Photo: MichaelMaye.com
The votes are in and counted for the first Man of the Match poll in this year’s championship campaign for us. Paddy Durcan’s powerful, energetic performance yesterday against Sligo won him the MOTM award on The Sunday Game last night and he’s come out on top in the poll here as well. Claiming 40% of the vote, Paddy is a clear-cut winner of the MOTM award from yesterday’s game.
Congrats to him and also to Seamus O’Shea, Colm Boyle, Fergal Boland, Diarmuid and Cillian O’Connor and Tom Parsons, all of whom featured prominently in the vote on yesterday’s game. Well done to all of them.
Well done Paddy.
Worrying though as someone said previously that there does not seem to be any actual attacking formation. Our FF spent a lot of time defending in his own half. Maybe there is one, but I just cant see it.
Ultimately that was our downfall last year. We got to grips with the sweeper and the defensive side of things but the attack let us down.
I cannot see any change from last year in attack
It is good to see emerging talent like Paddy and good luck to him.
I agree that the attack is lacking.
It seems essential that to beat the blanket defence system you have to move the ball quickly from the turnover in defence up and into your forwards. Does the accurate ‘ forty yard kick pass into a moving forward have a place in achieving this. Two such kicks can move the ball so quickly that the opposition backs can’t get organised in time. Kerry seem to be very effective at this strategy. Hand passing does not move the ball quick enough.
Well done to Paddy, looks now like a star player. Very similar in style to Lee Keegan and at kicking similar points too. Definitely our best performer yesterday with Seamus OS putting in a big game too.
Paddy Durcan is developing into a top performer for us. He has elite pace. Quick over ten yards and has a further pickup in speed when he really opens out his stride. He actually gives a bit of a jolt when he goes full on like the nitro button was hit.
Well done to Paddy, keep up the great work!
Well done to Paddy. Has very quickly become an indispensable part of the team.
But I want to know why Cillian is not being played as an out and out forward. He is not a defender. He is at his most effective when close to goal and that is where he got his goal. He is wasted running all over the pitch.
Well done Paddy, an outstanding player.
I don’t know if it’s Management’s plan to have Cillian go into deep positions. If he goes deep then license must be given to wing forwards to bomb into FF line space as soon as we have the ball.
I suspect it’s Cillian either trying to be more involved in the game or trying to lead. His problem is packed modern intercounty defenses meaning winning own ball by running or fielding is more difficult than his first few years in a Mayo jersey. Management need to take hold of the situation and give Cillian a more definite role. Was tried centre forward in some league games with mixed results.. some very good passes and some getting intercepted. Mayo have a weak FF line compared to many counties so it would make sense for Cillian to play at least 70% of the time inside with Andy, Aido, Kevin Mc, Regan and Loftus as the other options. Kevin Mc is another good inside option as he’s quick enough to win his own ball and almost always does the right thing on the ball. Better than Regan who’s the better free taker. K Mc was positioned there for a good bit of drawn game in 2015 with good success though Dublin singled him out for some “special” treatment.
Another thing Cillian probably leads the team in is turnovers. Saw him get a few vital ones last Sunday out the pitch so that shouldn’t be under valued.
We need to mould our team by putting the best players on the pitch and not getting hung up on specialist inside forwards nearly all of whom are snuffed out in the modern game. Tyrone have 3 or 4 of them and we snuffed most of them in last year’s QF. More important is simply winning inside ball just to make it stick so we need a speedster like Mc inside. If we get opposition defense worried about one man it’s easier for others to find space. Otherwise the smart tactic is put a very big man in there and practice beating the opposition sweeper in training until we get a good return.
To get Kirby on the team requires Tom Parsons being a sub and AOS started in midfield with his brother. That pairing was last time we consistently dominated midfield (2nd half of 2013 final aside).
Think we are all frustrated, given our deficiencies up front, that COC spends so much time out the pitch. But watched the game over again last night….the work rate, tackles and turnovers he put in were massive, probably more than any other. It must be part of the game plan from Rochford that he has a free reign. But it is symptomatic of Mayo that we have to have the likes of COC, AOS, Keegan, McLoughlin, DOC doing multiple roles ultimately to compensate for our lack of a conventional attacking unit. I think when the story of this team ends, when ever that is, we need to go somewhat back to basics with our forwards…..I know the game has changed in a way that it has become easier to snuff out an attack set-up in a conventional way, however I feel the Mayo mindset is so entrenched now that we are actually afraid to really give wings to forward talent coming through, the Regans, Loftus’s, Gallaghers, Irwins, Reapes, Coens, Ronaldsons (who actually never started a championship game for Mayo, hard to believe). Yeah they have all got thrown in at times but we have never given them a real chance. Boland is an example…..he needed 10 consecutive starts (league and FBD) to be anywhere near properly ready for a championship debut. Think we seriously need to think about it for the next phase of Mayo football
Only time there was a sign of real panic in Sligo defence and promise for us was when Paddy Dircan and Keith Higgins (once) were in the vicinity. That verifies what people are pointing to re the lack of pace in the area as is needed to break the line. Our best gambit at this stage is prob to restore Keegan to his wing to free him up a bit….Boyle to 6 and Higgins somewhat forward to have more presence in attack…..Nally/Coen?back in corner. Coen can be nonentity in too much space imo. Harrison will b
welcomed back to FB line.
Durcan/Higgins are being asked to do too much in this.Loftus showed a bit of life when he came on and Kirby hovering around might give us a few scores It’s time others shook themselves a lot more in creating space.COC needs to reserve himself for a more permanent ff role and have patience.Doc and JD at 12 and 10 to cover back when nec. K MC l to stay up.Over and back has had had it, and now we need a lot more probing with conviction while retaining possession at all costs. Can we do it? Thats the big question.
As regards kicking or hand passing ….. of course we need a mix but execution has to be smart and timely and accurate.The fellas know themselves!!!Big amount of serious homework needed here….!!!Any smidgin of improvement here would be more than a plus.Its not merely about hand passing or kicking….both have to have an end….nothing worse than hard earned possession thrown away willy nilly. This is the area where an All Ireland title will be clenched this year by whoever!
A lot of the fringe forwards have been coming back off injuries. It could be the case those lads won’t hold up across a series of tough 80 min games.
Watched the match back last night yes would have to give MOM award to Paddy although watching it there in McHale Park I had Colm B picked! Seamus had a fantastic game just wondering what’s the story with Shane Nally ? He had a great league and really expected him to make an appearance last Sunday ! Haven’t heard he’s injured? Have to say I was a nervous wreck at the match I didn’t feel anyways comfortable until the final whistle went ! that Galway game last year has left its mark ! Hope the boys take my feelings into consideration on the 11th ! Kind of feels like the leaving cert or driving test just want it over now! Maigheo Abu!
Have to say that Shane Nally is a very viable option at Wing Forward, he does the simple things well, good engine, can track back, workrate good and well able to kick a score.
this has nothing to do with paddys magnificent game just want to say fair play 2 james horan 4 standing up 4 aiden…saw article on hogan stand and that guy does even look like a tit with his lovely jet black hair do ….as phony as himself