We’ve named our team to face Tipperary in tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final. Here it is:
Mayo (All-Ireland SFC semi-final v Tipperary, 6/12/2020): David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites); Oisín Mullin (Kilmaine), Chris Barrett (Clontarf), Lee Keegan (Westport); Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels), Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), Eoghan McLaughlin (Westport); Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers), Mattie Ruane (Breaffy); Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Ryan O’Donoghue (Belmullet), Diarmuid O’Connor (Ballintubber); Tommy Conroy (The Neale), Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy, captain), Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber).
So, unsurprisingly, we’ve named the same starting fifteen that we fielded last time out, in the Connacht final against Galway three weeks ago.
Best of luck to James and the lads tomorrow.
While it ultimately makes no difference, what the point of waiting til the day before and at the time the other semi final starts before naming an unchanged team is, I really don’t know.
Good chance too that they’ll then make another change before the game.
The mind boggles sometimes.
Looking ominous for Cavan here. They’re doing well to stay within touch but the Dubs’ full-forward line are skinning their men every time the ball goes inside. If the Dubs get a goal it could herald an avalanche of scores.
Hard not to admire the Dubs’ efficiency, no speculative shots are being taken on, everything from 20 meters or so in front of goal. Their conditioning is also very impressive.
Dublin unbeatable, unstoppable. Not near top gear here and still waltzing past like it’s a bit of fun in the park .
I can see Tipp having lots of possession, hopefully we will be sharp in making the most of our chances.
We should also have an edge in physicality but Tipp will prove a serious test.
Cavan are brave but are also the architect of their undoing.
Terrible turnovers in the middle third
Too slow moving the ball into the scoring zone
Jordan’s Brigade, dont see your point there, it doesn’t matter when James names his team, yesterday, today or an hour before the game. The only people who really need to know are the 15 actually playing. Also dont see what the other semi has to do with it either
It’s a pity the ref wouldn’t brandish a few yellow cards in Dublin v cavan for not wearing gumshields. The amount of players without gumshields is crazy and the only way to make them wear them is to get tough.
Good effort by Cavan.
Very clever from Dublin bringing in philly for the last 20mins to defend the high ball, by fair or foul means. Clear peno he got away with. Thomas Galligan didn’t get a look in. Not enough high ball went into him in first half but easier said than done against Dubs.
So the Ulster champions put to the sword. Only one team left can stop the Dubs. Let’s break the 1920 mirror tomorrow.
Yes Liberal Role in the Tie, Philly clearly got away with pulling back Galligan’s arm as the ball dropped. Same with Jonny Cooper’s tap tackle in the first half.
I’ve always thought that most umpires are the square root of useless and this vignette confirmed it for me again. What is the point of having them if they miss these things from point blank range?
Hard to see anyone getting near the Dublin province in the season, truly a slick machine.
Someone should sneak in a cup to tomorrow’s game and present it to the winning team because any team getting ten times the funding of every other team should not be playing in the competition.
On financial bias alone, Dublin should not be participating in the Championship.
Level the playing field or else leave the pitch.
So one of the best players in Ireland takes a year out and his replacement nabs about 1-2 from wing back, and MOTM to boot, in an all Ireland semi
This is not going away I’m afraid. The conveyor belt continues to roll on and on and on…
Said before the semi they’d win the all Ireland by at least an aggregate of 20 , they could have covered that today alone if they needed to
Farcical stuff
Complete waste of time at this stage , absolutely frightening the sheer physicality of Dublin, jc imagine what they are capable of in the final , I cant even think of an analogy perhaps a heavy weight world boxing champion fighting in lightweight amateur competition in santry .
Could be the softest All Ireland won since Kerry in 97. Clare Tipp Cavan Mayo that year for Kerry.
This year. Dublin have in Leinster Nobody, followed by Nobody, followed by Nobody.
Then Cavan and Tipp for the title. Interestingly Cavan and Tipp appear in both 97 and 2020.
Look at who Dublin haven’t had to play this year to win an All Ireland. No Kerry Cork Galway Mayo Tyrone Donegal Armagh Down Monaghan. All games at home as well to make it easier for them. Okay okay. Maybe Mayo instead of Tipp.
