53 thoughts on “Monday match reports”

1. u21s are going to be on in Tullamore Willie Joe. Double header with the Munster v Ulster game. Will be a 4 or 6 o’clock start

2. I’m not surprised if that’s the case, Ger, and Tullamore is a fine ground – good quality pitch and a nice stand. But it’s also a Leinster venue, far closer to Dublin and God knows the Dubs aren’t often (ever?) asked to shoulder the bigger burden on the travelling front. I guess if it’s a double-header and live on TV then it becomes a least worst choice in terms of the four counties involved but by the looks of it one that’ll mean significant mileage from the west.

3. Just seen a tweet by Anthony Hennigan from WP regarding tickets for Ruislip game being a problem. Fortunately got mine recently on tickets.ie but know loads of lads going without tickets. Any news on this WJ

4. Fancy Tullamore myself.

   Your research on distances and adopting a logical approach to venues is admirable Wille Joe, but I’m afraid this is not the GAA way.

   Try instead to anticipate the mindset of those involved: well now, do we owe Mayo one on this? Yeah we do, but it’s the Dubs you know and they have to be kept sweet. OK, I know Tullamore is a bit of a spin for those Mayo lads, but lookit, they’ve loads of money and will travel anywhere. And Carrick, ah no, sure the Dubs had to go down there yesterday. And the other semi? Well, Kerry or Cork can’t go much further than Thurles; I suppose if there’s a lot of flak we could go with Portlaoise.

   Google Maps? Great technology, but artificial intelligence has some distance to go yet before it can process the GAA committee mindset.

5. The Mayo journey is a long one but all the way to Belarus Willie Joe ? Sure what the hell – drive on – we’ll follow the tail lights .

6. Mayofaninkk – I’ve no news on that, I’m afraid, and as I’m not planning on going myself I must admit it’s not something that I’ve given a whole load of thought to. Given the capacity of the venue and the likely level of interest in the fixture, I’d be surprised to be honest if tickets weren’t a problem for it.

7. I was a biteen late getting the U-21 match photos from Saturday evening up, only got them up late yesterday evening. If anyone wants to have a look they’re here, http://michaelmaye.com/project/2016-u-21-connacht-final-mayo-v-roscommon/

8. Thanks Mick, I’ve added a link to them in the match report post.

9. Lets not get caught up in the whole venue, travel topic again. It is impossible to please everyone, we travel further than Dublin but Kerry travel further than us. (Anyway anywhere outside the M50 is a trek for the Dubs). If 4 or 6 are the times I dont know why these games cant be earlier in the day, would possible attract a lagrer crowd. As long as its a good pitch thats the main thing really.

10. Willie Joe my thanks and admiration to you for all your attention to all things Mayo. It’s a great place to come every evening just to hear what people have to say. Some of the more regular contributors have a knowledge of football that is really amazing. I suppose now maybe a few quiet weeks til the London game with some U21, minor and ladies football to keep is interested. Either way, job done as far as the new regime is concerned with plenty more to do. Good man Willie Joe.

11. Saturday games are always a bit later. Skull some calves and go to a match later, fresh crush rust neath yer nails.

12. Despite all the negative comments following yesterdays match, it still was a great eight days for Mayo football. Following that much needed win over our near neighbours Roscommon in the league, we then had that magnificent win over them again in the u21 final, and on the eight day we secured D1 status. After what was a very slow and laboured early season where things looked more than a little gloomy, these much needed wins have put a spring back in the step, and who knows it could be the start of something big.

13. Following the league there are positives and negatives to be drawn,

    Defence, we looked alot more compact and tight at times and have stopped some of the soft goals conceeded particularly in Dublin and Ros games. Work still to do. Caff and Boyle hugely important as when they are not there it is way roo easy for teams to cut through the middle like Down. A work in progress be signs are good, Nally and Harrison with honorable mention.

    Midfield, We have one of the best midfields in the country and with AOS and Boyler cleaning up loose ball, I would expect us too dominate this area in most matches.

    Forwards, the area where the most work needs to be done, our transition from defence to attack is way too slow and passing to lateral. Too much solo runs down blind alleys. When we move the ball with pace and kick to the corners we look dangerous. Regan has been the find of the league and there is real hope that he can do serious damage in the summer.

