Photo: @MayoGAA
It’s Wednesday again, I still haven’t re-watched the game in full and there’s a whole pile of stuff to dangle in front of you before a load of work stuff has to be sorted to. Replays, huh, who’d be without them?
Let’s start with the stuff from the press evening down at Breaffy last night where Stephen Rochford gave an update on our injury concerns. Danny Carey in the Mayo News (here) has all the details on what the boss had to say.
The good news is that Cillian appears to be okay. According to Stephen, Cillian twisted his ankle in the second half and although he “woke up on Monday with a little bit of pain and a little bit of swelling” he has “no concerns” about the captain’s availability for Saturday week.
Evan Regan is following the concussion protocols and should be fine too so the main doubt is over Alan Dillon. He had an x-ray and a scan on his bruised foot – I understand the initial concern was that there was a break but the imaging showed this, thankfully, wasn’t the case – and so it’s down to waiting and seeing as to whether or not he’ll be fit enough to play a part in what will, if he is okay and he does come on, be his sixth appearance in an All-Ireland final. Fingers crossed.
At last night’s event, Stephen was also asked about those Jim McGuinness rumours, which he scotched firmly by stating that he’d “never spoken to … or met” the Donegal man. For good measure, he added:
If somebody wants to say the Pope is training us next week, so be it!
Odd remark, that. Doesn’t he know that those Corinthian-minded Dublin lads are booked in to train the Pope on being a whiter-than-white, angelic standard-bearer?
Before turning to the nationals, there’s some nice forensics on Sunday’s drawn encounter that you might want to cast your eyes over – from Don’t Foul, Sideline Eye and GAA Pro Stats. The amount of detailed analysis being done on big matches nowadays is seriously impressive. It sure puts my failure to clear some time to watch the match again into perspective.
Darragh Ó Sé in today’s Irish Times (here) is in good form. He talks about his own experience of being involved in a drawn All-Ireland, back in 2000, and also makes the very valid point that the GAA’s practice of using a brand new ball for the final makes handling very problematic on a wet day.
While he doesn’t make any definitive predictions about the replay, he does come down heavily enough on Dublin’s side. Darragh reckons that it’s those very players who underperformed so badly for them on Sunday – Rock, Brogan, McManamon and Flynn – who could have a decisive say the next day. Words worth bearing in mind, for sure.
Fellow Kerryman Mike Quirke writing in the Irish Examiner (here) also delves back into his own memories of that drawn All-Ireland against Galway. He compares the feeling of having to face a replay to that experienced by a child rushing down the stairs on Christmas morning to be greeted by a sign saying “sorry kid, we’re out of stuff, call back in two weeks.” Well, with 37 titles under your belt, I guess final day will always feel more like Christmas Day than Good Friday.
Ex-Galway star Seán óg De Paor came out the Good Friday side of that drawn All-Ireland final sixteen years ago and he has some wistful memories, and regrets, from those two matches. This is in the Irish Independent – here.
Back to the Times where Malachy Clerkin has a superb piece about us and respect and all that. He makes the valid point that while we’re fully entitled to be viewed as Dublin’s peers right now – having put it up to them far better than Kerry have managed to in recent times – we’ll never be accorded the respect we deserve nor be seen as equals until we go and win the blasted thing. He’s right, you know.
Let’s end on a light note. Joe.ie has a piece (here) on that ludicrous call by those numb-nuts on the “Hill 16 Army” Facebook page to boycott a League match next year, all because they couldn’t get their hands on enough tickets last Sunday and the fact that those poor put-upon souls who did manage to make it onto the Hill found that it was crawling with boggers.
This particular pantomime played itself out on social media yesterday. When the so-called Army’s pathetic mewling started to do the rounds, a tonne of Green and Red hilarity started to land from on high on them. Every #mayogaa account in sight then got blocked but I’d say the message about their ridiculous sense of entitlement and lack of basic knowledge about how GAA mores generally percolated through all the same.
That allows me to segue neatly onto the issue of tickets. Our lot did a fantastic job getting their hands on so many tickets for Sunday and we need to do everything in our power to be as well represented at Croke Park the next day. The important role at the drawn game played by supporters was warmly acknowledged by Stephen and Cillian at Citywest on Sunday night and I think we can be in no doubt now that the 16th Man angle to this battle is a key one we need to make sure we win again on Saturday week.
Season ticket holders will have got the relevant mail by now and there’s a print at home option this time so you should have your ticket(s) by Friday. I’ve no info to hand on allocations to clubs – either as regards numbers or when this’ll happen – so best keep your ear to the ground with your own local club on that.
The only news I have about draws for replay tickets is the one relating to the Mayo GAA Players Welfare Lotto. The draw takes place this coming Monday (26th) when ten tickets for the replay will be up for grabs. Play the Lotto here.
And that’s your lotta for now.
And I would suggest every single Mayo person to leave the Sunday Indo on shop shelf this come Sunday and from now on. Why should we support that rubbish. Plenty of other papers to read. They might sit up and take notice if readership in Mayo plummeted. Harder to ignore TV, but plenty of choice with papers. So let’s all do it and spread the word.
Clerkin is spot on. We need to win the bloody thing in order to truly get the respect of others. You may have noticed in the post match interviews Jim Gavin talking about a ‘a very good Mayo team’. At first it sounds complimentary but when you think about it, its actually a bit patronising and indicates that whilst he thinks we’re half decent that Dublin are a better side and will beat us in the replay.
As stated previously there is a lot of talk about Dublin not having performed but the reality is that their defence plus Fenton in midfield and some of their subs played well. Brogan and Flynn have been poor all year. No mention of the fact that some of our key players have had better games, most notably the O’Sheas and DOC. People say that the Dublin forward line will improve the next day but the reality is that it has relied a fair bit on Dean Rock’s frees this year. There is plenty of room for improvement in our forward line as well as our long ball strategy in the first half was largely ineffective resulting in us wasting a lot of possession and dominance.
Anybody I talk to from Dublin says that Dublin will not be as bad again but when I put it to them that Mayo weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders in midfield and up-front it gets short shrift.
By the way, would most people agree at this stage that using AOS at full-forward is simply not working and should not be tried for the replay. You know Einstein’s definition of insanity about repeating the same action/task and expecting different results. The bottom line is that he struggles to score and Dublin crowd around him effectively.
Mike Griffin was incredulous that the Mayo players were at the banquet. He couldn’t believe it and more or less said if that’s their attitude to things then forget about winning the replay.
