It’s a “down” weekend coming up for the men’s football team – though, as Kevin McStay was at pains to point out in his post-match comments last Sunday, this just means they’re not playing a National League match and will instead be working away themselves – but there are other three matches involving teams from the county taking place.
Two of these games are taking place on Saturday. I’ve only got fixture details for one of them at this stage so let’s start with that one.
The U20s are up against Meath in the final of the Leo Murphy Cup. That game is fixed for Kiltoom where throw-in is at 2pm on Saturday.
There’s also a Camogie League Division 3A match against Tyrone listed for that day. It’s a home game but that’s all the information I have on that one as yet.
UPDATE: This match has now been confirmed for Adrian Freeman Park, Tooreen, where throw-in is 2pm on Saturday.
Then on Sunday, it’s the turn of the hurlers. They’re in choppy waters in Division 3A of the National Hurling League, rooted to the foot of the table and winless after three rounds of matches.
That makes Sunday’s meeting with table-toppers Monaghan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park (throw-in 2pm) a real must-win fixture if relegation to hurling’s basement division is to be avoided. With the Farney lads on three wins from three that’s not going to be easy but here’s hoping they can do it.
The best of luck to all three Mayo teams in action this weekend.
My Mayo team
Colm Reape
Jack Coyne David McBrien Enda Hession
Conor Loftus
Paddy Durcan Padraig O’Hora Stephen Coen
Matthew Ruane Diarmuid O’Connor
Jack Carney
James Carr Jordan Flynn
Aidan O’Shea Ryan O’Donoghue
Subs:
Robbie Hennelly, Sam Callinan, Michael Plunkett, Eoghan Mcgloughlin, Bob Tuohy, Fionn McDonagh, Tommy Conroy, Cillian O’Connor, Kevin Mcgloughlin, Jason Doherty, Donnacha McHugh
Brendan Harrison, Paul Towey, Conor McStay, Rory Brickendon, Aidan Orme, Darren McHale, Ethan Gibbons, Frank Irwin, Rory Byrne, Mikey Murray, Bryan Walsh, James McCormack, Connell Dempsey
My Mayo team
Colm Reape
Jack Coyne David McBrien Enda Hession
Conor Loftus-Sweeper
Paddy Durcan Padraig O’Hora Stephen Coen
Matthew Ruane Diarmuid O’Connor
Jack Carney- @11
James Carr Jordan Flynn
Aidan O’Shea Ryan O’Donoghue
Subs:
Robbie Hennelly, Sam Callinan, Michael Plunkett, Eoghan Mcgloughlin, Bob Tuohy, Fionn McDonagh, Tommy Conroy, Cillian O’Connor, Kevin Mcgloughlin, Jason Doherty, Donnacha McHugh
Brendan Harrison, Paul Towey, Conor McStay, Rory Brickendon, Aidan Orme, Darren McHale, Ethan Gibbons, Frank Irwin, Rory Byrne, Mikey Murray, Bryan Walsh, James McCormack, Connell Dempsey
How can anyone leave Cillian O Connor off the team.
@williejoe. It might be a bit out of the blue but just to say thanks for the blog. I can only imagine the amount of work you put in. It’s so handy to check in to see what’s coming up and where and to judge the mood of the supporters whether we agree with each other or not. I don’t believe any other county in the country has anything like the service we have. If there were all stars handed out for the job your cabinet would be full by now. Anyway that’s enough sucking up but take the compliment and keep up the good work
For me Rory Byrne’s the man for the No 1 spot.
Cillian o connor showed us all against the Rossies that he isn’t going anywhere not finished by a long shot ! He is back to pre injury form great to see ! … he should be starting every game just my opinion though .
He reminded us all against the Rossies in case some of us forgot haha
Him Aido & Tommy c & Ryan o D are one of the best forwards in the country.
With Jordan flynn & Jason carr behind etc.. we are in a good place early days but good place.
Think colm reape is the number 1 goalie he did really well agaibst kerry&Tyrone to tough teams would be really unfair to hand it back to hennelly . Don’t think mcstay & co would do that though they seem to be picking a team thats in form and putting in the effort etc rather then a status of a player which is the way it should be tbh.
Clare, Cillian played very well and looks sharp as you said. But I think he should be a sub. Full forward line of Carr Aidan and Tommy with Ryan at 11 is what I’d go for.
Be shocked if Hennelly is not starting come championship. Byrne would be my number 2. Much better under high ball.
I’d say it’s between Hennelly and Reape for no.1 spot.
All 3 have had issues under high ball. But if, as it seems they want a keeper who can play ball if needed, Reape will edge it as he was one of the top scorers outfield in senior club championship not that long ago.
