The team to play Kerry in the first round of the League on Sunday in Killarney (throw-in 2pm) was named a short while ago. Here are the men in black for Sunday:
Mayo (NFL Division v Kerry, 1/2/2015): Robbie Hennelly (Breaffy); Stephen Coen (Hollymount-Carramore), Kevin Keane (Westport), Keith Higgins (Ballyhaunis); Lee Keegan (Westport), Chris Barrett (Belmullet), Patrick Durcan (Castlebar); Seamus O’Shea (Breaffy), Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe); Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Adam Gallagher (Mayo Gaels), Jason Doherty(Burrishoole); Evan Regan (Ballina Stephenites), Alan Freeman (Aghamore), Mark Ronaldson (Shrule/Glencorrib).
We’ve opted not to name our bench at this stage.
A good bit of experimentation there, though only two League debutants, I reckon – Stephen Coen at corner-back and Patrick Durcan at right half-back. No Boyler, no AOS, no Mickey C and plenty of other regulars missing too. The experiment of playing Donal Vaughan at full-back has been dispensed with (for now at least) with the rangy Ballinrobe man starting at midfield, while Kevin Keane lines out at full-back. Evan Regan starts a League game for the first time in almost two years while Mark Ronaldson returns to League action after a four-year absence.
Interesting times, for sure.
Do we know how fast Regan and Ronaldson are? Presumably pretty fast, because I can see them being required to get out in front to balls sprayed from outfield.
Vaughan too can contribute from midfield. Overall not bad.
I make it that its seven starters from our last game against Kerry and three who came on as subs. Kerry have six starters from the All-Ireland final and four who came on that day. So that is ten regular players each. It should be interesting, best of luck to the new lads. Roll on the big game!
I think it will be as interesting to see who finishes as who starts, that bench could reveal a lot! Anyway looking forward to the game.
Good mix from our FBD games.Is Keith Higgins the only one not to play this year?
So the same as Kerry team with 7 starters missing or eight same starters from last game. Sunday should confirm which side has the best strength in depth.
Interesting looking team :)Glad to see Evan Regan back in the fold. Can see him being a big player for us in the future! Am sure it will be an intriguing game.. Was supposed to be going but am unable to now due to work 🙁
Also, I caught a glimpse of the new black jersey earlier on instagram. Elverys put up a video of donie, keith and lee modelling the new jersey in a cold looking MacHale park this evening. However realizing their mistake, Elverys took it down pretty sharpish! Tis a good looking jersey from what I seen.. Beats that god awful red one we used to have anyways!
Wonder will we see Gavin Duffy at some stage on Sunday, or at any point during the league?? That would be very interesting indeed..
#keepthefaith #mayoforsam2015 #believe
Coen played in the league last year in the early rounds WJ. Could be his first start though.
Good team, no sign of Douglas. Still injured?
He came on as a sub against Tyrone last year, Mike, but I’m fairly sure it’s his first League start.
Coen looked very impressive at my only live game this year nuig , I say he will hold his place .
Mayo for Sam
I knew he had played at some point. Be good to see him from the start
Glad to see Keane in the starting 15 again. He can command the square like no other in my opinion. There are a lot of attacking minded defenders there so I hope we have a plan to keep it tight at the back when someone goes roving. Stephen, good footballer but corner back I am not convinced. Vaughan at midfield great move for him. I hope he plays well there.Great to see Adam Gallagher back on the team sheet. Opportunity here to lay down a marker. Overall delighted to see the younger guys get their start, opportunity knocks as the saying goes. My best wishes to the team and mentors. Here we go again.
Vaughan with SOS at midfield provides plenty mobility n tackling. The forward line has alot of speed.
A good selection for the first game. It will be interesting to see if Gavin Duffy is on the bench. I would like to see him given a run.
A very interesting team great to see a bit of experimenting. In the absence of COC who can step up in get a half dozen scores or so to give us the platform to win…Gallagher or Regan? Fitzmaurice doesn’t take the league to serious so ill go for Mayo by 2! Good luck to all involved especially Keith Higgins as he begins his captaincy. Safe travelling to all as well.
Keith Higgins out of retirement will make the trip worthwhile 😉 Mayo better not lose as dressed in black will bring some shocking headlines on Monday.
Interesting team but I have my doubts if Mark Ronaldson is better now than four years ago. It will be interesting in particular to see if Stephen Coen is a natural corner back. The subs bench would have been as interesting. Why do we always keep it secret? Looking forward to the game and it looks as if we will be leaving the worst of the weather behind us for a few hours. Anybody know of a meet up venue the night or morning before?
Re the suggested black away jersey I recall that Sligo adopted it about 12 years ago when they were going fairly well but it brought them no great luck even though it created a fuss as black was then recognised as the refs jersey colour. I too would prefer if we went with a white jersey as in 1951 v Meath.