    From the games played my championship team would be,

    Hennelly,
    Harrison, Caff, Higgins
    Keegan, Boyle, Nally
    SOS, Parsons
    KMc, AOS, DOC
    Regan, Freeman, COC

    I would expect some changes to squad places between now and London. Nally starts for me as Durcan hasnt done enough yet. Would like to start zippy at half forward but the three I choose there need to be on the 40. Also COC can play at half forward but when fully fit is our biggest goal threat so keep him close to goal.

14. think we played Laois in u21 in Tullamore in 07 or thereabouts

15. Interesting Mayomad I agree with you on alot but I would prefer see
    ________Hennelly
    Harrison___Caff__Barrett
    Keegan___Boyle__Durkan
    __________SOS
    _______AOS___Parson
    DOC____KMc____Higgins
    ______Regan___Cillian

    Leave Seamie keep it tight around middle and down our center.
    Higgins to add his football skills to halfforwards, good at foraging for breaking ball, alot of pace on that wing with Durkan and Higgins should be cute enough to cover when Durkan and or Leeroy go forward.

    I think Cillian and Regan would appreciate the space inside and periodically put in AOS just to keep opposition on their toes.

    Controlling the game around the middle and ensuring they dont run straight through us at centrehalf back should mitigate the need for a “fulltime”sweeper.
    Boyle could drop a bit deeper and gather breaking ball .

    Instead we control possession get runners from halfback line, have breaks winners and fast direct runners in halfforward line and two accurate lads inside who will sniff out a goal or two .

16. Decent team mayo mad , I would go with Clarke in goal and durcan wing Back

    I wasn’t that impressed with nally in the league

    Wonder who will be cut from the Panal ?

17. Don’t mention the war, Centerfield: that one was played in Hyde Park.

18. Maughan spoke well on the radio I thought and I love listening to him rather than dull John Casey and his dry sarky jokes.

    I was intrested to hear his piece as regards refreshing the squad and adding young proven winners like Duffy, Irwin and Reape.

    I think this holds alot of merit rather than keeping the nearly men who we never turn to when the pressure is on.
    There are a number of subs there who were there last year and two years previous and have mad little or no impact.
    Surely we should blood the youths as they are strong enough and talented enough and with youtful exubriance and confidence I would prefer throwing them on to chase don a score .

    Bench of
    Clarke or Hennelly, guess Clarke as Hennelly taking 45’s etc
    Coen – providing fullbackline and halfback line cover
    Hall – giving pacey man marking at cornerback or traditional halfback
    Keane – Fullback
    Barry – Midfield
    Carolan/Doh – Halfforward workrate
    Conor OShea – Impact man on full or halfforward
    Irwin/Loftus – Strong corner forward with accurate frees
    Reape – Duffy – Goals, big boots strong impact in corner
    Andy – Impact
    Dillon/Gibbons – see a game out

    It may be hard on Drake, McHale and Sweeney but we do need a freshing up and who better than an extremely confident bunch of player s.

19. Each to his own Outside of boot but I wouldn’t describe John Casey as either dull or dry! I like him on the radio, more than I do John Maughan but, as I said, each to his own.

20. Casey is good entertainment on the radio, he’s even getting an airing on the national stations from time to time.
    Maughan was either eating something yesterday or has new teeth in, his elocution wasn’t as good as it normally is 🙂

21. Ballaghaman, Durcan is going to be an automatic starter sooner rather than later but has only played less than a game off the bench, Nally has more time on the pitch and hasnt done much wrong. Durcan is the future for sure.

    There is not much between Clarke or Hennelly. Both good shot stoppers, Clarke better under the high ball but Robbie edges it with kickouts, he is more accurate and quicker which is down to experience. Clarke seemed to hesitate and was a little slower finding his man yesterday. I dont take into account long range frees when judging keepers as thats not one of thier primary duties and it actually bugs me the long slow run up of a keeper to take a free.

    Rochford has tough decisions to make regarding final squad, a couple of existing players will loose out and I can see a couple of suprises.

22. I really enjoyed maughan on the radio as well yesterday although i had to laugh when he said he would be reading the riot act at half time , i’d say john maughan never did anything other than read the riot act at half time in his 30 odd years as a coach!!