Dublin got too big for the political system and was divided in 4 different counties. GAA has to follow in the same way. But having said that you have to admire the physical specimens they are and their agility and ability to play football. No other team can live with them. There were subs coming on with several All-Ireland medals in their pocket. The depth of resources is frightening.
Let’s be honest here. We need to give Tipp an absolute hiding tomorrow to get the Dubs even slightly worried. Needs to be 8 or 9 plus. If we scrape by with a point they will just think same old mayo and we won’t even believe we can do it ourselves. Beating Tipp is not enough, we all know Dublin would hammer them. We need to do the same, not lose, not win by one or two or three or four, we need a massacre for a psychological boost. That is important for the team and so that Dublin might think we are a team again.If we win by less than about 7 I think our goose is cooked before throw in. They just bet a solid Cavan team by 15. We really need to absolutely destroy tipp otherwise goodluck to us next year. They will smell the blood.
It’s getting easier every year. 2017 appeared to be the watershed moment..we threw everything at them that day but just came up short. In hindsight that day looks like the last real throw of the dice from the chasing pack. But Dublin held out that day and the chasing pack no longer have enough to give…
Make no mistake they were cruising last year until Cooper’s moment of daftness.
I’m sure an odd freak might occur in the next decade but if you went forward in time to 2030 and told me Dublin won 9 out of 10 all Ireland’s this coming decade , I’d fully believe it without hesitation
Tomás O’Sé hit nail on head: The biggest advantage Dublin have is having the best of the best people around them. Be it management, back room team, statisticians, dieticians, etc etc etc. And obviously money can buy that, and fact that Dublin is the capital is key. As Sean Cavanagh said, the money has been there for years, only before they didn’t know how to put it to best use.
There’s not a hope in hell of anyone beating them this year. Hope we don’t go out against Tipp tomorrow half hoping (like Donegal) to lose and avoid humiliation at the hands of the blue machine.
Its a depressing state of affairs and it has finally come to a head. Gaelic football has been ruined. Its sick.
And for anyone that thinks this is just a one off group…
Guys like Flynn, Connolly, brogan, mccaffrey have been cited as once in a generation type players, the likes of Mcauley, O’Carroll and mcmanaman also played hugely pivotal roles over the years.
None played today in a 15 point semi final massacre
Mannion and Howard were also looked at as two potential all time greats. Both only came off the bench, when the game was long up.
Get used to it I’m afraid.
The battle for runner up is where all the excitement is going forward
The likes of Paul Flynn and the two Brogans look bang average compared to the new crop coming in.
Paul Mannion can’t make the first 15? Ah come on. Madness.
one game at a time sweet Jesus. Who cares about the other team in the final. Let’s go out and do our best and if we win we’ll do the same against the Dubs in the final. But no point in frightening ourselves or being anxious. Football is to be enjoyed and I’d rather see us play with abandon and really enjoy it than to play like robots.
I’ve no interest in beating the daylights out of Tipp…I don’t think Dublin would blink if we beat them by 10 goals…Let’s enjoy and shout loud at the telly. Maigheo go deo…
Dublin have an equally good player to replace each of the players in the starting 15. I bet they could field 3 identically brilliant teams.
Tired of them. Bored of them.
Dublin development project more than completed/achieved by the GAA. Time to invest in someone else. The big blue wave has slowly drowned the championship. The unfairness is unpalatable at this stage.
Ciaran not a chance, will be 10 out of 10, how could they lose one?
The machine is so big now it doesn’t need the gaa to fund it. Never under-estimate the power of success, especially in an already wealthy county, and the revenue it can achieve, maintaining and even further developing the perfect structures that are there. I truly feel it’s all over now, any fairness or competition is gone and I can’t see how it will return.
