I only caught the last quarter on the laptop of the Connacht semi-final that has just concluded in Pearse Stadium and I’m as gobsmacked as I’d say Alan Mulholland and his charges are right now at that second half reversal of fortune. Sligo seemed to be in big bother at the break, where they trailed by four or five, but that was one hall of a second half rally that saw them sweep by their hosts and win with a fair bit to spare.
So, no meeting with Galway for us in Connacht this year and no Connacht final in Pearse Stadium either. Instead, if we beat Leitrim in two weeks time, we’ll be heading for a provincial decider against the Magpies in McHale Park.
Well, you lot might be – I’ll still be away on my hols wherever the final takes place. And, after Sligo’s heroics this evening, maybe that’s a timely reminder to us that the only match we should be thinking about at this stage is our provincial semi-final with the Ridge County on the 24th of this month.
Galway, as always, blown out of proportion by the media after their win over Roscommon. Roscommon were extremely poor, yet that was overlooked. If anyone listens to Galway Bay FM, the tripe and bias that is spouted from their commentators is laughable. ‘Without a doubt, this season is a turning point for Galway football’, was the comment at the beginning of the game. Ridiculous.
Looking forward to the match on the 24th-sure if we get weather like today it’ll be great!
Willie Joe, ’tis unacceptable how you book the hols for Connaught final time!
Are you sure that the final will be played in mc hale? That is of course that we beat leitrim 😉
Final will be in Castlebar for sure.
I hear you about galway bay fm , esther, christ they were talking as if they were going to take over.
Willie Joe,
Well done with the site -great.
Should Mayo beat Leitrim I think the C. Final will be in Roscommon. Is it not Sligo’s call. Their pitch in Sligo town will not hold a Connaught Final crowd. Sligo will hardly opt for Pearse Stadium even though they gave a great display on what appeared to be an extremely well prepared pitch to-day and they won’t go to Castlebar.
Anyhow Mayo for the Nestor Cup once again?.
The final will be in Castlebar if we beat Leitrim, nothing surer.
Thats how it works. 2010 we played them in Sligo.
What a result in Salthill today. If Mayo are to rated in the top 6 in the country, you would have to think the connacht title should be comfortably retained. I think it will after today’s result.
jus afta watch,n tha gal-sligo highlights on rte2 and even though marren was man tha match ,mayoman costello w he as far behind him. He,s played some great games for tha yeats men n was superb again this evening, how tha hell was let go from mayo setup…
Sean it doesn’t necessarily always work that way. We played them in the Hyde in 97 and in Sligo in 2000 without a game in Castlebar in-between. So it is possible that we could be going to Roscommon for the final if we get past Leitrim.
I was at the game because I wanted to see if Galway were any good and if Sligo could give them a game….. Sligo hit hard, worked like Trojans and deserved their win. Galway were maybe a bit too cocky going into this game. The media had built them up and perhaps that got into their heads.
Sligo have some very good forwards, a decent midfield and strong defenders at the back. If Mayo overcome Leitrim, we will have to be at our best to beat Sligo. Our defence will have their hands full with marren, Kelly, Costello and brehony. Our midfield would be in for a right battle and our forwards will not be given an inch by Donavon, Harrison, martyn and co. If anyone thinks that we will walk to another Connacht title, they are deluded. Anything can happen in sport. Leitrim and Sligo won’t fear us. Why would they? Underdogs always rise on the big day and Sligo have rose again this year.
Well done on the site willie Joe. It’s top class. The majority of our county players played league football tonight so our injury list will be alot smaller for the Leitrim game.
No it’s not possible, it will be played in McHale park.
Galway were poor hype up by beating a poor Roscommon. Mixed feelings about the result for us we only have to beat Sligo,Leitrim two lower division teams at home that’s not great preparation for Croke park is it?
Maybe to make it a bit more interesting we should give Sligo the venue choice.
Lets not get carried aWAY Sligo have an excellent defence,verry good midfield ,astute full forward line and an outstanding centre forward MAYO S Alan Costello,The game will be played in Mchale park providing we beat Leitrim,Galway were over confident,Mayo beware,Mayo to win providing they keep focussed. Congrats to Sligo.
fantastic site Willie Joe … Didn’t know what was going on when I logged on at first … The Alan Costello point …. Never played that well for us … Always thought he was a bit on the hefty side and a bit slow off the mark …. But fair play to him yesterday ….
Mayo will have learned from before i expect providing We bet leitrim it be machale Park why should it be sligo call We played them in their soil 2(years ago. Mayo will need to play with the same high intensity as they played against dubs in league from the off been ihard hitting and early scores killing sligo off early in the game If they meet.
While I am sure we will not be complacent (and that goes for playing Leitrim as well), its a much different task playing Sligo in Castlebar than Galway in Salthill. We could arrive in Croke park in August without having been tested since the League final. This approach suited Kerry in the past, perhaps we will only have to peak for three games.
