80 thoughts on “The weekend’s fixtures”

1. Best of luck to Colaiste Ris and St Nathy’s… it’s so good to see two Mayo teams battling for the top prizes. Andy is infectious alright… positive and honest. He sums up many of the things I love and admire about this Mayo team. Hope the games this weekend don’t cause any injuries and all the team come out of it a little sharper and ready to focus on May 13th. Can’t come quickly enough. I’m sending positive Andy vibes to our team for 2018. Maigheo, Colaiste Ris agus St Nathy’s…ar aghaidh linn… Go Deo

2. Best luck to both Schools tomorrow. Exciting day ahead. Midfielder Fintan McManamon is nephew of Colm McManamon from 90s. Mark Moran is nephew of Thomas Grady(minor on winning team 85 and panel member 89). Some of team’s older brothers won All Ireland last year with Westport. (Praying no injuries for any of the panel over weekend – anyone at any of the games please update us). Andy is mighty; pity he not 10 years younger.

3. Good luck with the bike ride Willie Joe. It looks like an amazing time.

4. Thanks, Swahili, looking forward to it. Rumour has it the sun might even make an appearance tomorrow. I hope, though, there’s a bit left in the legs before I hit the Corkscrew!

5. After over an inch of rain last night and heavy showers, there must be a major doubt over the club championship games this weekend. Hope they get called off in time to allow us get to Croke park. But that would be too good to be true. Probably!!!

6. I wonder will that flute brehony in that rag the indo have a big write up about his native county flaunting the rules regarding clubs having the county players for the month of April like the untrue story about mayo going on a training camp in April.

7. Good luck with Corkscrew hill WJ. Any idea what time Yea’ll be rolling through ballyvaughen?

8. Thanks, Revellino! It’s hard to be precise with times on the bike but it should be between 12 and 1 I’d say. The main food stop is there.

9. Best of luck to St Nathy’s and Rice College!

   It would be great if these lads could get used to winning All-Ireland titles especially the Westport lads after their All-Ireland Intermediate title win last year, developing a winning mentality cannot be underestimated.

   It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on the club games to see how the county players returning from injuries etc. get on and if any of the fringe players put their hands up for inclusion in the May 13th team/panel.

10. Best of luck to Rice College and St.Nathys tomorrow. Hoping to attend at least 2 club games this weekend…get out and support your local club.

11. Yes indeed Blondie 11. Well spotted .

    That was actually Marco Polo Skelpie pulling his best chicken little “ the sky is falling “ act when he lasered in on Mayo’s April preparations . In January . Not sure if Massive Blasphemy in the Indo was personally in on it too ?

    It adds to my contention that Kerry are going to pull out all the stops in the Meeja to discredit and distract Mayo this year . They know their current transitional team would have a very hard time beating this Mayo team. They literally are terrified in the kingdom of getting beaten again by Mayo.

    I fully expect Bombers underpants to unleash a ferocious volley any day now too. Maybe An Fear Laidir and the empurpled splutterer as well . Yogurt will of course be omnipresent in our screen lives. Well apparently anyway that’s good for the bowels .

    If Kerry lose to Mayo ( please note that Mayo could never ever beat Kerry ) it will be the end of Amen and his cronies the Skelpies influence on the management down there. It’s not for me to add to the massive pressure they are under but can you imagine the indignation if they were beaten by Mayo again ? In their narrative nothing is worse than that . God bless them.

    Yes Blondie , Martin the Blasphemer needs to come out and do what he does best . Against his home team. Chances of that happening are zero . Alas.

12. Love it Swahili 🙂

13. According to Hogan Stand the Galway championship has been postponed until after the CFC clash with Mayo. Wonder how they will fit in the qualifiers with it or will they depend on an early exit from the All Ireland race to complete their championship.