I would totally agree with both GBX1 and onemoreyear
Byrne would be my choice. Both Reape and Hennelly are
Dodgy under the high ball. Colm has not actually had a shot to stop in the Armagh , Kerry, or Tyrone games .Byrnes lockout were outstanding last Sunday. He was given little chance with the two goals conceded. The defence was split wide open.
Have attended a lot of Mayo games and Mayo Club games over the last 6 or seven years, I cant remember
Any issues with Byrne under the high ball.Colm had a problem with Tierneys goal for Galway, first league game and Robbie conceded a bad one for Breaffy in this years Club Quarter final. They are only two that come to mind.But at the end of the day Kevin Mc Stay and his team will hopefully make the correct call for the better of the Mayo team.
Byrne wasn’t at fault for this weekend goals, but felt positioning could have been different.
He’s a fine keeper mind. We lucky to have choices.
Just to echo the post of No doubt to also thank Willie Joe for the sterling work he does for us Mayo supporters. Life would just not be the same without this Green and Red blog – Bravo.:
@GBXI maybe your right cillian would be a great impact sub though strong benches win games.
How often have we seen the likes of Dublin or Kerry bring on guys that crucify us and we are all thinking ugh oh noo when we strong subs cone on in the 2nd half in big games.
It will be interesting how they go about the Donegal game. Donegal are in huge trouble right at the bottom and will do anything to win this one and at home to. Mcstay might not be to worried if we loose to Donegal as we are safe and on the top not saying we will loose but it will be tough.
Byrne is a fine goalie but has a tendency to turn sideways when balls are kicked at him.
Also McBreen has a tendency to slip on a quick turn,fatal in the full back line.
Looking forward to the U20s game on Saturday vs Meath in Kiltoom Roscommon in the Leo Murphy final, should be a good indicator of where this squad is at with a month to championship. Not expecting though full side given Bob Touhy and Sam Callinan still with senior panel and also a few lads on way back from injuries. Meath have been strong underage for the past few years and will present a big test to our lads. I’m expecting a much improved performance from last Saturday’s loss to Donegal.
I can’t pick a forward line atm tbh
Ryan is probably the only nailed on starter.
Carr and Aido are going well. I’d like to give them a run out in Croker and see how they go.
Tommy needs games, and again I’d love to give him a run in croker. I think after Sunday that he might be in the Rossies “heads”. I thought they did a reasonably good job on him, keeping him away from their own goal, but he still left a match winning 1-1 behind him. I still not sure that we know exactly where he’s at. Would’ve had a lot of emotional energy on Sunday, first start in a year, against the Rossies etc.
Cillian made a strong case at the weekend. From what I’ve seen he’ll make much the same impact starting or from the bench. It’s not an easy decision for me.
These are just the considerations on the individual level, the broader tactical and style of play questions are a whole other conversation
Goalkeeper wise, I’ve no idea either. I would though probably like to give Reape a league final. He’s been the guy who put in the performances that got us there, and it’d be his first game in croker I believe.
When and where are Mayo playing Donegal please?
Kiltoom Saturday
ROUND 6: Donegal v MAYO, MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey, Sunday 19th March, 3.45pm
@James+Fleming,
NFL Round 6, Donegal v Mayo, Ballybofey (McCuamhall Pk.) Sunday March 19th at 3.45pm.
@James+Flemming… Tickets will be scarce for Donegal v Mayo I’d say!
Ballybofey, Capacity 17,500 and Field size 145 x 90 m
Makes it similar to Croke and Hyde. 8m wider than McHale.
Bheidh an cluife seo Mhuigeo v Dun Na nGall ar Tg 4 Gaa beo ag 3.30pm.
Diabhal leath ar TG4!
Go raibh maith agat Oilean Acla.
What is the rule for this year with u20s who also play senior.
I think in previous years you couldn’t play both senior and u20.
Where do Sam and Bob stand??
Can they play for both teams??
A lot of stuff going around still on the so called stamp on mattie ruanne from the Rossie player.
Now I know mattie was intentionally holding onto the ball for a long time but it really did look like a stamp from my point of view by the rossie player.
Some Rossies saying that the mayo prople pointing it out need to take a hard luck at ourselves? It was bad from what I saw but I could be wrong but it did look bad.
Anyway hope the guys get a good break this week but we know they will be training away ! And heres to a good (hopefully) Donegal match week in 2 weeks time!
Southmayo Exile – If those 2 play championship with the seniors they won’t be allowed back to the U20s.
I think the first U20 championship match is against Roscommon or Sligo, a few days before the senior championship match vs Roscommon on 9th April.
You can play both u20 and senior this year but you are only permitted to play 1 game in a 7 day period.
is the donegal game definitely on TV ?
