Our short, sharp and unsuccessful Connacht SFC campaign of 2022 both started and finished at MacHale Park yesterday. We afforded Galway’s Paul Conroy all the space he needed to cause the damage he loves to do to Mayo and he was most people’s choice for Man of the Match from yesterday’s game.
The focus of the poll here on the blog was, though, to identify our strongest performers on the day. On a day when the team as a whole put in a flat performance, it’s no surprise that we can’t point to any real standout players from within our ranks.
This meant there was a bigger spread of voting than would normally be the case in polls of this kind. Seven different players attracted a fair bit of support in the poll, though none of them garnered a significant share of the overall vote.
In the end, Ryan O’Donoghue, on 18%, came out on top, which makes it the fifth time this year he’s been voted our MOTM in polls held here. Well done to him.
Others who featured strongly in the poll on yesterday’s game were James Carr and Lee Keegan (both 14%), as well as Eoghan McLaughlin (10%). Further details on the vote are set out below.
I think the top 9 players in the poll above all did ok yesterday, unfortunately a good few of the other 6 players on the pitch yesterday were not at the races.
I used to believe that if we had a fully fit squad we could go all the way.
But the truth is we are a 1 trick pony and the top 2/3 teams (Galway not top 2/3) are able to figure us out fairly handy.
In fairness to Rochford he threw the odd curve ball which kept the opponent’s thinking
Not the case with JH
Well done Ryan. Hard to pick any standout player but in fairness to him he got some very good scores from play for us. Mayo forwards dont get many scores from play of late and while its easy to blame management for our losses the fact remains that our forward department falls short in big matches. We keep hitting roughly the same amount of points 14 to 16 and we definitely need to be hitting at least one goal per game to add to our points tally. No goal v dubs in AI semi last year, no goals v Tyrone in final, no goals v Galway yesterday. Not much point smacking them in v Sligo and Leitrim as we did last year. Tyrone got 3 v Kerry in AI semi last year and 2 against us in final. Goals win games, even a bad one like we conceded yesterday.Agree with you Ed kil on Rochford throwing in curved ball in the past. I admired his courage on putting Aiden on Donaghy in semi v Kerry. He was crucified in the media for that. Also made a massive call in replacing Clarke with Hennelly in 2016. He was crucified in Mayo for that. Threw in Alan Dillon v Tyrone in AI quarter v Tyrone in 2016 and that worked well. Hard to know really. A one point win and youre a great manager. A one point defeat and the manager cost us the game.
Disappointing as yesterday was it was kinda expected, the extra injuries were a big factor. That’s sport, one point loss playing for 10 mins , usual mayo stuff. Credit to the mayo fans who got behind paying for the new pitch, it looks great. 6 weeks to get squad fit. Time for James try something different maybe, pull a rabbit out of his hat ? It’s really game one of five in 6 weeks, after that I really think some of the class of 2011 need to get off the stage
Horan’s game plan is all based around pace and strong running. Yesterday we didn’t have the players to play that style of football, but still played to the same formula.
We should be playing a style that suit our talents.
Horan is the only manager who refuses to change his tactics. Dublin, kerry, donegal all won all irelands by adapting. We do not have nor never will have the best 15 players on the pitch. We need to acknowledge this and plan accordingly.
It’s getting very frustrating watching the same approach over and over again, with the now predictable same results.
It was disappointing for sure but fair dues to Gaillimh they had more hunger! Shame we did not see Fergie Boland and Darren Coen both good shooters from long range! Subs should have been introduced earlier but it seems management don’t think this is appropriate! As Spillane said same old! Maybe it’s time to introduce some of our u20 lads?
Anyway let’s get behind the team and who knows what might happen in the qualifiers! Two very good podcasts on patreon. They were honest and made no excuses for a very poor display!
Mhuigeo Abu!
For years now I, with my daughter, have travelled up and down the country following the team. Like so many others. I just need to get this off my chest.
For years we have followed the team through the highs of winning games to the ultimate disappointment of not winning Sam. Each year we expect something “different” and the hope builds maybe this year. We have gone through back doors and ‘super 8’s’ all with the hope.
We have listened to pundits knock the lads, the likes of Spillane making a mockery of them. The idea we have no marquee forwards. Friends who have said to us as we leave going to games from Galway “when are you going to get sense?” Always I have defended the team. Injuries plagued us all down the years. Refs poor decisions. Players losing the head. But still we defended and accepted it just wasn’t our day.
Yesterday we went in hope that we can beat Galway even with the injuries. We came so close to the draw. But once again fell short. We had chances. And blew them.
And for the first time I left a Mayo game saying here we go again and feeling so deflated.
We have heard from Captains, team members and Managers and all say we know..blah blah…blah
And all they do is give the likes of Spillane, Brolly and Cantwell the opportunity to say we are deluded again.
It’s disappointing for the lads I get it. Year after year the lads are not exposed to the vitrol that is spued. And rightly so. They really have given us great days. But we as fans have remained loyal. So when the lads play that kicking across the field and nothing seems to change with play. Teams are reading the play, we have not changed so the play is predictable. Yes the lads have invested time & energy but as fans we have invested time. Oh I know its not the same and I would do it all again but just once (well more than once) I want to prove them pundits wrong.
I love following Mayo and I will continue to do so.
Yesterday was a cut too far. I will be fine. As a Mayo person in Galway today was tough. We now have about 6 weeks to see again what will change. We will hopefully have some lads back.
Are we going to see a different side to this team will we see a team determined to win. To take chances…I hope so. So maybe we can build the dream again.
I hope I haven’t crossed a line with my thoughts.
– Well done Ryan, I would have given it to Carr simply because he took on his man and was not afraid to shoot. No doubt that will be coached out of him soon so that he will turn into a runner and a passer only..
– While Galway fully deserved to win and were way more than one point better than us we sure as hell helped them. Incredible that Conroy was given free reign, why was Ruane not given the specific task of marking him like a leech ??
– Seems every handpass had to go at least once to Aido once we got to their 45.