As for the venue, while I assume that it is in Castlebar since we played in Sligo in 2010, I cannot work out why the 1997 final was in Hyde? When we played them again in 2000 the game was in Sligo – were we supposed to have home advantage in 1997?
Just delighted we don’t have to go to Salthill this year! Traffic always a nightmare.Fair play to Sligo!!!
Sligo and Leitrim grounds are too small to host final so once one of them get there it must be played at a neutral venue. Mayo may get to pick that venue though. That is well known.
Remember Sligo v Galway, Mayo v Leitrim, Mayo v Sligo, Galway v Leitrim all in the Hyde. Ros v Sligo. Galway v Sligo in Castlebar.
Ye should know more than most that one good performance is often followed by a poor one. We have no complaints but from my reckoning very few of our fans were being ‘cocky’ as you put it. We know we are rebuilding and we know it could be painful but knowledgeable football folk know it takes time. For the record hats off to Sligo but they unfortunately may have blown their cover. The downside for ye is that ye could be heading for an all ireland q/f by only playing against Div 3/4 teams (not your fault of course) and meeting a highly tunded middle of the road team coming through the back door. This could be James Horan’s biggest challenge since he came on board. For the record provincial finals against Sligo or Leitrim are always at neutral venues as their grounds are not big enough to host same theorefore the home and away arrangment does not apply if either of them or both reach the final. Assuming ye beat Leitrim final likely to be the Hyde as this would be the most central neutral venue between the competing counties.
Lads just put this to bed about the venue, its in Mchale park, sin e.
If its a final and its sligos turn for home adv, it is played in neutral as sligo not big enough for final( i think thats the reason) but its our turn this time and its in McHale for sure.
Sean Burke is right. Well explained Sean. The final will be in Castlebar if we beat Leitrim.
Obviously the home/away arrangement is too complicated for some people to follow. Not to mention the neutral venue arrangement which swings into action if either Leitrim or Sligo are involved in the final and it is their turn to be at home. Which means that Sligo/Leitrim give up their right to be at home for the final. However the next time they play the same opposition they will be at home provided it is a semi or quarter final. This might explain the 1997 Hyde case. Sligo were supposed to be at home but are not allowed to host so it went neutral. Next time they played Mayo in 2000 they got their home fixture. I presume 97 was a final and 2000 a semi or quarter.
Seán is right. I cannot understand how there is so much discussion over where the final is. It will be in McHale Park. There is no issue about that.
^^^If Mayo beat Leitrim!
God there are some very sure mayo men on here…so you ‘only’ have to beat Leitrim and Sligo eh? we’ll see…we’ll see…after all Mayo is known for rising to the big occassion isn’t it…oh no my mistake 😉
Lily, point out a post where a Mayo man says we ‘only have to beat Leitrim and Sligo’. Otherwise, keep your allegations to yourself. I sense a bit of jealousy. A sore loser, perhaps? 🙂
If we are aspiring to winning it all, then Leitrim and Sligo have to be beaten and beaten in a way that shows we are serious. Show them respect by all means and it’s certainly one game at a time.
Grt win Sligo. Well done, let that be a lesson to us all, one game at a time.
A big hello to my bro who is sick in hospital in Germany, while on his way to Poland. Hope we win 2nite and will cheer you up. C U soon Bro;.
its hard to figure how galway could clatter ross and then lose to sligo, are sligo that good? well done sligo at any rate, i suppose you look at carlow vs meath or longford to see that fitness and desire go a long way.
Come on guys, come off it. We can’t do anything unless we drop Donal Vaughan. He’s a maurader and no defender. Drop Dillon, he has been living on borrowed time for 3 years now and drop Andy Moran, the ball has to go through him every time and he is no Ciaran Mc Donald. I suggest Kevin Keane to centre back because he is very eager and he is a dasher. To replace Moran i suggest Peader gardiner a man ive good time for. Now he wouldn’t be everyones cup of tea don’t get me wrong but he would win ball and give kevin mc gloughlin a very well earned helping hand.
Good to see that Tarran is an early riser and that he only has Mayo football on his mind at such an unearthly hour. If it’s the other way round & Tarran has yet to go to bed well thats good too. Clearly Mayo Football needs 24/7 attention. We can never stop thinking about improvements. Well done.
Well done to Sligo, great win over a team that hamered Roscommon. Sligo looked really up for the chalenge and Galway looked shell shocked in the last 10 mins. As regards Alan Costello, he played well yesterday no doubt, but isn’t he our very own Seanie Johnston, who fecked off to another county because he was dropped by his home county.
I suppose he can do what he likes, but to me this goes against what GAA is about. His home club Balla have never gotten over his departure and have dropped down the divisions like a lead balloon. This kind off soccer style transfer can have long lasting effect on the club and teammates left behind.
