Looking resplendent in their commemorative Bloody Sunday Centenary jerseys, Tipperary cut quite the dash at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this afternoon. While their playing gear nodded to a dark event in the GAA’s history, Tipperary’s young braves created their own history today, beating Cork by three points to land their first Munster SFC title since 1935.
I was watching the hurling from Croke Park today while this match was on so I can’t offer much of an opinion on the contest but, by the sounds of it, the Premier County were full value for the win. They got their snouts in front with three quick scores right from the off and that set the tone for the day. The gap was still three points at the finish.
This is an enormous success for Tipperary, as they become the first Munster county since Clare in 1992 to break the Kerry/Cork duopoly within the province. What a smash-and-grab success it was too – with Cork having at last got the Kerry monkey off their backs they may, understandably, have already been looking forward to a first All-Ireland semi-final appearance for close to a decade. If so, Tipperary made them pay today for such daydreaming.
There’s a lesson there for us as we start to countenance a third Championship meeting in five years with the Premier County a fortnight from now. We’ll go into that All-Ireland semi-final clash on 6th December as raging hot favourites to advance to yet another decider and that will suit the Tipp lads down to the ground.
But those are thoughts for another day. Today is a day for Tipperary to celebrate to the full, as they contemplate having captured their first Munster football title in 85 years. Hearty congrats to them on their historic breakthrough provincial success.
Tipp were full value for the win and congrats to them. Cork persisted with their lateral hand passing game and never really drove at Tipp defence. Powter was a huge loss as he would have driven forward at every opportunity. We should be able to get a result but will need to be alert and not take it for granted.
It’s half time in the Donegal game and Cavan are hanging in there. Donegal are not at full pelt so would expect them to find another gear in the second half. Dubs must be already making room for another Celtic Cross on the mantlepiece!
Corks transition from the back was away too slow so it gave Tipperary loads of time to get players behind the ball. Mayo have to learn from that and move the ball a lot quicker!!
We will have it all to do if Tipp can play the way they did today. They were value for their win. Anyways that is discussion for another day. Looking at the Dubs demolition of Meath, they will take some stopping. Looking at the first half of Cavan and Donegal its not great football, and to make it worse the referee is terrible. But then what would you expect from Barry Cassidy. Funnily enough we had a Ulster referee in Connacht final, Munster referee last night in Leinster Final and a Leinster referee in todays Munster final. Could we no have a referee from Connacht for todays Ulster final because Cassidy is screwing Cavan. Some terrible decisions.
Well done to Tipperary, a great result for the Football people in that County. They’ve put huge work into developing Football in the last 15 years, today will go down as a very special day for them.
Tipperary will prove to be very tricky rivals for us in the Semi Final. They have big and powerful players that will cause us issues. Keep in mind we just about beat them in 2016 and 2018, two flukey goals changed them games for us. Also keep in mind, Tipp lost their best defender to an early black card in 2016. Tipperary will firmly believe they can beat us, they feel down there that they owe us a beating, that’s the talk that’s already coming from their support. We are good enough to win, however it’ll be a hell of a battle.
Mayo v Dubs final again
The referee is absolutely shafting cavan here.
Cavan winning in spite of him. I’m livid and I’m not even a cavan fan
What a mental year
And that, my friends, is why kickouts are not everything. Patton bungles a high ball, Cavan rifle it to the net and Donegal may well be gone.
A goalkeeper’s first job is always to look after the house.
Goes to show you how much the so call experts know about football.
Nobody picked Tipp or Cavan.
Beauty of sport
It’s why we love the game
Cavan played half the game with 14 men
Donegal believed their own hype
Madness. Psychic lunacy. This is the year to down the Dubs. Agus go bhfóire Dia orainn sa cluiche leath-ceannais.
I’m absolutely delighted for Cavan. The ref shafted Cavan with those black cards. Donegal massively overhyped similar to last year when we knocked them out. And to echo the previous posters comments, between Payton and Clarke, I know who I want under the high ball!
Didn’t predict Cavan winning but I knew Donegal were ridiculously overrated. Talk of them giving the Dubs a game was just pure silly.
Highly overrated team and have been for the past few years. They really are average.
The same 4 semi finalists from the 1920 all ireland championship. You literally couldn’t make it up. The 2020 championship has been the most exciting one in many years.
Knockout football is the way to go if we want to see some level of excitement in the championship.
That said, I’d still be shocked if Dublin don’t win it this year.
Great day for Cavan and Tipp. One game at a time.. So it’s Mayo v Tipp and its not over till its over.
Tipp will go long with kickouts and will win most of their own kickouts. Gives them a good platform for going forward and they have a decent full forward line capable of giving us plenty of trouble.