14. A lot of counties aren’t starting their club championship this month. We are in the minority.

15. Just praying for no injuries in the next 48 hrs !

16. It will be interesting to see how certain players get on for there clubs the weekend as we approach May 13th,with Cian Hanley, Keith Higgins, Donie Vaughan ,Chris Barrett, and Alan Freeman all back from injuries and time out of panel.Not sure are Evan Regan, Ciaran Treacy,James Carr and Brendan Harrison back from injury as of yet.As we all know Leeroy Keegan and Cillian are defo out.Be interesting to see performances too of Brian Gallagher, James Durcan and Jack Reilly who all have been standout performers for there clubs so far in the league, and could be called in to the panel by Rochy as it seems to be an open ended panel.Gallagher really is good option to have ,very tall and skillful and can score from long range ,he also spent the last 2 seasons playing with New York against Roscommon and Sligo. Can play in midfield and forwards.

17. Players can get injured training just as easy as playing club games. We are still 5 weeks from the Galway game. Players cannot be wrapped in cotton wool. They need games to stay Sharp.

18. Blondie, They are not flaunting any rules.. The masterplan at the start of the year for fixtures in Galway didn’t have the championship to start until May 20th. It wasnt cancelled/postponed or anything it just wasn’t scheduled to start! The players are with their clubs, and there are two rounds of senior league fixed for April. In fact a few of the Galway players have been in Marbella all week , flying back this morning and back with the clubs next weekend for league games. As stated by a poster above Galway are not the only county not starting championship in April, its a common occurance all over..

19. Were they in Marbella as a team or just individual holidays?

20. No Sean not as a team, however six of them travelled together..

21. Tuamstar , you are directly contradicting the article which says the county board took the decision ( now ) to postpone the county championship . It was not part of some master plan . Check on Hogan Stand under Galway.

22. Swahili… Hoganstand? Please don’t be believing what you read there, articles or forum!
    The fact is for the last two years we played championship in May, but this year from the beginning they had decided not to play it in May however for some reason it only came to light last week. Everyone knew in Galway since Feb there would be no club championship in May, just senior league..

23. Massive Blasphemy. Thats a good one alright.

    Yes an interesting point there. Mayo never ever ever beat Kerry. Its Kerry lost to Mayo. Which is a completely different thing. Even on two consecutive weekends last August. Mayo didn’t win either game. kerry lost at least one though.

    Yeah, The Bomber and a few more of the big guns will be wheeled out before too long i’d say and all the cute codology and bullshitology that comes with it. If Kerry lose to Mayo this summer, the sky will indeed fall in.

24. Tuamstar , I’m going to tell the Skelpies on you . Trying to take over their territory as BS ‘ers in chief .

25. Best of luck to Nathy’s and Rice College today!

26. That’s not my point tuamstar I’m just asking will Mr brehony the clown write any article about it whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter to him. At least when he is writing about mayo it doesn’t

27. Some great scores in the Rice / Ronan’s game

28. Half time . Rice college 1 5. St ronans 0 .6

29. If Rice can get Lambert n Joyce on the ball facing goal they can see this out. Eoghan McLoughlin tremendous.

30. Good standard of a game and a fairly even first half. Hopefully Rice push on 2nd half.

31. heartbreak for Rice….so close

32. Commiserations Rice College

33. Hard luck Rice . A bit more composure would of got the draw.

34. Heartbreaking.

35. Same ol crap result in an all ireland finals hard luck Rice College well done St Ronan’s

36. Hard luck Rice College. Definitely serious talent for Mayo in 4/5 years time from that team. Best of luck to those doing leaving.

37. Seemed like they had a lack of urgency in the last 10 minutes.

38. Is there anything more gut wrenching in GAA than a 1 pt loss..

39. Yes Regina, getting hammered.

40. Ballina really struggling these days , doesnt even seem that long ago since they won the all Ireland.

41. Heart breaking way to lose a game.

42. Rice played as well as they were allowed.
    St Ronan’s were the ( slightly )better coached team but wayward shooting meant it did not show on the board . The score to win the game was of a very high quality.

    IMO Rice played the second half without the requisite ambition to push on . They played massed defence with slow transition . I think they will learn from this and drive on from here. They are quality footballers for sure and give hope for the future of Mayo football.

    They will be disappointed for a few days but fully deserve sincere congratulations for representing their school and their county so well. Some great fielding on display from both sides today. Focus now in a short few days should turn to the academics . Because that’s what really counts .

