What a difference a week makes, eh?
Right, there’s no sugar coating this. Coverage of matches we lose is never pretty so let’s get this one over as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Locals: Mayo News, Connaught Telegraph, Midwest Radio, Roscommon Herald.
Nationals: Irish Times (match report, overview with quotes), Irish Independent (match report, quotes), Irish Examiner (match report, quotes), Irish Mirror, Irish Sun.
Others: GAA, RTÉ (match report, including video highlights, quotes), The 42.
Photos: Inpho, Sportsfile.
Video: GAA (highlights), GAA Fan TV (analysis).
Stats: Stephen O’Meara.
That, thankfully, is that.
Speaking of thanks, I’d like to salute everyone commenting here after the game. Emotions always run high after a losing performance but it was good to see that, despite the critical nature of contributions, everyone, with just a few exceptions, was able to keep what they had to say broadly on the right side of reasonable. Thanks all for that, as it made my life a whole load easier once I’d completed the drive back east last night.
If you’re up for more analysis of yesterday’s game, our Final Whistle episode of the Mayo Football Podcast, recorded right after the match ended at MacHale Park yesterday, is worth a listen. Rob, Mike, Ed and I are on it and Rob also speaks with Kevin McStay. The show’s available to listen to on Patreon – here.
Finally, our MOTM poll is still up. Roscommon’s Enda Smith was, of course, the main man in yesterday’s game but it’s still a worthwhile exercise to see who you feel stood tallest for us in defeat. Back later on with the result of that vote.
Tough loss to take yesterday but in grand scheme of things it matters little . Actually more I think about it the more I’m happy to meet Kerry or Dublin in groups .
As for game you could see Roscommon have watched how Galway beat us last year. They packed the defense and just needed to be in front for dark arts tactics. From 10 minutes on they wasted time , played keep ball with keeper, and feigned head injuries. You could see ref motion their goal keeper to kickout faster multiple times but not once was penalized. Ref let the game go that way , I’m a huge fan of David gough as he is a stickler for rules but also does not allow games go this way . We need more refs like him . You often hear pundits saying Galway are good at closing out games last year but we all know that really means cheating to an extent . There 16 man last year was medical staff, they were on pitch so much when ahead. Head injuries everywhere.
Now I want to make it clear that Roscommon were better team yesterday and deserved victory but just saying that a blue print of time wasting and packing defense is being used to win games against us so we need a plan and also help from official to stop that tactic. It will ruin the game if let continue. I cannot understand how stopping the clock has not been introduced at this stage .
On our own performance I thought we were way off in many areas. Actually only our goalie ,AOS and Jack coyne seemed to play a bit . I really could not understand why Flynn , Carney were pressing their kickout when ball was going long and they were killing our midfield. I would argue that they are better fielders of ball that diarmuid or Matty in that situation.
Not having our stable backline really hurt as we had too many lads that are not natural defenders first.
Overall I think the break will help us but we need better plans for midfield rotation , number 6 role and impact subs . Big fan of Tommy Conroy being used in this way
Flat, flat, flat.
ADVANTAGES OF OUR SITUATION
* RRR- we need rest and recovery badly. And a reset. Management too, and supporters.
* 5 weeks, if it’s that, will help with injury rehab – McBrien, Hession, McHale, Brickenden?,
* Losing (see disadvantages), to Ros is better than losing to Galway, and gives us an extra 2 weeks.
* Grounds will be good to firm in 5 weeks
* we can plan for Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone match first up. Likely opponents.
* we will have our u20s back
DISADVANTAGES
* Losing is never nice, but we’re not out.
* First seeds would be better – we can still top the group though.
* Squad depth is a real worry – but see above re injuries.
This is just a distillation of what posters have been saying all week.
Yesterday is done with onto the next phase.
Here are a few things for management to sort out in the next 6 weeks.
New players or positional switches in a few positions.
Centre half back and midfield primarily.
Simple face there seems to be far too much emphasis now on attacking defenders that are expected to chip in with a score also.
There is a shortage of pace in the halfback line.
Hession a better halfback that a Corner back.
No point in fitting any players into a position for the sake of it, just will not get away with it in the Knock out games.
Draw for the group stages is on May 2nd, before the provincial finals. From what I can see there is nothing to stop us meeting Roscommon again if they won Connacht but that could be incorrect.
If we draw the Connacht or Munster Provincial Winners in our group, we play them away on May 20th/21st.
If we draw the Ulster or Leinster Provincial Winners in our group, we play them away on May 27th/28th.
Round 2 is on June 3rd/4th against the 2nd seed team.
Round 3 is on June 17/18 against the 4th seed team.
Some positives to look on – Obviously the long gap, if used well, will hopefully help with fitness and working on interplay.
We will have a fair idea of who our first opponent will be on May 2nd (particularly if it’s Munster or Leinster) so we can work on a plan to stop them while that team still has to focus on their provincial final.
Our last game is against a 4th seed team so if we have picked up some injuries, at least we are playing the ‘worst’ ranked team last to potentially decide our faith.
I mean all of this could count for nothing but we need some positivity on this bleak Monday morning.
We’ll be back!Maigh Eo Abú!
Embarrassing display all round. No heart no passion. After the monaghan game you have to wonder how caonor mcstay gets in ahead of towey and on the 24 in general. Well beaten…a collective team failure….no one else to blame
Keegans loss to Mayo was never more evident that yesterday. He would have steadied the ship late on when all around him were panicking. You could nearly have guaranteed that he’d have kicked over a few points and could potentially have been given a man marking job on Enda Smith who ran riot yesterday.
No big harm in loosing yesterday but the way we lost is a big concern. CHB is not solved and wont be sovled by trying to convert a forward there, a real tough defender is needed to man the middle. Forwards alljust passing theball around, none of them looking to take a shot even. Mayo were also bullied by Roscommon all over the field nice football and nice fellows dont win games. Line slow to make changes , there is enough of them to see whats happening and read the game and do the right thing in time. Where was the fast attacking football played in the League.
Sure don’t like the pics in the Indo of players ‘Taunting’ Aido on the ground. They resemble a pack of thugs.
Ciaran2.
Killarney , croke park , Salthill/hyde , omagh (imo tyrone will win ulster ) , 5/6 weeks to prepare for it , a serious ask to get a win in any of the above but a fixture to look forward to and relish the challenge .
The photos certainly capture the intensity that the Rossies brought to the game..Supporters the same..They were celebrating around us as though they had won a Connaught title..Guess that’s how much beating us means to them..
After the hurt has subsided I am starting to see the positives. We will be like a wounded animal after 6 weeks of reflection and rest. I am very confident we will still have a massive say on where Sam heads this year.
One change we have to make is get cillian in the starting 15. He’s by a long distance our most natural scoring forward and we need him in from the off going forward.
Obviously the game was a while ago now, so memory mighn’t be overly hectic but I don’t recall Galway’s win against Mayo last year being anything down to “time wasting”, they were just far hungrier on the day. If anything game management was Galway’s weakness last year, did they not nearly throw away that game and others?
You need to be able to rise above that stuff anyway, there’s not a hope Kerry or Dublin lose a championship game to Roscommon, and I expect Galway to put them away with little fuss in a fortnight, but the situation is what it is and if Mayo truly are contenders then this setback and subsequent break might indeed be a blessing in disguise, but it certainly remains to be seen
It looks like there’s going to be one Ulster team as a fourth seed, guaranteed? Wouldn’t write off Cork pulling off an upset either.. bizarrely the 4th seed pot might be scarier looking than the 2nd seed one!