Happy enough with this team selection considering the number of players out injured. There is a good mix of experience and youth starting this game. The one selection that I’m less than enthusiastic about is #15 as I don’t see what a player who lacks the height and physical presence to be a top class intercounty corner forward (and who has been around before and made little impact) can truly add to our panel? I would have rather seen one of the younger lads been given a chance to develop in the absence of Cillian.
Good team is this ronaldsons first game with màyo
Interesting team. I would have thought Coen was more of a half back then a corner back. Vaughan at midfield is an interesting move. Looking forward to seeing Regan and Gallagher. Now is the chance for some of these young lads while many of the big hitters are absent. I make it 7 starters from the Limerick game v Kerry….am I correcton that?
what a mix up we have at least five center field players yet we name vaughan he was tried there before will it be in goal next dissapointed for gibbons and barry good enough for fbd when the others wer relaxing new managment same story
Interesting team. reading earlier reports in FBD it was stated that Coen struggled at corner back a few times. I would have though t that Brendan Harrisson would have got more game time. I wonder is he injured?
I hope it works out for Mark Ronaldson but coming back after a four year absence is a big ask. Mind you there are those who would argue that maybe he (along with Parsons and Kilcoyne ) should never have been dropped from the panel by JH. We will see.
There isn’t much wrong with that Kerry team either! I think we might have our hands full but that’s no harm. I am glad to see the management experimenting and even if we lose the game no problem as long as we learn valuable lessons about our players that will stand to us later in the year.
Best of luck to all of them on Sunday.
Yeah you’d wonder will Coen and Barrett switch positions, Coen is normally a half-back and Barrett has done well for us in some big games at corner-back. It’ll be interesting to see how they line out…
Problem with absence after 4 years? If hes good enough I doubt it’ll be a problem. Remember Kevin O’Neill?
could Gavin Duffy be tried at full back?
Think of the contribution made by the full forwards from Donegal,Kerry and Dublin
in so many games.Modern full backs must be as big and strong and their opposite number.
Only a thought given Mayos experience.
True, East cork exile, Kevin O Neill did come back and was very good. The point is……..how much better Mark might be if he had been involved for the last four years and the same was true for Kevin o Neill. That was an awful mistake at the time. I like Ronaldson ever since I first saw him at u14 in a county final v Ballina. I’d really love to see him do well and I hope he does. I also agree that John o Mahoney gave him a role that didn’t suit him at all.
But sure isn’t that what the league is mostly about…..finding out what works and what doesn’t and who is good enough and who is not. Time will tell.
A lot of people saying ‘interesting team’ and ‘good team’. Seriously!!!!
Let’s face it it’s a poor team, and so is Kerry’s. Was hoping we’d see a stronger Mayo team going down, blitzing a poor kerry team and returning to Mayo with the points on the board and some (albeit small) psychological victory won.
We have four home league games in which to experiment or blood new players if needs be. Also I believe especially after being handed four home games that we should be pushing to win the league. Why not try and win the league???
Success breeds success.
I like the look of the team and think they’re worth a bet as outsiders with PP at 11/10.
Stephen Coen was one of the few decent performers against Roscommon when he played centre half back. I would be very surprised if himself and Barrett don’t switch positions before the game, Barrett is an out-an-out corner back.
Very happy to see Kevin Keane getting another run at full-back, could be a gem there if we give him time. I don’t think Ronaldson is up to this standard but nothing wrong with giving him a go.
I’d have Regan on frees from the right and Gallagher on frees from the left. We also have McLoughlin, Doherty, and Freeman so no shortage of good free-takers. I expect us to win this one.
Should be a good tight game considering the balance of experience and youth on both sides. My one concern would be the Kerry team holiday which they only returned from on the 12th of this month. Regardless it will be more or less the same story for both teams as the first real game of the year is all about blowing out bad diesel. It would be far more advantageous to both sides if they met in late March or April, I suppose that might yet happen if they both manage to get out of the dog pit that is division one.
For those travelling that want to have a pint in a good GAA pub I would recommend Jimmy Briens which is near the Friary Church and the Tatler Jack which is close to the main taxi rank in Killarney, they will be full of the “Yearra’s” as ye like to refer to us. So if ye don’t want to exchange pleasantries with monsters in green and gold I would recommend some other hostilary as many of the patroness will be viewing our recent exchanges through green and gold tinted glasses and it will clash with the green and red tinted version quiet dramatically !!!. I wish ye well but I hope the only points ye get in Killarney are missing the o and are the same colour as the new kit…
The weather is a mixed bag but I think it will be reasonable and the conditions will favour a good game with Gods help. Safe driving and keep an eye out for the Go Safe speed vans as they are regulars on the Abbeyfeale to Castleisland road and the Farranfore to Killarney road.
Personally I would rather pickup the necessary points to stay in Division one and give plenty gametime to fringe players.
There is the balance of having a team well settled selection wise and tactially or getting plenty game time into new lads.
