Well, the snow has arrived. Not just up here in the east but across most of the country as well it would appear.
But what fell last night is, by all accounts, merely the opening salvo, with blizzard conditions expected to hit tomorrow and Friday. The worst of the snow should have fallen by Saturday but the temperatures aren’t expected to recover until sometime next week so whatever snow falls isn’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.
All of which means that there doesn’t seem to be a snowball’s chance in hell (I ducked as I typed that bit) that any sporting activity will take place this coming weekend. In our case that means that our NFL Round 5 match against Kildare and the hurlers’ NHL Division 2B clash with Down are almost certain to be off.
The GAA released a brief holding statement yesterday (here) in which they confirmed that “a fixtures plan is being put in place to cater for any potential negative impact caused by the adverse weather on the Allianz Leagues.” It’s safe enough to assume, then, that this plan will now need to be activated and that details of it will be revealed in due course.
Rescheduling the Round 5 football matches should be relatively simple, given that the Round 6 matches aren’t due to be played until St Patrick’s weekend. Pushing all the Round 5 fixtures back by seven days is the easy solution there.
For the hurlers it’s trickier as there are matches scheduled every weekend between now and when the NHL is due to conclude. This means more imaginative solutions need to be looked at there, maybe by pushing the finals back by a week.
Take it handy out there, folks.
Just a thought. … v Kildare.
If SoS & TP (with AoS) at 11, how about let S Coen play full back against Kildare
He would pick up Daniel Flynn all day long. I can’t see any other mayo playerbeing robust enough to do it bar keegan, but I think keegan would be better picking up Kelly & driving up the field as appropiate.
I don’t see caff being good enough to handle flynn onot this year’s form.
If this weekend’s matches are put off, it can only be to Mayo’s benefit.
That league match v Kildare is huge. If they lose it, they’re almost gone. The more they get back from injury, the better.
Ciaran Whelan said on the indo today that Mayo are going on a training camp on April 11-18 i thought Rochford said in January there would be no training camp in April?
Well if a Dublin GAA person says something in the Indo, maymagic, I guess it must be true …
Indeed WJ. And as we know, Ciaran always has Mayo GAA’s best interests at heart in his public statements.
Who cares what Ciaran whelan or any other dub says? Don’t they have enough to be doing? Winning everything before and after them and still bitching on the “ national” papers about Mayo. They won’t be happy until Mayo have gone the way of their Leinster neighbours and aren’t in Croke park anymore to give them a game.
Ciaran Whelans article was actually quite positive and defending of Mayo.
In that case he is up to something.
How long did it take to read the article? A few minutes? You will never get them few minutes of your life back.
jp, he can not defend Mayo, its not a dublin thing to defend Mayo who are the biggest threat to them in late summer regardless of how things look at this time of year.
He is pointing out that Mayo are breaking the rules, and doing it in a way that looks like hes defending them against the big bad gaa. BS. Dont fall for it.
I don’t know why people are getting upset – he’s only pointing out the obvious and the absurdity of a rule that cannot be implemented when a competition starts on different weeks, for different teams
Read between the lines of that has Been’s article. He is basically tying to draw HQs attention to us possibly flouting one of their stupider rules.
McH – I’ve deleted that bit of vitriol from your comment. There really is no need for that.
McH, You are right, Whelan is ‘sliddery’ so and so who is trying to draw HQs attention to fact that Mayo are training in April.
Paddy in Dublin – same goes for you. No need for personal insults here. haven’t you heard of Facebook where this kind of shite is welcomed with open arms?
As a long time reader ,poster and passionate mayo follower and fan I am disappointed in your reaction to what I posted.
It really wasn’t that harsh, bearing in mind he started the media hatched job on Lee in 2016.Vitriol or fact?