    Casey is always good , we are lucky with the calibre of the midwest commentators.

    I thought casey was slagging maughan a few times during the coverage , brave man 🙂

23. @ Mayomad

    While I like you would give Hennelly the edge on the kickouts I don’t know what David Clarke and Robbie Hennelly you have been watching the last few years but Robbie is a million years slower than Clarkie to get the ball on the tee and kicked out and it is his biggest weaknesses in my opinion. When the pressure comes on like against Dublin last year to take a quick kickout he crumbles and more than likely kicks a less than 50/50 kick to the middle.When Robbie has more time to take his kickout if teams don’t press he is the best in the business in terms of accuracy. Just watch back on the TG4 player the speed which Clarkie gets the ball back into play with his kickouts to the wing.

    There is a lot to like about Robbie but his flaws while not many have been fatal in a lot of big matches and I get the feeling it is pressure more than lack of ability that brings out these flaws in his game. Unfortunately these flaws seem to lead to big mistakes and for a goalkeeper a big mistake generally costs you the game. Clarkie reminds me of a Kiwi center in rugby , not the most spectacular of players but always does the simple thing right no matter the pressure and is nearly always in the right place at the right time with the minimum of fuss!!!He is also very vocal marshaling his fullback line and is a real leader like Boyler back there in defense.

    Also if you notice how much more confident Kevin Keane was under the high ball yesterday , he was very aggressive attacking the man and ball not having to worry about if the ball got past him because Clarkie reads and commands the square so well. It is no coincidence that Caff got his Allstar with Clarkie behind him as it covers over his weakness under the high ball for club and county.Robbie is probably the more talented in certain aspects but Clarke is the more consistent allrounder but hey that is just my opinion.Staying 100% fit is a huge problem for Clarkie though!!!

    It’s Great to have two top class keepers , just look at how Donegal are struggling to replace Paul Durcan and the drop off for the Dubs from Cluxton.

    Flanagan should be right in the mix for us next year too!!!!

24. @Crete Boom, I noticed that myself yesterday with Clarke. Ball wasn’t even gone over the line and he’d the ball teed up ready to kick out! Robbie can be very slow in this regard.

25. @ Mayo.Mick

    I know he seemed to be set to get the ball as soon as it went over the bar/wide and it was on the tee before the umpire had finished signaling the score/wide. Cluxton was the first to master this and in fairness to Clarkie he has been doing this for the last 4 or 5 years. It unbelievably effective for Ballina the last couple of years considering how light the have been around the middle 3rd.

26. A great weekend for Mayo football. The u21 game shows something , to my mind, Mayo are a now a county that won’t give up even when they have a mountain to climb. I know nothing has been won yet apart from a provincial title but the manner in which they won it was very encouraging for them. Last night I watched the 2006 u21 final replay and it’s 10 years ago but there’s a lot of those guys still flying up and down the field for Mayo, they deserve great thanks for that, especially since they have endured so much heartbreak but keep going on relentlessly.
    Yesterday’s final quarter allowing of Down to come back is something that really needs working on, as is the not kicking the ball into regan and co often enough, as John Maughan said, it’s the easy way for them to win the game. Did they not see that or were they under orders to play it a different way? Anyway, delighted with the whole weekend and the way things are shaping up.

27. Great weekend for Mayo can’t not imagecork m that hammered us in first league game are the one who are relegated surreal. Thought they would be the ones to win the league.

28. I’d give

29. Oops, accidentally hit send too early!

    All I was going to say was I would give Clarke the nod ahead of Hennelly too and agree with Crete. Both great shot stoppers but I just think Clarke is more reliable under the high ball, has a real presence in goal and communicates well with his defenders.

30. Mayomad,

    Agree with most a ur team, but no way would i start Nally over Durcan. Durcan should be nailed on for the no.7 jersey, his speed last year in setting up the penalty v the Dubs was immense, kicked a good score in the replay too, Nally has’nt a patch on him imo and won’t start ahead of him.

31. Interesting stuff there Creteboom and Mayo Mick on Clarke. Yes I did notice his quick outs and he was quite alert for a few Down possibilities in his general area.

    I also felt that Keane exuded confidence and aggression, though on one-to-ones he had his hands full with Dornan.