43. Wouldn’t agree there JP, at least you can move on from a hammering pretty quickly. I don’t think Rice College manged the game well in the 2nd half. Joyce and Lambert were back in their own half back line too much.

    It’s a game they could have won but a 1 point victory wouldn’t have suddenly made them better players tonight. Hopefully we’ll get to see a few of them with the u20’s later this year.

44. Perspective please … Rice College did as good as they could. But I always felt St. Ronans were the better team – scores came more easily. But, all these lads did their families and college proud, and that to me is everything… I’m sure a few of these lads will go on to represent Mayo.

45. Jp..would never say a team getting hammered was gut wrenching but thats just me..I imagine its always harder to lose a game when the scoreline is so close..

46. Hard luck Rice college. Overall Lurgan the slightly better team. Unfortunately tho it’s the same old affliction yet again for Mayo teams in finals with forwards that can’t hold their composure when the game is there for the taking…

47. Was in Croker today and have to say it’s hard to win a game with one forward up front most of the time, and he not particularly physically imposing either. But that was the way Rice College played it for most of the game. Ronan’s did so too but were much speedier getting forward in support. They were also a bit more adept at kicking scores from play. There will be a lot of tossing and turning in Westport beds over the next few nights as the “what ifs” are contemplated. What if Stephen Loftus was still on the field for that last free, for example.
    Nathys never got going at all. I think the occasion got to them and the chances they missed early on as Trinity built a lead were very costly.

48. Hi. These are only young guys and cannot use same standards to analysis as with seniors

49. Westport gave it their best shot and just came up short. Nathys it was a bridge too far for them but did well to win Connacht and reach the All Ireland final against the odds.

50. It’s always shit losing but fair play to both Mayo teams. Westport could have but I have to admit the better team won. But they more than held their own. It’s great to see them there. I didn’t see enough of Nathy’s game but they were up against a strong organised team and fought to the end. Scoring forwards seems like an area we have issues with in Mayo. May need to have a bit more courage and fire and belief… confidence is an issue… in my honest opinion. But though we feel the hurt of defeat we were there… and we’ll be back!!

51. Ronans were incredibly physically well built for schools level. Rice did well to even match them at all having such a massive gap in physicality.
    Their forward Monteiro was raw enough but he showed how important pace, power and a willingness to scrap for every ball are. He struck me as a player not playing that long but by jese did he trouble Rice winning ball out in front with his pace n laying it off.

52. Watching Brian Gallagher playing two games on a very wet heavy pitch I feel he has something to offer at county level he has class is big and can mix it he didn’t score any points yesterday but it was impossible to hold your feet and shoot the ground was so wet there was a very heavy shower just before the game and through the first half.Iarla Moran is definitely one for the U20 he has bulked up over the winter also Matthew Macken and Stephen Mc Greal’ Conor Diskin.

53. @Reekview, Mathew Macken looking powerful and driving? He’s a good 6’1″ and built as I recall.

54. Two more All Irelands lost by Mayo teams , when is it going to stop . Is it bad luck or the course or what . Law of Averages must win one soon

55. As a county we do lack self belief when it comes to all Ireland finals. How many finals have we lost by narrow margins. When the game is there to be won with 15 mins to go we never seem to be able to drive on and finish out the game. Our mentality is different to Kerry teams for example who win probably 75% of finals they play in. We are winning only 15% at most. They have an ability to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and drive on.

56. Rice will probably win a Hogan when they get a bigger enrollment of players from Burrishoole, Kilmeena, Louisburgh and Islandeady.
    For promising young players it’s likely to become a popular choice.
    There’s likely a Hogan standard team in a few years when Kilmeenas Division 1 standard team of u14s are in with Westports Feile team and then the draw of any promising players from Louisburgh/Burrishoole.
    To win yestersay they would have needed a few more mature players. Emmett Rowley probably would have been a 2pt difference if he was available.
    St. Colmans as well are promising as they will take in a lot of the talent in a 10km radius of Claremorris.