In response to Ciarán Whelan article in the Indo… The GAA, might sanction Mayo, by us loosing a home league next year, if Mayo go on their training camp in April… But the question must be asked as to what will happen to others Div 1 teams if they choose to do the same thing?… With the actual number’s of loyal Mayo fan’s continuing to travel to Match’s, the GAA won’t care…. However if Mayo were to be relegated they would start caring very quickly….. At the ladies All Ireland final of 2017, the highest attendance women’s sport event in the world…. Saying something when you think that the Women’s Rugby World Cup took place in Ireland in the same year and the final included our near neighbours England…still more people went to see Mayo ladies, the previous highest attendance in Ladies GAA also involved Mayo.. Like many of our politicians, too many that really played no part in those impressive numbers of fans attending are claiming credit, for the Ladies and Men’s games … Take Mayo out of the equation and the GAA would see depressing and decreasing number’s…. The biggest province, the highest population ie the Leinster Championship has been virtually destroyed in the last decade, with miniscule numbers turning up to see non events… Even the Dublin fan’s are not turning up like they once would When you consider that its very much the same pool of loyal Mayo supporters that the ladies are dependent on, a single week after heartbreaking defeat in the men’s equivalent… It says something about the Mayo support,… We are financing and subsidising so much of the the GAA…. But in the case of Mayo… Those who pay the piper, definitely ‘Don’t call the tune.’…. The Mayo County board might like to piggy back on the huge Mayo support, but don’t even ask to ‘Call the Tune’… Their is a new GAA President, John Horan a Dublin man… The most subsidised County in Ireland…. But hopefully under John’, the GAA will stop treating Dublin as Ireland’s own subsidised Royal Family….. The decision on what happens to Mayo after taking part in a proposed training camp, will be made in Croke Park. Those making the decision should be mindful of the enormous and one sided contribution made by the people of Mayo…. They wouldn’t be long missing the Golden Goose or Gander , if they ever killed her ! Or Him !… And they don’t seem to mind wounding us any chance they get!
Well considering I have a flight and hotel booked to come over for Sunday’s game, this is all a bit of a bollocks!
But from an unselfish point of view, I think the extra week could be just what we need. We appear to have a few players on the verge of coming back, this extra week could see them available. Not to mention the added fitness and sharpness.
We’ll need all of that. This game will be far from easy. Kildare might have no points, but they’re desperately unlucky to be in that position.
Are they heading overseas for this training camp?
May the 13th will be the most hyped game in the province in nearly 2 decades, its easily the biggest game of the championship prior to the super 8’s. Anyone know what date the 1st round of the qualifiers are?
Well that’s both of us disappointed then, McH. I’m sorry you’ve been labouring under the mistaken impression that it’s okay to post that kind of stuff here. It’s not.
I have to say I enjoy Ciaran Wheelans opinions re mayo. He his generally critically constructive, say compared to Flynn, Brolly. And the reality is we do have to improve, build a panel, have faith and use our subs, giving them game time to make an impact. We are at bottom of table and with lots of flaws. The greatest I’m our use of substitutions. We make the worst use of subs of any team in the league, maybe it correlates with our position
I had a high regard and respect for this site and all your efforts wj . best of luck to you in you’re future endeavors. But it’s your ball to take home at the end of the day.
Fair enough, McH, but I’m not taking any ball anywhere. All I’m doing is what I can to ensure that this place doesn’t go the same way as everywhere else online where everyone feels it’s their right to post any old shite. That never was and never will be policy here and I make absolutely no apology for that.
I thought Ciaran Whelan’s article was a very fair piece. There is a danger of us getting paranoid and seeing conspiracies where there are none. As for the training camp the Galway game is a must win for us this year and no stone should be left unturned by Stephen in preparing the team.
The biggest problem we have is we are to worried what people think of us as supporters.
I know the players dont think this way.
Lets us support and fu.k the begrugders.
Too true JJ kelly. Furthermore if they have planned a training camp, (not that id know) no amount of squealing by Ciaran Whelan will stop it.
To be honest lads given our Home form in the last while, us giving up home advantage for a League game next year would not make much of a difference. it would not likely be Kerry or Dublin we would be giving it up to anyway, given we played both in Castlebar this year.
Also – I didn’t see a whole lot wrong with what Whelan had to say this time around. He might actually be feeling somewhat contrite for his part in some of the hatchet jobs he started against Keegan and Aido in the past. To give him his due, he has (after the fact admittedly) acknowledged that things have sometimes gone too far in this regard.
And Ontheditch, I have to say I would disagree with you on the “use of subs”. I’ll challenge anyone to offer better suggestions as to which subs should be used and when, and only without the benefit of hindsight – a manager can only decide on a substitution based on what he knows is happening before him. Sure we’d win every game if we knew precisely how subs would play and influence the game when they went on.
Rochford and co are struggling to decide when to bring on subs. Case in point, Loftus was so lucky to be introduced v Derry last year and subs introduced all too late v dub. Made an impact but we needed to see them earlier.