– Ultair and Puckout were bang on stating that the team and the crowd were flat.
– The team to me were going through the motions, there were no leaders, no grit and no spark.
– We were at a crossroads last September, we took the known route rather than a new route we better not make the same mistake in 2022.
– Does Horan himself really believe he can land Sam this year ? Do the players ? Majority of supporters don’t I would think. No point in getting to a semi or final again with tactics that would facilitate a jumbo jet landing between our midfield and full back.line.
Mayo is well down the pecking order,,
I’d say they are behind Tyrone, Kerry Dublin, Galway, Donegal, – Mayo?.
Looking at the way Mayo kept trying to carry the ball through the Galway 8 man defence was awful to watch.
R O D & Carr tried there best but Galway just blocked them out a lot of the time. Lee Keegan showed the forwards what to do & they nearly won the game by driving hard at Galway in the last 7 minutes. Why oh why didn’t they do that all second half. The Galway goal was like something you’d see going on at a Junior B. Defence was shocking.
Mayo Kate: You’ve not crossed any lines.We all share the fantasy of shoving it to the begrudgers.We are all a little down. I think it is do or die now for the team. Call me crazy but I still believe that if we transitioned these players to a more direct style of football ( something they’ve shown the ability to do as recently as v Kildare)then I think we would wipe the floor with most teams. But I’m not privy to the needs of management. I’m old enough to remember absolute humiliations at Croke Park at the hands of Kerry. Under James Horan that is not allowed to happen(I’m conveniently enough ignoring the League Final)
We are acting here like yesterday was a humiliation. Let me be very clear. That was not the case. This was not 2004 or 2006.The team have fallen out of form and sometimes the reasons for this are as wistful as morning dew. It may not be fixable short term but I believe it WILL BE FIXED and even if it’s not I’m still proud of what my countymen have done for twelve years.
And I will not be swayed by the likes of Spillane,Brolly etc to think in any way about these guys other than with total admiration for how they conduct themselves. The hell with what anyone else thinks outside the county. Our country has a share of bullies who say things like “ winning is the only thing “ I’m glad Mayo people are not like that. But I would appreciate a little more killer instinct sometimes
We feel the losses and the wins personally but we have to support and follow the team in a way that’s not ruining our lives or more likely being used as a proxy excuse for ruined lives, bad moods etc. It is,after all,only a game. We should always shout our heads off at game and enjoy it to the fullest extent while being respectful of all. But ignore the pundits.They are disrespectful bullies in some cases snd they reserve special venom for Mayo. Show them who we are. We can get this right. And those who think Mayo are finished ? Go on say it. These boys will prove you wrong. At least that’s what I honestly believe.
Ryan got a couple of great points at key times but I also think James Carr deserved it. Olive said it, he took on his man. A rare thing in Mayo forward play especially against packed defences.
Thought Doherty had a great first half, he was a focal point and he was involved in key plays. His strength is one of his greatest assets. Unfortunately he’s probably only got one half in him anymore, due to injury toll. No shame in that.. I’d either start him then take him off, or bring him in for entire second half.
Great post Mayo Kate. I call Mayo’s game the Green game not the Green above the Red. Just recycle everything. Great that you are still keeping the faith and who knows what will happen. Despite picking the wrong team, terrible boring tactics and falling asleep on the sideline and not making changes in time we could have nicked a draw and won it in extra time.
The Nestor Cup does not matter to us anymore so maybe the 6 weeks hiatus will be good for the injured players and management will surely come up with something to beat the blanket. All they have to do is look at how Jim Gavin did it so hopefully they are Not too stubborn to learn from someone else.
There’s an old saying; “The older I get the smarter my father seems to get”.
Very apt in my case, the more I beat the drum as to why Mayo will never win an All-Ireland under the current regime, the smarter other posters are becoming and I’m not referring to the ones who have agreed with me from day one or who’s views I echo.
Some fella insinuated that I was a whinger the other day, this is how beyond help some are, so someone who wants to improve standards drastically is described as a whinger, there’s some rare dudes following Mayo alright, you couldn’t make it up, so it’s pointless even debating anything with them because they don’t understand, the poster could clearly not distinguish the difference between posters whingeing about injuries and someone rightfully pointing out all that is wrong with “Horanball”, I think yesterdays performance is a total vindication for people like me who “bang the drum” here.
Anyway there’s no point going through the game again. I believed we were good enough to get by Galway narrowly and that would have happened had we not put in such an atrocious performance, the kids on the pitch at half time had a better game plan.
When I weighted things up last week I put the argument forward that for this team to have any hope of winning an All-Ireland this year that the qualifier route would be the best option.
My reasoning is this, if we get to another final and meet Kerry, its going to be an annihilation that could take ten years to recover from, if we’re lucky.
The second reason is the opportunity to get the likes of Hennelly back and the qualifier route is the only opportunity that gives us a chance to face Kerry in either the Quarter Finals or the Semi Finals.
We’d have a 50:50 chance of getting the draw we want at Quarter Final stage, if we don’t draw the Munster winners then the Leinster champions will do because if we were to beat the latter then we would face Kerry in the semi finals, assuming of course that Kerry don’t slip up.
It doesn’t mean we’d beat Kerry in either but it avoids the unthinkable, it’s more damage limitation at this stage because you wont win an All-Ireland with a one trick pony, whatever chance you had in the early days of it, that’s well gone now and we have not evolved and that’s the rock Horan is starting to perish on.
I do not know how to rate our forwards accurately and neither does anyone else because we’ve not seen them play too much football for Mayo, the football has been ran out of them so how do we expect them to take their scores as easily as other forwards do when it’s alien to them.
Right now I can’t even rate Oisin Mullin, what exactly is he doing that no other athlete could do, very little in my opinion, that’s not a criticism of the boy by the way, absolutely not, but it carries on from my general point, especially concerning forwards, has the system hampered our forwards to such a degree that when the running game does not work then they struggle, because they haven’t been shown any other way.
That’s not the players fault.