Great comments above BUT Rome was not built in a day. Give McStay and our boys time and they will deliver.
“Keep right on till the end of the road”.
Who is seeded higher, Derry (by virtue of promotion) or Donegal/Armagh (who were relegated?)?
If Cavan were to make an Ulster final (not at all impossible) it could make a right job of things
You then have Cork and two decent Ulster teams as 4th seeds. That would be the last group game also, where a result might be needed. That said it looks like the 2nd seeds could be a virtual bye in all instances bar the Ulster loser
But with 3rd place having to go away the week after to play a 2nd place side, that wouldn’t be the preferred scenario by any stretch
Winning the province may not be as meaningless as initially thought, as you essentially remove any element of finishing 3rd
Also it only takes one shock result in a provincial final to really make a hames of things for the lower seeds
Hopefully this is the catalyst to force management to change things. My amateur thoughts are:
– Aido in FF will not work in crowded defense as balls cannot be kicked in (bar hopeful speculative ones, which we should try more off now and again),
– playing sweeper/sweepers when gale on our back will not work to our advantage,
– pushing up on kick outs when being beat in the middle will not work, we need men to hoover breaks.
– We will not win without a defensive structure/platform
Management have bigged up the importance of winning and competing in Connacht, “We weren’t in the Connacht final this year and that’s where we have to begin. I’ve always argued that the provincial championship is the best base camp for Mayo going into the All-Ireland.” https://www.balls.ie/gaa/mcstay-emphasises-importance-of-connacht-campaign-for-driving-mayo-on-521750
So this could be a wake up call needed, we will know fairly quickly how we set up game one in round robin.
We have the players to do this.
Part 1 of the season is over and part 2 begins in 6 weeks. I hope complete rest is the message for week 1 (I hope the lads are going to the Monday Club today and even tomorrow if they want to blow off some steam). Then weeks 2-4 heavy S&C for the players while management rewatch the league final and Roscommon match on repeat over and over and come up with plans/tactics for multiple scenarios (playing against a gale, playing with a gale, playing with 14 men, playing against 14 men, when to be cute and waste time etc etc). Weeks 4-6 then get the players training to these gameplans – it’s not too late to rotate positions on this team and may give some players a new lease of life. I for one would love to see Ryan in the half forward line and diarmuid at 6, keep Tommy for the second half into the half forward line with clear direction to run at tired defenders.
First. Well done to alk the supporters that went to McHale Park yesterday to support the team on what was a miserable day weather wise.
Easy option was to watch it on TV at home or even the pub !!
Small margins really, if Coens goal went in , we could well have kicked on an won .
One area,of concern and I think our next opposition will target it is the long high kickouts.
Rossies made hay on that.
We will learn alot from the defeat and hopefully a bit of rest this week and hopefully get lads that are currently out or improving fitness back and have a stronger panel to pick from .
I’m not going to fault management or individual players. They will be hurting more that us this morning.
Thanks WJ , you should have a quiet few weeks ahead
Big problems yesterday, we were dominated around the middle but in the air and on breaking ball and could not do anything to fix it for the entire game. We were open for goals at the back in the first half, Roscommon clearly targeted goals. We were afraid to take on shots again, at one stage we turned down a chance to shoot 10 yards from goal at a tight angle merely to recycle the ball out to the 40 yard mark and miss from there. No.5 from Roscommon played puck all day and nothing was done about it. You learn more from a loss than a win and I’d suggest we didn’t get a chance to learn enough about ourselves in the league. I’d rather lose to ros than Galway, real competition starts in 6 weeks.
@Ciaran
The game yesterday and against Galway was eerily similar I would say . I bet it was used as a template. They controlled tempo of game by slowing it down with head injuries. Played a mass defense.
In Both games , Roscommon and Galway were better team but I’m just saying it’s a tactic that should not be praised .
It was hard watch to see the Roscommon goalie being that involved yesterday playing keep ball. Had we scored a goal and got in front the game tactics would have had to change
On a plus note , the allocated seating was great . Hope it continues
Rossies looked like they were celebrating the All Ireland after then we get accused of that if we go out and celebrate like that but fair play to them they were def the better team on the day.
Feeling oddly a lot better today about things. As others have said our guys will be fuming at themselves for that display not really the loss but more the poor display. But they have been going 100 miles an hour more so then a lot of other teams .
We will come back in 6 weeks and give it a he’ll of a shot and we are always better under dogs and I will after yesterday we will be!
Not gonna bother read the articles on yesterday’s game as I know full well what they will say .
Thanks willie Joe again for the article and sorry if I let my emotions get the better of me yesterday ha!
Onwards and upwards .
Usually I am inconsolable after a loss. This feels different. I remember our young bucks beating Galway out the gate…on 3 occasions, last year. Then they lost the final. I am happy that we are now on the sideline and waiting for the big action. I don’t care what seed we are. Mayo are a top tier team and yesterday showed very little to anyone.
There are issues we need to work on, but the next few weeks will be good and positive. I fully expect Mayo to be in the right place when the serious football starts. I am happy they aren’t going through to play Galway next and this is a time for a bit of perspective. Mayo are alright and will be sparking when the time is right.
I know the sun is shining on me as I write this and sunshine always makes me positive…but fekkit, Mayo have the players and the knowhow.
Bring it on…in another month or so.
Maigheo abu
Game yesterday was very disappointing. Credit to Roscommon though, and they are well entitled to celebrate.
Increasingly seeing the positives though.
-We’re not worse off than if we were to be beaten by Galway in two weeks.
-We’ve had a number of issues highlighted across the last three games, and now have time to work on them. Lead amongst these is how to play against a packed defence.
-We’ve got a clear six weeks to resolve injuries and let players recover from the exertions of the league. We’ve taken it more seriously than most and the likes of Jordan, Mattie, Aidan and Ryan have significant miles up already.
-We’ll have a good idea of who we are facing with almost three weeks to prepare at least for the vital first game in the group stages.
-We can reset expectations amongst supporters for what is still a young team and one very much in transition. A league title and a quarter final in year one with some new names blooded would be a par showing at worst.
Let’s see where the summer takes us. In the last six weeks we’ve played Galway, Roscommon twice, Monaghan and Donegal. I think the rest and focus on team building will be no harm.
@PK – Why wouldn’t Conor McStay get in ahead of Towey? A proper player who is selfless and can mind the ball…. Unlike a good few others on the pitch yesterday!!!
Really surprised at lack of analysis.Seems we need a rest and it will be ok is what passes for analysis.Some questions
1.How has McStay and expensive backroom team improved the Mayo squad? CHB is as big a problem as ever as is full back.
2.Putting AOS on the square waz tried time and again by Horan and result was the same yesterday
3.Why cant our forwards take opportunities rather than recycle as they did yesterday.Only Cillian hhad a proper go and Conroy in 2nd half?
4.Can we depend on Ruane to improve.
5.Why is Conor McStay ahead of many others including Towey
6.Bringing on a few under 20s is hardly revolutionary is it?
I feel until these matters are analysed we are a long way off.
Donegal has proven constant recycling is not the way forward.
Finally League and championship poles apart.
Yes the break can be good but management need to manage now or it is same old story.
Well done Kevin McStay on your dignity after yesterday’ s game. You can imagine how PJ would complain if Galway were asked to play on a Sunday after a League final.
The Roscommon manager has a chip on his shoulder and let himself down with ‘ being looked down on’ comments .