I thought it was a very harsh view, yes if the replay was in 6 days I would agree with him. However there has to be some respect to the fans also and I think there was something like 800 people or more there paying 80 Euro a pop. A lot of gang were home from the States and England. I know we are all supposed to be single minded and cold hearted about winning at all costs but I cant see what difference that would make. International rugby players go for dinner and a few pints at the end of every 6 nations match.
Besides Galway got on the bus after the 2012 final and cancelled their banquet, and they still lost the replay so I wouldn’t agree that this is a thing
The players need to play the replay as relaxed as possible in terms of attack. It was good they were at the banquet. The Citywest did a very obvious fleece job on supporters on the road from early by serving dinner so late. Desert at 11:40 anyone? No? Beef at 11:00 at some tables. Sole objective to have people at the bar pre dinner. It had said on ticket doors 8PM.
I think we do need to make some changes before the next game. SOSs decision making on the ball Sunday was awful and gave the ball away at crucial stages. He did the exact same vs Kerry 1st game 2014 and nearly cost us that game too. If he carries that form into Saturday then a change has to be made. We also need a much better game from AOS whose decision making was also poor. If we get the kickouts right and play with the same intensity and cut out the errors we can almost certainly take Sam.
If anybody wants to re-watch the match on the rte i-player it is around the one hour and ten mark that the game starts.
I reckon SOS errors came from exhaustion given the herculean effort he put in all game. Maybe more a matter that when he is spent he is replaced before the errors happen in the first place??
Win or lose Dinner after the game is such a great idea. Players, their families and fans can get to meet and relax. They will be holed up for the next two weeks so this might have been their only chance to hear from the fans. Doubt it would change their attitude one bit.
Agreed Adian should not be played at FF. Barry Moran should come in to mark Fenton. Seamus to come on for last 20 mins as he ran out of steam last day left on too long.
Introduce Conor Loftus earlier he has an eye for goal and is an unknown quantity.
You need something different and unexpected to cross the line.
I wouldn’t be worried about whether the banquets were done or not. There was very little else the players could be doing that sunday night and some time to bond more with the team and perhaps unwind a little won’t have done any harm.
Interesting to see the Mayo press night was last night too, before the training started back. I think thats a good move, get it out of the way early so as to concentrate on the prize. I’m sure the Dubs will have pressers closer to the date and that can only be a distraction for the players involved.
The atmosphere in Citywest was weird to say the least. Met many many people home from the US, Australia, UK….it would have been harsh to cancel the whole thing.
One thing that annoys me though is the hotels around Dublin were quick to jack up their prices for the replay. Mayo fans have a hell of alot more expense following our team than our counterparts in the final.
I was watching Fenton closely. He’s a ridiculous athlete and probably wore down SOS. Parsons is at 95% running speed compared to 2015. Dont recall Parsons ever getting above 3/4 pace. Diarmuid is at 95% running speed as well. Doesnt have that speed to burst through. Aidan was out on his feet at the end.
Key to the replay could be being braver about how we replace tiring bodies late on.
Could finish by springing COS and Barry to add in fresh big men to dominate the middle.
Then you add in Barrett, Coen, Loftus and Regan.
They were on the precipice but we really didnt have the driving running power of fresh big men to drive it home to a win.
Trevor Naughton – agree that SOS needs to be replaced earlier, maybe Coen. I thought he had a great first half but makes costly errors late in games. On AOS we’re all expecting him to pluck the ball from the air and put in the back of the net, unlikely to happen against Dublin. He’s laying the ball off more and not taking the ball into the tackle to be turned over. His assist to COC a case in point where at least two defenders had moved in on him and he created the shield and space for COC. His decision making can be better and yes he can play better but AOS is the key to our forwards. He’s a ball winner and defenders descend on him like a magnet creating space for our shooters.
Chicago, I totally agree with you re. Aidan.
Moaning about the banquet, please, sure they had to have dinner, they might as well have it there with their friends & family.
Wouldn’t worry about the panel being at the banquet it’s not like they were off their heads with drink they deserve a night out to unwind and mix with people I’m sure they were back in training mode Monday morning and back to their jobs Tuesday morning we sometimes forget that they have jobs like the rest of us and have to pay the bills as well as be almost professional footballers they deserve a night off
I have no issue with the players going to the banquet, they had to eat, plus it would be harsh on the people who had shelled out to attend. Im sure the players were in the pool monday morning in recovery mode. Anyway, Did the Dublin team attend their banquet?
The statistical analysis across don’t foul, sideline eye and GAA pro stats is top notch.
Numbers don’t lie and each blog points to an excellent defensive performance from Mayo as the reason for Dublin’s low scoring return, as opposed to the supposed expert’s vague opinion that it was an off day for Dublin.
The analysis of the Dublin goals in each blog is painful reading however. While the defensive performance was excellent, the Dubs were very economical in getting scores when it broke down, particularly in the first half.
All of this to say that while the defensive performance was rightly lauded after the weekend…It will need to improve on October 1st.
Keep the faith….
1. We were told we would be relegated. That didn’t happen.
2. We were told after we lost to Galway our season was over. That didn’t happen.
3. We were told that we don’t do well in the qualifiers. That didn’t happen.
4. We were told that we wouldn’t beat Tyrone. That didn’t happen.
5. We were told that we wouldn’t be able to compete with Dublin. That didn’t happen.
6. We are now told that we have missed our chance. Time will tell!
We have been written off all year. Let’s hope that continues for the replay. Roll on the game!
Well said HSE, all year we’ve been told wer finished, “too much milage on the clock”, I did’nt see much mileage on the Mayo engine last Sunday. If anything Dublin looked a bit mentally and physically tired. Aido and Seamie will always tire quicker because they have significant bulk to carry around. Everyone else had plenty in the tank in the last 10mins.
One thing that bugged me after the game was how on earth was Dillon not brought on in the first semi last year? With respect to Sweeney, Dillon would have dummied McCaffrey, and popped that last chance over the bar. I know no point harping back but feel previous managment missed a trick there. Anyways, hope hes ok for replay, and gets one last chance to get himself the elusive winners medal.
The more I think about the replay the more I think we’ve a huge chance to win.
The media are talking about things that don’t matter: the ref, the post-game banquet, the tunnel incident, Jim McGuinness, Brolly, pundits, etc.