    On the question of confidence, what do you think of Nally? The catcol jury is out on him – he seems often to be hesitant and lacking confidence and his body language worries me, and he has been caught in possession. Management obviously see something as he has been a consistent starter this league.

32. Juan, I agree Durcan is a class act and will be an automatic starter, I based the selected team mainly on league performance where Nally had more game time where as Durcan had two sub appearances. Nally looked shakey v Down but then again so did a lot of players, I thought he had a great game v Dublin in particular where he showed a good understanding of the sweeper role and picked up alot of ball in front of fb line.

33. totally agree with you creteboom

    when the pressure is on unfortunately for Robbie he has crumbled in big games in the past,Dublin last year springs to mind.

    although he cannot kick long range frees like Robbie, in my opinion 100% is the safer, more reliable option.

34. So when the dust has settled the new season Div 1 will have four teams from Ulster

    two from Connaught – Munster one and Leinster one. I suppose when all is said and

    done it`s just great to have kept our long tenure in the top flight. The league has been

    getting more competitive year on year. The games more intense. Must brush up on

    my `noren ` accent.

35. Mayomad, ahhh ok I get ya now, basing it on league performance. I guess with 7 weeks to London their’ll be an awful lot of debate on here. Is’nt it great to just survive div 1 after that horrendous start, fair play ta rochford and the lads for digging out the 6 points. Im very optimistic for the summer, we seem to be on an upward curve (as are kerry) while its debatable that Galway and maybe Roscommon are going the otherway, not saying they wont have long summers, but they’ve played very well at the start of the leagues, and results dried up towards the end, while we have absolutely sleepwalked our way through the early rounds and got alot better towards the end. One quote from some article after the Dublin game is really sticking in my mind, it read “Mayo lose the battle, but are getting ready for the war” and i think that quote sums up perfectly where we’re at, and I think our war will in September whether we win it or not is another thing.

36. Nally, Vaughan or Durcan could all start in London. Both Nally & Durcan gave away crucial ball in the last 5 mins Clarke bailed out Nally, Durcans clearance led to Down Goal.

    Nally brings physicality and a sweet left foot. Durcan brings pace and exuberance. Vaughan brings experience, Horses for Courses I would suggest.

37. Tubberman – in tears here laughing at your comment about the radio commentary yesterday !! If JM was eating something it certainly wasn’t gob-stopper in any case !! 😀

38. I’d go for Durcan at 7 purely because of his pace. You need pace to deal with the top IC forwards.
    I thought Keane wasn’t great yesterday – their no 14 won just about every ball that went his way and laid it off for a score. Same with 24.

39. Evergreenandred,
    Never mind practicing your northern accent !! Think of the poor Kerry folk next year.. We have ye and the Dubs and Monaghan at home. We have Tyrone, Donegal, Roscommon and Cavan away, imagine the prospect of endless driving to watch the drudgery of blanket defences, pulling, dragging, stoping starting stopping,,,,,(Roscommon excluded) oooh God help us all, it’s hard to travel to watch the skills and spirit of the games being smothered and quenched..

    I was hoping that Cork would survive the drop, at least it would be one less rugby type team to face in next years league. I am delighted that mayo stayed up as it is important to keep the top three championship teams in division one. Tyrone will be hard to beat this year in championship as they have been building steadily and I hope we avoid them in a quarter final situation as this is consistently our most vulnerable period in the championship. I suppose it’s the same for Leinster and Connaught as well as we are all a little under cooked compared to the ulster teams.

    I would think that Kerry and Dublin should progress next weekend so it could be a repeat of last years final on the 24th, the Dubs will be favourites, I hope it turns out like that and I hope it’s a dry day. Roscommon will meet a very different Kerry next Sunday so I hope we have too much for them but they gave the Dubs a good test yesterday. The dubs should take donegal, I hope they do as I would rather either Ross or Kerry to meet them considering the day and date in question, it deserves good football.

40. “Maughan spoke well on the radio I thought and I love listening to him rather than dull John Casey and his dry sarky jokes.”

    Agree on the latter, lot of his “jokes” are boorish and predictable.
    As for Maughan, also thought that somebody was interrupting his lunch, his D4 accent seemed a little off kilter.

