Photo: MichaelMaye.com
The sun is shining, the legs are fine after yesterday’s exertions and we’re headed into Round 4B of the qualifiers with increasing velocity. Things could be worse right now.
Just time for a quick trot through the coverage on the game so here goes:
Locals: Mayo Advertiser, Connaught Telegraph.
Nationals: Sunday Independent, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Irish Sun (includes video highlights).
Others: GAA (match tracker, match report), RTÉ (which I’ve only included to highlight their disgraceful terming of Aidan O’Shea as a “villain” – yet again, it’s a case of low standards in high places from the so-called national broadcaster), Sky (includes video, including post-match interviews with Aidan O’Shea and Stephen Rochford), The 42 (match report, match tracker), Hogan Stand.
Photos: Mayo Mick, Inpho, Sportsfile.
Bonus video: Diarmuid’s wonder goal.
Incidentally, in his post-match comments (which, as well as that in video piece above on Sky, are covered by The 42 and Hogan Stand but not, curiously, by RTÉ) Aidan O’Shea denied that he dived in the Fermanagh game last Saturday. This isn’t going to make a jot of difference, of course, because the baying mob on social media have long since tried and convicted him and have moved onto their next outrage to piss and moan about but Aidan’s comments – his first and, I guess, final observations on the incident – are worth noting all the same.
With the nation’s attention span being shorter than a goldfish, of course, none of this will have any impact on public opinion. You would, though, at least hope that last night’s disgraceful reffing performance – where no foul on us, no matter how clearcut, was going to result in a free – was an one-off, though I wouldn’t be so sure.
But we’re still standing and getting stronger all the time. Stronger still, one hopes, two weeks from now. But that’s all for another day – off with you now and enjoy this glorious afternoon. Up Mayo!
I thought Aidans comments about the camera angle and the “national broadcaster sending only one camera down here” was both loaded and fired. Particular as it was in a Sky interview.
As I said in a previous post, Fuck ’em all, Lester, RTE and the chummy Kerry/Dublin media brigade in Montrose. Fuck ’em all.
We’re still in it, to win it.
Hon Mayo.
Exactly my thoughts Pebbles !
Peeblesmeller
Post of the week earlier this week.
My thoughts completely. Thug 1 and thug 2 should be forced to apologise to aidan for calling him a cheat. Thug 1 couldn’t even bring himself to condemn dub thuggery throughout last year’s c’ship the asshole and as brogan revealed in paper today, thug 1 “couldn’t believe” abuse that aido took on social media?.
More improvement yesterday with room for even more. Different subs to last week made the impact: JD AF and COS – good to see that. Am I the only one who thinks refs give us a hard time? Pulling KH for steps was the ultimate insult apart from the 2 shoe in penalties we should have got. One of our lads will need to be decapitated before we get another penalty. Are there any impartial refs left.
I don’t think our lads will face a midfield like kildares again who I thought were some unit and therefore would not be too critical as our lads found an answer to that conundrum.
Let’s stop worrying about COC-HE is starting from a different Base to the others as he missed most of the league and I firmly believe that he will come good as class is permanent.
Another positive is that a lid appears to have been firmly placed on the stories coming out of the camp which is great. AOS at fb in 2nd half was worth doing as Moolick had moved in there so it made sense. We criticised JH for not doing similar in drawn match v kerry although I think it showed at times also that he is not a fb and that is not a criticism.
Thanks willie joe. Thanks for all that you do. Yea it`s sunny and gettin sunnier.
These are the Summer days we look forward to. We deserve it. Did your mama
not tell you there would be `days like this`?
I don’t think the Kildare midfield was that exceptional, ours was just awful. In the past, Mayo have had one of the best midfields in the country. We absolutely should not be getting cleaned out like that by anyone. We badly need Tom Parsons back. At least he is mobile.
Inconsistent refereeing is becoming a big problem now in the GAA. Coldrick was poor in the Ulster final today, and that isn’t the first bad refereeing performance of the year and it almost certainly won’t be the last. Mayo are unlikley to get a whole lot from referees going forward, so it’s good to see that our forward line stood up yesterday and did their bit from play. That’s what we’re going to need. Don’t want to be looking to referees for anything anymore.
Who are our potential next team we play?
I liked one of the tweets after yesterdays game which said that the only way Mayo will get a penalty for the rest of the year is if their team bus is caught for speeding.