They’re also ignoring facts/putting there own lazy spin on things: Connolly/Kilkenny incident, “Dublin won’t be as bad”, “an off-day”, “Mayo left their chance behind them”, Dublin meltdown, Mayo intensity levels.
I think you can make a really solid argument along these lines: Dublin are a tired team mentally and physically – no shame here winning 3 AIs in 5 yrs is unreal going and trying to win 2-in-a-row is desperately difficult.
The Connolly/Kilkenny sideline shows something in the mindset isn’t right. Letting a 5 point, 2 point and 3 point lead slip at various points in the 2nd half isn’t promising.
Brogan and Flynn both over 30, on the go through all those years and off-form. McManamon at 29 is now a starter where he wasn’t before this. Does anyone really believe he’s a better footballer now than in ’11 or ’13 or ’15?
This brings us to the bench, their 1st sub yesterday for a back was Andrews a forward (and a really good one I’d grant). This shows the level of trust in the defensive subs. Alan Brogan isn’t an option this year. Bastick is what 35? That leaves Mannion, Costello and O’Gara. Jim Gavin isn’t stupid he can see how Brogan and Flynn are playing but obviously doesn’t feel the others are any better.
I’d expect max one change for Dublin the replay, Andrews in place of either Brogan or McManamon. It should be Brogan going on form.
So if we believe this theory why didn’t we win? We need to examine this and show where we need to improve.
Personally I think Fenton and Small kept Dublin in the game. We need to nominate a player to track Fenton’s runs from deep – either bring in Coen for Seamie or tell Donie to do it. Even bring in Barrett for Seamie and push Donie to MF. Small is more difficult to curb as both JDoc and DOC did really well defensively – probably give DOC only 45 mins max to empty the tank and replace.
We need to repeat the match-ups and intensity in defense.
We need to improve the decision making 15%.
We need to either send in good ball to Aido AND Andy at FF or forget about it. Aido did well in the first 10 mins at FF but it stopped working after that. He should be in there for no longer than 10 mins in each half.
We need to be 5 mins quicker making each sub.
We need to have a plan for Andrews.
We need to stop conceding fuckin soft goals.
We need to keep the discipline – we gave Rock feck all decent chances from frees the last day. Reduce this further. He thrives on frees within a certain range – if he’s not hitting them this effects his whole game. Contrast that with Cillian.
That’s a big list of potential improvements for us and plenty of potential repeat weaknesses in the Dubs. I’d expect some improvement from both sides but just see us sneaking home down the stretch, in what are essentially 80 min games these days, our legs, hunger and bench to see us home by 2!!
Juan, I would agree totally about Dillon, never mind about that point from Mickys shot. I have always said if Dillon was brought on midway through the second half we would have won both that game, it was crying out for his calmness on the ball. He is such an intelligent player, he would have gotten on the ball, played smart passes, kept possession and guided Mayo home. For me Alan is still Mayos most naturally gifted footballer who reads a game so well. Really hope he is available on Saturday week. If its in the melting pot late in the game, he is the man I want too see coming on.
Watching the game back the positioning of paddy durcan in defence and over all play was crucial to putting the dubs big players under so much pressure.he marked kmc out of it in the first half and switched to Andrews and done the same,plus he gets forward for a score.
He has such an engine its vital he brings this form the next.
Shame on Mayo! They had the cheek last Sunday to march in to the capital, don’t get me going on the housing crisis, invade Hill 16, and turf generations of Dublin families who dwelled there for decades on GAA Sundays, out on the street. This from the county of Michael Davitt fame. Whatever happened to ‘ keep a firm grip on your homestead ‘. I wonder what the lads on the Sunday Game made of that.
The Dubs really are rattled by the amount of mayo supporters there. Same again required. There is the minor match allocation up for grabs this time too. Dublin supporter groups will make a bigger effort to secure hill tickets this time around and not expect them to come there way. Lets get there first and really put the pressure on.
@Trevor naughton and Chicago. If you watch back the game SOS let Fenton get in behind him twice in 1st half resulting in 1st goal and Clarke having to pull off a fine save shortly after that. Also he needlessly fouled small which resulted in free for the 2nd goal. I thought Rochford would have been justified in changing things in middle at half time. Was a frustrating game to watch as we were the better team and made too many errors. But such heart was shown. We go back next Saturday to finish the job
Patrick Durcan is a fair block of a lad and must be our quickest player. He made up two yards in twenty to turn McManamon back out of a good scoring position. Durcan can go to full sprinter mode when required with the big sprinter arms and the high knee action. He had a mighty game. It was a brilliant defensive performance bar this weakness of allowing twi runs in behind and that moment when Rock ran in behind for the pass from Connolly.
@Juan – and he scored from a very similar position on Sunday. Dillon was not utilized at all last year. Criminal in my opinion. That blocked shot still haunts me
Why do they need to have another press night. Is this really necessary?
Don’t Foul’s analysis is really excellent as usual.
It contradicts McGuinness’s assertion that Dublin’s off-day was not down to Mayo:
– 3 Games in a row that the opposition conversion rate did not exceed 30%
– Pressure applied to 75% of the oppositions attempted scores
But it also shows that Dublin had more possession, more attacks and more attempts at scoring – they could and should have won (given the 2 OGs) had it not been for Mayo’s outstanding defense.
We may only get 2 goal chance in the replay also – but we may need to take more that 0-1 from them.
Also – Clarke will be placed under unreal pressure in the replay. Dublin will like those stats on their success from making him kick long.
Mayomark, Ya, thats exactly why it had me thinking of last year. He really can knock them over from the right in his sleep!!.
I’d like to see Coen come in for Seamie at midfield I know he’s young and not as bulky as Seamie but he might be the man to track Fenton not to mention he has a Minor and under 21 medal we could bring on Seamie around the 45 minute mark he’d be chomping at the bit I really really believe we are in with a great chance of winning if we get out match up’s right have to say I have complete trust in the management team to do that
Pk – yes, we’ll need a plan for Fenton and Small. SOS too big to track a fast midfielder like Fenton, Donie would be my pick.
kevmy – nice post. Critical that we keep the discipline, no early yellows. Very lucky with COC.