57. It is a real shame for the colleges but the “curse” and our bad luck can become self perpetuating burden for teams to bear. I think it’s something as fans we should be looking at from a different perspective. Let’s not forget the Westport lads each have a Celtic cross last year off the back of a one point win. Also, for all the hurt we’ve had at AI finals there’s only one county in the last three years that have had better championships than us.

58. Or is it just lazy analysis to say Mayo teams dont win all Irelands.

    2006 ..under 21 champions.
    2013 …minor champions
    2016….under 21 champions

    Crossmolina , Ballina , westport all all ireland champions in the last twenty years.

    There is no magic formula , you just have to be the better team on the day with the best footballers on the day making the better decisions on the day.

    If our championship was based on a league format, Dublin would of won every all Ireland since 2011 because they are the best team in Ireland with the strongest squad , they got caught in 2012 and 2014 because of the nature of the competition . If you cant admit this youre just in denial . (Thats not to say they dont have some seriously unfair advantages but thats a different story)

59. It’s such a big deal for us to bring home a title, it doesn’t happen every week in Mayo.

    There is a sense of having something to lose when we’re that close.

    Having said that, Ronans had enough scoring chances to win comfortably. Their number 14 had the winning of the game.

    Ironically, Rice were penalised on a number of occasions for overcarrying, which greatly affected their momentum.

    No point blaming the man in the middle however, you just have to improve that much more so these decisions don’t matter.

60. Credit to the Rice keeper Cian Kennedy. For a young player I thought he put on an excellent display of goalkeepung. He was very accurare with his kickouts also
    Rory Brickendon had one of his quieter days but he’ll be there next year.
    How many of then are u17?

61. Any reports from club games. See Mitchells put up 2-18 v Ballina, any update on who starred.

62. I heard Mitchels had 10 different scorers but don’t know who stood out. Holly/Carra scored 2 own goals which was the main reason they lost to Claremorris. Charlestown squeaked a win despite Knockmore having a last minute penalty shout. Jack Reilly did most of the Charlestown scoring, not sure how many were frees though?

    Also, good away win for Swinford yesterday after such a disappointing 2017. They’re due a big year and no reason why they can’t have a crack at winning the intermediate championship.

63. That was a brilliant response from Swinford away to Islandeady. I’d imagine Liam Moran and Jackie McDonnell played well. They’re usually their chief scorers.

64. Jack McDonnell got their 2nd goal anyway. I see Chris Barrett is only on the bench for Belmullet, does he have an injury?

65. Actually never mind. Chris Barrett was a late change before throw in.

66. No squeaking about it Wideball. Reilly scored 3 from play, 2 from frees.

67. Moy Davitts unlucky not get something from their game against Garrymore. Crowe did not tog today.
    Knockmore failed to capitalise on strong start with several wides and missed goal chance. But Charlestown probably deserved win. Refereeing seemed off for both sides in that one. Knockmore were missing 9 or 10 senior players from team that played in last year’s quarter final among them alot of lads with county experience such as the 3 McHales Shane Darren and David. Keith Ruttledge, Tom Clarke and also Nathan Hardy Brian Gibbons and Andrew Keane. With break till September that group could go any way.

68. South Mayo Exile , I tend to agree with your assessment even though it’s a generalization . However I can also agree with Sean Burke . Sometimes we are good enough. Sometimes not.

    Sometimes with Mayo teams, I believe , we are just overachieving by just getting to finals in the first place . We are often peaking in semi finals at almost all levels and getting unexpected results . But then the tank is emotionally emptied prior to the final.

    Exhibits A and B are the senior finals of 2004 and 2006. Think of the emotional drain of that 2006 semi final with hill-gate and the unbelievable act of coming back from seven points down . I mean , emotionally , where do you go from there ? How can you , as an amateur , prepare properly for a final after that ?

    Interestingly enough I think that this is not the case with the Mayo senior team ( under Rochford )

    In their case we peaked beautifully on All Ireland final day in 2017 but to speak to Sean’s point – we are sometimes just not good enough. If you peak on All Ireland final day and empty the tank , take the game to your opponents , put them under massive pressure , but Lady Luck was not with you , ( refereeing aside ) well you can have no regrets ( see my final comment at the end tho)

    When it comes to finals at other levels we do seem to lack a little bit of confidence and ambition and let’s call it “ killer instinct”. It’s like we want to be “ as good as the next fella …but not better than “? We don’t want to destroy other teams ?