Half time in Leinster and Westmeath putting it up to the dubs. Wouldn’t it be some Craic if Dublin landed in the pot tomorrow morning on RTE radio!!!
The Rossies are pathetic, absolutely clueless against Galway. Have to admit I enjoyed them getting hammered after all they’re shit talk all year and the abuse we got after losing to Galway.
Their hammering no doubt will be blamed on all the kids storming our pitch last night 🙂
Congratulations to Galway on winning Connaught championship and commiserations to Roscommon. Galway worthy champions and few can argue they are the best team in connaught this year. Could be dark horses to reach AL final this year. Certainly expect to see them in semis….potentially against Mayo.!
Mayo I believe will meet either the loser of Dublin Westmeath or Donegal, with Cork meeting the other. Tipp and Roscommon meet either Clare or Derry.
Deepest sympathy to the Rossies on today’s result. It seems that with the Rossies the more the hype the bigger the puff of smoke.
Congrats galway .great win .love the rossies as much as the rest of ya but won’t lower myself to comment as I would be only lowering myself to their pathetic level . Would like Westmeath in the next match ,especially with the injuries we have .
Cheers AndyD I wasnt 100% sure.Has croker being confirmed as venue?
Mayo could have to beat Donegal Dublin and kerry just tp reach an AL final! Your adopted county mayo man in galway might have a lot easier route!
Don’t think we can meet Kerry until a final. So it’s Westmeath or Donegal next in 2 weeks in Croke Park…that;s our only focus. Who do we want?
dsnss
The point in relation to midfield was that we had a serious height disadvantage and apart from Moolick we didn’t really know what to expect. They have had reasonable under age success recently so they are putting the building blocks in place.
I am confident that with our upward trajectory, players returning from injury plus another 70 mins under SOS’S belt and facing more familiar foes that we will be even more competitive.
Just back in after an overnight stay in Cbar. I could say I had to do a 140km cycle and make a few extra runs, but I’m afraid I’m not in the Primera Liga that Willie Joe inhabits!
What is it about defeats? The atmosphere downtown after the Galway game was electric. Last night was subdued, though most were pleased.
Accentuating the positive at this stage, I enjoyed this ‘revenge for ’35’. Saturday evening games are the just the biz. Our worry after the first two games was the forward scoring drought – remember those Spillane admonitions about no forwards scoring from play, yada, yada. Well, 2:17 ain’t bad, 1:5 and 1:4 from DOC and Evan, and good scores from all the forward subs were worth the ticket price. Andy too brought stability to the attack line and any ball going in spelled trouble for the Lilies. I do feel though that he has slowed a bit, in getting to ball and laying it off, but he was still very effective.
The other positives are getting guys used to playing anywhere on the pitch, and improved kick passing – McLoughlin’s to Evan for one of the points was a beauty and there were a few more of those. I didn’t see many of our guys getting caught in the tackle last night either, a further sign of improvement.
I felt the management wanted to take the spotlight off Aidan last night and deflect any intentions Kildare might (and probably did) have. He was quiet, but quite effective.
Furthermore, players seemed to know their role; the body language was much better, McEntee’s forays onto the pitch were less and both he and players looked more comfortable when they spoke.
Negatives – not for the moment. Enjoy every victory for a few days is my motto. Will be more critical during the week!
Is it deco going to be Dublin in a quarter final should we win our 4 b game ?
STOP for a minute talking about Mayo beating donegal tyrone kerry dublin on the one day ,This has been a great Mayo team and still have great players. the way are playing right now has no shape about them look at donegal tyrone kerry dublin and look at galway Nothing short of a 100 percent increase in performance will give them any chance in the next round.
So plenty of matches of relevance to us today. Firstly well done Galway, bounced back from last week in quite spectacular style. I can’t understand how Roscommon can go from some great league showings putting up big scores to this new low in a matter of months.
Tyrone and Donegal was an absolute snoozefest until the last ten when Tyrone really came alive. Donegal are very mediocre at the moment we should definitely be beating them in a qualifier. They’re leggy, most of the 2012 side are an absolute shadow of themselves, and they lack serious strength in depth. Tyrone are a bit hard to gauge, they’re vastly overrated yet are quite hard to break down at the same time and may improve a bit yet. They’re well able to kick scores and stick to a system very well. Avoid us in the quarters and they’ll have a kind path to a final so they’ll be very happy this evening
No point seriously analysing Dublin, Leinster is a shambles these days, and they’re in complete “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” territory any match they play in the province. That said I think they’ll win the AI pulling up regardless, they’re far and away the best team in Ireland
“Galway worthy champions and few can argue they are the best team in connaught this year”
That remains to be seen. They were muck only last week and weren’t even great against ourselves. It’s a “recency effect” world we live in- they were probably a lack of Roscommon balls in the last play of the match last week away from being in a round 4 qualifier next week. I’d fancy us to beat them 9/10 times still, even if they put in a very stellar showing today. We still have better players and much more experience.
