesting graphic for his seven championship appearances this year and they highlight his remarkable influence with 156 possessions, 27 frees won, 18 scoring assists, 16 kick-outs won, six successful throw-ins and four marks.
So we will need to be ready for that, you reckon that they will really get stuck into Aidan, so for us supporters, we need to have Aidan’s back. We need to make our feelings known if they are going over the top in terms of their treatment of Aidan O’Shea.
An interesting article here:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/mayo-need-to-press-the-clutch-on-sunday-457158.html
I cant believe theres not more comments about some of the remarks made about AOS in the last few days mainly by the Derry critic . Im living abroad, but this year is the most ive been following and I really havent been this excited about a game since the 06 final . Im constantly thinking about it and following all the coverage. But im really shocked by his personal remarks against aido . The man clearly has some agenda . Aido has been involved more in semis and finals , has won more provinical titles the same amount of all stars than this guy so what gives him the right to says some of the things hes saying. Final note hopefully Shane Nally gets more time Sunday . Im counting the minutes 6000miles away from Gods country .
Why would anyone waste their time or energy on the derry critic, A place with Fossets or Duffys sporting a bright red nose is where he belongs
You are right . Not worth the effort . Aido will have a blinder Sunday and that clown will be singing his praises next week hes that type.
2 more days… cant wait