@Tommyk21: Yeah.
https://www.tg4.ie/en/irish-tv-schedule/sport-schedule/
“GAA Beo
Sunday, 19th March, 15:30 – LIVE
Live coverage of Donegal v Mayo in the Division 1, Round 6 clash of the Allianz Football League. Presented by Micheál Ó Domhnaill.”
Im jumping the gun here, but if we do get to the league final, is there a chance it could be played the Saturday. i know division 1 and 2 finals are usually
on the Sunday, but with proximity of the championship, might it played the Saturday to give an extra day’s rest i wonder?
Useful info@just a thought. Also we are getting excellent tg4 coverage, even better since they have a couple of extra cameras including great arial shots from behincd the goal, bualadh bos daoibh go leir ar tg4.
You get so many bites at the cherry that we should not be overconcerned with one week break between league final and championship.
Remember after provincial finals and after group stages, 3 of the 4 teams are still ‘in’ only then does it become knockout. Besides we play 2 games in consecutive sundays regularly in the league.
What the focus should be on is Donegal v mayo
And how we fix the problem a moderate Roscommon team exposed.
The CHB is often faced with holding up a big midfielder coming through. Have we a Doni Vaughan’ character in our panel, an athletic, physical type?
Yes we have ontheditch, he’s called Padraig O Hora. That said, I can’t see what Loftus has done wrong. Not sure he’s being played fully as a sweeper as he’s driving up through the middle a lot more than say Tadhg Morley and hitting kick passes. Hard to be both a sweeper and a playmaker coming up through midfield with the ball. It’s more of a collective failing I think with conceding the goals we have this league.
Regarding McBrien, whoever said he slips is talking about 1 game and 1 slip.. I only saw him slip in the Hyde and he recovered very quickly and stopped the point with some help coming in .. the same happened Conor who slipped for one point and to some extent Diarmaid for the 1st Ros goal although he was pushed by Smith which is technically illegal. The Hyde was slippery. I do think though that McBrien has conceded a few unnecessary frees thankfully mostly outside the scoring zone and Jordan does the same sometimes after being robbed or making a mistake. The determination to atone for the error leads to loss of team discipline. This can be worked on but I think McBrien is the natural full back we’ve been waiting years for. Hopefully he irons out any flaws for championship 2023, otherwise I think we’ll see fully how good he is in 2024. I’d be happier with McBrien in there even with one or two flaws than anyone else as he has the speed for the small guys and the strength/ height combination for the big ones. McShane got taken off and it’s no surprise. Clifford resorted to fouling him and did far less when marked by him than anyone else. The further we go this year the more confidence the newbies will gain. Regarding goalie, I don’t know (one of 3 will be dropped off each panel or 26). It will be a very marginal call for all 3. I think Robbie will return as #1 because of his wealth of experience.
I wouldnt argue with OHora as the traditonal CHB who can hold up a bustling midfielder. But you cant have a sweeper occupying a central defensive position. If you are employing a sweeper, then play him at 10 or 12. Loftus as been doing well in tidy up type role but you need a strong backbone. Tadhg Morley is that backbone type player. To me Hession has a type of sweeper type role, he has a licence to make calculated bursts forward and is doing brilliantly at it.
I agree re McBrien. Great find, take the bull by the horns type player and hes not short of pace.
In relato to slipping, the rugby unions are looking into rellationship between not slipping and doing ACLs due to too solid a grip. Bit harsh to judge him or Coyne on basis of rare slip. Coyne an excellent hold up player.
I also agree these pressure games are great for youngsters
We haven’t seen much of Swanee this year so we’ve no idea how he’s going in training etc. So let’s wait and see.
The worry I would have for O’Hora would be his laid back attitude he admits to having as regards prepping for his opposite number before match day. By all accounts this management team are sticklers to detail… maybe Swanee’s approach will not sit well with them.
Personally I always love to see him in there to add that bit of extra steel.
Yeah, who knows 2 hops.
Really like Swanee too but let’s see how management play it. He’s a warrior, and I’d love to see him out there. But like ever player on the panel, he’ll have to play into a specified system. He’s just returning from injury and I bet he’s rearing to go.
It’s all about the team, this is the way Mayo must keep going. Less chaos and emotion! Follow the Dublin template at their peak. Controlled devastation. Gliders on the ball, from defence to attack. Take on your man. One touch football. Pace. Decision making. It’s a simple game really.
If I was a betting man, Swanee will make the starting 15 come high summer. And rightly so.
Well management have till sunday week to fix it. Or Donegal will fix us by exploiting a weakness in a pivotal position. I would give the edge to Durcan in the CHB until we are sure we know whatcwe are getting from fully fit O Hora
Not many mentioning McHugh on their teams,but IMO he is the best man marker we have, a competent ball handler, and has size coupled with loads of pace.