I’m clinging on to the hope there’ll be a complete freak occurence on a one-off year Justoutsideballagh 🙂 (and undoubtedly its Kerry that take advantage (see 2014)) 😀
You’re much more likely to be correct i think though 😉
IF..we win tomorrow, we will win on the 19th. 19/12/20. Etched in our memories forever. Don’t ask me how. It’ll just happen. Sshhhhh! Dont tell anyone 😉
The ship has sailed with the championship I’m afraid and there is zero appetite within the heirachy of the GAA to do anything about it. If any current players or management speak up they’ll be labelled sore losers, county boards are sub-servants to croke park for grants. Nooone in the media wants to take up the issue. To fix a problem you first must accept that there is one and we’re not even at that stage yet. The one positive i hold onto is we have a fantastic club championship is mayo and I genuinely in the next few years when interest is lost in inter-county the club becomes no.1.
Liberal role in tie, cuala, a club in Dublin has a US and a Chinese multinational sponsoring it. More than most county teams.
Yeah, it’s frightening to see. Unless the GAA properly address it, it’s not going away. Unless they address funding and actively discuss splitting the county, everyone is playing for second place. It’s very frustrating.
My point, Mayomad, is that we all knew what team was going to be announced. It just seems a little unfair to supporters to delay the team announcement until the start of the other semi-final which is clearly what they did. (Naming it when the other semi-final was starting is an age old trick to go under the radar with supporters and media). I just think they could have announced it on Friday evening like always and there wouldn’t have been a word. I don’t know what the point of delaying the announcement today was. Seems just a little insulting to us Mayo supporters. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, like what you said. Just unnecessary.
Anyway, roll on tomorrow. I do wonder Horan’s approach over tomorrow. He seems to just focus on Mayo and getting them to play in a certain way, which is certainly admirable. However, Rochford’s approach was to put in a sweeper in Barry Moran and take out the threat of the Two Towers in Quinlivan and Sweeney. I would be surprised if Horan went down that route and it just may leave the game more open as a contest as a result.
Is it Dublin getting better or the chasing pack getting worse though. Donegal in 12 would hammer that Cavan team. Tipp mid div 3 team managed to win Munster and we’ve won Connacht and could reach a final with a team in heavy transition.
Dublin in 15 we’re better than that current Dublin team.
I do think that serous changes is needed though to take some of the running out of football it’s too skewed towards athetic ability now. It used to be if a county had a couple of big midfielders you could compete with anyone those days are long gone.
I would start with standardising intercounty pitch sizes 80m max width. This would take some of the running out of the game and reduce the home advantage factor of croke park
Thank God James Horan and the lads are not hopefully watching some of this tripe. Donegal are the last team to beat the Dubs, a great team, in the Championship and if I remember on that day they were given no chance. I have no doubt in my mind that Mayo’s football savy will progress tomorrow and that bunch of lads with there experience and new blood will not have the attitude to go into the final thinking they are just making up the numbers. No team in any sport are invincible please stop this negative attitude and thank god James Horan, Kieran Mac etc will be in the dressing room on the 19th and not some of this ridiculous attitude of putting a group of 15 players into the unbeatable category. Good luck on the 19th lads let’s be positive.
No way Dublin 2015 are as good as now
Paul Mannion and Brian Howard on the bench… enough said
Horan(John) says Sam & Liam not leaving Dublin this year. Talk about stating the bloody obvious. Where would sam be going like. Tough on Limerick though.
It is really important however that we get to the final and give a right good account of ourselves. Focus is on Tipp now,hopefully Eoghan Mc,Oisin, Tommy C.etc.enjoy the occasion and play with abandon on the big stage. No better sight than watching Mayo in full flow. Mayo by 6.
15 – better team and squad
Dublin: S Cluxton; P McMahon (1-02), R O’Carroll, J Cooper; J McCarthy (0-01), C O’Sullivan, J McCaffrey; B Fenton (0-01), D Bastick; P Flynn, D Connolly, C Kilkenny (0-02); B Brogan (1-01), P Andrews (0-05), D Rock (0-02, 0-02f).
Subs: MD Macauley for Bastick, M Fitzsimons for Cooper, A Brogan for Flynn, K McManamon (1-01) for Rock, E Lowndes for Connolly, J Small for B Brogan
…..,……………………..
No way Dublin 2015 are as good as now
Paul Mannion and Brian Howard on the bench… enough said
Why don’t we concentrate on tomorrow match. Mayo to win tomorrow. Up Mayo.