“Don’t think we can meet Kerry until a final”
We can meet Kerry in semi, if we beat Dublin in a hypothetical quarter
“Is it deco going to be Dublin in a quarter final should we win our 4 b game ?”
It’s only definitely Dublin if Westmeath draw Cork in round 4 and beat them. As it stands, we can also get Tyrone
Donegal or Westmeath it is. Big difference in terms of credentials.
That was a big loss for Donegal today. They’ve been dominant against Tyrone for some time and looked to have been edging over the line again.
Westmeath toiled hard against the Dubs but never looked like they were going to make any real headway.
“Nothing short of a 100 percent increase in performance will give them any chance in the next round.”
Who Mayo? That’s a bit dramatic, we’ll beat Westmeath pulling up based on Saturday and Donegal are a complete shadow of their 2012 and 2014 sides, they’re very mediocre at present. I’d be absolutely astonished if we don’t make a quarter final, looking at it objectively.
That’s when it gets tricky though, yes
I was looking at Donegal today and, to be quite honest, no more than ourselves, they’re going to need to do a great deal of improving if they want to have any say in the business end of the championship. They were negative and slow, and the tactics on their sideline were a disaster. I’d say there are a few teams who would fancy their chances against Donegal.
Tyrone, while deserving of their win in the end, weren’t a whole lot better, especially in the first half. They looked rather nervous for most of the match, but once they went out and took the match by the scruff of the neck a few minutes before the end, they had the measure of Donegal and could have won by more if they’d played like that from the beginning. Tyrone will improve. Getting their hands on an Ulster title should bring this young bunch on and in the past Tyrone have been a team for the big occasion in Croke Park. I don’t see Donegal improving in the same manner.
You are right a bit dramatic, by the way do you know how many tickets mayo will get for the Final;;;,
Ciaran, Mayo has more experience than Galway but your contention that Mayo has better players doesn’t necessarily stack up. Greater experience may count in a re-match but Galway are on the comeback trail.
Well done to Mayo on Saturday evening. I set up camp behind the bacon factory goal. What a view seeing how a team plays as to sitting in stand. Behind the goal is far better.
From what I viewed I,m glad to say I have witnessed the best display by a forward in Diarmuid O Connor. Great display from Andy, Evan, and that man Colm Boyle (what guts ) Half back line superb even if Keegan cannot score. Enough said about midfield. What impressed me the most was the display by Clarke in goal. He was outstanding. And you know what, it brought memories when they put in Aiden at full back. He reminded me on the greatest full back I have ever seen play The Great Noel Tierney of Galway. Aiden took no nonsense even from Mollock, or any other stray that came his way. Fans were shouting for a penalty or two, and to be honest neither were, from where I was. DOC was definitely fouled outside the square ,and should have got a free , but from where the ref was he could only see from behind the play. As for Vaughan, he was like a elephant in a china shop, he bobbed and weaved when any good forward would have drilled it pass goalkeeper first time, When he realised he was surrounded legally by the defenders he lay down, hoping that he might be lucky. This was definitely not a penalty. Some players like DOC and Regan would have scored this goal with their eyes shut. Horses for courses etc. No offence to Vaughan.
Congratulations to Galway players and their management team. They were superior today. I won,t say congratulations to Galway supporters/fans. Saturday evening I met a staunch Galway fan, and he spent 10 minutes running down the manager and the players he had picked, and how 52 players had refused to have anything with him and his selectors, even to say the COROFIN players refused to train for him. You know what MR WALSH has Senior All Ireland medals in his back pocket, and a bit like Jim McGuinness he picked his team. Well done to them.
Look at the Rossies. When the got McStay/ McHale all the people in Mayo were up in arms about those two SUPER MANAGERS/COACHES that we lost? This last 2 years I am fed up to the teeth listening about this NEW Roscommon team that were going to wipe before and after them, and what would they do and not do and achieve, Our 5 Connacht titles and appearances in All Irelands were a joke. There is an old saying( “He who laughs last, laughs the loudest”)
I was in Roscommon last week and I got a earful of what this county had that Mayo had not. A new Super Coach for transporting the “elite” A new supporters “Club Rossie” that had gathered Millions of EUROS/DOLLARS and all the usual bullshit.