Padraig O Neill – Disagree, Conor McStay needs more game time… a steady player. Far too many players on the pitch yesterday who need to brush up on very basic skills, silly mistakes like loosely holding the ball leading to turnovers (which we had far too many of from experienced players) which is just not good enough. Why wouldn’t he come in before Towey? No team is going to vastly improve in the space of a couple of months – give it time
Does anyone know what the situation is with Brendan Harrison?? A great natural defender with a few years in him still.
I’d be a lot more confident about Mayo with Durcan or some strong natural footballer who can tackle with good positional sense.
*at CHB.
I think our Management team needs to be objective in their analysis of themselves yesterday. Done very well to win the League.. However they never made any changes until way too late , issues were apparent and not addressed. Going back to James Horan second coming, Mayo have really struggled against a blanket defense. Everyone knows it, and later on in the Summer most will try it versus Mayo. James Carr was a huge loss for Mayo yesterday, for me he’s our most natural forward. I’ll know for a fact he has scored more from play than any other player in the League, and with considerably less minutes of playing time than any other player. Missed a few point chance’s as well but that’s far better than running into traffic and constantly recycling!
I think some people are being a bit disingenuous to Roscommon.
On wet/windy days, in low-scoring games, when the intensity is as its highest, the true marksman comes to the fore.. Ciaran Murtagh, one of my favourite footballers, scored an inspirational point from distance – from then on they wouldn’t lose. C. O’Connor responded with a beauty too. Such a pity he wasn’t brought on earlier.
Roscommon also had to absorb having a player black carded.
Compared to Mayo, Roscommon have a low spending budget – so, pride in the jersey has to count.
Overall, the game was contested fairly by both sides, and the supporters were also a credit. No booing to be heard..
Mayo were poor yesterday but could have won it as well oddly enough. Roscommon game plan worked but lets face it they are a poor enough out fit. Ref was shocking not one or 2 bad decisions but several even taking my bias out of it. Also some posters here need to have another look at the game, we lost mid field totally throughout the game which put added pressure on our defence. Defence wasn’t our big issue yesterday albeit Paddy and Eoghan I thought were a bit off from what they can do. Up front we overcooked it several times and under shot – this was the losing off the game. Loftus for some reason is the new marmite for some on here but he was one of our better players in the middle third. Would be good if people stopped using him as a scapegoat. How many times was the ball kicked to mid field and lost ? think about it and nothing was changed.
@Mayonaze totally agree he also didn’t say hard luck to mayo or anything and I am sure if it was the other way around mcstay would have said it.
Trolls are out in force today as I said a few times Im going into hibernation from fb anyway haha
Mayonaze, Brendan is not a part of the panel or extended panel as far as I am aware.
Mayoforver I thought the Roscommon manager was quite good in his interview, he said what needed to be said for his team.
He out thought our management to win the encounter so credit to him.
Sorry meant @mayoforever there.
Imagine if Towey had the all chances presented to one of our subs when he was about 30 yards out on several occasions. No way would he have recycled every ball and refuse to shoot. Look at the point Cillian
scored from the sideline. Night and Day difference. I thought we had moved away from lads
afraid of having a pop.
Need a to find a ball winning midfielder from somewhere. Carney probably needs to be tried there.
They are not going to turn Ruane into a ball winning midfielder at this stage.
Number 10 or 12 for him, if he is selected.
Anyway, result is better in the long run. rest now for 2 weeks and get at it again.
@Ciaran. Galway physio was on so much against Mayo last year. I have visions of the galway v Ros game just being the physios treating head injuries for 70 mins from the warm up
I find Davy Burke’s quotes odd – he felt they were disrespected before the game….by who? As we found out both in 2019 And yesterday league form counts for little but he uses Roscommons league form as the basis for his argument. When asked about the officiating he just deflects it by saying Mayo got soft frees last week in the league final (that bit grinds). I find his quotes disrespectful to Mayo to be honest. McStay on the other hand was dignified, didn’t blame the ref “we don’t whinge”, gave credit to Roscommon which is right and no doubt will learn a huge amount from this chastening experience
I got given out to by a few here yesterday when I said we’re not at the level of Galway. I clarify – yet. They’re further down the road than us, as are most teams. I actually wasn’t in “Camp McStay” when the managerial position came up but I felt he and his team have brought a huge positivity back to the county. It’s going to take time to unlearn years of playing a certain way and get into a new one. Yesterday, Roscommon cut off the option of fast ball with a mass defence setup. Psychologically, we reverted to type – the old plan A under Horan that never worked against mass defences. Management will have to get a handle on that, with a better plan B or coping strategies.
Time is key here. Galway will win Connacht because they’re further down the line than us. Hell, they might even win it outright. We’re not going to be winning Sam this year but I’m okay with that, as long as I see progress and player development. I don’t see this as negativity, just realism. I went to the game, supported my county and we lost. Hopefully, we get better as a result of the defeat. We’ll have a right crack at the group and if a miracle happens, then great. If not, we have a savage cut at it next year!
In my opinion the 6 week break is far too long .the issues that have cost us for were all apparent yesterday.i recall back in the holmes and connelly season when Tyrone came to castlebar and sat back and defended in numbers as they always do and pat holmes said afterwards they weren’t expecting Tyrone to set up like that.we don’t appear to have any plan to deal with mass defences.the silence in the ground yesterday reflected the extremely poor quality of the game.when you win a game like that you remember the excitement of the last few minutes and forget what went before.Roscommon arrived with the most basic of game plans which of course relies on getting in front and then turning the game into a borefest.our early butchered goal chance would probably have the altered the complexion of the game.James Horan was accused of not reacting quickly enough but their appeared to be no attempt to alter our tactics yesterday.obviously the lads on the line have far more football knowledge than I have but it does seem strange.maybe the league final took alot more out of them both mentally and physically than we realised .Anyway it’s a long time to be sitting around thinking about it
Could anyone see Dublin , Kerry or Galway fans describing a defeat in the first round of the championship as a good thing / blessing in disguise even a week after a league final win , not a chance yet Mayo fans are quite happy to except yesterdays performance or under performance as ok .
It makes no difference how we do further down the line , yesterday was a stepping stone to a semi final against Galway in two weeks time then a Connacht final and to be honest we were not the slightest bit interested in getting there
Fully agree our time has come, Davy Burke has shown a fair bit of immaturity, both at final whistle and, with his comments after. Like it or not, he’s set his team up for a fall later in the year. Just a real lack of class all around, summed up in particular, by his comments on the reffing in last weeks game, which he wasn’t involved in. I’ve no idea who he felt disrespected his team in advance, I didn’t know any mayo supporter that wasn’t nervous about this one. You can bet your life that if we meet again later in the year, Burke’s comments and general behaviour will be a serious motivator for our lads and mgmt team. It’s a long championship Davy…..
We weren’t that far away yesterday, despite playing poorly. Two massive goal chances didn’t go our way. We clawed our way back in the second half, but had left ourselves with too much to do.Posters suggesting we are the same as ever e.g. Horan’s running game, haven’t been watching the league. We recycle and recycle, like all teams, and we broke down all defences during the league by our pace and use of space. Big difference was that we won ball around midfield, and breaking ball, so we were able to dictate matters. Yesterday, we won neither primary ball, nor breaking ball, and if you don’t win that you are always going to be on the back foot. Also the conditions suited Roscommon, the ref WAS crap
@Jihn that’s cause kerry dublin rarely go out in munster or leinster and if they did it would be a shock as they walk through it every year compared to the likes of connaught .
How did the conditions suit Roscommon Catcol? I think that’s the sort of thing Davy Bourke was referring to, them not getting credit and excuses being made. They outfought us on the pitch and out thought us on the line, fair play to them
We can’t make excuses for yesterday or look to deflect e.g. the weather, the ref. We can only control our own house.