What was most concerning yesterday was the body language of the players, they just don’t look happy anymore, and who could blame them, they have fought tooth and nail over the years but they wouldn’t be human if they didn’t think what might have been if only things were done another way.
Lee Keegan said a few weeks ago that “this is the strongest squad we’ve ever had”, is there a cryptic clue buried in there, you know what I mean.
Left Boot and Olive Kerrigan, I agree with you. I dont think we have a chance of winning Sam. We are well down the pecking order. Did well to stay in Div 1 and unfortunately ended up in a final we didn’t want to be in and where we were exposed. I referenced before the league final that I feared a repeat of what happened in 2010. Got to league final and were well beaten and had a disastrous championship. Won’t lose to Sligo and Longford this year but certainly dont look good enough to have a serious tilt at the big one. Our best team minus injuries can give anyone a run on their day but there a number of teams to which we could also potentially lose to in first qualifier. Even if we make it to Croker the prospect of another tilt at Kerry is not appealing. I know some say stop making excuses about injuries but our forwards without Tommy lack penetration. He would run at and take on defences rather than laterally hand pas Jordan Flynn was a huge loss yesterday as Paul Conroy did pretty much as he wanted. Paddy Durcan is one of the best half backs in the country. Robbie is a big miss in goals and then Oisin departs with an injury and whether it was a coincidence or not we just stopped playing after that. Those are huge blows in a team not overloaded with talent. You can include Fionn Mc and Brian Walsh etc but they mightnt be definite starters. Cillian, Diarmaid and Eoghan McLoughlin, who I thought all played quite well are returning from injuries and are probably not at full match fitness yet. This is not an excuse for our below par performance but even with a full team we wouldnt beat Kerry and with a team minus those mentioned could be beaten by any one of 7 or 8 teams. Remember Galway beat us frequently under Rochford, Roscommon beat us in 2019, Kildare in 2018. We are certainly no longer one of the best two in the country as we rightly claimed to be for a big chunk of the last decade.
If ye look at the past few championship games, Galway and Dublin in 2021, and again yesterday, Mayo cannot seem to start with any real intent, simply only start to really play when they go behind, maybe the real desire isn’t there anymore.
It’s as if they need a spark from somewhere to ignite in the games, this was also evident in the league game v Donegal, surely this is down to preparation, or are some guys and management just gone tired of it all.
I think even David Clifford would struggle to score much with Horanball, by the time the ball is on the 45 the whole blanket or Shawl is in place from endless soloing and running the ball, the whole full forward line are covered leaving very little space to shoot or score from space, it works OK against a Man on man gamestyle but not a blanket defence.Paul Galvin wrote before he would have hated to play as a forward for Mayo cause of our running backs delaying quick ball and clogging up the scoring zone around the D.
Here’s a bit of a left field question – what on earth happened to Kieran King??
Last December this guy was the name on everyone’s lips as the ideal candidate to step up to intercounty. I remember listening to Steven Drake and Ger Flanagan and the lads raving about him on the podcast.
I know he picked up some kind of an injury shortly afterwards, but was it that serious? It’s late April now like!
It’s disappointing because we could use a sweeper who reads the play well and is comfortable in possession and he looked like he had all the tools amd was the right age 21/22 to come in and make an impact.
Like many others on this blog I’ve being on this journey … following Mayo… for a long long time and like Mayo Kate I won’t stop now .We are still Third favourites to claim Sam this year!!! Our next game could be in Pairc Ui Chaoimh!! Keep the faith. Journey With Me (5.20 Wednesday)
For the last number of years we are not even winning the Connaught Championship at under 20s and under 17s. This is a big worry and I wonder have we got the quality coming through to challenge the likes of Kerry at senior level. I know many are arguing that we have but if this is true we should be at least winning in this province. I think the Senior team have over performed in the last two years to reach an AIF. We seriously need to start winning at least Connaught at underage. Hennelly is our man for the long range free kicks and was a loss against Galway. When I looked back on the game Doherty actually won a lot of ball but the Galway blanket had him wrapped up.
Hi all this is only my second time commenting on this blog . Firstly well done Ryan.
I was disappointed at Sunday’s performance not only the teams but my own as a supporter. Let me explain. I said on the sideline consumed by a fear of losing right from the off raising my voice in support of the team only sporadically. The atmosphere at the game could only be described as toxic. It must be tough for the players, who will undoubtedly pick up on the negative attitude of supporters when coming on to the pitch and during game. We as humans feed of energy, positive or negative. I am sure we have all encountered negativity in our daily lives it is a feeling that just sucks the life out of you.
I first became aware of how fearful and nervous we are as a county prior to the 97 All Ireland with Kerry .I was in Barry’s hotel and there was DJ on stage playing some songs and he was also facilitating the swapping of tickets between supporters. The place was full of both sets of supporters.Kerry were in full voice and we were a lot quieter more worried about losing than enjoying the occasion. The DJ even commented asking what the hell was wrong with the Mayo supporters they should be enjoying the day. Unfortunately we took this sense of anxiety into the game and we all know what happened.
At this moment in time, where are we as a county? We are out of the Connaught championship and by and large it appears that there is a sense of despair amongst the vast majority of supporters. What can we do to change this. We can’t change fact (we are out of Connaught) it is what it is, but we can change our mindset both players and supporters.
The late Henry Ford said that “if we believe we are capable of achieving a goal or we believe that that we are incapable achieving a goal” we will proove our self right in either scenario. How many of us can still visualise this team lifting Sam? Today I can, I have to it keeps me going after 50 years following Mayo. But I have to start enjoying the journey again without fear. Imagine the scenario of 30,000 Mayo supporters, without an ounce of fear in their hearts , roaring on their team. No team in Ireland would stop us.