McHugh has come on leaps and bounds. There will be championship games where we can rotate starting 15. It shows the strength in depth we have…. If OHora gets back to his performance level in the club championship he’s a starter imo.
It’s too soon to be rating McHugh so highly or even Coyne or Callinan. These are league games not championship. All 3 are doing well but let’s wait and see. I don’t think management will be put out by what Swanee said in an interview and I don’t think he doesn’t at least do some video analysis just not a over and above as others in the team might do. I reckon if fit he starts the championship team.
The difference between Loftus and others for CHB is the quality of the kick passing. We may or may not want to sacrifice that for a really robust man marker who can also drive the attack or we may ask more off our HF’s to help out.
I think thats a fair enough comment. If it were up to me id be looking for the robust man marker. So many teams click around their number 11
Ontheditch – if some opposition has an excellent 11 then Loftus won’t be marking him. It will probably be Paddy Durcan with Loftus given a free role.
Remember when we played Kerry a few weeks ago. Paudi Clifford started at 11 but Hession was put marking him.
I think performances in the league is one of three main metrics to evaluate a player, the others been previous championship performances and training. Obviously we dont see the lads in training so for my money, McHugh would be in my championship 15 at this point in time. Mt 10 cents!
Ray Dempsey has stepped down as Limerick manager: Ray Dempsey set to step down as Limerick manager https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41090107.html
Shuffly deck, the only kick pass that springs to mind last week was a hospital pass that hung in air allowing Rossies to break and resulted in score for them.
Disappointing things did not work out for Dempsey at Limerick, i thought they would be a good fit. Player`s citing not being happy with his man-management and preparation show`s the massive step up from club management. Hopefully we can see him back managing in the Mayo club championship sooner rather than later.
JKEL88 could also show the difference in attitude between the 4 or 5 teams that could actually win Sam and the other 26 or so contenders.
Limerick could have ended up in division 4 last day the league last year I think, and be playing likes of Leitrim and Waterford. Instead they ended up division 2 v Dublin and Cork.
The level of commitment needed to try and catch up to the top handful Dempsey would be well aware of having been dealing with so Many intercounty players at club in Mayo. That level of commitment and effort may not have been to Limerick players liking ….
I thought when Dempsey took over the Limerick job it was a poor decision by him. Limerick have overachieved big time and put everything into the last few years to get to division 2. They were physically and mentally drained getting to division 2. There was only one way they were going to go this year. Then when they start losing games- players start questioning the manager etc and it spirals from there.
Plus its at least a three hour car journey from Knockmore to Li.erick. not easy and try to hold a day job as well.
Gizmobobs – That could also be the case, however, it is not what the article Willie Joe posted says.
Limerick were 2nd place and guaranteed safety heading into the final round last year
Obviously the whole thing didn’t work out and these things happen. That’s not a sleight on Demspey by the way, some manager/player relationships just aren’t a perfect match, however I wouldn’t be blindly just jumping into his corner either (none of us know the full background here), the players aren’t always the problem – however the only certain thing is that when players do take a stand like this, then the manager’s role becomes untenable
Best of luck to him in his next role, and hopefully his successor can get the best out of Limerick
Ray Dempsey has left his position as Limerick senior football manager after just 5 games in charge!
I see seanie Johnson tips mayo to win Sam this year. He says he loves watching them play
Only handful of teams have the money and resources to win Sam, Mayo ranked highly/highest among that group currently.
So in a very small field Mayo always have a chance.
Our panel maybe not as strong as the team of the past decade was (just yet), but the opposition like Dublin, Kerry, Donegal etc. Are weakened more than we are, so we really are good value for money in betting terms.
I watched highlights last night of a couple of mayo games from late 90/early 00 and the 13 all the 2015 Donegal quarter final. My god they looked unbelievable. O’Shea was majestic and cillian with a hatrick. Donegal players were bamboozled and couldn’t wait for the final whistle. What a joy to watch and nothing to show for it in September.
On a separate note, is there a better footballer in Ireland right now than Matthew Tierney? Skilled, highly conditioned, blistering pace, gliding off the ground. He has it all. Huge threat to any opposition come championship…. who in Mayo could man-mark him?? Possibly Paddy Durcan.
TG they selected McStay and his management ticket. I shudder to think where we might be right now if they hadn’t ?
Why’s that 45? We’ll never know how things could have panned out with any of the other candidates like Ray, Solan etc.
Roscommon lost by 18 points to Tyrone and 22 points to ourselves in the year/year before player dissatisfaction saw McStays tenure come to an end in Roscommon, and McStay isn’t doing to bad so far with Mayo.
Sam Callinan and Bob Tuohy are starting for the U20s today.