I still think we will make top 4/2, we have the players.
Totally agree @Exiled in Dublin Davy was pretty immature and our mayo guys won’t have missed that at all !
No one disrespected Roscommon sure nearly everyone on this blog said it would be tough.
His words as you said will only inspire our lads to kick on with a bounce come 6 weeks time.
A very simple but good barometer (for me)of how a game will go is who is jumping in to win breaking ball around the middle third in the first 5/10 minutes of a game. When a ball is there to be won who is really committed to the fight. Remember the injection we used to get when Boyler would dive in to the unknown and come out with ball under his oxter… yesterday that was Roscommon for the most part and I got the bad feeling early on.
It is partly explained by the previous weekend’s exertions I suppose but we need to get that edge back on our return.
Gizmobobs – Davy Burke was complaining that Roscommon were disrespected in the build up, yet provided no example. Talking about us getting soft frees vs Galway and applauding the referee for how he performed yesterday is pretty bizarre I think.
Everyone gave Roscommon a fighting chance before the game. Darragh Maloney said on commentary several times how it’s no shock.
I would imagine wet conditions would suit the type of game Roscommon wanted to play.slow the game down and turn it into stop start situation .I get the impression from Davey Burke that he sees himself as being very a very knowledgeable football man and his interviews come across as well I am way to clever for ye lads asking these silly questions.I actually find his interviews quite comical.but anyway good luck to them.i think they will cause Galway problems
Don’t disagree with you that much Gizmo. Yes, they out-thought and out-fought us, but the conditions DID suit them – our game depends on pace and pace wasn’t productive yesterday. The critical thing as I said, was no primary or secondary possession, all through the game.
To invert the argument about conditions, one could ask: how did we get so lucky that every match in the league was played in near perfect conditions – no wind, rain, and pitches good? OK Ballybofey was wettish, but sitting near the sideline that day, I didn’t think it was that bad. I think we’ll struggle in mud baths, but hopefully Summer weather will be kind to us.
Tommy+Joe – not sure if you’re referring to me, but I certainly wasn’t giving out! You said we’re nowhere near Galway. Sorry but that’s incorrect. In the last 4 years Galway have beaten us once in league and championship. We’ve beaten them 5 times and there was 1 draw. We were very near them for the one defeat too.
Maybe they are “further down the road”. Their management have been in place for 4 years now. Although recent history (Farrell, Logan/Dooher, JO’C) shows the first year under new management can be the best chance of winning something.
Kevin McStay must make sure all injury free Mayo panel members play all club games for the next 4 to 5 weeks thats including the Divisional cup games this weekend coming ,followed by the round of Michael Walsh games the following weekend.Match sharpness is key especially for players like Colm Reape, Cillian O’Connor, Eoghan McLaughlin, Tommy Conroy and Enda Hession.
Mchale park is 82 metres wide , Hyde park is 90 metres wide, Croke park is 88 metres wide. the pitch in mchale park is too narrow and does not suit the Mayo team. When the pitch was being done up i seem to recall a lot of bloggers asking for the playing surface to be the same size as Croke Park but they said it could’nt be done . I think that was a mistake as it is easy for teams to crowd out their defence and prevent scores. We all need a rest for the next six weeks to recharge our batteries and get ready for the SAM phase of the season.
On the Roscommon manager, a few people I know from Kildare are not happy that he is at Roscommon they want him in charge of the Kildare Senior team, sure he was the boss when Kildare beat Mayo in the U20 / 21 final a few years ago.
The Rossies have been building all year hence they have a good league.
John, genuinely cannot understand how you can think that Mayo fans are accepting yesterdays performance as OK.Have we been reading the same comments?
Comments are measured as all the wailing and gnashing of teeth is utterly pointless..It was a well below par performance yesterday and no one is stating anything different..
Can’t say I’m shocked by the result yesterday. Hard to get the feet back on the ground after a great league final win. However two things that was mentioned my Enda McGuinnely yesterday really stood out to me. The first thing he said was really interesting “mayo can’t cope with SLOW attacks”. I think he’s right. We seem to allow the opposition hold the ball for a good 30 seconds and then for a split second we switch off and they are in. And the other thing he said was that he couldn’t find a clip whereby the mayo attack had to hold the ball for 30 seconds and then score. That was very evident yesterday and in the league final. We are a brilliant counter attacking team but we don’t know how to be patient both in defence and attack. If we want to win Sam, that’s where I think the management should focus their efforts on over the coming few weeks
The constant recycling of ball in games throughout the league was seen as patient play, no panic, managing the game well etc etc.
When we lose it’s a lack of quality forwards, afraid to shoot, lack of game plan etc.
I get caught up in the emotion of the occasion too much to be in any way objective about what’s actually unfolding on the pitch.
But if lads have a go and miss we crucify them for not being good enough, bad decision makers and all the rest.
Not exactly sure what I’m trying to get at here but Roscommon set up well yesterday. Not sure of it’s fair to question our lads hunger but Roscommon had it in spades. Feral at times and on the pitch too. They got a soft penalty. Coens shot is 10cm lower and the atrocity that was the refs performance might not have been as critical, but it was a shocking succession of bad decisions on his behalf and that has a huge impact on the flow of the game.
Good luck to Roscommon and Galway in a fortnight. It’s the Connacht final in reality.
I hope they flither eachother.
We need to stop blaming McHale Park for poor performance’s . What we need to do collectively do everything possible to make McHale Park a fortress for Mayo . We done the same thing in the 2021 All Ireland final in Croke Park on a perfect sunny day, kept running into traffic. McHale Park now has a new surface, sure it’s a bit narrower than Hyde Park..If Mayo are good enough, McHale Park certainly is good enough!
Cant understand why Mayo opted to play with wind when they won the toss. We all know it takes 10-15 minutes minimum for players to adopt to these conditions.
After deciding to play with the wind I fully expected Mayo to try and blitz Ros with high intensity pressure and fast ball dropped in front of the full forward line. Instead we got the opposite. Ros were allowed to hold the ball with no pressure applied whatsoever to force turnovers. I’d say Ros management couldn’t believe the Mayo tactics.
It looks like we were programmed before hand to play this way and didn’t play the conditions.
Disappointing and worrying that our management couldn’t see this and change tactics after 15 minutes.
Mayo 88 he was close to getting the Kildare job but – while hindsight is great – they were never going to turn down three Kildare legends in Ryan, Doyle and Rainbow
His enthusiasm is definitely infectious though and McHugh seems to be highly thought of by players also
are we really going to see criticism of the opposition managers after every game now?
They’re only human, and post-match interviews are one of the most pointless exercises you will ever see. And no matter what they say it seems they can’t ever win
I wish they’d just do away with post match interviews but I actually feel more sorry for players as I’m sure one will come out with something a bit contentious in the heat of the moment and in the current climate of everything spreading like wildfire on social media, they’ll get in serious bother for it
Roscommon outplayed Mayo mentally & physically yesterday, Mayo team didn’t get stuck in at all.
Midfield didn’t win one high ball, defence looked disjointed, no leader to keep defenders on their toes, they were standing around hoping someone else would cover up?
They are an average championship team that will be found out sooner rather than later, hope I’m wrong but ??
@Left boot are you saying mayo are an average championship team?? That’s pretty ridiculous if you are entitled to your opinion but don’t agree at all with that !!
EVERY team has off days and we didn’t need to win this that match made absurdly absurdly difference I terms of whoever wins sam !