Dubs introduced 6 subs giving 64 mins game time..mayo did smae giving 38 mins in total. Averages out a 6 mins player, and figures for other games is as bad or worse. I don’t think either Kirby or Akram touched the ball. We have to stop the head scratching on the sidelane and start making calls…
are you able to say with 100% certainty that bringing Loftus on earlier would have made a bigger impact?.
bear in mind the opposition players will be more tired at the later stage he’s coming on.
Also – bear in mind the furore any time he dares to take off a player, people will grumble that the substitution is being made too soon….
Ciaran whelan is very pro Dublin and believe me if we meet Dublin again later in the year he’ll be up to his usual antics. I wouldn’t mind an ex player sticking up for their own county but the witch hunting that ex dublin players seem to engage in especially against mayo is very frustrating. Des Cahill then is conductor in chief.
Whelan was taught a lesson after clothes lining Mcgarrity, David Brady was sent in to sort him out. He isn’t one that should be barking about bad tackles and him attempting to decapitate Mcgarrity that day.
Mayo just irritate Dublin and Dublins ex players because they cannot beat us by 31 points. In fact they can hardly manage to beat us at all, but of course they always have the fail safe of a very very obliging referee. That’s all I’ll say about that.
Definitely not but he was so close to not being brought on at all and that would have made a difference. We have huge focus on core players and imo more than anything else this year we need a panel. From the limited amount of game time, the young lads are performing very well.
Re making a substitution too soon, that’s where he needs to be brave…Jim Gavin doesn’t shirk about taking off any player. I would argue that it’s the Eoin O Donaghue’s Fergal Boland and Adam Gallagher’s that need to be left on. I mean what an experience the dub match was for Eoin and he will be a lot wiser for it. I don’t know if Kirby is any the wiser for his few minutes tho
Whelan may be pro dub but in fairness he is trying to identify where mayo can improve.. we are very sensitive about constructive criticism
That makes sense to give subs a longer run. Has loftus been 100% fit though?
Ontheditch, Ciaran Whelan is never.going to offer advice to Mayo that might result in Mayo lifting Sam ahead of his beloved Dublin. A leopard never changes his spots.I have nothing against the man but watch how animated he always gets when any debate involving dublin comes up on the sunday game. Now is the time for nice harmless comments when there is nothing on the line but when things are in the melting pot later in the year thats when you’ll see the real Whelan stand up.
Who would be a manager? Remember in the Cork game last year when we were well ahead of them and would have a game again the following weekend, if we won, Rochford brought on his subs early in that match. Then we nearly lost the game and everyone was saying that we thought that we had the game won and made the changes too early.
What the Dubs usually do is start with the younger players and bring on the experienced players. I remember reading an article by Alan Brogran and he was saying that Jim Gavin would trust a more experienced player with a late chance compared to a younger player. A good example of that was us missing chances against Galway in Salthill last year late in the game when an old head might have nailed those chances.
The Dubs have such strength in depth though, they can get away with that, starting a few young lads but if we started without the likes of Boyler, Keith, Seamie O’Shea etc. then maybe the game would be over before the lads could rescue us.
In saying that it is very annoying sometimes the lateness of Rochford’s substitutions. He can be a bit conservative too. Remember last year in the final Diarmuid didn’t start and was replaced by Paddy Durcan, so we started with 7 defenders. If he wanted to be more bold he could have started Conor Loftus instead, to maybe surprise the Dubs. As I said who would be a manager, as Paddy had played so well against the Dubs in the 2016 drawn final and in the replay and you could understand why Stephen would start him as well, in the 2017 final.
Reality is Dublin have at least 24 players of the same standard. Switching these players in and out does not weaken their team. We have at maximum 17 players of same standard. Once we go beyond that we are weakening the team big time. We see in the league now these squad players are miles behind the lads they are replacing.
@ South Mayo Exile, I would agree with you there. Dublin’s second choice player would probably be only about 5 to 10% of a lesser player while for us the replacement might be at least 15 to 20% of a lesser player. Andy Moran is the type of player that we would need two of, one to start the game and one to finish the game.
Dublin brought on 4 subs in last years final who had previously won all stars!
Very hard to compete with that but then we the only county that has come within a kick of a ball of them in last 3 years!