There is a quote in a book “ The Green Platform” which includes the ten most powerful words in the English language when it comes to taking personal responsibility for achieving the goals we set for ourselves. The quote is as follows
“If it is to be, it is up to me”
I contend that as Mayo people we amend that quote and follow the mantra “ if it is to be ( Mayo win Sam), it is up us (players, management and supporters). Please let us not dwell in past land eave the pain of past defeats behind us. These defeats can only cause us pain today if we choose to let it happen. I suggest that from today we just take it day by day one game at time putting our Heart and soul into supporting our team. This is how I see it. We are a proud, strong county who possess a bunch of Gaelic footballers who should fear no other county. Sam is within touching distance let’s not let fear take him out of our grasp. And above let’s allow ourself to enjoy the journey.
.
Just wondering if any Journalist got to ask the question from any of Officer’s of the Mayo County Board about who exactly, and why Galway were allowed to practice in McHale Park a few days before a big Championship game?. We can’t say for sure that the result would have been any different, had this not happened. But? In fairness, the new playing surface looks fantastic and it’s not an excuse anyone can make to account for this particular defeat. Unless their is some protocol already in place, that I certainly had never heard of before, about allowing your opposition in your home ground, it seems a very curious decision to me as well. You can be certain that many Mayo Clubs would love the chance to play or practice on the new pristine surface in McHale Park, and they simply will not get the chance to do so, in the coming months, because every request just can’t be catered for… But it is those very same club’s, who are, have been and will continue to in the future pay for the not inconsiderable debt on McHale Park. If there is some protocol in place it could be viewed as great sportsmanship and hospitality by the host County of big Championship game’s… Just wondering when and where was the last time Mayo benefited from such generosity?…. You know some GAA County Board’s go to extraordinary lengths to keep home advantage, and I suppose it’s then up to the team to make home advantage count… Very recently Sligo Under 20s in Markieviech Park, come to mind, Cork insisting it’s Pairc Uí Rinn (good luck with that fixture v Kerry, they will need it)… Kildare and Roscommon, all believed that home advantage is exactly what it says on the tin, an advantage and wouldn’t willingly throw away any part of that advantage! ..I believe Mayo County Board have questions to answer as regards the same.. Who was it again last September who asked questions about Mayo supporter’s (or was it so called supporter’s).. Would we ever cop on to ourselves?
Are first round qualifiers neutral venues or who gets home advantage
I know a lot of galway people who told me they’d never go to a game again while Walsh was in charge and yet they were delighted to win Sunday with the Walsh gameplan so sometimes a win glosses over everything else
@Mayo 64.. Great Post, and great positive attitude to have in life, .. There is an awful lot in what you are saying, that I agree with. But I suppose it’s a cumulation of things, year’s and decade’s of the most abundant and most loyal fan’s in Ireland , haven’t so far been enough to get us over the line.. No other County has came anything close to the magnificent but often not appreciated level of loyal support shown by the Mayo Supporter’s over decades… Not appreciated enough by the Mayo County Board, not appreciated enough by the GAA and Croke Park ..But I suppose, we have to address some of the reality of what is happening to Mayo for too many years… I really enjoyed your post, I hope you post more often in the future .
Leantimes – I know Mayo have trained in Pearse stadium before games against Galway in recent years. Maybe there is a gentleman’s agreement in place?
“I think the Senior team have over performed in the last two years to reach an AIF”
This is the crux of it, O Sullivan
Honestly going into 2020 and 21 I don’t think we were even a top 5 side on paper, this is completely understandable given the retirements and “mileage” built up over the past decade, with a lot of new players being blooded in at the same time. Sadly we’re probably barely a top 8 side on paper at the moment. It wouldn’t have taken a huge swing to relegate us from Div 1 this year (outside of Kildare and Dublin we could have easily lost all the rest, and should have lost a few we won) and we were deservedly relegated in 2020
Horan getting us to two finals is an incredible achievement in the circumstances, but at the same time – lets be brutally honest – the format suited us down to the ground the past two years. Covid has most likely just delayed the power switch in Connacht. In spring 2020 we were headed for a good beating in Tuam against a Galway side absolutely flying, then everything shut down, and they lost their way a bit on the resumption.
That said, where we probably got some nice breaks the last 2 seasons, Joyce has to be the unluckiest manager during that time. No Connacht semi to prepare for us in 2020, then thrown into a truncated league in 2021 in a group of 4 against Kerry and Dublin, with – quite laughably – two teams going into relegation, meaning the good win over Roscommon was rendered pointless. They then – again laughably – get drawn AWAY to Monaghan who came bottom of the other group. Then in the Connacht final his 2 best players on form at the time get injured at half time. And he gets no back door either season to build any sort of momentum, with a rebuilding side.
They’ve already played 9 league and championship matches this year, which is already the same amount as they played between October 2020 and January this year. I don’t think its any coincidence they’re a far better side this year, now that he has had plenty of matches to build a settled team and to be totally honest the ‘power shift’ in this derby – which in a non Covid world probably would have happened two seasons ago – is likely taking shape now
But I certainly agree given all the retirements, injuries etc making two finals in a row was great going for us the past two seasons. I just get the sense this has 2018 written all over it and we’ll lose in back door this year, Horan will go and we could genuinely be in for a few sobering seasons to come (mixed in with some deep runs from time to time) as I fear we don’t have the same players as 2012-17 to maintain a top level of consistency
That said at this point Horan probably isn’t the answer going forward and fresh blood is likely needed. If we could become an inconsistent side but one who can go out and build momentum on a given season and genuinely play with no fear in an all ireland final (think Clare hurlers, Armagh 02 etc.) I think a lot of fans would take that now, as the way things are and the way we set up, we’re good at beating teams below us but really struggle in the big games
Not too sure about that No Doubt. Yeah they got 13/14 behind the ball regularly, but that’s partly because we were so slow moving the ball and didn’t go direct at all. When you play laterally the other team naturally filters back. They had plenty up while attacking and we turned them over a few times but were too slow moving it or didn’t have enough staying up the other end ourselves.
If you want to make a case that the old style is good, and new modern style is bad, then there was only one team kicking long direct ball into their forwards (old style) and that was Galway. They didn’t used to do that under Walsh, was all slow methodical nonsense back then
That’s a good point Stephenite. There was a point in the first half where we turned Galway over in their half of the field. Cillian got the ball and passed it to Loftus on the 45 but he was the furthest Mayo player forward so had no options.