The morning or afternoon after hasn’t made things feel better. Last time Mayo lost a championship match by a margin of 4 or more points before in MacHale Park? Must be a long time since a mere 0-10 was just scored also.
6/7 weeks a long wait for us supporters but i suppose we have the U20s and minors to fill the void in that gap.
After the lengthening of McHale park, it comes up a whopping 1389 sq m less in playing area than Croke or Hyde and even more compared to Pearse Stadium. There is an interesting article on balls ie ‘It’s A Huge Difference, A Really Big Deal For Mayo’ – The MacHale Park Hinderance.
The jist of the article is that the small suits teams that bunch up the middle and that’s not Mayos style…..
Clare fair point, I just needed to let steam off, hopefully it was an off day & they show a huge improvement next day out, sorry!
Regina
I have , you need to go back and read all the comments since kick off yesterday , then come back and comment
The link to that article (and related podcast) referred to by Ontheditch is here: https://www.balls.ie/gaa/mchale-park-gaa-pitch-size-411321. Coincidentally, this came out just after our 2019 loss to Roscommon …
@Ciaran, Sometimes post match interviews aren’t pointless at all..I have a sneaky feeling that Padraig Joyce interview post Galway’s defeat last Sunday week, was to use whatever influence he could to deprive Mayo of any what he would seem ‘soft’ frees possibly in the expectation that Mayo would be playing Galway in Salthill in two weeks time..He even referenced the Monaghan Mayo league match, where Monaghan were awarded a penalty in the last minute.. While it made zero difference to us in Mayo really, the foul was outside the 21 yard line and technically not a penalty,.. but natural justice would say that foul deprived Monaghan of a goal scoring opportunity. It worked yesterday anyway, but maybe it worked too well one or two national pundits have questioned the reffing yesterday..A free count of 24 to 10 for Roscommon.. it wouldn’t actually surprise me if the days before the Galway Roscommon clash he references Roscommon soft frees v Mayo. If Roscommon beat Galway and the Rossies get any frees at all, we will hear it all again!. Some things never change, Monaghan never go down,.. Roscommon always beat Mayo when Mayo are League Champions and the Galway manager will give out about their opponents getting frees!
@Left boot ah no worries at all don’t blame you after yesterday think we all need to let some steam off ha! Yes we will bounce back I am sure like we always do : )
“6/7 weeks a long wait for us supporters but i suppose we have the U20s and minors to fill the void in that gap”
feck it though, I don’t think I’ve ever taken as much interest in who joins Dublin in a Leinster final or who beats who in Ulster 😀
I know this sounds mad, but this new system might just be growing on me… if they ditched the prelims and had only 2 getting out of the groups it would be almost perfect imo
Division 2 may just be one of teh greatest competitions in world sport at the minute 😀 😀
Fair point Leantimes, true, I think Joyce was being a lot cuter than being given credit for in fairness
Favourable or unfavourable fluke occurances leading to wins or losses is never a basis for drawing conclusions re team tactics or selection
We need a template than can be replicated day to day so as to minimise over-dependance on fluke/luck.
Seems to me the only antidote to massed defences is three or so finishers, mostly half-forwards/midfielder, who can consistently kick points from 40 metres or thereabouts. The remaining forwards stay as close as possible to opposition endline in order to keep opponents honest and also fluke the odd goal or points.
So use the next 6wks practicing that skill utilising Cillian O’Connor’s technigue. (or entice the Gooch as a short-term scoretaking coach)
Trying one-twos in a bunched defence, twenty metres out, is futile at worst and luck-dependant at best Shovelling the ball sideways is passing the parcel and akin to hoisting the white flag.
Finishing has always been our Achilles heel so do something tangible about it.
After all its the season of ressurection.
.
On the size of McHale Park,..Mayo played some of the most exciting football in McHale Park v Kerry and Tyrone in the league, possibly the best football of any team in the entire National League competition. Mayo have struggled with blanket defense regardless of whatever ground we have played in ,. even Croke Park.
The only way to minimize the narrowness of the pitch is to break quickly out of defence and not get sucked into lateral passing. Other than that, ability to pick off points from distance is the key.
How we missed both Hession and Callinan in getting us out of defence at pace.
Ciaran – Not sure how cute Joyce was being. He just seems to complain about something every time Galway don’t win.
Kicking more long range points isn’t a recipe for winning anything, especially in blustery conditions. Our problem was falling 4 points behind after playing with the wind. Roscommon were always going to need goals to win, they were never going to out-point us.
Correct Leantimes, we could make it 2 miles wider, but a swarm defence that protects their D would still cause us bother as it stands.
@Southmayo exile I agree completely with your analysis. Mayo’s game plan was very poor and managment are solely to blaim for this. If this was a young managment team I’d be more forgiving, but we have a star studded team of very experienced operators with €20,000 to €30,000 being spent each week to run the senior team. To go out playing with a sweeper yesterday was hard to believe. The team itself is pretty much the same every game from the early stages of the league barring injuries. That would indicate that either the other lads aren’t showing up too well at training or the team is not for changing regardless of how the others perform at training. I still expect us to reach the semifinal or final this year, we have just too many good players not to. COC has to start up front and my own choice for sweeper if they are going to persist with that tactic would be AOS. He’s one of the best tackler and one of the best kick passers on the team and would also be able to provide suitable cover for high balls coming in to our own square.
Leantimes – great observations above. It does seem like some of our Div 1 opponents are starting to get cute in certain tactics.
Mayo Exile – yes, I like your point about long range scorers. It would give me great satisfaction to get the better of these mass defensive teams.
Watched the game again last night.
Not the end of the world, however there are worrying signs in our backline.
Coen stupid free for Roscommon 1st or 2nd point
Tommy Conroy did not look up for AOS wide open running in on 14 yard line when he shot for goal
Fionn Mcdonagh how many chances does he get, he has a problem scoring, he tries hard, and does a lot of tackling, but he is not a forward, this has been displayed multiple times in the league. Yesterday 10 mins or so into second half 21 yards out in front of goal, could not score. simply not good enough at this level.
Eoghan McLoughlin gave away a stupid free 20 mins in , great athlete just not a natural footballer. He was also left on the field for almost 10 mins after being obviously injured, poor management.
Matthew Ruane had a nightmare of a name, in reality we completley lost the middle third of the field.
Referee gave Mayo absolutely nothing in the first half. any marginal call went against Mayo.
Let Roscommon continually slow up the game, he added just ONE minute in in the first half, should have been at least five, with Roscommons slowing tactics. unbelievable.
In the second half. he called for a free on Enda smith 60 yards out for a jersey tug, then allowed him to keep going then gave a free 30yards out, result easy point why was ball not brought back to position of the original foul.
Ref not the reason Mayo lost, but he was borderline pathetic.
Agree with comments on why Paul Towey was not introduced, at least he would have a shot for a score which Mayo badly needed, McStay tried hard, but was just an extention of other forwards (ex Cillian), just kept recycling the ball, when we needed a point taker in the last 10-15 minutes.
Bigger picture, Mayo are a work in progress which given that this is the first year of Kevin McStay and his team, that is fine, reality is were never going to win an All-Ireland this year.
We do need to shore up the middle of our backline, hopefully injuries will clear up and one or two more younger guys will step up. We are making progress, just hope stupid frees, and poor decision making can be reduced if not eliminated.
The commitment and possibly the talent is there.
I also agree with Wide Ball regarding the importance of the goals.
Take them out and it was a very low scoring game. Roscommon 8, Mayo 10.
Points were hard to get in that type of a defensive game.