I was just thinking of AOS wild shot into the corner near the end….. My guess is that he was trying to replicate the 50 yard belter he scored against Tyrone and either lost his footing or the ball skidded of his foot. Either way, I’m willing to cut him a lot of slack for a Yeomans performance in very difficult conditions
Coen is a centre back and too inexperienced to do a job on Fenton. Even in the u21 championship(and I was st every game) he never dominated in midfield whereas he was far more effective and comfortable in defence. Vaughan is a more likely candidate…but maybe Mayo need to be thinking that they can improve to an extent in midfield that puts the emphasis on Dublins midfielders stopping them. It’s a bit too negative minded to be solely thinking who do we put on Fenton to stop him.
Sean Rice in the Mayo news is the first Mayo pundit I’ve read who admits to a feeling of having missed the boat!
Whitey – agree on his overall performance. AOS should not be attempting those low percentage shots especially when the game is on the line. He did make up for that bad decision with his pass to COC. I know we can get more from AOS hopefully the next day.
What changes do people expect for the replay ?
Mayonaze, lost the element of surprise for sure. Dublin should be better the next day but so should Mayo. Ok being the underdog again, should drive this team even more.
I really would love to see Tom Parsons put in a man of the match type performance in the replay and I think that would see us been half-way to winning the match. He is well capable of it too as he has athleticism to burn.
I’d be matching him up with Fenton this time and let Seamie match-up with MacAuley and turn that contest into a battle. Bastick might even start the replay so he would suit Seamie even more. I would like to see Conor O’Shea getting some game time too in the second half as he did well in a lot of games for us this year.
I think Donie played his best game for us this year when he reverted back to the half-back line last Sunday. It does not really suit him when he is played as an out and out midfielder. He is a lot more effective when marauding forward from the defence.
Perhaps Chicago, but do you think the Dublin players didn’t expect a dogged battle? They know this Mayo team very well by now. It’s almost always fairly close.
I think next week will be another tight and tense affair, one where teams will have their moments. I reckon it’ll be close and that a big score or a late run all seal it for one team or the other.
Not that I’d be relying on it but jeez we are due an oul bounce of a ball to go our way or Lady Luck to shine on us cos she sure as hell was decked out in blue last Sunday!
Having waited to make an assessment,I’m very proud of the lads but I do seriously think the wet weather conditions really don’t suit some of our guys.
The heavy rain, was similar to the Galway match. That evening Colm Boyle, Tom Parsons, Seamus O’Shea (sub) & Kevin Mac seemed to struggled badly for form under foot with the conditions. I thought this was also the case again against Dublin. Colm in particular doesn’t twist and turn as effectively as he does when the sod is dry. Seamus and Tom seem to lose balance and speed and get stuck somewhat in the ground. We were seriously caught out of position leading up to the 2 goals.
McCauley did a lot of damage running at us, and shoving players out of his way and has been mentioned by most Fenton was outstanding. We couldn’t track him at all
In the first half.
I thought both Colm and Kevin Macs heads dropped after the own goals for a while, which while understandable I was surprized as they are both very experience players and have had a lot mental strength coaching/Phycology over the years and there was a lot of time still to play. Its imported the next day that if a Goal goes in and there is a fair chance that it will, that our heads don’t drop and we get back to our own game (I have avoided the words process or reset) as quickly as possible.
I’ve now doubt Stephen and the crew had words at half time to get our guys back on track. We were much better in the Second half and got the shackles on their midfielders to put them more on the back foot. However, before Dublin went 3 points up in the last quarter we did some really bad hand passes and fumbling of the ball to lose possession and undid a lot of our good work. Our kick outs went badly wrong also in this period. Watching Dublin, they always seem to have an extra player ready to take the short ball from Cluxton’s kick outs when the pressure does come on compared to us. It’s something we have to improve on to give Clarke another option as the pressure does seem to get to him at times…
The Dublin forwards are good when they are given space and us running out to meet their marauding midfielders leaves us exposed at the back. Dublin have won a lot of their matches this year opening up defences and also getting frees this way. If we can come up with a plan to contain or disrupt better McCauley and Fenton’s influence on the game the next day it would go a long way to giving us the advantage to win.
I’m quietly confident we will win.
The support the last day was simply the best.
It really is great to be a Mayo supporter no matter what.
let’s put it up to them again like no other County can.
Let the war begin again.
Dublin will improve but the best they will get will not be near their previous standards. Their scoring records show that this year they have not been as good. But they still will be hard to beat. Not impossible though. It’s hard the year after winning sam to reach the same heights.
The goals were unfortunate. We got caught the wrong side of the ball facing our own goal. Lessons are for learning and the team that learns the most will win. I was so impressed with our fitness and pace. Well done to all involved. I have no doubt this all ireland is there for us. I think we looked the hungrier team on Sunday. Our hunger will see us over the line.
Cant understand the negativity around Aidan.He is a powerhouse and we will win nothing without him.So he missed a shot
..he did more than his bit.Would not like to say what I think about those saying he should not start other than we have different football philosophies!
This stuff about not going to banquet is laughable. Maybe they shouldnt eat at all til after Sat week.
Was anyone else totally exhausted after match?
I don’t have an issue with them going to the banquet. It’s not as if they were drinking or anything.
I have an issue with the interviews afterwards. Dublin have done none. Lee’s chat about his duel with Connolly is unnecessary. It won’t win or lose the game for them but it will just end up as a stick to beat them with if they do lose.
Aidan wasn’t as effective but he wasn’t that bad either. The last shot is blinkering people’s views. He won very difficult ball in the first half. He got on an ocean of ball in the second. He tries to make things happen and get involved. A minute after blazing that shot wide, he set up the equaliser. That’s character.
People need to get off his case. He’d be the very man that could put in a man of the match performance the next day.
” Well with 37 titles under your belt , I guess you’ll always feel that final day will always feel more like Christmas Day than Good Friday “.
I have to say Willie Joe that you have the funniest expressions . That is hysterical .
Some people said here after our league defeat to Cork that the goal of the new team
management should be to, at least, have us playing championship football in August.
Well … now we are going to be playing it in Oct.
Very disappointed that Sean Rice is doubting our chances in winning the next day. As a local paper he should be more supportive and backing us to do the business
Some people may take heed of this negativity and decide not to travel to support this gallant team.