So obviously we doing something right.i don’t have a fear of facing Dublin.i would be quite confident we beat them if we meet them this year.my only fear is that we could get caught before we meet them.we nearly got caught 3 times last year v Derry Cork and Roscommon.
I think a massive part of the reason our home form has been so dire is we use these weekends as, for want of a better phrase, training camps. We were definitely training the Friday before the Kerry and Dublin games, probably the Sunday too. Its the only real time we have the full squad together and we need to take full advantage. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why we are flat at home and I think, honestly, that full, intense training sessions are far more important at this time of year than winning league games.
From here on though its championship football. If we beat Kildare and Tyrone and Tyrone lose to Donegal, we stay up with a game to spare. A great chance perhaps to give newbies a right go.
Im quite confident we can do that, and I think we will be well primed for May 13th.
How good did Lee look on Saturday? For a man who hasn’t kicked a ball in 5 months!! Great that he has 3 league games ahead of him.
I think we are in a good place, although Harri is a big loss.
Are people seriously getting annoyed about Whelan’s article? He was defending us and saying it’s impossible for us to be at our best this time of year! What do ye want him to say exactly?!
Yes generally dubs finish with strongest fifteen and there’s a lot of logic to that, brining on your best when opposition is starting to tire. It’s a place we have to get to, a panel of 24 players….
We should make every effort to survive in div one, but we have to balance that with a few blooded players. Super 8 going to put pressure on a panel, and we have no Devine right to be in S8, we will have to work to get there
@wideball. That’s a very reasonable comment.long season for core players.
Below is the 15 players that started last year’s All-Ireland final for us:
1. David Clarke
2. Chris Barrett
3. Brendan Harrison
4. Keith Higgins
5. Lee Keegan
6. Colm Boyle
7. Paddy Durcan
8. Seamus O’Shea
9. Tom Parsons
10. Kevin McLoughlin
11. Aidan O’Shea
12. Donal Vaughan
13. Jason Doherty
14. Cillian O’Connor
15. Andy Moran
Subs brought on that day:
16. Diarmuid O’Connor
17. Stephen Coen
18. Conor Loftus
19. David Drake
20. Danny Kirby
21. Ger Cafferkey
Others for the year ahead:
22. Robbie Hennelly
23. Shane Nally
24. Caolan Crowe
25. Michael Hall
26. Eoin O’Donoghue
27. Barry Moran
28. Adam Gallagher
29. Fergal Boland
30. Evan Regan
31. Ciaran Treacy
32. Matthew Ruane
33. Peter Naughtan
34. Cian Hanley???
I have probably forgotten a few players as well, I seem to have named more forwards than backs in the others list. We’ll see how it goes in the year ahead, trying to add to our strength in dept and mixing and matching in games, i.e. starting with a few of the younger lads and finishing with the experienced lads etc. We’ll have to take injuries into consideration as well in the weeks and months ahead. Its all to play for, starting with Kildare.
Can’t see any match going ahead in Leinster this weekend . Snowing heavy all evening – unusual dusty stuff and roads not good at all plus Gaa probably make a call on it tomorrow .In my Midland base all club matches called off tonight for weekend and rightly so as it will give club players a chance to plan the days ahead .
@Hope Springs Eternal.
Ger McDonagh
Donie Newcombe
James Stretton
Sharoize Akram
Fionn McDonagh
Neil Douglas
Capacity of Gaa ground in Newbridge is only 6200. Is this right.
Anyone know if Peter Naughton togged for Knockmore against Crossmolina the weekend or If Ciaran Treacy played for Ballina against Kiltane. Knockmore had a big win over there rivals Cross 5-11 to 0-11.I think there good enough to beat Mitchels this year for the County Title, they always played a lovely brand of football ,for there size they are probably the best and most consistent club in Mayo,surely they have another player to offer Mayo with McLoughlin and Naughton.
That 6,200 will be needed for Mayo!.Just our luck to be potentially facing the Lillywhites on a snowy pitch…Mother nature joining Lady Luck against us!
True wideball…..theres a sizable portion of our support that will find fault with all comments from Dubs in particular but anybody really. What Whelan said this time is fact whether we like it or not.
The Whealan article was actuallly extracts taken from a podcast discussion of the weekend games. I don’t see anything wrong with what he said on this occasion. People need to “chill” out a bit.