We are in an All Ireland Semi Final here ffs . Who would have thought that back in March ? We are in the last 4 in the competition well 3 now but let’s fucking enjoy it . We have a job to do tomorrow .
I think Horan will have them all out intensity to try and blow Tipp out of the water . Now whether it transpires like that time will tell but I do think we have the right men to mark their key men and think our power an pace and fitness levels will show like it did in today’s game in the second half.
Hon Mayo !!!!
– No change to the Mayo team which is no surprise. Best of luck to team and mgmt.
– The 2020 All Ireland Football Final will actually be the most important and defining one for the GAA since 1982.
An ode to the end – Goodbye my GAA/Mayo
Did us fans disappoint you or let you down?
Should I be feeling guilty or give the CCCC the crown?
‘Cause I saw the end before we’d begun
Yes we saw the GAA were blinded and we knew they had won
So we took what’s ours by eternal right
Took the nestor cup and fecked off into the night
It may be over but it won’t stop there
Mayo is here if we’d only care
They touched our heart they touched our souls
They changed our life and scored our goals
And love is blind and that we knew when
we scored two own goals back a few year or two
Mayo kicked our points and held their head
Shared our dreams and nearly put the dubs to bed,
We know them well, We know their smell
we’ve been addicted to them………….
GOODBYEEEE MY MAYOOOO
GOODBYEEEE MY GAA
Ye have been the one’s
Ye have been the one’s for us
We are dreamers but when we wake
You can’t break our spirit – it’s our dreams ye take …
Ah no , in all seriousness if we give tipp a good hiding we can do something. Still believe
GAA have created Frankenstein’s monster with Dublin, I’m afraid.
People look back on the 2000s as a terrible decade for Dublin but it wasn’t that bad really- think they won 6 Leinster titles and lost three All-Ireland semi finals narrowly (four if you count 2010). They were always an elite footballing county and looking at it retrospectively, it’s hard to justify the mammoth spending they have received from the exchequer and GAA HQ.
Now they are streets ahead of the rest and are only getting better. When you consider that they have lost several “generational” players in the last few years (Paul Flynn, Connolly, Brogan, plus players like McMenamin dropping to the bench) and that their young players look even better…
It’s a frightening time given that it’s very conceivable that nobody will get within single figures of them this year.
My solution would be: stop funding them from HQ! Their AIG money should be more than enough to keep everything going, especially given that they are competing with the likes of Longford and Louth in Leinster, who are lucky to get sponsorship deals in four figures.
You have clubs in Dublin who have maybe 70 teams that can afford to fund a Games Development Officer internally, think about that. Who could do it within Mayo? I’m guessing Castlebar Mitchels at a push.
If this keeps going, people will simply switch off and stop going to games. Especially when the hurling championship is so competitive in comparison.
Do I detect a note of undue pessimism above? We have been positive for 69 years so let’s not throw in the towel before the fight now.
Let us do the job in front of us tomorrow, and hope we succeed. We have players of immense capabilities, as good as the best around. They have shown us what they are capable of. Let us honour them with our positivity and optimism.
Revellino – thank you for your kind words of Dec. 1st (WJ’s great piece “2020 meet 1920”) .
God almighty if you’re paraphrasing James blunt lovesongs into a song for mayo, we’re rightly fecked altogether
Forget about Dublin we haven’t earned the right to play them yet let’s concentrate on the job in hand best of luck to Mayo tomorrow
Don’t know what’s more annoying at this stage watching Dublin win so comfortable in every game or pretty much everyone here on this blog bloody telling us how wonderful they are. This is about our wonderful players young and not so young that have come to the front this year and i have no doubt will do us proud tomorrow and give us all something to talk about. if we win then we can talk about Dublin.
Best of luck to our lads tomorrow, a convincing win would give us a glimmer of hope against Dublin, if we struggle to a narrow win, it’s hard to see anything but a heavy defeat in the final.
The Connacht final was always going to be a dogfight so tomorrow’s match will give us a better idea of how good this new team is. Here’s hoping for a performance that will give us some hope.