I know Willie the shoe RIP drove us around the bend some years ago but at least he was positive, even though he was ott. Let there be no doubt that this team is more than capable of bringing home Sam, it is just a matter of improving our match ups and make changes a bit quicker and smarter.
we’re going to have to pick someone to patrol the area on front of Clarke. possibly Barrett. Dubs were obviously looking at ways of coming in around the back of the defence with the 2 openings they created for Fenton and the one for Rock
Rochford’s Brigade – the next day my second wish is that AOS bags one! You know my first one.
very important that the lads keep the heads the next day this thing could easily boil over. Discipline could be the difference either way
I agree with you Philor I am a big fan of Sean Rice’s column and buy the Mayo News every week but I was a bit disapointed with him asking the question have we left it behind us tho in fairness Sean is very Positive about Mayo generally personally I think we rescued the game and give us a great chance of winning the next day provided we play with the same hunger and bang in a goal or two (in Dublin’s net)
I can’t see many agreeing with me, but I think we should start the same 15 except for AOS. I would start conor in his place. He offers a similar threat to Aidan. Work his bollix off for 30 minutes, then introduce a fit aidan to run at dubs defence. We would also have a fresh and clear headed aiden finishing out the game.
I would also ask sos to give everything for 39 minutes (like last week) then introduce coen onto Fenton for last 30 minutes.
I don’t think that personnel changes are needed the next day. I think fifteen dubs walked off the pitch wet and miserable knowing they nearly managed to hang in against a team that not only matched them physically but overpowered them down the stretch. The body language towards the end said it all holy hell these are hard men they hit like a hurricane and they just do not go away. Every time Dublin managed to get ahead through no little effort might these Mayo men just kept going kept coming and they broke our will. Any player in a sky blue jersey walking off hat pitch thinking they can go up a gear and overpower us is simply deluded. They were dragging themselves around the pitch exhausted beaten and demoralised. You can’t play with swagger when your legs are falling off you cant beat the man that takes every punch square on the jaw but shakes it off and hits you back twice as hard. This Sam in October is mayos Sam and 20 odd dubs dragged themselves off the pitch on Sunday last knowing exactly that.
Tonyk what has Aiden done wrong. He was involved in a lot if our scores. Set up goal chance for p d. Always gains maximum respect from a few defenders. The key to getting most out of him next day is getting cian o sullivan out of his comfort zone . I’m sure management are planning this strategy. I hear ur point but I feel leaving him off from the start means advantage dublin
Mayo losses in the Championship the last 4 years.
2012 Donegal 2-11
2013 Dublin 2-12
2014 Kerry 3-16
2015 Dublin 3-15
Average 2.5 goals conceeded.
Goals made up 36% or 3/8ths of the total conceeded.
A huge proportion.
If you can’t defend. You cant win. We need to sort this out for Saturday week and we will then have a big chance of getting to the promised land!
Willie Joe just wanted to add to thanks of everyone hear for the great work you do not only on the blog but with providing the platform for discussion and organisation for Mayo Gaa in general. Truly what you do is a credit to the county. Many thanks
Tonyk. .While I see where you are coming from I cannot imagine Mayo starting an All Ireland with O shea on the bench..he has to be a massive headache for the dubs to mark and imagine the delight if they had even the 1st 30 mins without him to think about..
Would this be the same Sean Rice now who left the back page of a newspaper blank some years ago as he was disgusted with the Mayo team performances?
Granted it was a while back but I have a long memory.No doubt he will write in glowing terms if they win, Brolly will wear Mayo jersey, Spillane will talk of great heart and Cormac Reilly will journey to Castlebar with Pat McAneaney to celebrate.
You actually get the feeling that a lot of the people who say that we have left it behind us are probably the same people who said many of the following things:
1. We should have appointed McStay and McHale
2. We should have kept Holmes and Connelly
3. We should have brought back James Horan
4. Stephen Rochford was too inexperienced for the job
5. Andy Moran and Alan Dillon should have been let go from the panel
6. We should have put a lot more U21 players on the first team
7. A lot of changes should have been made to the panel
8. We have left it behind us
9. etc. etc. etc.
These people have to cling onto something to say that they were right. So far about 99% of these theories have proved to be incorrect. If we lose on the 1st of Oct, these theories will all be trotted out again, sure what can you do. Best of luck to all involved with Mayo GAA in the replay. Until we finally get over the line, the told you so, we won’t win brigade will always exist. I’d prefer to be positive going into the replay anyway.
Tough up
AOS is a legend. He has done no wrong. The thing is he doesn’t stop. Full throttle all the time until nothing is left. When did you last see him finish a game strong. I just think conor could work the dubs defence quiet well. Imagine AOS finishing the game at full throttle.
Just something different
Anyone’s accounts debited for ticket today?
We had a hard match against Dublin. Do not place too much importance on the fact that the goals were og’s. They got inside of the backline and it was only DC’s brilliance that saved the shots. The rebounds were unfortunate but they got in behind us. We need to address this first and maybe we have. They did not get in behind us in the second half(maybe once?).
Secondly we need to close down Fenton. Put a man on him for the first half and maybe ten minutes into the second. Then put fresh legs on him for the rest of the match. If we close off Fenton we will win.
AO’S should play mid field from the start with the brother. Play Parsons on the forty. He is not a man marker. He can co-ordinate attack as he is a great distributor of ball and can hold the ball up if necessary. Bringing Donie out after replacing Seamus and reshuffle the back line might be an option. Donie has some engine……every bit as good as Fenton. How did he manage to score the last day and still cover back. Himself and the Boyler have some extra sensory perception going on there.
Joe.ie should be boycotted by Mayo supporters. I have unliked them on Facebook for their biased, negative and shit stirring posts. RTE bad enough without my Facebook feed being full of this anti Mayo vibe too. I’d urge everyone to send them a message that it’s not appreciated by Not falling for their click bait. I normally like Joe.ie and I know a Mayo man owns it but it’s like the Hill 16 Army own it at the minute.
Donie in full flight is something to behold, yes some engine. I’m sure it was in the plan with someone dropping back to cover for him. Many tactical options, need to trust management will get it right on the day.
hueyandlouis that was John M in the CT I’m fairly sure.
Sinead what is the problem Joe.ie, I always find them very fair to Mayo, they just put up a vid of bastick pushing oshea prior to that pic going round of him pushing back.
I don’t think there’s a need to any changes the next day, I’d simply switch parsons onto Fenton, he has the engine for him, we also need to be more aware of him in defence. I’d be worried that the Dublin full back line will attack more the next day so we need a plan for that. Seamie had a great first 50 mins and the Cristicism of him is unfair, we just need to replace him earlier, I assume these guys have a gps tracker on so the data should show he’s getting tired before it becomes to obvious on the field. I don’t see Barry being an option in midfield, Dublin are simply too mobile, Jim Gavin will not give up mobility in the middle, he switched Paul Flynn to midfield rather then bring on bastick. Clarke needs a better option for long range kickout and I think that should be aido, he had a height advantage on Philly MC and o Sullivan will not follow him too far.