Tipp will also outfield us on some of our long kickouts but they don’t seem to contest short kickouts. Instead they get 14 men behind the ball. The constantly forced Cork into slow lateral build up.
Mayo should be too football smart for Tipp and I expect we will win after a battle….
If today’s results arent a HUGE WARNING sign for Mayo, and I mean all of us because the people within a county can dictate the mood, then nothing ever will. Talk of donegal being the team to put it up to the dubs clearly caused them to take their eye off Cavan. Can we also put to bed, league standings.
History now is freakishly in favour of Tipp. But if any county can upset things it’s Mayo.
Focus. Focus. Focus…and absolute hunger to beat Tipperary. C’mon now Mayo. Let’s get the job done.
Well done to Cavan, a great result and fully deserved. Pity the pubs are not open in Cavan and Tipperary tonight, it’d be some session to be at. Regarding Donegal, they must be the most over talked and over hyped team in the country with little or nothing to back it up. They have failed once again to make a Semi Final after being in good positions over the past three seasons. Hopefully Rochford comes back to Mayo and takes up a role at underage level. Would love to see him and Andy Moran over our U20s next year.
Apologies to you Willie Joe for calling your poll silly on Friday night. Apologies also to the 31 per cent who tipped Tipp. Tipp well deserved their victory but mayo should learn from Corks mistakes. Too ponderous, too slow and indecisive and totally lacking leadership. Tipps defence never tested. If Aidan stays at the edge of the square we will surely get results. Now Willie Joe will you have a poll on Dublin/ Cavan? Wasn’t it a great day?
Both Cork and Donegal believe in their own hype. I think we do well not falling into the same trap. Mayo will need to bring A game. Tipp midfield look good. Is this a game better suited for Parsons?
Where will the semi finals be played? I’d guess Mayo v Tipperary will be in the Gaelic Grounds while I won’t be surprised if the other semi final is played in Croke Park.
Fair play Michael in Cork, not easy to admit to being wrong.
And yes, if we take Tipp lightly then we will end up with egg on our faces, they are a serious side and they won’t fear us.
Semifinals will be in Croke Park I expect. Gaelic grounds is Munster.Not acceptable. Tipp could well beat us.
I would take nothing for granted in that game. Strong midfield good forwards
Is Donegal now a hurling county and Tipp a footballing county?!
You are going nowhere with a keeper who can’t be trusted under a high ball
I said that last year about Patten and I’ll say it again
All the kickouts in the world won’t get them back into the championship this year or last year .
We will appreciate Clarke when he is gone more than when we have him
Km79 I 100% agree with you.
All the talk about kick outs, but when patten had to deal with a high ball he made a mess of it.
The game would probably have gone to extra time due to that blunder.
Donegal has to go for broke after that.
Not taking anything away from Cavan, they played with some heart.
That Galligan is one of the best players in the country.
Today was a great wake up call for Mayo and all the Hype machine.
OMG Same old few getting in early and getting digs in on Goalkeeper. Maybe sensing change??? Who ever Horan picks will be right choice. I’m only afraid of not being able to get out of own half if Tipp do a high press on Clarke kickouts. Anyway, I don’t mean this to be a grenade post but I’ve completely apposite view to those on picking Clarke. Also remember Derry in qualifiers. He wasn’t that good that day.
Every year Donegal get talked up and every year they fail to deliver. How long are we hearing now that this team is going to come good and challenge for All Irelands and it hasn’t happened yet? I’d say questions will be asked of the management team. They were very poor and some of their tackling was dangerous throughout the game. They also looked complacent – one eye on a semifinal.
Tipp full value for their win too. A strong midfield performance from them and this is an area where we’ve been suffering a lot lately. Their forward line quite potent too – a couple of players there capable of pulling out bits of magic when needs be. They’ve given us plenty of trouble in the past and I expect another big game from them. They only thing I’d say we might have to our advantage is that they looked like they were huffing and puffing long before the end. We might have an edge fitness-wise?
@Way Out West, you’re right! Just got a text from a tipp lad and they are buzzing. Cant wait to have a crack at Mayo, he said. People need to remember, the people who support tipp football are also tipp hurling fans. They are used to All Irelands and Croke Park etc. They are used to winning. They 100% see themselves as bigger than us.
Horan needs to have a plan for midfield and when in possession we must move the ball at pace into attack. We also need to be tight at the back cos if you give the Tipp forwards space theyll score.
I know some here felt we were always gonna win down in Thurles a few years ago in the backdoor but I certainly didnt and I still maintain, that Durcans fluke goal (he was going for a point) completely changed the momentum.