It’s a bit like the Galway fans loosing their minds over Colm O Rourkes commmets when the same man had a love in with them for 20 odd years…remember him backing Galway to beat us in 2013!
Pundits seems to be the pantomime villain to all supporters, hang em high when they speak against us and love them when they say something nice.
@HSE – didn’t realise Matthew Ruane was still part of squad ?? If that’s the case it would be a positive for future years development even tho he was very poor in FBD. Are you sure?
Off again today, bloody snow . Anyway no matter how hard I try I cant come up with a full back line I think will be able to manage the galway threat in May. Without going into we wont play a traditional full back ,can anyone come up with numbers 2,3 and 4 . Lets say Higgins doesnt return to make it a little more difficult.
Harrison may not be back on time either Sean! As of now, I’d go for Barrett, Crowe & O’Donoghue.
Sean – Assuming Harrison is fit:
How about:
Harrison on McHugh
Barrett on Comer
O’Donoghue on Sweeney
*No Erris bias.
Sweeney isn’t the fastest of forwards but can kick some points.
Watched the first 15 minutes of Galway v Kerry and the Galway full forward line must have kicked more points from play than all of our forwards combined for the whole league so far! That’s no exaggeration!
We need CO’C and A Moran inside. Feed them with accurate ball in from Loftus and DO’C. Similar to first half v Kerry and for the replay second Andy goal.
Is it May 13th yet!!
Call me mental but I’d take a win over Galway on May 13th more than maintaining Div 1 status this year! Don’t give a f**k as long as we beat them.
In saying that, three must win games to finish off the league will set us up nicely for the Galway game. They’ll have a distraction of a league final also behind them.
Ian Burke will be playing ahead of Sweeney I would say
most teams are now putting the man Lee Keegan is marking back into the full forward line with Keegan moving back to full back line to stay with him, this takes Keegan out of the game and reduces Mayo’s attacking plan. Keegan has to stay around middle of field to keep Mayo attack working, let other teams worry about him and change their plans. Keegan no way full backline
Lets be honest if Comer is left isolated with his marker then Mayo are in trouble. Tactically Rochford is going to come up with something different against Galway to what we’ve seen the last 2 years otherwise Galway will win as its highly unlikely the Mayo we see in August will suddenly appear 3 months earlier this year.
What was the last update on Vaughan’s injury?
Vaughan still a bit off fitness – 6 or 7 weeks I think.
AOS may have to pick up Comer as he did with Donnaghy last year. Seamus O Sea full back?
It’s definitely a problem position.
@Willie Mac, your right there, Conor O’Shea is another player too that I forgot about.
@45, to be honest I’m not sure if Matthew Ruane is still involved but like you I hope that he still is as we really could do with another midfield option coming through.
I was just naming those players off the top of my head really in terms of the options that we would hopefully have for the year ahead, so we’ll see how it goes.
@ ontheditch, nearly forgot about that but think Comer offers a very different threat to Donaghy. I don’t think Galway send the high ball into Comer that often and his pace would be too much for AOS. I think the tactic will be making sure their isn’t enough space for Galway to go direct into the full forward line if Comer is in there.
Like I said before I personally don’t have anything against Whelan.
I do feel though, that by some of his comments his main aim is shining a big bright spotlight on the fact that we may be having an away training camp and to ensure that the extra away game rule in the league is enforced on us next year.
All answers so far have omitted Caff. I think its fair to say most of us think on present form Comer would make hay on ger caff. Maybe Barrett to pick up comer with caff going into the corner , I just wish caff would try change up his game a bit by coming out in front more often . Our defensive tactic will have to change for Galway , im sure management have a plan ,its just curious why we haven’t implemented trial periods for a system during the league thus far.
As advised on Monday, official confirmation now GAME OFF
All Alliance League matches this weekend now cancelled by the GAA
Watched a rerun of the 2013 q/final Mayo v Donegal on Eir Sport last night. What a refreshing game it was. Mayo scoring 4 17. 13 different guys scored in that game. Cillian got his 2nd hat trick in successive games. Aidan dominated midfield.It was a joy to watch.
@Hopespringseternal.
Another 2 forwards for you there.
Alan Freeman
James Carr, injured at the moment I think.
All football and hurling league fixtures are off this weekend.
On player news, I see Hogan Stand reporting that Liam Irwin may be togging for.. London. Playing club for North London and London manager keen to get him on board.