As a side note I’m delighted jason doc showed his class the last day, hes got a lot of abuse in the past, mostly from ppl who arnt fit to lace his boots!
So we’re now boycotting the Sunday Independent (no problem there, but not cause of Joe Brolly, it’s just shite), Joe.ie, Sean Rice, Ciaran Whelan, Dessie Dolan, Des Cahill, Reservoir Dubs and an old fella in Frenchpark cause he said we’d lose.
Would it be easier to have a list on the side of the blog of the people or publications we aren’t boycotting or approve of?
I’m pretty sure as well that was the Connaught Telegraph. Was that after the 1982 Connacht final hammering by Galway? I think it might have been. Just read Sean Rice’s piece and I don’t have any quibbles with it. The man was only giving his opinion and it wasn’t overly negative or anything.
I don’t agree we left it behind us . We were dealt serious bad luck, two own goals and showed grit , heart , desire to bounce back
Agree totally with the poster above , when Clarke cannot kick short , he needs guys making runs or be able to hit a ball long to Aido
Leave me out of it, Liam! I’m not advocating any boycott but sure you’ll get all the reading you could possibly want here on the blog in any event.
Malachy Clerkin summed it up perfectly today “we are who we are, till we change who we are” and we’ll change who we are on Saturday week.
Incidentally I think Malachy was on the boycott list last week for a supposed disparaging article.
One thing I haven’t seen anyone mention is how this was the first senior AI final for a few of our lads.
Harrison, Durcan, Parsons and DOC all started in their first AI final while Regan, Coen and Loftus all made their AI final debuts too.
It’s possible that the occasion affected some of these players. I expect a few of them to really learn from the experience and put it to good use the next day.
Brolly may have a point . None of tuhe Dublin players spoke to the press and you have Andy rallying the crowd in croker afterwards …. In my opinion that was not necessary
Sure so was Bomber Liston but we r all happy last week cos we gave us a chance! Fickle…
Back to the game, Vaughan, the doc, durkan had decent games but we expected them to. Boyler and kev won’t be happy at all with the errors for he goals and most of our forwards and probably midfielders can improve. That’s without doubt.
I think we are very much back to where were before 3:30 on Sunday, the bookies and the media agree. That is, that Mayo need to produce their best performance of the year and even of recent years if they want to actually beat this Dublin team. Sure they have proven resilient in terms of chasing leads and not giving up but that isn’t sufficient. It’s just not good enough. They need that and more..can they go and close out a game against top opposition at this stage of the championship.
The only luck Mayo got the last day was they we got an ‘escape from jail card’ with a last minute equaliser. It has given this team one more shot to prove themselves champions. In a nutshell the performance the last day wasn’t good enough. More is required.
It was Connacht telegraph but when Sean Rice wrote for them long before 1982!
The important thing the next day is to lock down the full back line and make sure no goals conceded. That is imperative. Block off those runs from Fenton that killed us from around the corner. I am very positive for the replay that MC Entee will have this resolved. I see Bernard Flynn is one of few pundits going for us in replay. Heard him on game on that he sees more chunks emerging in Dublin that we can exploit.
Muckle if u start the 2 o sheas midfield we will get roasted as the don’t have the mobility to stay with the dublin midfield. The 2013 final proved that and nothing has changed since. We are close enough with our game plan but I feel seamie is coughing up too much possession. I’m not sure would I start him. Mobility and doing simple things right are crucial against dublin
Ah it was just when it was Aidan o Shea he should be sanctioned but when bastick involved ah sure it’s harmless. A few other negative Mayo posts too. I suppose I should be happy we are being written off but I don’t like the propaganda edge or impressionable edge they are bringing. I’m sure the ref and linesmen don’t read anything in the lead up. Well I hope they don’t!
Yes, Willie Joe, it was 1982. The Connacht Telegraph left a blank rectangle under which the caption read, something along the lines ” this is the space in which we had intended to place a photograph of the Mayo team.” As someone who was a member of Mayo’s best ever soccer team at that time ( a team which got ample coverage from the CT) I felt the blank rectangle on the back page was a bridge too far.
Was it not John Melvin in ’82 and Sean Rice in ’68..first in Tuam and latter in McHale; forgive me John and Sean if I err
I might be wrong about the two the brothers starting in midfield Toughnup. I am just looking at what our options are in mid field given that Fenton was so influential. Was Parsons not tasked with marking him not Seamus? What are our options? Who can man mark Fenton. I think Aidan or Seamus can handle him for forty minutes or so. Then put fresh legs on him for the rest of the match. Otherwise bring Donie out and drop Seamus from the starting line up. I don’t see other midfield options. One thing is sure Fenton was involved in the goals scored.
Fenton is very good player. Intelligent and clever for his age. Management will see the influence he had and look to curb that the next day. Donie certainly is option or someone like pat Durcan. Fast and very mobile. Fenton breaks from midfield into space so we will have plan for that. In my view its mobility that’s wanted in midfield more than any other trait.
Once they copped onto Fenton’s threat it was 47th minutes when Seamie made the few mistakes. I don’t think we should change him just be more aware of Fenton whichever of the lads tracks him. Seamie put in a savage shift tracking harrying and blocking acting as 2nd sweeper some if the time. I think give him 45 or if the tracker says he’s OK another 5 but then introduce either Barrett and move Donie up or Coen. Dedicating Seamie to MacCauley might suit bit better but he takes a bit of watching too. He played better than average last day.
It was most definitely John Melvin,. Connacht Telegraph, That left the blank space where the Mayo team should have been. We got a hammering in Tuam, helicopter bringing a Mayo, Dublin, Kerry, & Derry man to the match. You know the ‘Holy Trinity’ the three persons in one God. . Well that day surpassed that, we had ‘One Man’ claiming alligence to 4 different counties at the same time,. Who could this ‘God like’ person possibly be? Sure it was none other than our own Castlebar born ‘Charlie Haughey’. An election was afoot, Charlie managed to look happy for Galway and disappointed for Mayo all at the same time. Willie Joe (the original Willie Joe) is said, to have said to TJ Kilgallon that he would have liked to get on the helicopter and get away from Tuam stadium a quick as possible, such was the extent of the beating we got. 1982, was the year. , I was a teenager at the time, but when I seen John Melvin in.Castlebar a few months later, I told him ‘sure if you murdered someone you’d get your picture in the paper’. John wasn’t too impressed, my guess is that he still taught that teenagers should be seen and not heard.. Some spoofers were around in those days. Mayo football wasn’t great. I remember it well.