I asked this chap did they get any new players as I outlined to him they were afraid to score in Salthill last week, and boy did I not get fucked. Before I left him I told him Galway would hammer them in Castlebar, only to get a bigger response in bog latin,
Eventuly I said Its better hung for a lamb than a sheep so I asked him what county in Connacht wears a Blue Jersey with a Streak of Yellow running through it. The same as the players. Lets say the parting adios was not SAFE HOME.
Congrats to Galway team and management. I am happy for the few fans that showed up against us too. Bandwagon fans sicken me though celebrating on a pitch after a win like they were there through all the tough times. We have a few too and those are usually the most critical through bad times.
Well done to galway but my heart goes out to the rossies tonight. Years and years of effort and hard graft. From the 06 minors onwards they have dreamt of being in the big time , some of the finest forwards i have ever seen in fbd battle.
Back on that lonely road tonight from sheepwalk to frenchpark to boyle to strokestown to elphin where the bonfires were supposed to light the roscommon summer sky but sadly the long run of misery of 15 years without beating Mayo or Galway in championship continues. Deepest sympathy .
I’ve flashed the fantastic team Rossie coach as I met it on the way out of Castlebar today but alas I got no response.
Work tomorrow in athlone will be some what more tolerable than it was after the Galway game!
Congrats galway and all their fans in castlebar today. Don’t think the term bandwagon was intended for FANS who travel to castlebar for a connaught final replay in a game which before the throw in was 50/50.
Marybeau how does it not stack up we are littered with all stars, today was the first time the majority of that team ever won anything at inter county level
Galway are already being talked up to the heavens which I sincerely hope is not setting them up for a spectacular fall in the quarters (outside of us I like to see them do well). They were poor and negative last week now they’re suddenly brilliant, it’s all knee-jerk and recency effect in GAA analysis these days.
In truth I still think they’re a level down from even the Donegals and monaghans never mind ourselves. They had a poor league finish, and a mediocre champ campaign until today. that said the draw has opened up and itd be nice to see them do a down 2010 of sorts and take advantage, provided they avoid us. They need to do it over a few years before we can claim they’re “on the up” though. I mean c’mon look even at ourselves, how many false dawns did we have in the 00s?
Get the Kleenex out Sean!!;)
A few points. Galway have very good forwards, Walsh, Comer, Cummins are all natural scorers. What Galway have changed is their defensive structure. At times they bring their entire team into their own half. They were by far the better team in the drawn game and have a very clear game plan. Being in Pearse Stadium that day, the conditions were woeful; not unlike our match v Dublin in the league. Galway are playing clever football; are committing much fewer fouls in their own half and are well drilled. They are a serious team and only going to improve.
As for Roscommon, they’ll be very disappointed. They had no visible hunger and they appear now to have peaked in March. I wouldn’t be writing obituaries yet, they have lots of very good young talent and I predict they’ll win a Connacht within the next two years. How they can leave Diarmuid Murtagh out baffles me. He would walk onto our team, we’d be raving about him. Roscommons major problem is still at midfield and defensively they struggle.
Having watched our game again, it was a decent start and we played very well for the past 8-10 mins of the 1st half. We were very sloppy 2nd half.
Anyone even considering matters past the next round is foolish. Westmeath or Donegal would both be very tricky for different reasons. People say D’gal are a shadow of their 2012/14 teams…. So are we!!
Anyone know the attendance in castlebar today? Seemed to be more there last night
Well done to Galway but Id have rathered rosommon win any day. They’ve won fcuk all to be fair to them over the years. Unfortunately we’ll hear lots of shit about “aristocrats, purists, natural footballers in Galway” blah blah blah. Throw in a few articles from the o se brothers in kerry full of yerra about the pure football history between Galway and kerry (as if they have a monopoly on pure football) and it’s going to be a painful few weeks. They’ll make the semis too easily based on the draw, and to be honest Id fancy them to beat an overrated Tyrone too in a semi. Could well be a galway v Dublin AI final. Watching Galway win Sam after all our near misses would be too much to take, I’m sorry. Forget Roscommon. As a youngster nothing gave me more pleasure than watching Mayo beat galway. Nothing hurt more than losing to them. Always remember that Galway man in Salthill in 2013 after we beat them out the gate – “ah Galway will still win an all ireland before Mayo ever do” grrrrr
Yew tree 15960 v 14550 last night. However looking at it tonight on tv it didn’t look like there was 1400 more there today, it looked more like 1400 less.