?? Our time has come
I thought he wrote it himself and was rightly impressed!! ?
Supposed to be smiley faces, not question marks!
The sport was a less organised amateur sport pre 2010. On a playing level more turnovers and less athleticism.
Now, the sport is more advanced.
This is about population.
That is the reason Dublins population didn’t count as heavily pre 2010.
Elite athletes like Brian Fenton are genetic outliers. There is no closing the gap on Dublin.
I agree Valentino.
Tipp are the target and firmly in our sights. Absolute focus on overcoming their challenge. Then and only then can we look ahead.
Best wishes to Mayo tomorrow. We are all with the lads.
I’ll be honest, I stopped reading half way down with the doom and gloom ‘re the Dublin juggernaut. Tomorrow is our focus. Tight game ahead but we should do it. Don’t need to blow them out of the water, just enough to win. Then leave the papers to the six n a row and who knows what will happen? I know for me I’ll keep dreaming and screaming. COME ON MAYO
The arrogance of Horan on the Late Late telling us how he was going to save us from ourselves should any team have the audacity to steal the Cup from Dublin. If any team beats Dublin they’re not getting the Cup. I’ve heard it all now. I cannot see any team beating Dublin. They are the fittest team by far with lots of stamina training behind them also. I never thought that any of this Dublin over the last five years were better footballers than any of the other top teams. It was always that they have a more professional setup i.e more money, more staff, than other teams. They also need to play in Croke Park in order to utilise that running power. Had they played some of their games in tighter pitches the results may have been different.
If we don’t beat Tipp tomorrow we won’t need to worry about the Dubs at all. So first things first – let’s beat them and enjoy the game for what it is.
About the Dubs – no doubt they were outstanding and won without breaking a sweat. But let’s be honest – Cavan were bad – very bad and never looked as if they had a hope in hell. And they knew that themselves.
If we get to the final will they beat us? Probably! Will we put up a battle – you bet we will. Will we too be beaten before we start like all the teams they have played so far? No way. If we get to play them it will be the first game where the Dubs will meet a real challenge. So as supporters lets not be beaten either before we even start.
So dublin defeated a 3rd division team tonight. Did anyone really think it was gonna be any different. Funding or no funding they have set the standards and let’s not forget we came closer than any other team to knocking them out of their stride. Had we a few more all star forwards we would have done. We are working with new crop of players ( loads of posters were crying out for this including me ) so let’s beat tipp first and then we talk about taking down the HUMANS in blue.
@carrotface, this year very different to 97, Cavan should have, Mayo should have bet them.
Worst team I’ve seen win an all Ireland.
This Dublin are a very good team.
Anyway, we’ve a game tomorrow, that’s plenty to occupy our minds.
Maigh Eó go deo
Cavan were not that bad as may be conveniently put forward. Division one sides would have got closer, perhaps to within 3-4 points with a top performance. Who knows maybe on 1 in 7 occasions a win. That is not sustainable numbers for maintaining interest in a championship. The danger is that Dublin remain unsplit with a Division one team scraping an All Ireland every 5th or 6th All Ireland. The media outpouring of “See, see, it can be done ”
Yes, it can be done in one out of five or one out of six occasions. Seven in a row will make the GAA finances untenable. No one will pay top dollar tv rights and matchday tickets won’t sell.
Well if we win tomorrow which I think, with our best foot forward we will, we’ll be in a great spot.
There won’t be much expectations of us turning Dublin over. I mean the newspapers bookies and analysts won’t give us a prayer of beating the Dubs.
There won’t be any real expectations from outside the county and we can take to the field in two weeks (assuming we win tomorrow) footloose and fancy free.
It’s perfect really. Get the win tomorrow and in two weeks time give the donkey a belt of the ash plant in the arse and send him off in the general direction of Dublin with our cobbled up band of no hopers.
Assuming that the poor flea infested ass makes it to Croke Park sometime before throw in with our poorly funded dehydrated volunteers, those that have survived the bumpy journey can hobble in to Croke Park and pull on their green and red hand knitted gansies.