That brings me back leantimes 1982. Charlie Haughey won the Tour de France a few years after that. He was some man on those mountain climbs.
I think Roche came second that year. Not often we get 1st and 2nd in any sporting event
Citòg spot on
Sean Rice did it first in 1968 leaving the whole back page empty and Melvin repeated the dose in 82.Melvin kind of redeemed himself in 96 with his stone pickers turn to gold diggers headline.
In fairness to both we were not very consistent in 68 or 82 like we are now.
A mam was telling me that hennelly was warming up rigourously in the second half on Sunday , did anyone else spot this ?
Started to read the articles on this blog, but rapidly lost interest as I encountered the list of journalists, commentators and whatever that have had the audacity to express the ‘wrong’ opinion.
Talk of boycotts almost sent morning coffee over the keyboard. To save themselves I would suggest they all come out and state that Mayo are the greatest team ever and will win no problem. Then they will all be loved.
Personally I feel they could have closed the deal the last day. I think they are good enough to win the replay, but it is that inability to close the deal that worries me. I feel secure as I do not think there is anyway of punishing me by boycott for that opinion. If I were sure beyond doubt then I would have a considerable amount of my life savings with Paddy Power at the moment as I am sure any contributor with total certainty has already done.
Unfortunately I will be unable to attend as I have long made plans to go to the Arc for the first time and will be travelling there on the Saturday morning. Maybe that will be two things off my life’s bucket list.
Some of the comments regarding boycotting newspapers etc is bordering on the ridiculous lads. This isn’t Hillsborough 1989 for Liverpool people.
A lot of journalists have argued that Dublin were below par – anyone that knows anything about football and has been watching Dublin for the last couple of years couldn’t possibly disagree with that. That doesn’t take away from what Mayo did RIGHT the last day. Their tackling was tenacious and they were right in Dublin players faces all day – it was fantastic – but one thing doesn’t make the other mutually exclusive. Mayo also did a lot WRONG the last day. My biggest concern for Mayo is one that is not new.
For a start i thought they were finished at half time given they probably played the better football in the first half and found themselves 5 points down – this wasn’t 5 down to a Tipperary or Fermanagh – this is 5 down to a team who know how to hold possession are unbeaten in 27 outings. It was to Mayo’s immense credit that they overcame what otherwise might have been a huge psychological blow. However, I saw a familiar pattern in what Mayo did the last day with the drawn match with Dublin last year. They are like a cornered rat when the game appears to be getting on top of them and then when they refuse to yield, build up this incredible momentum – just when they are in striking distance of taking control of the whole thing and having fought their way out of that corner, the brakes go and its back into the corner. I don’t know if its tactical or mental but it has happened…again.
It has happened in the opposite direction too where they have had the foot on the throat of Kerry and Dublin (in the replay last year and both games the year before) and they seem to grant mercy. If you think that is unfair, then fair enough. I don’t know what the answer is but the facts bear out that this is what we have seen and maybe its all just to do with getting over that bloody line. Like a striker trying to end a goal drought – the first goal is just the hardest…that first AI for several generations is the monkey and maybe AI’s will flow after that….its a strange conundrum.
Interesting that mayo51. I have a lot of time for hennelly and he gets an extra 10-15 yards on his kickouts. It would definitely force a rethink for the dubs with 15 minutes to go. Although, fresh legs on the pitch could be a better option.
How about hennelly in the square. Only joking but it would be some craic.
There’s an option to play Aidan as sweeper in the first half he could stop runs of Fenton plus a big help for the kickouts he would draw 2 or 3 around him leaving some of our guys free.play big Barry up front.Aidan at the back would also let players like Vaughan parsons and mclouglin push forward.maybe it will keep the game tight till half time and switch him to his normal role after.I agree with most there’s no need for much change of personnel but diarmuid seems to be carrying some sort of a knock hope I’m wrong,think he’d be a great man to bring on to defend a leed.just a thought totally believe rochford and co will have it figured out by then.
Watched the game again…some contest! Strewn with errors though, the rain being an obvious factor.
Overall I actually think our performance against Tyrone was better. There really is plenty of scope to get better.
Cmon Mayo…time to put in a match winning performance on final day!
I heard too that we was being warmed up well into the second half, I think I saw a picture of him on the line too somewhere, but I’ve no idea what the story was there.
@Niallmc1983 Jason had an unreal game and I’m surprised he wasn’t further up the MoM table earlier in the week. Has had a good year, almost unnoticed. Kicked 3-5, I think all from play, in the Championship. Add to that his workrate and power and you’ve some hell of a player. Perhaps over the years he hasn’t been consistent enough but if he’s a stormer again the next day it’d go a long way towards us winning.
@Cantini Fair point – it is a bit of a worry alright. But this issue is not to have to end up in these situations and then push on from level or a point up/down.
Seen that pic too willie joe . Excluding the two kick outs at the end I thought Clarke was excellent and got named man of the match in the indo. ( maybe not the best judge after the rubbish they allowed brolly publish )
Would you expect any change here WJ ?
Sean Rice, to my mind, is one of the best GAA reporters we have produced and was rightly referred to as ‘The Sports Voice of the West” while working with the Connaught Telegraph in Castlebar. To back up his opinion that Mayo would beat Galway in the 1967 Connacht final – remember the Tribesmen were then looking for a four-in-a-row All
Ireland title! – he promised to walk barefoot from Tuam to Castlebar after the game if Mayo did not win. Needless to say, Mayo hammered the All-Ireland champions by 3-13 to 1-8.
Ever a devoted Mayo follower, Rice was so incensed with Mayo’s poor display against Galway the following year that he ‘decided to crucify myself along with the players’ by refusing to write anything at all about the game. Instead ‘I Refuse’ was emblazoned across the back page of the Connaught Telegraph.
That took a lot of courage as it provoked the ire of the Mayo GAA Board and many many fans. But there were those – and I was amongst them – who applauded his grit.