@Wideball. Thanks for your reply, Genuinely I have never heard of such an agreement, nor was I aware of Mayo ever getting to train on an opponents ground… A gentleman’s agreement answers my questions if that is the case… I know Dublin were allowed to train on Croke Park before All Ireland finals v Mayo, and other team’s conferring another advantage on the most advantaged team of all time prior to All Ireland finals, and of course Croke Park is not, despite the public perception otherwise Dublin’s home ground.
Well done ROD, well deserved. Watched match back again. Played in fits and starts, when we were good, look really good, when bad, not all that bad. But were bad for too long in game. 5mins added time, and galway lad down for a 1.10sec of that, it blew up at 5.24sec played. Even at that thought way more injury time than 5mins. galway lads down for at least 4mins “injured” during normal time, and must have been 5 subs in second half and would say 30sec a sub. That would make at least 6min to 7mins. Robbie big loss yesterday, not that our goalie did too bad, but we had no one to take a 45 in first half @ around 8.30mins and one in second half Cillian missed one. Ruane shooting boot left at home. Not great, but more room for improvement in Mayo than Galway.
Are qualifiers at neutral venues? Can we play Galway again indeed can any 2 teams that played each other before meet again in the qualifiers?
Wonderful post Mayo 64. Thank you.
Was Ciaran McDonald on the line Sunday?
Despite all the talk of Horan’s tactics, substitutions, personnel etc., a few ‘facts on the ground’ stand out:
* Our shooting let us down – again. Mattie had at least three bad misses; Aidan had a bad wide when he shot unchallenged in the second half; Cillian’s free before half-time was shocking; Aidan Orme’s last kick. Five points there.
* If our shooting let us down, so did our defence. Can anyone be happy with Galway’s first point, and their goal, to take but two examples from many?
* Midfield is a big problem, if Mattie is not on song.
* Mullin’s departure was made a huge difference. No changes made on the line until then, which tells me something. It suggests that there was no panic, because we were well in it at that stage. We haven’t got the best out Enda Hession this year.
Watched the game back this morning. A few thoughts…
I think saying this defeat was like Longford in 2010 is complete hyperbole. We were as good or better than Galway for most of the game. The 2016 defeat to them was far worse when our forwards got 1 point from play. We kicked some great scores at times on Sunday.
The Galway black card was an incorrect call, however during those 10 minutes Molloy clearly foot tripped Aidan and he got away with it. When we were a point up early in 2nd half Molloy double hopped the ball on the edge of their D. A two point lead could have been big at that stage (yes Carr got away with one in the first half).
Also during the time we were 1 point up Mullin got injured and Galway kicked the equaliser while we were down to 14 players. Terrible bad luck in fairness. Oisín’s injury didn’t look too bad on the replay. Wasn’t limping at all going off so I’d be optimistic of him being fine in 6 weeks.
Cillian kicked 2 massive frees in the 2nd half. I don’t think we’d have faired any better in that regard if Ryan was taking them.
Orme, Carney and Kevin McLoughlin injected a bit of life into our attack when they came on. Subs should definitely have been made sooner.
Aidan and Eoghan McLaughlin were very good for us. Ryan struggled to get on ball but made hay when he did.
Wouldn’t fear any likely opposition in the qualifiers TBH. Especially if some of the injured lads are back.
No doubt.
That’s almost it in a nutshell. Galway fans hated walshs tactics. Joyce hated walshs tactics. Joyce was going to take galway back to traditional free flowing football. He tried but it wasn’t always a winning formula. He was under pressure, ferocious pressure. As someone said to me before the game, If Joyce listens to cian o Neill they’ll win, if he’s stubborn and digs his heels in, we win. He went against everything he believes in and got the result and that’s all that matters, getting the result. Win at all costs. I’m not a fan of his, quite the opposite, but I have to admire him for that.
@ciaran
That’s some serious mental gymnastics you are doing there to try and justify your claim that we are not in the top eight sides in the country.
That’s a list of excuses a page long you provided as to why Galway were so hard done by last year and in 2020. The fact of the matter is that they were in total control at Half time last year in the (proper knockout, unlike yesterday) Connacht final, and were absolutely hammered off the pitch by Mayo in the second half. In every way, mentally, physically, football ability wise, psychologically.
I’m not sure why you are talking down this Mayo team so much all year on here. We should have won that game yesterday despite how poor we played and I’d bet my mortgage that we’d beat Galway in Croke park later this year if we met them in a real knockout game.
Sometimes I wonder why a few young players at underage County level aren’t targeted at a young age and coached in the art of free taking off the ground and asked to practice frequently kicking over the bar. It’s almost embarrassing that there is no specialist off the ground free taker on a team of mayos calibre. It could mean the difference between winning and losing some games. Staying on the free kick topic and I have the greatest respect for cillian and delighted he’s back but I can’t get the left footed free kick out of my head. For me a championship game against galway where people pay 30 euros for a seat in the stand on top of the other match day expenses is not the time to be trying a kick like that. Training or friendly games are where that should be done. rant over
Small margins in a game – when Oisin got injured it was obvious he would have to be taken off. How did it take so long to get Hession onto the field. Surely by the time the medical team went out to Oisin, assessed him and helped him off the field Hession should have been on the field. As someone pointed out above Galway got a point while we were waiting for Hession to come on. In this day and age there are enough people on the sideline that should prevent this from happening.
I saw Cillian kick a left footed free from that exact position for Ballintubber a few years ago. Don’t really have a problem with him having a go, the issue is that he’s the best option we had there!
Unless Orme, McHale or Kevin Mc get into the starting team that won’t change. Maybe Paddy Heneghan could come from left field over the next 6 weeks to be an option in the half forward line?
I Kevin mcstay makes point today in western that if we had a couple of the rossie forwards we would of won at least one Sam . Not sure I agree tbh .