Once the Dublin manager has come in to our dressing room and explained the rules of the game to us our hobbling heroes will be herded out on to the pitch.
After 70 minutes and injury time of standing back and smiling shyly and oohing and aahing at the movement of the Dublin team we’ll load up the cart and head for home.
Thought I was reading the Hill 16 blog. All this ooohing and aaahing about the Dubs. Man up for frigs sake. There’s the small matter of Tipp to take care of first. Bring it on.
There is an element of hysteria about the Dubs and how good they are. They will be beaten at some stage and that’s for certain. Hurling people thought Kilkenny would dominate forever but they’re 5 years without an all Ireland. I think the current Dublin team is playing well as a unit but individually they had better players in 2017. You just need to be there when they do lose! Let’s get over tomorrow!
Delighted to see you comment on this JP. Can I ask you a question though, apart from all the advantages etc what sets Dublin apart from the rest , as in the 15 men they have on the pitch at any given time v the 15 men they are playing against.
It seems very obvious to a few of us here tonight when discussing, we all agreed its sheer athleticism, power , pace etc , my question was how do these lads become so off the scale powerful and athletic , the evidence was there for all to see tonight , they could just cut their way through the lines like a knife through butter when they choose to go at it . People might think I’m crazy, but philly McMahon I think it was, fluffed a goal chance and with the next play, it looked like to me they said ,goal let’s just get the goal now , this second, go and like a fine tuned machine bang ,goal .
Back to what I want to try and understand, what stops other counties players developing themselves to the same level of athleticism? Do the Dublin players have more spare time , access to gyms nowadays surely is the same , diets ? I’d really love to understand it better . Is there a degree of professionalism at play as in do the Dublin players get better looked after from an early age , like closely monitored during development ?
I’m with those who are saying we need to forget about Dublin and concentrate instead on Tipperary. Until such time as we’ve beaten Tipp we’re not entitled to be thinking about Dublin so it’s this challenge we need to be 100% focused on. We’d want to be focused too, it’s an All-Ireland semi-final after all.
Sean, my other half is a dub and her brothers coach in Dublin. What they seem to do very well is log details of under age players. As in attributes in terms of size, speed etc for all registered players and recorded and players that fit a certain bracket are identified at a young age. They know what they need coming into the senior set up, they identify a range of players fit the bill that and these players are given every opportunity to develop. It’s a numbers games then, because of the size of the population, the organisation of the underage structures it’s inevitable that they will find another “generational player” for each position.
Everyone so negative,we have 4 néw lads starting tomorrow than we did last year,if there’s one team to put the dubs to the final whistle it’s us,I predict a good Mayo performance tomorrow and on to the final with nothing to lose,we are the one team that can cause them problems,living in New York I talk to many different people from different county’s and they all want to see Mayo win tomorrow because when we go to croke park on all Ireland final day we tear the script up,even if we don’t win your in for a one hell of a game
I would agree with most posters here that Dublin will win the final comfortably regardless who is playing. What I will be interested in seeing tomorrow is have we improved in our forward play are we turning possession into actual chances and then has our conversion rate improved. I will also be interested to see how we do at midfield if Tipp dominate there they have forwards who can put up a decent score. But I expect Mayo’s pace tempo intensity fitness to see them through. Tipp will push up on knockouts I think because they perceive they have edge in midfield plus they will not want our runners to have space to get going.. Mhaigh Eo zabu….
Just looking at a relatively small man like philly mcmahon clean galligan out at FF and also we haven’t had much success on him in the past. The thought occurred to me what about playing Aido on him but rather than the conventional defender staying goalside, tell aido to get goalside for the highball in. That way philly can’t lean on and use aido as leverage to aid his jump. Aido as the bigger stronger unit should win it if delivery is good. Just a thought
Cavan lets face it are a poor team that I would expect to see Mayo beat most times they would play them. Standing way off the dubs and losing the ball over and over again. If Mayo can beat Tipp and its no cert as Tipp are going up expecting to win then I would fear for the young Mayo players against the sheer strenght of the dubs even the smaller players have powerful upper body strenght. If Mayo get to the final I suppose we can theorise on how they could curb Fentons influence for example but if Mayo think Tipp will lie down it could be a dour battle tomorrow. I wonder is the absence of crowds lulling us into thinking Dublin are in third gear its possible I suppose. If Mayo were there running at them is the only way. I dont think a comparison with Kilkenny is correct as even though they have great hurlers the population assured a dip while Dublin have no such worries. My friends in Kerry are worried now as they have been exposed and even with Clifford have no chance of beating Dublin.