It seems to me then, that in a game like that, dominated by defensive play, that a goal is almost worth more than a goal.
(We miraculously managed to claw back points to erase one goal).
But two goals are a very big mountain to climb in that kind of game.
We did very well, actually, as many have said, to fight back and score the points we did. Maybe big thanks there to Colm Reape for two, Cillian got an incredible one, and Mattie for a gorgeous one.
Aiden Orme should have replaced Aiden o Shea early and play right full. Needed sharp shooters on field in first half. Same with Cillian for Conroy. Conroy is a runner, O Shea is not a shooter at all. What was the matter with management? Seemed to be asleep yesterday. Orme cannot come out past 50 yard line like he did Vs Galway.
In the league game against Donegal O Shea tackled the Donegal goalkeeper every time with great success, yesterday Mayo let the roscommon goalkeeper mess about with the ball and waste time and never went near him, WHY ??????
Davy Burke saying Roscommon felt disrespected all week is rubbish in my opinion, but I would say he convinced himself and the players that they were all week.
Wide Ball found your stats interesting v Galway. I have felt too they are a bit ahead of us but I also feel anyone could beat anyone on any given day when it comes to Galway and Mayo at the minute – mind you I fancy ourselves when the game is in Croke Park :-D.
It’s hard to know what to take from yday but I couldn’t see Dublin/Kerry going down to Roscommon 1st round of championship league championship win the week before or not.
Also no team became great or shite over the course of a week so let’s hold on tight and see where the next few months bring us.
The conditions versus Kerry and Tyrone in McHale were way different to yesterday’s. It was always going to be a dogfight and we missed Hession/Callinan imo. Cillian did pick off one great point and probably should have started the second half. We need our half forwards scoring from distance. The worrying fact is that despite the congestion, we coughed up two goal chances.
If you really want to see the difference width makes, let’s see how Roscommon fare against Galway. Will the gaps appear?
And to think cillian was only brought on as a blood substitute for Darren Mchale…..
I wonder when he would be introduced otherwise…
The mind boggles
I see that Croke Park is deemed the neutral venue for all round robin fixtures so Dublin will play their home and neutral game in Croke Park,___what a joke.
Was the free count 24 to Roscommon to 10 Mayo? I just saw that in a post here I can’t find it again. Maybe I imagined it cos it couldn’t be that one way could it?
Can’t believe so many getting wound up about Davy byrnes very innocuous comments, it’s just the run of the mill siege mentality “everyone was writing us off” stuff that every county manager pumps out. Nothing in it. We’re a sensitive bunch
A day on and I’m still bloody grumpy about the performance. The result isn’t critical to the season of course as the GAA in their wisdom have seen to it that 6 or 7 of the top teams including ourselves are virtually guaranteed a quarter final place…
…but its the nature of the performance that sticks in the craw. All the classic mayo bad habits.
– The complete lack of guile and composure right across the team.
– an inability to read the referee and continue to run into contact and blind alleys expecting soft frees (Conroy, AoS and ruane the worst offenders)
– a total inability to pop over 40 yard points with a gale force wind in 1st half negating the blanket defence
– back to the drawing board for the half forward line methinks. I have agreed with James o donoghues assertion for years that mayo not getting enough from that line. Need some guile of creativity there. Flynn/Carney/mcdonagh all had excellent leagues but they are all essentially the same player. My kingdom for a brian mcguigan creative type in that line.
– poor day on the line too. Apart from cillian (who was comfortably our best forward) none of the rest of the subs justified their appearances. I’m not sure what Doherty and mcstay have shown across the league that warrants championship appearances
– also I got clamped in Dublin today, but I can’t blame that one on mcstay :-0
@JR didn’t hear that. That’s ridiculous how on earth is croke Park a neutral venue though I know it suits mayo to play in as they love playing in croke Park but still it’s ridiculous of the GAA to call it a neutral venue when the Dubs say its their home ground haha
In fairness, the people above who are criticising Davy Burke for what he did or didn’t say, need to grow up, and stop looking so bitter.
He’s not a man who will ever be asked to speak at the United Nations, but living as I do among the Rossies, I know that he is hugely popular with the players. He also has a good back room team behind him….Mark McHugh (ex Donegal), Gerry Mc Gowan (ex Sligo), Eddie Lohan (ex Roscommon).
Last week, some of you were moaning about Pádraig Joyce, this week it’s Davy Burke, because he didn’t say hard luck to Mayo.
Mayo had a target on their head for this game since last November.
Let’s not give fuel to those who accuse us of being whingers. When Monaghan beat us, it was allegedly because we had a second string on duty,
When Roscommon beat us, it’s allegedly because we didn’t want to really win anyway, and were fatigued by last week’s League Final.
6 weeks or not, I saw a lot in Mayo’s performance yesterday, to greatly worry me.
@Clare,.. Croke Park is also Carbon Neutral as well as ordinary Neutral for Dublin. It’s beyond ridiculous. If the GAA were running the Olympic Games in the one hundred meters final, if Usain Bolt was Dublin, they would give Usain Bolt a 20 meter start on everyone else and tell everyone else how lucky they were to even allowed compete!
@Leantunes yes so true
All ridiculous
I have heard lads of dubs saying that they consider that their home ground instead of parnell Park ha
@Observer2 we are entitled to point out what Davy said and he did come across as very immature and we only stated the facts and everyone knows PJ is the biggest whinger after games don’t go his way so bit much telling us to grow up after we express an opinion on a blog we are all entitled to express our opinions as are you!
Yes, we need to be focussing on getting our own house in order. There is no comparison between the budgets By which Mayo and Roscommon run their senior teams. The Rossies got it right yesterday and are entitled to celebrate. Hopefully they will have done us a favour. A 6 week window to put things right.
Davy Burke is a bit like Davy Fitzgerald he has the same chip. What annoyed me the most was all the head injuries and lying down stopping momentum and PJ knew exactly what he was doing a bit like the Dublin media with Lee Keegan. I’d expect Mayo to go further than Roscommon when the real championship starts.
@Tommy D agree totally @on the ditch agree also Rossies deserves the win an entitled to celebrate it the win over us looked like it meaned a lot to them .
Guess as they are always behind us in the football in that regard. But best of luck to both Galway & the Rossies in the next match certainly no bitterness from me or others pointing just pointing the facts in Davys comments.
The best team one end of .
We really need to mature a bit in Mayo. We enjoyed our win last week and enjoyed sticking the boot(somewhat deservedly) into PJ for his whinge fest after the game. Now we lose to Roscommon and some in our county move into whinge fest mode. Surely most can agree that the better team won yesterday. It was set up for Roscommon and to their credit they capitalised. While we were plotting to defeat Galway last week they had their eye on the bigger picture. The media (plus some of our own) were falling over themselves to proclaim we were the best team in the country. No wonder Davy Burke was getting excited about this. True we were the best team in the league (finished 2 points ahead of Ross) but best team in league does not mean best team in country. We beat Galway in April but that does not mean we are better than them, no more than Roscommon beating us yesterday means they are better than us. I would be confident of beating them later but that’s for another day because they were better than us yesterday and deservedly are in Connacht semi now.For what it is worth I thought both managers conducted themselves well after game. Burke was understandably thrilled at taking down league champions and close neighbours, McStay was disappointed but magnanimous. An earlier poster accused Mayo of lacking heart and fight. Certainly can’t agree with that. We fought manfully. It was a game of fine margins with us squandering two goal chances and them getting 2 goals from nothing. No lack of effort and determination as was evidenced from celebrating turn overs etc (which believe it or not was criticised by some) Maybe a more objective view is that we have a distance to travel.Losing 2 top class defenders is a huge handicap, but our superior fitness and enthusiasm saw us deservedly win league .. Not unexpectedly we were a bit flat the following week and were taken out by a fairly good Roscommon team. We did not play terribly but a number of our players were below par ( they are human beings not robots) and we had no luck at all. We will regroup and be a difficult challenge for teams in the round robin.I expect us to get out of the group and continue to lay the foundations and move forward. As earlier posters said we are behind the top teams but will continue to improve. Just because some lads did not play well yesterday or certain tactics did not work, doesn’t mean they should be thrown out. We are building, we have to take the good with the bad as we improve our consistency. This time last year lots of those lads were unheard of or were fringe players. How much have they come on in a year. Keep the faith. Support the team. Maigh Eo Abu.