Not sure id have any Roscommon forward ahead of Ryan, Cillian, Tommy Conroy, James Carr or Diarmuid. Enda Smith would make our half forward line but i don`t think any of the rest of them are better than what we have. Silly enough statement by McStay.
of course we’re a top 8 side right now Larry – by virtue of the fact we made the last 3 national finals – but my point is personnel wise on paper I think there’s several sides better than us, and the fact we’re still able to make finals as a result is an incredible achievement.
there are small margins in sport however and things can change extremely quickly – if we are to go out tamely in the back door its clear we will have regressed quite significantly into the pack, and sadly judging by our last few matches it would appear this is certainly becoming the case
The time to beat Galway was yesterday, stroking our own egos with bullish thoughts like we’ll beat them later in the year in Croke Park isn’t going to change the fact we’re now in a very precarious position, while they’ve potentially carved out a very manageable route to an all Ireland semi. We have to start facing up to defeats and poor performances rather than always looking for excuses
And I’m only calling it as I see it, every Mayo person on this blog would only love the team to bounce back and go on a deep run again, but at the current moment in time that seems extremely fanciful I’m afraid, there has to be some serious changes made and quickly
The Pat Holmes article in the Western People is well worth a read. Calling out Horans gameplan and the private function that was held to honour the recently retired County players last week.
Mayo64, I love your post.
I echo other posters above that we are not as bad as we think we are.
Please God, with some more cuteness, cleverness and smartness (real, not complacent), we can be motoring again.
Let’s take advantage of the few weeks’ layoff to recover from yesterday and get our energy levels in the right zone again for the next game. And that’s us as supporters I’m talking about : )
Have a great day everyone.
@Larry Duff.
To all who thought my couple of posts on Sunday / Monday, were bitter.
My posts were honest.
I thought the amount of feigning injuries and time wasting by Galway was way over the top.
Some said to me to cop on. It’s part of the game.
It has no part in the game, and isn’t within the rules of the game and anybody that makes excuses for it deserve to watch this cheating kind of game for the rest of their days.
If this kind of time wasting shit is always categorised as ” part of the game ” there will be othere cheating parts of the game added, and someday there will be no game.
No real difference between Dublin pulling us to the ground which people protested (the Dubs knew they had a free pass from the referees), no difference between that and Galway players getting a tap on the shoulder and rolling around on the ground holding their faces.
The ” it’s part of the game, brigade people “are some of the same People who give out constantly about the two hundred thousand pound a week footballers, across the water, who roll around the ground pretending to be injured.
If you want to call the soccer players who roll around sissies, then call our Gaelic players who are doing the exact same thing, call them sissies as well.
One poster asked about what the black card Galway were given implying that this card was manufactured by one of our players.
A wrong decision.
The collision happend away from play well away from the referee and therefore was not an attempt to influence the referee. The referee was not in the vicinity of the collision and couldn’t see the collision. It was suggested by one of the commentators that it might just have been a tangle of legs.
It was a linesman that ran and spoke to the referee and I think they got that decision wrong.
To all the honesty begrudgers.
I prefer to remain honest to what I saw on Sunday, which was a huge amount of time wasting out the field. There are people afraid to call what obviously took place, for what it was. That would be honest, not bitter.
Sure Jesus, the Galway goalie could have had a cigarette each time, between placing the ball and actually kicking it.
How did Galways woman doctor not make team of the week, the way she broke up Mayos momentum at crucial times running onto the pitch anytime she got the chance.thought she deserved a shout.
Fair play to Ryan and Fair play to Galway. We had enough chances to see that game out no prob. If we had our full strength team which we had not, it would have been a very different story. Our S+C team needs to take a look at the situation, we are falling like flies. The team that will win the final will have very few to no injuries. We are constantly without a full squad and this problem is ongoing. It will be a very short season if the s+c team don’t get their act together. Mayo forever
Did we have as many injuries and was our s&c better when Barry solan was involved ?
South Mayo Exile.
As far as I could see, James Horan spent so long giving Enda instructions before going on, that was the delay. I was very close to them. I remember commenting on it at the time.
For crying out loud Revellino you’re embarrassing us/yourself.
When Eoghan took out Sean Kelly with a last ditch take down to save the game in 2020, did any of us say “it’s not part of the game”. No, we all rightly applauded the decision. Were any of us upset that o’hora took out Shane Walsh last season? No, it helped us and there was a degree of Walsh deserving it.
So we’re happy with those decisions and yet we’re going to turn around with hypocrisy and complain about a bit of time wasting? We’ve done it plenty ourselves, in that aforementioned 2020 meeting and against Armagh in the qualifiers and against Tyrone in the quarters that time. You get ahead in the game, you get the advantage of that kind of stuff
Larry Duff above says we should’ve won the game. We were 6 down with 3 mins left for crying out loud. The vast majority of games get won in the ‘championship period’. That’s midway through the second half. Galway won that and it’d have been robbery to get the draw
Full+Forward, the Galway lads were dropping like flies throughout the game, But they went on to win it .Does that mean the Galway S+C team are in the same boat, even if there team won ?
Injuries didn’t seem to be as big a factor a few years ago. The likes of Cillian, Chris Barrett and Seamus O’Shea in particular used to miss nearly all the league but rarely had issues come championship.
Hopefully we get a clear run from here. 6 weeks break should mean players aren’t rushed back too soon which probably happened vs Galway. I’d be fairly sure Hennelly, Durcan and Mullin will be fine for the next game. I’m assuming McDonagh and Bryan Walsh have muscle injuries so they’ll be fine too.
The big question is Jordan Flynn. Was Horan asked about him at the weekend? If he gets the cast off after 6 or 7 weeks he might be in contention too.
Stephenite very well said..
Family embarrassing indeed.
All kickouts are at the referees discretion timing wise. The second Gleeson placed the ball in the tee the crowd were howling but most were fine, the only time he struggled timing wise was the last few minutes, but the referee adds any time he feels is wasted. So between everything Mayo got an extra five minutes and still missed their chance..
Revellino has a short memory regarding the Kelly incident you mentioned above..