I wonder will club games go ahead this weekend in Mayo?
Good on ya Erris head, I thought I was the only fanatic with nothing on my mind only the clash with Galway .
The Andy goal v Kerry stands out for me and im glad you mentioned it , Loftus has such enormous potential as a playmaker as well as scorer . Damn I really hope he gets his proper go , that ball he gave in was majestic. People always bang on that can be trained into a player , can it like hell , you either have the football brain and skill to execute that or you dont. Loftus has it.
All games off this weekend.
Durcan,Parsons,S OShea will all be likely fit to start that rescheduled game now..
The extra week will suit us. Im expecting a further improved performance and a win
Sure giving up a home game next year will suit us down to the ground with our abysmal home form. Bring it on, I say. In fact I think we should do another one in June! 😉 Though Mayo Mark’s comment above makes sense. We have to cut our cloth in the league and that’s that.
As for Whelan being contrite or offering constructive criticism – I doubt it very much and that’s all I’ll say on that. (While privately wondering if some of ye are on drugs. Whoops, did I say that out loud?) 😉
If we’re looking for Rochford to come up with tactics for Galway and Comer I don’t think we’ll be disappointed. Expect the unexpected. To give him his dues he usually gets it right (bar the very odd time he gets it wrong!)
Westport 2018 I believe Ciaran Treacy is injured at the minute.
Looking out the window at this lovely snow and am delighted not to have to travel to Newbridge this weekend. The extra week will do us no harm. Hard luck though Dan (though that’s dedication for you).
There would t be too many pairs of flip flops and sandals sold today.
Just watched back the Dublin game there on Eir Sport. Although I’m stating the obvious, the difference in free taking between us and them was huge. It was probably worth a 6 point swing in the game. Anther big difference between the teams was how patient Dublin were when attacking. They literally never take on long range shots – just keep recycling the ball until there’s a chance around the D. It’s as if we think there is a shot clock in play. If we couldn’t break through straight away, there was either a long range shot attempted or a rushed kick pass into a double marked Andy.
With Kildare having Daniel Flynn at full-forward who is a big, strong player, probably more talented than Damien Comer, it’ll be interesting to see how we handle him and who will be marking him.
@Willie Mac, I think that someone said that it was reported somewhere that Alan Freeman was let go from the panel so I’m not sure if that was correct or not.
@Wide Ball, yeah the Dubs use the full width of the pitch also, its like the way Man City are playing under Pep Guardiola, they are always trying to create an extra man situation especially up front.
45/hope springs eternal
Yes James Carr still involved but still injured
Matthew Ruane still in also
Interesting to see Liam Irwin in London
@Privileged Fan, cheers for that, that’s good to hear about Matthew Ruane. He seems like a lad for the big occasion judging on the great points that he got against Dublin and Cork in the U21 semi-final and final in 2016.
Sean Bourke,
Comer is their captain and he is clearly their leader as he is relentless in both effort steeliness (with the exception of when he is fouled, then he all too often goes for the Oscar). The Walsh approach in 2018 is clearly one that requires a collective approach and one that requires you putting your individual reputation in the hands of the collective with this all for one mindset.
Comer is a player that wants his prints all over every game Galway play, he is constantly looking for indeed often demanding ball regardless of where the iron is at its hottest.
Barring this in mind I feel Keegan is potential kryptonite to Comers impact on May 13th. He will frustrate and distract him at every turn in your back line and will panic and punish Galway when he tails his distracted smoking ace back into his own airspace. Keegan is the postman’s old ladies pet jack rustle, you want to kick him but you have to smile and curse under your breath. He has many tricks that cause the Mayo support to woo and swoon. In saying that not many of his markers would share the admiration or home cheers for his ability in the arts of detrition but that’s why he is one of your best players. Personally I admire that abrasive edge as in the past fifteen years this edginess has been rewarded with ultimate victory. Are the rules being bent and ignored ? Yes they are and those who took the initial high ground learned quickly that the pontification of the correctness of the history book according to the GAA rulebook were lifting their upper lip for the dentist while their opponents lifting Sam Mcguire at the homecoming.
Regardless I am patiently waiting for this blizzard in Kerry !!! Cold I’ll grant you but thus far it’s a puddin. I’ve enough supplies to feed a small battalion in the house, thank God I can avoid the trip to Croker this weekend as it will be all mouths on deck to finish this lot ,,
Thanks Privelaged Fan for that info – good to hear – on both fronts !