    There’s an old Kerry joke that goes
    Q: “ what do you call a Kerryman who thinks he is as good as the next fella “?
    A:” Someone with an inferiority complex “

    I mean the purpose of all sport at elite level is to show dominance but we seem to just want to be nice .That combination of dominating another team while being nice requires massive skill superiority , something we generally don’t have , and which is rarely the case anyway in a final .

    The most confident Mayo teams I have ever seen were the Coen captained and Diarmuid O Connor inspired Minor and U-21 teams . These guys felt at their ease attacking attacking attacking . It was natural for them .

    They were in a way , like Kerry of old or even recent Kerry under age teams . No greater footballing compliment could I pay them .

    They were attacking just for fun. In finals . They weren’t content to do the lateral passing stuff. They wanted to score unlikely goals just for the hell of it . But they also had some skill specialists just in case . And they had a sense of brotherhood and togetherness and positivity that the great teams have. They believed in themselves .

    They were able to eke out unlikely results because they went for broke and Lady Luck ran with them because she loved them .

    When a team sets up like Rice did yesterday in the second half they send a signal that they believe the opposition is better in some way. Which may actually be true. I mean I admire this young team tremendously as well as their coaches .

    But setting up a massed defence doesn’t help the cause of winning with confidence . Or even winning . It says , let’s keep the score down and try to ride this out . For 30 minutes . Because we are not as good as them . ( Even though we are leading by two points )

    The other side of this equation is of course the emotional baggage that comes with getting a drubbing in an All Ireland Final at 16/17 years old. Something that has to be seriously considered .

    But IMO there is sometimes an imbalance to the risk / reward equation in finals . You simply have to put the opposition under pressure . You have to test their metal.

    Trying the massed defence / counter attacking thing in a huge place like Croke Park requires huge fitness , huge skill execution and usually takes years to perfect .

    This is actually putting huge pressure on your own team IMO.
    And these guys are just 16-18 years old.

    But it is also the hallmark of a team that doesn’t believe in itself . Or that is trying not to lose , or not to lose too badly . It’s hardly inspiring stuff .

    I am going to misrepresent this strategy here to make a point.
    So you spend years of practice practice practicing massed defence with counter attacking just so you can regularly eke out a one point win ?

    What is the actual outcome ?

    If you come up against a skillful team they will attack ,attack ,attack and put you under massive pressure. If the attacking team have the “capability “ of massing in defence versus the “Intent” of having that as a primary strategy then it’s game over.

    That was the difference yesterday . That was also Dublin v Tyrone last year. IMO it will be Galway’s undoing in the Championship.

    Young kids should not be playing football this way AS A PRIMARY STRATEGY. It’s too much of a pressure cooker way to play and deemphasizes the inherent skills , creativity and fun in sport.

    However , were they taught this as an intermittent or even end game strategy then that’s different . That’s being comprehensive and realistic .

    I believe we should have specialist teams of coaches etc who help Mayo teams of all stripes in finals .

    Finals are a different animal . It all comes down to belief and understanding and composure . Anger won’t win finals without belief . Rage , no that won’t either . You need to be a bull fighter. You need to dominate .

    There needs to be emotional ice married to uncompromising self belief and belief as a team who are attacking for fun and who are enjoying the cut and thrust .

    On a final note , one thing I found amazing about last years All Ireland final against Dublin was the specter of one of our coaches on the field strongly exhorting the players in an emotional way right before the throw in.

    I mean this is a team more than any other that needs to approach their work in a composed way. With ice in their veins . Especially in finals .

    But here was a man trying to get these players emotionally “ up “ for this . These players having already played four All Ireland’s before this one ! It was jarring to me.

    We need to be a second half team if we are going to choose halves .

    He should have been putting ice in their veins and he should have been the epitome of Gavin like calm and he should have been off the pitch fifteen minutes AGO ! I mean does Boyler need to be revved up for a game ?