Watching the Sunday Game
Didn’t show Diarmuid’s class 2nd point
Didn’t show EITHER of our penalty claims
No replay of the trip on Diarmuid after the goal
RE GAA attendances
I heard someone say there was 24k in Salthill last week. Apparently there was 16k at the Galway game in 2013 (I always remember that bizarre attendance.) Look at both games back and tell me where you were fitting an extra 8k people in 2013!
I thought there was far more than 14k last night to be honest
For a qualifier game, there was lots of talk about Mayo
Agree with Tomas o she’a , the sweeper does not suit this team
Speaking of the Sunday Game, I really wish Dessie would teach the other pair how to knot a tie… The state of them!!
Tomas O’Se gets a bit of stick from Mayo fans (and mostly unfair in my humble opinion), but I thought he was spot on in all his analysis tonight
Interestingly he says it’s an advantage of sorts to be going through the qualifiers. Yes, a lot of us on here have been coming around to this way of thinking- based on anecdotal evidence really- but bear in mind he has won All Irelands himself as part of a Kerry side which navigated the Back door route.
Interesting look at the sweeper too. A lot of us felt on first glance K Mc L had a flawless game, but looking into it a bit deeper it’s clear he didn’t hold his position at times and looked a bit unsure at periods. I think we all feel he’ll be served better in the number 10 role again, but he’s probably a sweeper to stay for the year. No doubt with Dublin in mind. No disrespect to David Drake but he’s certainly not the answer. That said kevin was far from a disaster and did plenty of great things.
No real analysis of the midfield fiasco, although I guess it spoke for itself. They mentioned in passing AOS being messed around with position, but I was disappointed they didn’t go more into that. Pity Kernan didn’t get more of a say, Dolan is an absolute hopeless pundit in my opinion
I also agree with Tomás O Shea that the sweeper isn’t working for us and that McLoughlin would be far better out the field. Persisting with it at this stage I feel would be flying in the face of common sense.
I don’t think there’s much chance of it being changed now. I actually think it’s a role Kevin McLoughlin could grow into. It wasn’t the perfect sweeper performance, but it wasn’t terrible either.
Some people are just never happy…how many times have we lost AI’s due to the concession of stupid goals?? 2012…murphy one on one with keane..boom, back of the net. I sure wish we had a sweeper infront of murphy then.
2013…Mayo 5-1 up on the Dubs, Flynn lets fly, Caff on his own with Brogan..boom, back of the net. Again, I wish we had a sweeper infront of Brogan who could break the ball away. Whats that definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We’ve gone man to man the last 5 years and fell short every time…it does’nt work. Kevin is now getting better with each game he’s played, we also are giving up hardly any goal chances. We have to persist with this, its the only way. We always score eneough to win most games, but its the concession of stupid goals that has cost us so many times. Rochfird and McEntee know that and have constructed a plan accordingly.
As for the sweeper position itself, it’s hard to know. Our main issue last year was giving up goal chances, so anything that naturally reduces this threat is welcomed.
That said, some of our best performances have come from “fighting fire with fire” so to speak and not adapting to the opposition. Kerry 2014 after lee’s sending off, Dublin 2012, Donegal 2013, and the last ten minutes last year when we just decided to play with reckless abandon against the Dubs
There was a lot of criticism of the system after the Galway match, but in truth most of the problems were up front and in midfield that day. Diarmuid O’Connor was obviously a mammoth loss.
I guess we can analyse it till the cows come home, but as things stand I’d be borderline flabbergasted if he ditched it now after playing it in 3 matches we would have expected to dominate and dictate
McLoughlin in recent times, has not hit the heights that we know he is capable of. O Se was wrong to imply that he is a top class forward and we are depriving ourselves by playing him sweeper. Things definitely needed a shake up and we need a sweeper. We’ve been conceding soft goals for quite a while now.
I’d be a fan of McLoughlin, he wins some amount of breaking ball, he’s a decent tackler for a man of his size, has pace, can pick a pass and is an intelligent player – all attributes that make a good sweeper. He’s had two good games in a row for me, give him time to settle and he’ll get better. It may be frustrating for some to watch when you’re playing Kildare/Galway/Fermanagh at home but be glad that the system is in place now, rather than throwing it together and hoping for the best when we hit Croke Park. A bit of credit to Rochford for that.