    I will say, he is spot on with the continued lunacy of driving/soloing into tackles.
    SR and his coach’s need to show the perpetrators some video’s again and if the repeat then bench time. Not acceptable in todays game.

41. I’d definately go for Clarke. He’s a bigger man and much better under a high ball. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him can concede a goal where I thought it was his fault. Also the pressure of a big game doesn’t phase him and I think it might have an effect on Robbie. Frees shouldn’t matter with Cillian and Evan on the field. I do think that hennelly will start though. Rochford seems to prefer him and good luck to him if he does. Concensus seem to be that Higgins should start in the half forward line but I’d prefer to see him in the full back line. We just don’t have the cover there and looking at the quality of some of the full forward lines we’re going to meet I think we’ll need him back there.

42. Kevin Mc has a lot to prove to get his place. Needs to have better accuracy in front of goals.
    DOC and “the Doc” cover some ground and seriously help out the defense. Think Freezer needs to be more aggressive and needs to have more confidence to take on the score…. great player but no confidence.
    Mayo have the players and finally some serious competition for most positions (except midfield) but they will come up short again if they don’t get more scoring forwards on the field and play them in the right positions.
    Just think that DOC is an amazing young talent but he’s spending too much time in the wrong half of the field.
    Need to move the ball quicker in to our forwards and have forwards with the confident to take the scores. Don’t think they’re far away but the small things make the big differences at this stage

43. We really need scoring forwards and not a load of forwards covering every blade of grass on the pitch like COS, DOC, Jason DOC and Kevin Mc. They are too similar. And people are mentioning higgins as well in the forwards. So that really just leaves us with COC, Regan and Freeman do the bulk of the scoring. Exact same problem as last year against the Dubs. Plenty of possession but not enough forwards in scoring positions. AOS was left isolated for huge parts of both games as our forwards were in the opposition half.
    It’s all well and good having these great workers around the pitch but they are forwards
    after all and their primary job is to score presume.

44. Most teams have 1 or 2 workhorses in the forwards. e.g. Kerry have Buckley and Walsh on the wings to run all day, track back and win dirty ball. Donegal, Tyrone and most others e.g. Ros, usually play total defensive football and try and catch you on the break.

    Even Dublin have their forwards tracking back in terms of Flynn, Kilkenny and Connolly with the main idea that their inside line then have space to operate in.

    The biggest winners will be the teams that can
    (a) retain possession and work a score each time they have possession
    (b) transition the ball from backs to the forwards in the least amount of time and
    (c) stop the opposing team transitioning when they are attacking be that by fair means or foul.

    All top teams are pretty good at fouling high up the pitch to slow play down and allow them flood their defense once more. Most of the time they don’t get booked for these persistent niggly fouls. The way to counter this fouling is to improve the teams transition from backs to forwards.

    Dublin are currently best at this transition although Kerry are improving rapidly as shown in the League.

45. Did I just seriously read that Kevin McLoughlin has a lot to prove to get his place on the Mayo team?

    I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!

46. Agree with your comment Nisllmsc1983 afraid to say it Robbie does panic when the pressure is on , Clarke is definitely the safer option

    McLoughlin is definitely proven and will be wing forward come championship, I that its better that regan is now there, he will be off free kick taking duties and will play better .

    I think it effects his confidence if he misses

47. Those Kerry and Dublin forwards are well able to take a score especially Walsh. Kilkenny and Connolly.
    I think people are mixing Kevin Mcs misses from frees with his general play. He usually shoots 50% from play which is fine. However he is a far more alert and pacier footballer than COS or JDoc.
    I see sometimes posted that Keith Higgins is a scoring threat, he really isnt. That is mixing up his two spectacular championship points last year as a general trend. He isnt able to kick accurately at all with the around the house standard kick that will face you as a forward. For some reason he has a straight kicking or passing technique. He’s an anomoly as he is a much better 45 yard passer than 25 yard shooter.
    Hard to rate players on the Down game. Patrick Durcan does have a habit of carrying into contact. However he has great pace to track fast half forwards.

48. That was probably our biggest mistake last year in the Dublin games (along with having no midfield cover on the bench), having Diarmuid, Kevin Mc and Jason Doc in the one forward line. To an extent, they pretty much fulfil a similar role. It was no surprise then when Jason Doc was playing without Diarmuid and Kevin Mc in the team, he had his best game of the season so far on Sunday against Down.