Good piece Gamechanger. Wrap up well. In a very similar position here ourselves. Keeping the powder dry.
Think the weekend break will be great for a lot of teams, Galway lads taking a week off completely Tues to Tuesday. What the rest of us will do over the weekend is the bigger issue, might take a spin to Mayo to visit the family and talk football…
Totally agree Gamechanger10 – for me Keegan is the only man for Comer. Hope that turns out to be the case on May 13th. Would be worth the admission price alone.
It sure would, Keegan winds these guys up to the last and has the physique to hit back if they lash out. However, his attacking skill is a very important tool for Mayo and if it’s chasing the game we are with 15 minutes to go then there better be someone else to mark Mr Comer. Maybe Stephen Coen can do the job?
Ann Marie Has Ciaran Treacy been injured long and when will he back? he wasn’t on the match day panels for Kerry, Galway and Dublin. Hopefully hes fit for Kildare next week and Cian Hanley and Peter Naughton all get some game time in the next 3 games.It was disappointing not to see Ger McDonagh and Shane Nally not get a start now in the last 2 games with so many of our starting backs out.
Ardguggle, a small country community in North Mayo. It hadn’t much. A small population, a local pub, a little church and a post office.
The community were very close knit. Everyone went to mass and everyone supported the Ardguggle football team.
The Ardguggle football team were ultra consistent. They were firmly rooted at the bottom of Mayo football. They hadn’t won a match in 8 years. They also had the same free taker for 14 years.
Willie Sugains son Joseph was the Ardguggle free taker. No one else had taken a free for the team for 14 years. Joseph had nailed 2 frees on his Ardguggle debut 14 years ago and the job was his.
It didn’t matter where on the pitch the foul was commited, left or right of the posts or straight in front of the posts or what distance from the posts it was. Joseph was equally as bad from every position on the pitch and was almost guaranteed to miss.
——To be continued——
—-The Ardguggle free taker continued—-.
There was one sure thing that could be said about Joseph Sugain. He was the fittest man in Ardguggle. He was the fittest man in the county.
There wasn’t a day in the week that he didn’t do some sort of training. Every morning he took his football out to the low field behind the house. He soloed around the field right footed. When he’d get back to the gate he’d solo around in the opposite direction left footed.
He had 25 lengths of PVC pipe stuck in the ground 4 yards apart and he’d spend 10 minutes soloing over and back, left footed, then right footed, weaving in and out around the pipes.
Willie stood in the kitchen every morning, the mug of tea in the hand, looking out the back window at Joseph. He loved watching his son training. Joseph was his pride and joy. Willie and Bridgie had only the one child, Joseph.
Half the hayshed was taken up with some sort of training equipment. Joseph even had a punch bag hanging from a rafter. There was a weight bench and weights along the right end of the shed. A pulley high in the rafters with a heavy Anvil attached to the end of a rope.
He could even practise the free taking in the hayshed. He’d place the ball on the ground, compose himself, go through his normal routine, do his run up and kick the ball in to the high wall of square bales that stood at the garden end of the shed.
The soloing and the hayshed routines were practised every day of the year. In addition to this Joseph trained 3 evenings a week with the team and then throw in a match at the weekend.
There was no question about it. He was the fittest man in Ardguggle, the fittest man in the county.
Such a pity he couldn’t hit a cows ass with a banjo. Hi
I dont think Lee Keegan is the right man to mark Kerian Comer
I rember the game in Castlebar 2 years ago Rochford put Keegan
on Comer in the last 15 minutes it was a disaster Comer got the
better of him and he was nt half the player he was now plus
I think Comer is nt the only forward to worry about they have some
serious forwards to come back to that team players like Ian burke
Danny Cummins Michael Daly Michael Lundy Liam Silke plus other
players around the pitch its going to be tough game on may 13
for Mayo to win Mayo be training hard in April while Galway will be fresh
coming in to that clash
Gamechanger ! “Bourke” you must of known my grandfather , an Achill island native who always maintained that was the spelling but for some reason it’s Burke on our birth certs.
I see where you’re coming from with the idea of letting Keegan do a man marking job on him as we have seen how Lee has never lost a battle of that nature anytime its been asked of him but id be in the camp it would take too much away from what he could offer in this particular clash .