“Tarran” – – Go back to bed and have a good sleep for yourself – – – you would make more sense if you were snoring.
I thought our next game is the semi final against Leitrim, a side that have had a hard game against London. Leitrim folk will be delighted to hear that the main topic of Mayo conversation is where the final will be played.
I was fully wrong about it been Mchale park, it will be neutral if its sligo v Mayo.
I rang the cc office as a lot of people were putting doubts in my head and boy do i feel foolish now, i should really check before running my mouth.
Why are Mayo supporters so cocky.. You should be very afraid of Sligo if you get to the final. Sligo are no bad team and will beat Mayo wherever it’s played this year..FACT
Have some respect for Leitrim aswell because no one likes cockiness. Mayo supporters for years are deluded and are relying on a very suspect so called “tradition” to kick them a few
points.. Mark my words Sligo WILL beat you.
well done Sean on your admission.. respect
A bit of respect in return wouldn’t go amiss, neutralgaa (though you sound anything but neutral from that outburst). I don’t detect any cockiness from Mayo supporters on here and we’re all well aware – with Ruislip last year in mind – that we need to take it one game at a time. Unlike yourself, I think you’ll find very few Mayo people braying that we WILL beat anyone.
I am from Scotland and love GAA.. I try and look at the facts in front of me and the way the game is played. Sligo have been on my watch list over the last 15 years
and sooner or later they will break through beyond Connacht. Mayo are an ok team but lack some spark.. with Sligo getting their midfield sorted they will do serious damage now.
Cork this year will be the team to beat. Mayo if all the team pull together as a unit can be great but too often for me they seem to play as individulas.. I wish Mayo well too
I would of been confident of beating Sligo if it were mchale park, i make no apolgies for been confident.
The leitrim game , i do think we will win, we are a better side than Leitrim, the bookies have us at 1/33 to beat them, not many 1/33 shots are beat.
Sligo in the hyde is a whole different ball game imo, better wait till the Leitrim game is over though before a man gets virtually slapped for making assumptions.
Assuming Mayo get past Leitrim – and that will be tough – it would be better for the team to play Sligo in the Hyde rather than in Castlebar. Given Sligo’s performance in Salthill, they could be considered slight favourites in such a scenario.
But in the bigger picture for Mayo – i.e. All-Ireland quarter-finals – a Connacht Final out of the Castlebar comfort zone would toughen us up that bit more. And should Sligo prevail, a hard qualifier game would do Mayo no harm either… watch and see how sharp and hungry Kerry will be in Croke Park come August weekend.
That’s fair enough, neutralgaa – I wouldn’t share everything in your analysis but I wouldn’t disagree with it all either. Sligo have obviously got a great sense of togetherness at the minute, one that belies their modest league form in the spring (where they failed to get out of Division 3) and the Galway result shows that they’re well capable of going all the way in Connacht. I think a lot of your criticisms of us were perhaps more true of when John O’Mahony was in charge: James Horan has definitely brought a better sense of purpose to us. Having reached last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and this year’s league final, it’s also the case that we’ve plenty of experience (not all of it bad, either) against the top teams. But, make no mistake, no-one in Mayo is going to be thinking too much about a possible Connacht final against Sligo until such time as we’re in one and we’re not there yet.
ean burke says:
June 11, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I was fully wrong about it been Mchale park, it will be neutral if its sligo v Mayo.
I rang the cc office as a lot of people were putting doubts in my head and boy do i feel foolish now, i should really check before running my mouth.
So 100% confirmed for neutral venue?
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Reading back on post i may have came across as cocky but to be honest i wasn’t. We beat Dublin,Cork,Kerry all in the last 8 months if we play to our ability we will beat Leitrim,Sligo.
The last time we won back to back Connacht titles was in 1996/97 the 1997 final was v Sligo in Hyde park looks like history is going to repeat itself.
First with the correct venue news – 9 44 p.m. Sat.
Calm down EstherMayo1951 just a bit of banter didn’t u see my winky face 🙂 …but if I must provide proof..you did ask…Mayomagic said it and I quote…
‘we only have to beat Sligo,Leitrim two lower division teams at home that’s not great preparation for Croke park is it?’