The massive boost to a fringe player is that they’ll start to play calmer the more matches they play. That is why new players are often great trainers but poor on match day. They’re simply over thinking it, trying too hard, soloing forward at 100 mile an hour, they don’t have the confidence to stop up with the ball and seek out a pass.
I like the idea of Barrett as a half back as he is good going forward with the ball. Kerry/Dublin/Donegal full forward lines have several players 6 foot+ that Barrett may struggle to cover in one on ones.
Coen is taller n well built so no harm to see if he can improve as a corner back.
Coen might be in at CB in the event that T Walsh is played in that line. Chris Barrett would simply be too small for a guy the size of Walsh. It’s interesting that we don’t sse our subs named. Is Noel and Pat continuing with JH era of possibly making lat minute changes to dummy teams?
We’ll see I suppose but I think a lot of whoever could win this game will be decided by the bench. Guys (even younger lighter ones) will become tired after 50/55 mins playing at this level especially on a heavy damp pitch.
It’s not really where the players are named that is important, it’s where they line up after the ball is thrown in that counts. I was surprised to see Coen in the corner but delighted. Likewise for Durcan (a fine footballer and worthy of a chance), Gallagher and Regan.
Harrison, Coen, Durcan, Gallagher, Regan, Conor O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor are the future of Mayo football and must be given a chance to develop their skills in competitive games. Win or lose we must stick with them, even if things don’t go well on Sunday. Mayo by 2.
Hon Mayo.
Watch out for the new All-Blacks on Sunday. The beginning of a new all conquering era. Time to stamp our undoubted class on the football world and banish all those fucking hard luck stories for once and for all !
Looking again at the Kerry team they do not seem to be trying out new players to the same extent as Mayo with, as far as I can see, only Paul Geaney not having appeared last year. I am presuming that he is, as listed, from Kenmare and not the Paul Geaney from Dingle who was on last years panel.
I’m with you all the way, All the way. The black adds a bit of badness. Are mayo the only team coming out with this strip or is it a widespread publicity thing for charity or some other reason?
This black jersey will be drawing unwanted media attention onto a new management team looking to try out new things IMO
Kerry had little or no pre season preparation for this game. One game a defeat to tralee students. A number of the Kerry 15 Sunday are playing their first game this year.
I just seen the jersey, class bit of stuff. I’m first in line for one. I see they have a running vest in the mayo colours too, another thing I’ll buy and get use from.
All this New Jersey stuff and hiring the Russian Air Force to spy on Kerry’s training camp! Id say C and H are ambitious for 2015.
And the Brits protecting the Yerras ,more reason to give them a good hiding!!
Excited about this new kit 😀
JPM I hear Harrison had trouble with his ankle last year and had to have an operation. I hear he is back to training now though
Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown! Roll on 2015
Didn’t do Sligo much good did it?
Is the game on TV? If it is then I’ll search for a club or pub showing it over here. Safe travel to all of you heading to Kerry.
Nice piece on GAA.ie on Mayo I always thought we never got the praise we deserved for the come back v Kerry in croker last year.http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/3001150841-allianz-football-league-div-1-preview-mayo/
why can’t they show us the back view to give us a full picture?
Its not Sligos black, just priest black and we all know thats just a very very very very dark navy.
New Jersey is just the job. No more misplaced passes to Cork lads on a pissing wet day. Just can’t understand how it took so long to cop on . I was told years ago , by a man in a pub around closing time about the Mayo curse . He said, it’s nothing to do with Priests at all. It’s to do with colourblindness . You see he said that its a widely known fact that 85% of Mayomen are afflicted and I would know that too , if I hadnt shagged off up the country. He then produced a photo of the winning team of 51 and asked , what colour are they wearing. I said , I don’t know.
Hahaha love that Nephin.
Good to see new lads getting a chance. Ronaldson im not so sure. From what i remember he is in the same category as varley. IMO too small for this level. Forwards should be 5/11 6ft. Come on mayo sunday. Lookin forward to gettin back to it again.
Did anyone else see the black jersey with red and green on it, it was on twitter yesterday and looked a million times better than the version released.
I’ve seen it Dave. Nice. Google “twitter mayo jersey” in images and its there.
Here we go again. Decent team named for this game, should be tight enough. I don’t like Vaughan at midfield – I actually hope that he gets a bit of a roasting because it’s not an experiment I particularly like. He has a great engine but isn’t good enough in the air. Not amazing on the ball. Not the best passer of a ball. Not even an amazing tackler. I have seen him get skinned by club players in that position.What he will give is a mountain of effort.
Vaughan is a frustrating player. In overall terms he has so much to like about him. He’s big, strong and will run all day. He just isn’t good enough defensively to be a reliable back and doesn’t offer enough this high up the pitch. He is big and rangy, he covers a lot of ground so he’s a great man to have as a support runner bursting forward from the half back line. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Vaughan, we have two of the best in the business already as wing backs.
But neither of them have anything like Vaughan’s knack of goal scoring.
Bang on the button there Andy D