@MaigheogalinGallimh don’t think it was rubbish in fairness. They got little credit for finishing 3rd in Div 1. I read plenty of disrespectful articles in the national media in the build up and podcasts such as the RTÉ one was talking more about a Galway v Mayo rematch than yesterday’s game.
3/1 to win with bookies/punters. Not a whole lot of difference between Galway and Roscommon at the minute but Galway odds would be a lot shorter had they played Mayo instead yesterday.
Some genuine observations on the game yesterday. Respect from a Rossie!
@mayomagic maybe so but does not mean supporters felt the same way loads on here said that it would be a tough match and it def was they slowed the ball down and killed the momentum we are more used to a more fast pace running game and could not deal with the slow pace game of holding onto the ball I am sure mcstay and Co will work on it we they have time to now anyway haha.
We definitely did not lack fight yesterday. But we fought hard and somewhat exhausted.At times we were well outmuscled (something James Horan noted a month back)
The biggest thing for me against Roscommon was the lack of sharpness.Unquestionably the cramped schedule played a part in this but it was multiple players and multiple situations.Had we been a little bit sharper it would have been a different game.We can say with reasonable confidence that we will be in the quarter finals. After that it’s all guesswork but our expectations should be for progressively maturing performances.But apart from a few questionable tactics yesterday we are on the right track. Long term that is.
Hi Willie Joe. I used to post on here a long time ago but for the life of me I can’t remember what name I used. The email address is the same so hopefully you’ll see me as legitimate. I love reading the blog but is there anyway you could put a limit oh how often someone comments each day. There are a few folk on here who are actually making the blog less enjoyable. I also feel that we do look a little like whingers/sore losers when we have a go at opposing managers, the ref, the weather. Don’t get me going on the “we didn’t want to win anyway” it’s like schoolyard behaviour when you don’t get your own way. Keep up the good work on a great blog. I heard a few around me yesterday talking about it and how they enjoy it in the run up to a match.
When I think of Mayo midfielfers I think of Big strong horses of men like Liam McHale Pat Fallon Willie Joe even Seamus O Shea. We dont have that physicality in midfield anymore, some say its not needed anymore with keepers going short and bypassing midfield, but yesterday Roscommon cleaned us at midfield. Diarmuid is a fine athlete but he’s not a fielder he’d make a great 6 or 11 Mattie can score but he hasnt played well consistently in midfield for a while now. I personally think this year is a write off as regards to winning Sam lets be honest the only Sam coming to Mayo this year is uncle Sam in Ballina on Friday, but we can improve and must shore up our defence or we will face hammerings from Kerry or Dublin or both. Next year I say in the league we try out a new midfield partnership a full back and centre half back if we get relegated what harm as long as we never have to play a league match a week before a championship game again.
My team/Panel for the remainder of the championship assuming all fit:
1 – Reape
2- Coyne
3 – McBrien
4 – Hession
5 – Paddy Durcan
6 – Diarmuid O’C
7 – Eoin Mcloughlin
8 – Jordan Flynn (reminds be of DO’C @ 12 – too peripheral, put him central)
9 – Mattie Ruane
10 – Stephen Coen (sweeper)/interchange with Durcan
11 – Ryan O’Donoghue
12 – Jack Carney
13 – Aido
14 – James Carr
15 – Cillian
Subs:
R Byrne/Hennelly
Tommy Conroy
Sam Callinan
O’Hora
Loftus
Fionn McDonagh
Paul Towey
Bob Tuohy
Darren McHale
Donnacha McHugh
Doherty/Brickenden
@Our time has come good choices that is our strongest team choice if fit always said cillian should be a starter what a magic points he got from play yesterday ..at full forward and Tommy C when he gets fitter we may not win Sam this year but are looking a hell of a lot better this year then a lot of people within mayo and outside ofmayo thought we we would be .
Yes yesterday was a dead rubber pretty much but we cant win them all our expect our guys to be 100% every game sure look at kerry this year .
To many games at once but onwards and upwards .
RTE and Joanne Cantwell have done it again https://fb.watch/jQ4igRdzI7/ absolute scuther from the National broadcaster about Mayo again.
@Our time has come
I was thinking pretty much the same team earlier. The only question being at number 10. Don’t forget also Michael Plunkett who would have plenty to offer if fully fit.
It was criminal that Diarmuid was played on the wing under the previous regime. His best work was always done centrally. I would have been playing him at 11.
We are not sunk yet. The defeat yesterday isn’t the end of the world. Feet up for a few weeks and go again. Hopefully none of the injuries are longer term ones.
I see Tommy Conroy as a very effective impact sub Clare running at tired defenders when introduced at 45/50 minutes probably for James Carr.
It’s important we keep some firepower on the bench to finish games strongly
@Achill 75 I have made a pact to myself not to listen to her or any rte commentators anymore heard one commentator going yesterday Tommy conroy has not put in a performance as he used to yet the guys only back from a horrible injury .
Can’t stand her anyway !
Will listen to Midwest radio on matches and mute rte commentary from now on !
Of course mind the house my mistake leaving plunkett out – he definitely makes the panel. Then theres Brian Walsh and Harrison if and when they are fit too
The irony is yesterday that I think we’d have gone on to win had we managed a goal in the first half. Coens was unlucky but we were careless otherwise. Ryan’s handpass to Tommy sent him too wide when he should have been in one on one. Hugely frustrating.
Credit to Roscommon. They did what they had to do.
Good post Observer2. I couldn’t get the amount of whinging about Joyce. Byrne used whatever he could to motivate his players – just like Colemam did in the Derry changing room before they played Tyrone in 93 (read Brollys article yesterday about throwing league medals into the river).
Only marginal tweaks can be done in 6 weeks and I’d agree there were lots of concerning elements from yesterday. If anything should be worked on is having a more solid defence. That’s not just the back 7, but the entire team structure when we don’t have possession.
I’ve always thought why don’t Mayo play a style that is ultra defensive and counter attack. Surely it’d suit the players we have.
Also when Rochford was last involved with us, we only played properly when championship was do or die. If yesterday was knockout I think we would have won. It’s early days yet…
@Mind the house totally agree that goal chance that hit off the crossbar if that had gone in would have changed the game given our guys the momentum very unlucky with that but agree we made a fair few mistakes but sure we will be back as I said .
See the Galway trolls are out in force on fb anyway but sure was bound to happen and every county has bad fans haha
We will be back and definitely will be in quarter finals even semi for sure chin up guys&gals and ignore all the sad trolls coming our way and media Atm : )
Sure we’ve brought loads to the gaa the whole thing coming back year after year despite all the losses and the slagging does not drag our guys or supporters down and why should it !
We have had way worse losses then yesterday let the Rossies/Galway ha have their moment Rossies were better no question we played well below par.