Tipp have shown now from our recent championship encounters that they must be respected. They are dangerous. Also, we have lots of new players. It’s important they are mentally prepared.
No need to apologise, Michaelincork! I thought the 31% who went for Tipp were wrong too and I fancied Donegal to win as well. I don’t think I’ll be doing a poll on the Dublin/Cavan game as I’ll have one running on our game against Tipp. Who to tip in that one?!
I think in our match with Tipp it’s one for Aido at midfield to put smacht on O’Riordan, giving him a proper introduction to intercounty football. He was brilliant today and it will be no easy task marking him.
We need to terrorise their back line with constant hard running.
Paddy durcan on Quinlivan. Oisin on Sweeney.
I’m delighted for Tipp and Cavan. It is a great lift for those counties and it goes to show why heart and passion matter so much.
As to our match with Tipp – we are well capable of beating them but they too are capable of beating us. They have some great players. Casey and Riordan around the middle are a handful for anyone, Quinlivan and Sweeney are top class forwards as is the wiley Fox. Meagher and Fahey showed today what tough defenders they are. We need to remember a lot of these lads have won at U21 and Minor so they are no flash in the pan. They can play football.
They will seek to win their own kickout and seriously pressure ours. We are a bit vulnerable here and this needs serious attention or we could suffer.
All that said we are capable of playing great football at times and if we bring our A game we will win.
As for Cavan v Dublin…………a lot of Cavan supporters might end up watching this from behind the couch!
We could do with borrowing three Tipp players for the final,we a far better over all team but certainly their midfielder and two towards are better than anything we have
Tipp won’t be able to cope with our intensity levels , I expect our bucks to have a comfortable enough semi final victory , 5/6 points win.
Dublin now 1 to 5 for the AI and 1 to 100 to beat Cavan. Mayo only team given any sort of chance of stopping them and as far as odds goes that is also deemed a long shot.
Great to see two counties win today where a provincial title means so much. Shame for the supporters they couldn’t be there today and enjoy the craic tonight..those wins today are very special for the people of the counties involved.
Mayonaze 100% correct.
On that game in Thurles.
Dont know if Paddy fluked it and I dont care but I know it was a tight game and at 1 point when they had us on the back foot they got through on goal and blasted over.
I think it would have put them 4 up at the time.
Also remember how difficult 2016 was until OShea goal.
This is far from a given. We are young and inexperienced also.
Hoping we will do it and we can and should but lose focus and we could be scratching our heads like Michael Murphy tonight.
Said it after the Kerry game, but It was Tipp who fancied themselves, and backed themselves.
I thought it looked like a div 3 game – lacked pace and quick transition. That of course will mean nothing on 6th December. Cork were bad against Kerry and got lucky.
And Cavan? Delighted for them. One of my favourite footballing counties. Didn’t quite see it coming until after the second water break, and their second black. McKiernan and Galligan ( both) outstanding. Donegal more cautious!! So were we last week, but Galway were even more so.
History repeating. 1920 provincial winners were Tipperary ,Cavan,Dublin and Mayo. Tipp beat us in the semi and the Dubs in final.
I am referring specifically to Patten as I think he is very overrated based on the fact his kickouts look nice !
He can’t deal with a high ball. He has for the second year got his team knocked out of the championship as he can’t catch a high ball
That problem won’t go away and imo will haunt them year after year …….he can’t take kickouts from his sofa when the AI semis and final are on every year
I think for all football fans (outside of cork and Donegal) today were heartened to see the sheer joy of seeing the underdog getting over the line. The historical significance of the same provincial champions being the same as 1920 considering all that happened this weekend 100 yeas ago this weekend is eerily thought provoking. I was particularly happy to see Tipp in that beautiful jersey triumph today. I backed Tipp to win on the poll the other night as I am acutely aware that they have top class forwards and they will trouble any team that don’t take them seriously. The cork backs were very forgiving today IMO and the Tipp l ads won’t have as much time on the ball with the grizzly mayo backs snarling at them, mind you I think they will give ye plenty of it but the lack of experience will end their year.
It will be a Mayo dublin final and I pray with all me heart that ye too end that God damn famine for once and all but that’s for another day to dream.
Up Tipp and up Cavan this day of days,,
What a day of football lads. Glorious scenes in Cork and armagh. Cavan wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Each and every county player that is togging in this championship is a credit to themselves.
The championship has lifted the country
Watching all the upsets has me dreaming now of what if. It’s a mental year. Anything can happen in a one off game
Belief backed up with hunger and not to mention Skill makes any Team dangerous. Tipperary and Cavan thoroughly deserved their wins today.