From Sligo so never a sore loser but enjoying every minute of our win 🙂
Mayomagic…appreciate your other comment …hopefully see ye in the final and give ye a run for your money 🙂
Jim Flag – it seems the ‘home/away arrangement’ may have been too complicated for you rather than everyone else after all then?
shouldnt matter where the final is played assuming we beat letrim galway got sucked in by their own hype after beating a very bad ros team sligos first half tactics were foul fouland foul if mayo have any designs on a good run in this years all ireland series then sligo or letrim shold be put to the sword we have to be ruthless in dispatching lower division teams watch what cork will do to clare in the munster final mayo should be putting the likes of sligo and letrim away by half time just get the job done done as soon as possible if we want to be up there with the so called top 3 we must and should be able to handle whats left in connaugh
well done on new format WJ but I detect a certain very ‘unmayogaabloglike’ comments
in the past few days….is it time for a little knuckle rapping WJ??Also I hope Tarrans
sleep done him good
Thanks, Opt2missteek – there may be few hits flying alright but nothing yet that’s overboard as regards acceptability. Don’t worry, though, the book will be out if this happens! Thought Joey’s riposte to Tarran was sheer class.
I think we should book our tickets for the 4th round of the qualifiers. Afterall if neutralgaa says so, it must be right mustn’t it? And make no mistake, Sligo view beating us as their All-Ireland. Up to the boys to break their dream. That includes beating Leitrim too!
Declan,
maybe the home/away arrangement was too complicated for the fella on the phone in the CC office! Either that or they have changed the system. I dont know why they would take this fixture to the Hyde when its our turn to host Sligo. Awful venue to get to. ie park the car on the roadside and walk the last 5 miles to the ground and then stand next to a graveyard for 2 hours. Maybe Mchale park was deemed not fit to host the game!
As for the Leitrim game. I cant believe Mayo are 1/33 odds. Crazy. Remember 1994. Over confidence is a trap we have walked into too many times before. After the result from Salthill the trap is set again and waiting. Tread carefully Mayo.
Nice update WJ, but I hope the easy on the eye look hasn’t brought a shower of HoganStanders over the hill to annoy us. A few of them posts up above have me worried.
Note to all visitors, I’m sure ye are all very welcome and WJ has posted the house rules and won’t be slow to remind ye of them if ye break them. However take a look at the name on the door, its a Mayo house, so we don’t really need to apologise if on occasion we make bold statements about who we feel we should be beating. We’re never slow to criticize our own so don’t need to be advised on getting carried away with ourselves or otherwise, if we do, tis our own business thank you very much.
Congratulations Sligo on a great win, some great football played. I too thought that Galway had come again, with Alan Mulhollands record and the new U-21 blood, plus the style they played against Roscommon, I did think there was a Connacht Championship in them.
Now I suppose we’ll see what Galway are really made of in the qualifiers, they have some sad records to beat, no win in Croke Park since 2001 (thats an unbelievable statistic) and I think I heard somewhere that they haven’t beaten anyone outside Connacht in the championship since 2006, is that true?
As for ourselves, tis very hard to tell at this stage. We should beat Leitrim, and to be honest no matter what happens, bar a disastrous loss, I don’t think we will learn much. Win narrowly and the alarm bells will be ringing, win by 5 or so and it’ll be as expected. Win by a lot and again we won’t know anything. Twill be good to finally get the championship off the ground for us anyway I suppose.
Well said, eastcorkexile – the name on the door is a bit of a giveaway alright. What’s said here is always going to be Mayo-centric but that’s the whole point of the exercise. Outsiders are always welcome – and very welcome to contribute to the debate too – but the last thing anyone should expect around here is impartial opinion.
Nothing crazy about 1/33, it is calculated by experts who rarely lose out.
Mayo playing Leitrim is like Man United playing a lower league side in the 3rd rd of the FA cup, sometimes there is a shock but mostly the better team goes through.
“Mayo playing Leitrim is like Man United playing a lower league side in the 3rd rd of the FA cup, sometimes there is a shock but mostly the better team goes through.”
Leeds beat man united in the Fa cup 3rd round a few years ago now you have me worried 😉
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“Declan,
maybe the home/away arrangement was too complicated for the fella on the phone in the CC office! Either that or they have changed the system. I dont know why they would take this fixture to the Hyde when its our turn to host Sligo. Awful venue to get to. ie park the car on the roadside and walk the last 5 miles to the ground and then stand next to a graveyard for 2 hours. Maybe Mchale park was deemed not fit to host the game!
As for the Leitrim game. I cant believe Mayo are 1/33 odds. Crazy. Remember 1994. Over confidence is a trap we have walked into too many times before. After the result from Salthill the trap is set again and waiting. Tread carefully Mayo.”
It’s only right Leitrim,Sligo get neutral venue. You say Hyde park is a awful venue not sure why you would need to walk 5 miles to ground? Salthill is far worse have never seen a good game there getting to get to it & trying to park is disastrous.
Odds are about right what do you expect for Mayo a div 1 team that played in the final beat Cork,Kerry,Dublin the last year v a Leitrim side that are a mid table div 4 team well beaten at home by Roscommon last June.
In 1994 Leitrim were able to put it up to the best in Connacht they probably should have won more that just one Connacht title, you can’t compare this Leitrim team with the 94 team.