I’d have to say that this evening’s semi final was played in good spirits. I don’t think there was a nasty foul through the whole game. A couple of little hold backs maybe but all in all it was a very clean game. Cavan were a bit loose in posession but gave a good account of themselves. Dublin just didn’t seem to make mistakes or very few.
Tomorrow we’ll need to treasure posession ourselves and keep the ball until the high percentage shot is on. Occasionally we have a tendancy to try the odd impossible shot at the posts.
The podcast reviewing Tipp, and the Tipp lads that were interviewed said that Tipp certainly won’t be lacking in belief. Why would they. They had a great win in the Munster final.
I think Cillian Tommy and Aidan should stick as far forward as they can for as much of the game as possible. Keep the Tipp full back line honest and pinned back near their own goal line. Clear the way for our runners coming through.
I see the winning of this game coming from our runners. Paddy Durkan Eoghan MC and Mattie Ruane I think will take it in turns at cutting through midfield and carrying the ball into our half forward line. That’s a safe and effective brand of football.
I would love to see a few high balls in on top of Aidan early in the game and see if there is any reward going that route. If not we can always revert back to the running game.
Both teams tomorrow play a lovely style of football. It should be a great game with plenty of open play.
I think Leitrim got out of the blocks to a flyer against us and went 4 up before we knew where we were. That kind of poor start against Tipp might be very hard to peg back.
I’m particularly looking forward to see how we manage in midfield. We mightn’t be the highest fielder’s but Mattie can cover alot of ground.qith the ball and Connor distributes the ball very well and has a cool head on him.
The games feel like they’ll never arrive and suddenly they are here. It’s great to be still alive and going strong.
I believe somewhere along the last decade the Dubs said we’ve this big population, big massive wide open pitch so lets pick players that are basically like middle distance runners (high speed/endurance athletes). Then use this to play very high tempo football that will burn off 90% of the teams on pure athleticism alone. Going to 5 subs has also helped them as they have deeper panel and can bring in more fresh legs whenever a match gets tight.
If Mayo get through I think they have some chance but would need to stop goals going in and would need to put in an unbelieveable effort between the two 45s and that would require AOS and Keegan out there
They reckoned Jim Gavin was a major factor for the success of the Dublin team in recent years.
If Farrell continues on the warpath with the Dublin team the question will have to be asked ” What actual influence did Gavin have on the Dubs ” ?
Is the Dublin team like a self driving car at this stage ?
Jesus Revelino, is Elon Musk involved with them now?
Ah cmon lads – last time I checked the name over the door here read ‘Mayo GAA blog’. Ease off in the Dublin hyperbole. It’s beginning to resemble the Evening Herald. Who have they beaten so far? Calibre is poor – reality is that Cavan were just happy to ‘play the occasion’ rather than try to compete. This is Mayo. Tomorrow expect an 8/9 point win followed by absolute chaos again vs the Dubs in the final. Margins are much tighter than we think. We’ll enjoy the win tomorrow and then turn our attention to dethroning the Dubs. It will happen.
@Catcol. I’m goin to sleep. I could be starting tomorrow.
Dublin turned over the ball themselves a few times.For me they are still not fully tested.
I really believe this game tomorrow will be difficult.
Tipp have soldiered together for a long while and know they will never get a better chance.
They have real footballers too
Let’s talk tipp,forget about Dublin for now
It’s a good thing Horan and the players aren’t influenced by media and social media. They are well able to shut it out. Dublin can only put 15 players at a time onto the pitch. We have been within a kick of a ball if bringing down the blue juggernaut in ’16 and ’17 and Kerry last year.
Lets make sure we take care of Tipp first and not lose focus on the task at hand.