I have a certain amount of sympathy for Roscommon.. their year would have been made had they won Connaught but no more than Kildare on Saturday they were very poor defensively and as we know all to well if you allow the opposition to score goals it becomes even harder to win the game. Fair play Boyler.. no goals at all cost
Having watched Donegal and Tyrone play out the packed defence, can’t get through so let’s see who can kick most accurately from distance type stuff.. I am more convinced than I was before about persevering with Higgins in attack. While it was reassuring to see him in defence for a while in the second half on sat night.. his importance to unlocking these northern contrived “no skill required here” walls will I hope will be extremely valuable to us from here on in. I’d prefer Westmeath adhead of Donegal right now but whoever we get I hope it’s in Croker as we need to trial our new set up on a bigger field as soon as possible.
Is it me or do Dublin look a bit dodgy at full back and how did Diarmuid Connelly ever stay on the field of play yet again.. blatant kneck lock/choke whilst throwing the player to the ground.
Actually felt sorry for Kevin McStay tonight.Looked like a haunted man.At least he fronted up. Where are all those who told all & sundry for the last 2 years about what we missed out on in not appointing him manager. Maybe Stephen isn’t that bad of an appointment after all.
Having said that very worried about cleaning at midfield yesterday & have to say Tom Parsons alone coming back won’t fix that. Form of Seamie & Cillian(wrong choice as captain)is a worry. Also is anyone else frustrated about slow build up at times? Starts in h/b line & goes at walking pace across & up pitch.Hopefully all will change & improve when we hit Croke Park.
I’ve been there since my father started bringing me to games in the mid sixties. I will never give up believing that i will see Sam even after 50 odd years of heartache.My own 2 lads would die for Mayo(they had no choice) even though we live outside the county. Tis only right.
By the way well done to Clare yesterday. We were in Sligo(despite the f in roadworks)before travelling on to Castlebar. Sure what else would you be at.
My criticism of the sweeper has nothing to do with Kevin McL who is an excellent footballer. However, he is better deployed further out the field. I’m not sure we need a sweeper at all. In fact I think the day of the sweeper is nearly gone altogether. That’s not to say we don’t need a defensive system – not man to man necessarily but a block of players who advance and retreat as a unit closing down space in front of goals and then attack as a unit at pace.
Attendance last night was 14,557. Today was 15,500 odd, the whole stand by the way was all numbered seat tickets, as it should be, not like the clusterf@ck at our match with Galway.
On the hottest day of the years anyone notice how all the umpires – at least the ones I saw on TV – were attired. Shirt (long-sleeved) and TIE, long black trousers, and football boots!!
I don’t know what GAA committee came up with the idea of this mode of attire which would have been better suited to an episode of Father Ted. One would think they would be better employed finally agreeing to get rid of the black card after the many debacles over this week-end
Looked to me to be a bigger crowd on Saturday than sunday. Had no real preference who won Conn final though I must admit Galway were impressive today, Thought they were negative against us , but it was for a reason. Thought they were more negative v Ros last week when they had no reason, but in fairness they threw off the shackles in replay and were impressive. Ros were disappointing and I did feel sorry for McStay and O Donnell, two decent gaa men. Unlike some here I take no pleasure in seeing Ros lose. Despite the fact they have won little in the recent past they have a decent support who stick with them through thick and thin. In contrast galway support is dire. Fairweather supporters would be an exaggeration. Against Mayo only the hardcore supporters were present, about 2000 in total. No doubt the bandwagon will become a bit more crowded now. Can you imagine 15000 turning up in Pearse stadium for a qualifier. No chance. Congrats to K Walsh and his impressive team. They won despite such apathy from the galway public. Expect them to make AI Semi at least.
No but i remember when we wouldnt bring 15 k to a quater final as recent as 2012 v down.
Roscommon must be seriously hurting today… If only one of their forwards had shown some balls and popped over a point at the end of the drawn game, when they were in prime position to do so… they would have snatched a title and have had a good three week lay-off from which to launch an assault on the AI-series. Instead they are now in disarray after losing heavily in what was nothing less than a rout, with six days left to rescue their season. Funny thing is I can still see them beating Clare if they can get their act together. Could be a good season for Connacht yet…