Revellino has a very short memory as Stephenite pointed out. He is usually good though so come on Revellino get your mojo back.The are some great posts on here though as always. It’s always been the case that the tide will turn in Connaught but Roscommon will still have a say on where it goes out. I worry for Mayo from Galway experience of relying on injured players to return and save ye it often doesn’t work out look at poor Joe Bergin even Damien has been blighted. I would see Mayo as a top 6 team and still ahead of Galway on 2-3 year form cycle but on current form Kerry are tops but they do fear Tyrone. In fairness to ye a very very knowledgeable colleague of mine from Kerry thought we were lucky to escape but had done enough earlier to win. He also stated Mayo are always capable of beating you Inc Kerry. He thought yer draw in qualifier is absolutely crucial now.
The Dubs should of course also have a say before the end. I disagre Galway are playing like in Kevin’s era where it was all handpassing backwards. Kevin’s problem was he could never get the transition to attack going whereas PJ appears to have hit on a formula now. The Roscommon game if it comes to pass will be revealing and a big test for Galway. I will be honest and say ye should have sneaked one like we did in hurling in 2017 and people wouldn’t be so frustrated. Horan is a great servant of Mayo same as Rochford was. I am not as knowing as lads on here but it appears ye may have something in lads running like dogs and then tiring it would explain a lot of Mayo’s issues in forwards kicking wides when tired but I don’t know.
It would be mad if we play ye again and unlike one of the lads above I wouldn’t bet the mortgage on it but maybe a few quid on Johnny Heaney to score a goal. I will watch to see who ye get.
Guys,
It’s a bit silly hoping some injured players will be recovered for the next game and thinking that everything will be solved.
Same problems and issues will be apparent.
Ye should just concede that Mayo are on a downward Spiral, let ye not be hoping for that better day, ie, an All Ireland win, won’t happen this year.
@Mayo Kate, your post is very sincere and you speak from the heart, but it’s time to face facts, this Mayo win is not coming anytime soon.
We are imploding. That all Ireland loss has been bubbling all the time. The players haven’t been the same. We have too often now watched a management team look to tge ground for inspiration, hoping for the best. No full team bedded down during the league. The mood is different amongst supporters. Its costly now to follow a team. The players owe us nothing but is their talent being utilised to the best…I don’t see it. An honest restart is needed. Regardless of the injuries- with the supposedly massive panel we had – the effect should not be as pronounced. We all see lads playing in wrong positions. Every team knows our playbook. If we are not careful we may be seeing a slide that coukd be hard to arrest. I make no apology for questioning management – im sure the.position is rewarded handsomely but I am sick of the annual humiliation and being considered a joke. I will always support our team and am privileged to be from Mayo. Lets hope things get better.
As the great Mohammed Ali said: The wise man always changes, it’s only the fool that never changes.
“Galways woman doctor” I think I’ve seen it all on hear now. His name is Dr Enda Devitt from Claregalway.
@Big Mike, And here was me thinking I was the only one who looked at the sky.
As I said yesterday, there’s some rare dudes following Mayo alright.
Three problems to solve, in priority order.
1. The high concession rate of goals caused by us leaving too much space for 1 v 1 full backline defending.
2. The lack of coached attacking plays. What are our plays? Can we try and copy the Dublin amd Kerry plays of how they setup shooters in space against blanket defences?
3. The low goal scoring rate. Heavily affected by our slow attacking play ensuring almost no chance of through on goal overlaps.
Revellino. Remember the Galway supporters crying about O Hora’s tackle on Shane Walsh last year. Galway won the game fairly . Wish them luck and get on with it.
Time to ease up a bit on the bitching. As far as I’m aware this blog is for fans to post their opinion and shouldn’t have to face criticism for it. If someone doesn’t agree thats fair enough say so if need be but there’s enough hassle in the real world without having to face it here.
For O’Laoi Black Card. First Galway Goalie kick out – took 40 sec to get away, next two kick out too 20 sec each. Shane Walsh free took 1.35 to take, Another goalie kick out too 45 sec to take. And a foul on one of Galway lads took 30sec, before he was told to get up. In total 4mins and 10sec of time wasting. What ever about losing the match, this really takes away from the enjoyment of the match
[Deleted].
I’m with No Doubt – everyone has a right to express reasonable opinions on here without being taken to task for it. Argue the point, don’t attack the person – the rules are fairly clear on this.
Mayo91 – please don’t attempt to post unsubstantiated rumours from sources like that. There’s a rule on that kind of carry-on too.
Mayolass – I’ve just pulled somebody else for referencing that rumour and its source. I want no further mention of either made here again.
@JP, after 11 years in management would you not think the current management team should have easily solved those issues you have listed ?
Two wins will get us to last 8, same as Galway, and we have 6 weeks(?) to get our house in order. Would someone please analyse our 11 wides?
We need to change tactically and that will not be easy as this slow build up is almost engrained into us. Some players on sunday offered no more than receiving and giving a basic handpass.
The slow build up is working big time against us, making it easy to defend and difficult for us to create chances.
Can we vary our style? Its not going to be easy, a semi final place will be a great achievement
@Mayo88, I don’t know do I fully blame them at this point. Is Mayo football culture modernized on and off field into how games are won in 2022 and upcoming 2023?
So, yes, I think the management should have improved those three areas given the time, resources and solutions proven by other teams and management teams.
But there does seem to be a thinkng of “oh if we only had Higgins and Barret we’d concede less goals”. “We don’t have the natural scoring forwards like Dublin and Kerry do”.
This type of thinkng is based around the idea that this is a lack of talent problem.
Look at the problems modern soccer clubs have if they simply rely on buying talent with no overarching and well practiced football strategy.
Football both Gaelic and Soccer are primarily strategy and tactics games first in terms of how they are won.
Secondly, assuming well coached sides the differentiator is a mix of talent and random luck on the day.
The Liverpool team with 8 of its first team and 3 championship players but perfectly drilled in tactics would beat easily the Liverpool team first 11 relying only on talent and not drilled in tactics.