In 1982 when Mayo were hammered 3-17 to 1-10 by Galway in the Connacht final, the ConnaughtTelegraph’s sports editor John Melvin again showed undoubted courage by refusing to print a photo of the Mayo team along side his report on the game – instead leaving a blank space where the photo was originally supposed to have been. Again it took a long time for the subsequent rift with the County Board to heal.
These two courageous reporters were not afraid to vent their disappointments with sub-standard displays by the Mayo team. The Mayo players showed the same courage last year when they refused to play under the old management and instead initiated action that resulted in us getting one of the best tacticians we have had in the person of Stephen Rochford. The courage and grit we now show in abundance is what will beat Dublin on Saturday week!
JDoc had a good game..and I’m a fan of his but he can still do better.
Kevmy, 3-5 is ok…but we played ferm, Kildare, WM, Tyrone, Tipp…. As a forward you’d like to have notched up more scores, points in particular.
Our forwards as a unit have quite a bit more to do. 5 points in the first half was below average. They’ll know this. Credit must go to the dub defence. They were tight.
A Dublin friend has already received his season ticket in his account and I have seen proof of it too. Anyone here got theirs yet?
Nothing yet in mine Trevor
On Aido, he put in a huge effort defensively, harrying and herding Dublin players and trying for turnovers. Another ref might have given a few marginal calls to him on turnover frees and also few little nudges or pushes on him. His goal in real time from my vantage point looked like he nudged a Dublin player but on slow motion playback I can’t see any infringement. Now he mightn’t have scored if no free given but would have been at least a point. If it’s dry next day more ball will stick. Otherwise he should spend more time on the 40 and offer another target for our kickouts. We need to draw Cian OS out to create more space inside.
Any of ye calling for Aido replaced are talking pure daft. Even in all the attention he takes away from others in Dublin defense was worth him not personally having a great game offensively. RTE pundits describe him as our talisman. What we need from the 2 starting O Sheas is pure team focus not on redeeming their reputations. We saw what a reputation based approach led to with Connolly’s bad decision. Winning this thing is too big. It should be acknowledged to the 2 boys that they gave huge effort to the cause the last day but forget about reputation. Which would they prefer an average next day out personally and an AI winners medal or looking good on the day and no medal. It’s all about the team now.
Watched the game on Sky’s highlights show last night and they were well on to the Hennelly warm up.
It was just before Donnie Vaughan 2nd point to put a point between the sides. Paul Early’s view, which i think was the right one, was if they got free 55-60 yards out and it was last kick of the game stuff then bringing him on would have been the option. Have to hand to the management on their foresight at that point when this was probably last thing on the minds of 82k people in the stadium….I guess thats their job but i still thought jaysus rochford leaves nothing to chance. Good old RTE thought seemed to miss it.
i reckon hennelly warming up was just a bit of psych- tricks from the rochmeister.
on watching the game back Doherty was absolutely brilliant. from my view on the pitch parsons was MOTM but now i reckon doherty, he is picking a good time to come good!
At Mayonaze
Totally agree with you having watched the game again last night – Jason Doc had a superb game – something of an unsung hero in my book. In fact he was one of the few players on either side that literally smashed through tackles leaving his tackler on his arse – 2 key incidents in scoring his own point and breaking through to set up the Andy Moran goal chance which earned a point.
Agree totally re Jason, I thought he had a fantastic game on Sunday. He’s got great upper body strength and was one of the few players on either side the last day to be able to break tackles and still retain control of the ball, which was some going in the conditions.
14allnall41, I think there’s merit utilising Aidan in that Sweeper role, even for the first 20. I’ve said it before, I believe he’s a better defensive player. We have other players who are equally important to us as Aidan. I’d rather see him play solidly all of the time than giving a “five star” performance now and again. It reminds me too much of the talk that surrounds Joe Canning for Galway….pundits and supporters alike waiting for him to ignite and shoot the lights out. If Aidan plays solidly for the bulk of the match he increases our chances of winning by a huge amount, as per the Tryone match. He’s just one cog in this Mayo wheel, just one cog. He tried his heart out the last day but again he is too easliy marked at FF. That’s the third match against the Dubs in the space of a year that yeilded very similar outcomes. Can we get more from him? Of course we can, but I don’t think tactical repetition is the answer.
@Mayonaze True that’s who we played but Jason didn’t start against either Fermanagh or Kildare. Andy who has had similar playing time this year has scored 0-11 (not at all having a pop at Andy merely a comparison). Diarmuid playing in a similar position has 1-9 (1-5 of that against Kildare).
Jason had his best big game for Mayo and hope he’ll play well again the next day. He totally cut out running into cul de sacs which he had done too often the previous 2 games. Also showed he is very good one on one to make a score for himself or others. Management are obviously seeing things in training we don’t see and fair play Jason really stood up on Sunday. Shows the benefit of sticking to a player who comes good.
If the replay is a draw does it go to extra time?
Got my ticket this morning section 306.
I believe it does, Shuffly Deck.
Got my ticket this morning section 308 (delighted, as was 311 last time)
@kevmy to add to your point re scoring returns to Mayonaze. COC has 0-8 from play this year – Doc stands up well with any of his peers.
And if it is a draw AET? Another replay? ….it could be the shortest winter ever..
AOS looked wrecked in last 15 or 20 and I thought looked the least fit on the pitch so putting him to mf isn’t an option in my eyes. I’d say you could have parsons and Vaughan mf the next day
All of the forwards should probably have more scores over the season…we haven’t been scoring enough!
John McHale
You make your case well and you are entitled to your opinion.Mine is that county players are the ones doing the training and taking the hits and it is easy for a journalist not to write anything or to name a team.
True supporters are there through thick and thin.As i said you have your opinion and I have mine .It will be irrelevant when Mayo win anyway.
Do you not think that journalists cannot be ‘true supporters’ too as you put it? Thankfully all supporters do not always think the same way or view our teams’ capabilities the same way. Sean began his journalistic career ~ 1963 and over the subsequent 53 years possesses each and every match programme in which Mayo have played which represents some attendance record. True supporters are there through thick and thin as you say.
There was nothing brave or courageous about Melvin not printing the picture in 1982. Just a cheap shot and some self serving attention. Similar I suppose to the modern brave and courageous men brolly and spillane.
Sean has written and continues to write some fine pieces and I have no doubt he is an excellent supporter.I simply disagree with his stance of refusing to write about the Mayo team and leave the page blank.But look it was a different era and frankly we should all move on now as we are all together in wanting a Mayo win in 2016.