    Since Diarmuid has come into the team, Jason Doc has almost become redundant in games. For this year you feel that only two from three will be up front. At the moment Diarmuid at 10 and Kevin Mc at 12 would be the no. 1 choices. Having a big squad is vital these days though, so if Diarmuid or Kevin Mc get injured or black carded etc. during games then Jason Doc is a perfect replacement. This then allows us to have one extra scoring forward in the team like Evan Regan.

49. Agree with you HSE. Rely then on our scores from Cillian Freeman Regan AOS. All four can get or help setup goals. Thats a nicely balanced forward line with Kevin McGloughlin and Diarmuid.
    I’d like to see SOS and Parsons help out defensively. Aidan drops towards midfield with Kevin Mc. Diarmuid keeps a wide threat on the wing. Cillian and Regan wide. Freeman pulled 30 yards from goal. Don’t bunch ourselves up. All those footballers can handle themselves one on one very well.
    Ball one inside that gets covered you have one from Aidan, Freeman, Diarmuid and McGloughlin as outlets.

50. David Clarke would be the man for me as well for he’s always oozed confidence and command in that important area.
    But It’s all the same who you have where in the forward line if they don’t work out who is doing what! It’s the most serious weakness in this team. Pace is lacking,accuracy of passing,ability to take long range points…..these are and have been way below par for a team of our stature and ambition.
    We don’t / can’t take scores from out the field. We can’t build a score through smart running and timely passing.Our main ploy is the mad dash into tackles either intentional or otherwise hoping for the free and it does come of course but it’s a barren and crude action when it becomes your only tool.
    This kinda forward play is good and a must to have and be able to execute, however it has to be part of a system, the other two elements being as mentioned above!
    Down gave us a bit of a lesson in off the ball running and transfer. It can’t be beyond us to achieve for it sometimes happens but it needs to be made to happen much more often.The long ball in is good and always was but again,the receiver needs not be left to plough a lone furrow all the time.
    Of the 1-19 the last day 8 pts from play….not good enough. Down had 9 from play and seven came from the lsubs.
    Our defence is shaping nicely as long as Caff is part of it.A decision is to be made about Higgins and I’d prob prefers Durkan to Nally. Midfield is good with AOS in front of it. Our forwards on paper look to have what it takes but only if ….the above.! And that’s it folks…all depends on getting them moving smartly with pace and accuracy of pass to make the space to score in play. And we ll accept the scores from frees as well. No shortage of takers but don’t let us be slaves to their undoubted abilities. Let us display our many and varied talents from back to front.

51. Well hopefully the pace issue is sorted with all bar Cillian of potential five being pacey. In terms of burn ya pace you have Regan.
    Size and strength you have Cillian, Freeman, Diarmuid and AOS.
    General football intelligence Cillian,Regan, Kevin Mc and Diarmuid.
    The only thing remaining is to link it all up with match practice.

52. juan, I too remember that headline, and it sent shivers up my spine.a I think when we have a fully fit and available panel we will do well, can’t wait for summer. gamechanger10 beware of the yellow bellies, cause they already bet ye in the league and came close to Dublin last weekend (well Dublins c team) they believe Kerry are just a minor hurdle to the final. snakes in the grass and all that.

53. Always Mayo
    I nor the Kerry team will be taking them for granted I can assure you, they have a few instinctive forwards and players like these can always skin you. My hope is that Roscommon hit Kerry early and hard, this will sharpen our lads teeth and shoulda insure that they remain focused throughout.

    Mayo hit them hard above in Hyde Park and they took a good while to get to the pace of playing players that have been at the top table for a number of years, I’d say a few of them had ringing in their ears from those exchanges. Im not saying they are underdeveloped but there is a marked difference when it comes to division one football in April. It is said that they had a good bit of training done coming into the league where as Kerry had a good bit of drowning their sorrows under (and over) their belts.

    I am confident we will beat them but not foolish enough to be dismissive of quarter finalists in division one, it can’t all be good fortune !!

    Speaking of Hyde Pk, the poor Dubs had to arrange transport to attend a game outside of their local pitch, it must have been harrowing for all concerned. National news no less ,, and an unforceen tenner, they have a hard life alright.