    What happened in the first two minutes of that final was almost inevitable .The players were stunned ( even before the goal ) , Jason took a crazy shot , the ball went down the field and we were turned inside out .

    The bull fighter Gavin laid the ( ultimately ) fatal blow in the first 90 seconds .

    Just to emphasize that this was not an accident , he tried to do the same against the Galway bulls in the league final with Mannion.

    If we can’t see that then we don’t see the big picture in finals. In order to -not do stupid in finals- we need to be calm ferocity personified . Most especially in the first half.

    What that particular Mayo coach needs to understand is this . His approach may work in other games where the team is flat . But in a mature team , in a final , this was counter productive .

    The players ability to learn or hold onto or to deliver on new information on the day of a final is almost zero . Tapping into the players individual and collective “inner cool ferocity “ is , shall we say , a more Gavin like way of doing it .

69. Wow Swahili…one of best posts I have read. So sad after that gut wrenching loss yesterday. (Oh the memories of that minor/u21 team in full flow – magical days).

70. i am looking for results from the Mayo Championship both Senior and Intermediate games please played this weekend?

71. You will get the results on mayo Gaa.com

72. Thanks AIDAN

73. NO LUCK THERE

74. @Swahili…. Brilliant, well taught out take on the game of Gaelic-football.. I agree with virtually everything that you are saying… But finals are a very different animal indeed, and another problem with Mayo is that, our opponents in final’s seem to believe that even a superior Mayo team, will somehow find a way to lose and this fills our opponents with belief… Believe it or not, despite Galway’s superior success in final’s, their problems are very similar to our own in finals.. They have been lucky enough, and good enough to beat Kildare and Meath in their most recent success… But I don’t think that team would be able to compete, with Kerry, or Tyrone of the naughties or Dublin, Donegal, Kerry of this present decade in a final… They are not as good as us at getting to finals, and when that Galway team reached the 2000 final, Galway finished very strong to force a draw, in the replay Galway somehow lost a match, that they started brilliantly with a wonder goal by Declan Meehan,.. Séamus Moyinhan totally bullied, legally and illegally Padraig Joyce… The thing is that like the Kerry team of 2014, the 2000 was far from the best in Ireland…. Meath and Tyrone absolutely hammered that Kerry team, but man for man a superior Galway team, failed to do the same…. The reason being is you have to be far superior to either Dublin or Kerry in a final to beat them…. Tradition, the expectation of victory, maybe even subconscious decisions of the Ref are all part of the reasons for this!..

75. Thanks again Swahili.
    There is something unseemly when somrone has to work up an emotionsl frenzy just before an All Ireland Final. I wonder what Conor McGregor would make of it. Joke.
    Seriously many think that the Final Word from them will bring success.
    I think it best left to the team at that stage. Anyway like your analysis. S.Rochford seems to have a good approach. Bye for now.

76. James Fleming, try, Official mayo gaa.

77. I understand St Geralds Castlebar beat Rice on both occasions they played them this year and won Flanagan Cup ( Mayo colleges). Against St Attractas Tubbercurry they got match ups wrong and got well beaten. Geralds have the best pick – they have all of Mitchell’s, all of Breaffy, few good lads from Balla, Ballintubber and Parke – all good minor teams. Rice are 80% Westport minors and they were beaten by Balla in Minor A final. Rice have better coaches though and that’s the difference.

78. Your right Swahili. I believe there are 2 types of coaching. Positive and negative.
    Positive coaching prepares a team to their strengths.
    Negative coaching prepares a team to try and negate the team they are facing.
    A team like Mayo should always be looking to lead the dance.
    There are countless hours of preparation put in to preparing for what THEY might do. Any team with talent should be concerned only with playing their own game.
    Look at the difference in the approach and the outcome in the 2 roscommon games last year. We blew them away playing our game. The same with kerry when we believed in ourselves the 2nd day.
    Jack Nicklaus said “when you find yourself 3 or 4 shots ahead, the only thing in your head should be to get another shot further in front”.
    Hope Mayo don’t spend too much time working on what the opposition might do this year. We have a great team and it should be the opposition doing the donkey work, not us.

79. Great points Reve

80. Excellent post swahili.