We will be back and guarantee all this slagging from other counties and the media our fab guys and management will give them a reason if ever to come back in 6 weeks time and come back with a hell of a bounce.
Maigheo go deo always!
Achilllands – the handle you previously used to comment under was ‘Mayo Madness’. It would probably make sense to use that one rather than starting to post under a different handle.
I think people are making too much of a big deal about Davy Burke’s comments. He and his team did a good job on tactics, can we mayo fans not give them credit and leave it at that.
My team selection… emphasis on my…
Reape
Callinan
McBrien
Coyne
Mc Hugh/Plunkett
Durcan
Coen
DoC
Flynn
Rod
Carney
Hession
Carr
AoS
CoC
Subs: E mcL, conroy, Loftus, Ruane, McHale, towey
Maybe the only thing we can be certain of today is that the honeymoon period is well and truly over!!!!
This new system is all about money.Connaught council must be livid that the cash cow,Mayo are out
The good thing is the semi finals are an open draw, Kerry and Dublin could play and one be eliminated before the final
Have a few days off and a few drinks would be my advice to all the crew.I watched a lot of the club championship and thought O’hora was the best performer throughout the duration.He has not been available to management so far but i am hoping he will be our no 6 going forward if he can get his fitness correct.Also Cillian looks fitter now than he has been for a few years and would be a starter every game regardless of opposition.Both players would bring a toughness to the team.Nobody likes losing but we certainly are still in a much better place than i hoped for last Autumn.
Right so just being honest haha had peak at other blogs and even kerry people are saying that they don’t think we will be to bothered about yesterday’s loss and why should we be even some kerry guys saying to write off mayo now is madness they will still be a top team to beat and said to give aiden o shea a break and mayo in general an that coming off from the win last week was always going to be tough everyone has off days
So chin up not the end of the world !
Great comment observer2, calling it as it is
@Rakestreet, I’m with you on Hession to 10 or preferrebly 12. If we can get him fully fit I think he’s a gem of a player for us. I don’t like the idea of him stuck in the full back line. He would offer something totally different on h.f.line and if allowed to play off the cuff he can unlock defenses,set up & take scores all at pace.
Hession has never scored a point for Mayo as far as I know. What would he have added yesterday as a forward? Probably more off the shoulder running trying to win a free.
He’s an excellent player, but a defender IMO.
Very hard to see hpw Fergal Boland is not in this squad.I was at the Kerry match in Tralee and he scored 3 points i think.He can kick from a long way out too.
We dont have many forwards ahead of him on the bench……perhaps hos form was awful or something but for me we need him.
Also loads of folks saying we struggle with mass defence…for me everyone does….
No one seems to have a olan to overcome it….sweious question…..any ideas
Wide ball he got a point v Roscommon in FBD and goal v Tyrone in rd4 looking at Archive 🙂
1989 – being patient in attack is the key, something Mayo are not known for. Working the ball from side to side until one of the opposition lose concentration for a second and a forward gets some space.
Also don’t concede early goals to give the defensive team something to hold on to. The opposite is also true – we take our 2 early goal chances and Ros have to change plans.
Just to say I am already over our loss mainly because it didn’t feel like real Championship and the issue of short turnaround from the Look league final etc. My own personal opinion on our options team wise are, I think Mattie Ruane is physically a wing forward all day long and I don’t remember him making a pressure catch in midfield all year so Jordan Flynn to swap with him or play with Jack Carney in midfield with Diarmuid or Jordan are options. If we go either of these routes we improve our potential for scores from half forward and ball winning ability in that sector also and add in Bob Touhy after the U 20’s and he can do both also. I understand that Mattie is seen as a midfielder in the modern game with his engine and work rate but being physically imposing and a ball winner still carries importance so that is why I think a change is required.
Davy was immature after the match sure there was an article just out on sports Joe that Davy said you’d swear we were a lower ranked football team altogether sorry but the Rossies have always been a lower ranked team compared to mayo but they are a great side no one said otherwise .
And to those saying its bitterness calling out Davys comments well then that’s a bit ridiculous!
No bitterness as I said just calling it as I see it and others are to…
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/gaa/286298-286298
There was no disrespect everyone said they would be a tough and they were but he has a chip on his shoulders .
Anyway apologies for the double posts and I will move on from that best of luck to Rossies and Galway .
Are we as good as we looked against Kerry, Tyrone and Donegal in the league? Probably not.
Are we as poor as we looked against Monaghan and Roscommon? Definitely not.
Can we improve for the round Robin phase? Of course we can.
The loss of David McBrien cannot be over emphasised as he has been outstanding. To compound matters the natural replacement Brickendon is also out injured. With Hession and Plunkett also injured and Callinan being kept back for the U20s our defensive recourses were pushed to the limit. After so many matches in such a short space of time culminating in the highs of a league final and having to try and lift it again for a championship game a week later I think just proved to too much to ask. No other team in the country has ever been asked to do the same and we’re talking about amateur players who had to put in a week at their work places. Mental fatigue I would imagine was a major part of the problem.
As for Davy Burke or Joyce’s post match comments we’ll they’re heat of the moment stuff and should be ignored.
Ah Davy Burke done a great job in motivating his troops. If that’s the word’s he used to buy his team the extra inches they needed fair play nothing wrong with that. Their discipline energy and fight for everything was magnificent to behold. Now to repeat that again in two weeks time v Galway, and win or else the Rossies are exactly where Mayo are now having lost to Roscommon in the race for Sam. It doesn’t seem right at all, that winning a hard fought championship match gain’s you nothing in the race for Sam. If Roscommon do win, and of course they are well capable of winning v Galway, having already beaten Galway in the league , then they have an advantage most likely because with due respect to New York or Sligo, I can’t see either of them beating a Div One team. This new system is absolutely bonkers to me . Galway have 3 weeks and whatever preparation and of course what they done in Portugal to prepare for as it turns out Roscommon, but at the risk of sounding a bit like an arrogant Mayo supporter, I’d say Galway’s week in Portugal possibly concentrated more on them beating Mayo in what they might have viewed as their probable next championship fixture. Naturally enough I think Galway minds are more concerned with the All Ireland series further down the line as any team defeated in the previous years All Ireland final would want to go one step further this year. With all those new extra match’s that various County Managements will have to prepare teams for and County Boards will have to pay for, especially now with the outrageous cost of Hotels. I think this new way won’t last more than that two years I think they are already committed to. For me for many years the league is the best and fairest competition and has more exciting game’s because teams are more evenly matched . The disintegration of the Leinster Championship has been allowed to happen for all of this new Millennium and has been totally ignored is very sad , Munster is pretty much the same, and the two by far the most successful counties in the history of the championship, are advantaged further by this new structure and those good teams in Connacht and Ulster knock lumps out of each other. And again of course even in that virtual duopoly, Dublin and their fan base are even advantaged further by Croke Park once again being used as both a neutral and home venue.
On Hession, he certainly had the ability to kick scores in his college and underage days. I assume he still has it in his locker,but that burst of pace he has would enable him to beat his man and work those intricate give & go moves with the inside line to get him in on goal which we are not getting from h.f.line at the minute . I just think we have more options further back right now. Firstly we have to get him fit of course.
@2hops for sure he does what about that great goal he got during the league yes Ryan O D set it up but hession still converted it !
He sure did Clare,and picked up an injury for his efforts.
@2hops yup but sure its the gaa always going to be injuries sadly wish him a speedy recovery!
will be great to have him back when we’re back in 6 weeks I am actually glad of the break now let the rest knock lumps out of each other and we can just sit back and relax till round Robin ha.