I think in Mayo a big % think a Mayo team with 12 of the first 15 plus 3 solid intermediate players but as well coached and drilled with a flexible gameplan as Dublin would get beaten 80% of the time by the Mayo first 15 in Horanball. My view is a well drilled Mayo 12 + 3 intermediate players would win more than 50% of the time due to the immense impact of superior tactics.
What differentiates really top boxers? Or Liverpool and Man City? Or the era of the New England patriots? Or Dublin six in a row? It is mostly superior and flexible tactics. Talent and skill are more of a top level entry requirement rather than a winning differentiator.
I don’t think we get that.
I think Mayo people in the main are talent focussed with often a slight or significant disdain for modern tactics.
@ o Sullivan
I live and work in Galway.
I discuss all Mayo v Galway games with my friends from both counties.
When we discuss the games, there are no pulled punches. It’s hard and it’s honest. It’s real, it’s in your face and it feels good. Good honest debate.
My Galway friends don’t want me plámásing them with some two faced crap and I don’t want them plámásing me either. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it always will be between our group up here. They want the game discussed on its merits and what actually happened in the game and to get each others thoughts on the games.
We might not always agree, but at least we know we are revealing our true feelings and not talking out our holes.
They have a healthy respect for my opinion because it’s brutally honest and I have the same respect for their feelings after the games. They are also brutally honest.
For anyone that hasn’t tried it, it’s actually very refreshing to be able to discuss the game openly with the opposing fans.
What is on the mind, and not what you think they might like to hear.
The Galway fans I know (and I know quite a few of them), love it when I cast up my gripes to them, and likewise, I’m always left smiling when they come back with both barrels.
It’s honest, it’s adult and it’s alot of fun.
Interesting phrase coming into the domain big time lately is horanball. It is obviouly used to criticise the Horan style of play. It is borrowed fron warrenball which was a criticism of Warren Gatlands style of play. Some similarities between Horan and Gatland alright. Gatland took over Connacht when they were hopeless, made them respectable and sowed seeds of future success. He then did likewise for Ireland but his style and personality wasnt to everyones liking so he was shafted. Horan took over Mayo when they were hopeless, completely changed the culture, made us repectable as a team and instilled hope in supporters who could be proud to follow this team. We also played some cracking football in his first term. But like some irish rugby experts wanted to see the back of Gatland, we now have a growing number of Mayo supporters who want to see the back of Horan. Be careful what you wish for. By the way Gatland went to Wales, won 4 Six Nations including 3 grand slams and reached 2 world cup semi finals. Not bad for Warrenball. Meanwhile Ireland with better players won considerably less and never reached a World Cup semi final. As I said, be careful what you wish for.
@To win just once.. Maybe the term ‘Horanball’ came from ‘Warrenball’ but Billy Joe Padden on the Mayo GAA Blog Podcast is where I first remember hearing the term. Nothing wrong with the style of football termed ‘Horanball’ if it’s working?, Or there would be nothing wrong with another style of football, or mix of styles of football overseen by James Horan if they work!.. Jim Gavin’s style eventually caught up with the Dubs, but won five All Ireland’s in a row for Jim and one for Dessie Farrell, but we could all see that throughout 2021 teams had gotten nearer to cracking the Dublin code, eventually Mayo under James Horan cracked the code last August.. Donegals style the ‘ Guru McGuinness’ style won an All Ireland in 2012, which was an even more full on version of Pat Gilroy Dublin team of 2010 & 2011.. was one hell of an achievement for Jim McGuiness and Donegal. but teams caught up with the style and defeated Donegal and the Style.. Micky Hartes style was overcame, and Brian Cody style of hurling seems to have been overcame as well, with an even more full on Style of Limerick… But all of those won All Ireland with a certain style,.. and Brian Cody is the only one in the same Job with the same style, but he has some serious credit in the Bank. I remember Jack O Connor saying that he wouldn’t be long getting ‘Bothar agus Batha’ if he tried to play the ‘Guru McGuinness’ way back a decade ago, but I suspect he would adopt to whatever style he thinks gives Kerry the best chance of winning.. He knows one particular ‘Pundit won’t call it Puke Football’.. Many years I was at a technology exhibition, 20 year’s ago, there was some of the most modern Mobile Phone’s on display, and behind them a large black and white pictures of an old style telephone exchange, with a battery of girls plugging in lines to connect telephone calls, underneath the picture the caption read ‘Adapt or your History’
@to win just once and @leantimes.
Two great posts. Maybe opposite ends of the spectrum but enough to get the mind racing.
Both points of view are very valid.
Be careful what you wish for, and I’ve often thought that as well.
It came to a point where the top 4 was not enough for the Arsenal fans, so Wenger got the snips.
The years since the Wenger push, have not been too fruitful. Barren indeed.
It did seem at the time that maybe he had brought them as far as he could, but saying goodbye to him has not made them a better team. Not yet anyway.
Would we have been to any of the All Ireland’s if Horan had not come along ?
Who can say for sure.
From another point of view.
What changes in playing strategy have taken place to improve team performance since his Horanball was first rolled out ?
It really is hard to find tactical master strokes, in James’s time in charge.
In half the time we saw big risks and big pay offs from Rochford.
A kicking game introduced.
Sweepers when needed.
Of course everything didn’t work for Rochford either and I guess that’s okay. That’s why they are called risks to begin with.
Personally I would have liked to see Horan get one crack, with a fully loaded side, this current crop he has put together, and no injury worries.
Maybe even with Cillian O’Connor fit we might have been able to win last year’s final. A fit Cillian would have made a huge difference.
I wouldn’t like to see the manager have to go without getting a proper crack with this current crop assuming he could get the players through a season without a whole new raft of injuries.
I’m not sure under James, would a fully fit squad alone be enough, without some level of tactics besides Horanball, to go along with it.
The biggest worry last Sunday was the clear lack of on-field leadership in the second half.
It’s like the players themselves don’t believe it can happen this year. In all honesty I think we’re going to chug to defeat this year.