Okay, JP is back in championship mode.
Firm focus on Tipp.
I think James has this team set for croker there isan awful lot of stick about Loftus in midfield loftus is there for his running ability and football brain id like to see a stat on the amount of ball and turn overs he has had in the championship so far you can only hang in the air for so long look at roscommon supposed to have better midfield and in fairness they bet every team in division 2 but we just knocked the ball down to all our terriers around the middle 8 I have know doubt our lads will win today by 4 or 5 tip or a lovely bunch of lads and gave their supporters great joy in winning munster but this is a big step up in class to anything they have met before that’s why I think tip will give us a good game for 50 – 60 minutes but power and speed will see us over the line. On a side note you wouldn’t think we’re playing in an all ireland semi final not a flag or a banner up any where so if we win today let ye pull out the flags and show our application to those fine bunch of mayo men mayo Abu
Morning all – nothing like a AI semi final to make you forgot about the weather. For people in the UK – is the only option Sky? I’ve seen the gaa youtube has put the whole dublin cavan match on, but not sure it that went on afterwards?
Mayo will win today by a few points and have 2 weeks to prepare for the final. They will go into the final as complete and total underdogs,the best possible scenario, and no families should be allowed in croke park for the final. Keep it safe and don’t bend the HSE rules to suit any managers wishes.
Today’s prediction
Mayo 2-17
Tipp. 1-14.
Best of luck to the lads and please God , no red cards or injuries.
Is the full panel listed anywhere? Would love the see who is on the bench.
Good luck to Mayo Team today, may the best team win and that will hopefully be Mayo. Hope they are 100% focused on this game as Tipp will be a major challenge. Would see it as 50/50 as we are in transition, just depends if we are ready for big stage yet and that question will be answered today!
@Niallmc1983: Yes, I concur. My mother is a teacher in a north county Dublin, in a school which has a very large enrollment of kids from migrant backgrounds. I’m told that Dublin GAA is putting massive resources into scouting in places like this, even at primary level. Anyone who thinks they are going away is completely deluded, they are getting better if anything.
Sad to say it, but it hardly matters who wins today, Dublin would hockey the two teams put together. They destroyed the best team we ever had in ten minutes last year, and had less than half of their 2015 winning them starting yesterday.
I agree that Tipp are a threat to us, nobody is taking them lightly. But it’s like two bald men fighting over a comb; the financial doping over the past 15 years has come to its ultimate conclusion.
It means nothing to me. I know they’re class act. But saying they destroyed the best team we ever had in 10 mins last year doesn’t really stand up. First of all in 2019, a lot of our players were well past our best, probably at their peak around 15, 16. We were just coming off a gruelling win against Donegal 6 days previous, the lads were out on their feet in the 2nd half. And Horan threw in Diarmuid, Ruane and Vaughan into the starting lineup for their first games in months after recovering from injuries, they clearly lacked match fitness. Dublin never hockeyed us in our prime. There was always just a kick of a ball n the difference. However Mayo are in transition now and need another year or 2 to reach their full potential
But that’s just the point, Dave. We are not in our prime any more: several of our warriors are coming to the end while we have several young players who are promising but untested at that level.
If Dublin were too in transition, I’d say we’d have a chance. But they have a seamless conveyor belt of top level talent greased by all of that money from the Irish Sports Council and the GAA. Meanwhile their competitors in Leinster are trying to get by on a fraction of the funding, while ourselves and Kerry have to call on the diaspora to try to keep up (and given the ageing profile of Irish America/ the London Irish, this revenue stream has a sell by date, too).
It’s a sick farce and it needs to be called out.
Jaysus lads can ye knock off the Dublin stuff. We have a big match today and if we don’t come through that then all talk about Dublin is academic.
Let’s focus on today’s task, James’s mantra of game 4, nothing else. Talk about Tipp/Mayo only until this evening !
Let’s see how our brave young team play, see if we can perform on the big stage and hopefully make a statement.
Things will be much clearer by this evening – one way or the other.
Hon Mayo
Great to see Tom Parsons in 26 but surprised that Fionn, Boyler and Moran did not make it!