Mayo have to start planning for a Full on Battle against the Premier now. Thankfully we have 2 weeks to prepare.
We cannot take Tipperary for granted. Donegal and Cork fell into those traps Today.
Tipperary are Dangerous. Look at their Midfield they could clean us out in 2 weeks. They move the ball quickly and have big mobile forwards who will take close watching. I think JH will have to restructure our Midfield for Tipperary either move Aidan to MF or if fit play Tom Parsons or Jordan Flynn along with Matthew Ruane.
I think Mayo will beat Tipperary but it will be a serious challenge and maybe a game that could really sharpen us up to have a right slash at the Dubs.
Cluxton sets the goalkeeping standard, I’ll say no more…
Got back to see the last 25 of Donegal Cavan and thought Cavan were much the hungrier team. When they got back to 1 behind for the water break the omens were very strong for a Cavan win. Let’s be honest the goal was a fluke, the free in was possibly going for a point from a low % position. That said I think Cavan were going to win regardless. They saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Fear for them in semi but well done today, very deserved the way they ended the game. 6 weeks football in a row for both teams definitely contributed to Donegal being flat but they didn’t dig deep like Cavan did.
Mad to think I’d have bitten your hand off for Tipp this morning, yet by the 70th minute I was hoping cork might fluke a late winning goal as based on today Tipp are going to be a far more difficult prospect than this Cork side
I’d go as far as saying I’m struggling to recall a county team as toothless up front and as clueless in possession overall as Cork were today . Tipp perhaps should have won by 8 plus, but for some reason started to panic in the 2nd half when under little pressure and gave cork plenty chances to get back in it..the big question is will they have learned from that by the semi?
I always maintain any team with good forwards always have a fighting chance. Tipp know they’ve nothing to fear in Mayo either so we can’t really rely on intangibles like “auras” or things like that (compared to say 2016 when we were a much better side than now). We’re going to have to go out and win this the old fashioned way, but daft shot selection and wayward kickouts like we saw against galway probably won’t cut it
Now all things being equal we’ll probably eke it out but if Dublin don’t win the all Ireland from here by an aggregate of over 20 points I’d be pleasantly surprised
2020 and some things never change – why do I get a sense of deja vu with Donegal? Talked up to the nines yet Tipperary have now made two semis since Donegal last appeared in one…
This year just gets more nuts as the days go on. Delighted for Cavan and Tipp, Cassidy done all he could to help Donegal, but thankfully to no avail. Patton brutally exposed again, just doesnt seem to have the stomach for the rough and tumble. Looks very much a soccer player.
Our sole focus now needs to be on Tipp, they have serious firepower and size in the middle. This could be very tricky. Hope the lads keep the heads down now for 2 weeks and focus focus focus on a gameplan for Tipp.
A crazy day of sport, I’m delighted for Cavan especially. They’re a football mad county who have been starved of success. When I worked in Dublin there was a big number of Cavan people in the office and every one of them were interested in Gaelic football. Very like mayo in many ways!
On a side note, with Donegal crashing out it seems unlikely that Peadar Mogan will win young footballer of the year. The bookies now have it as a 3 way race between Oisín Mullin, Eoghan McLaughlin and Tommy Conroy.
Maybe deep down Donegal are damn glad they’re avoiding utter humiliation at the hands of Dublin on the big stage of a semi final. In any event, today showed they lacked a lot of heart. They also lack the talent, plain and simple. I hope now that the media etc desist from constantly talking them up. Today was coming for them, that’s for sure.
I definitely subscribe to the view that they’re talked up just so there’s some degree of competitive conversation given Dubs dominance. The kibosh has well and truly been put on that after today’s and yesterday’s matches.
Lookit…all Dublin have to do now is beat a division 3 team and a division 2 team. It’s been great to see new winners. Always felt the qualifiers gave unfair advantage to div 1 teams. Feel that div 1 should not ever get second chance… it’s only fair to the others.
Tipp could easily beat us but I hope not. Then again I’ve no great enthusiasm for a beating at the hands of the magnificent Dub machine again either. Oh what to wear!!
Congrats to Tipperary and Cavan, two huge results that will do a lot for football in those Counties. Sadly for Cavan, I’d say this is as good as it will get, Dublin will beat them by how ever much they want in the Semi Final, they’ll gut them in the opening 15 minutes. The open spaces of Croke Park will not suit them against the Dubs. Still though, an Ulster Title can be considered a great season for them, it’s mad to think they’ll be a Division 3 team next year, it goes to show that the league counts for very little, it only becomes a problem if you stagnate in a lower division, that’s why Mayo must target promition next year, one year in Division 2 is fine, two seasons starts to lead to bigger problems down the line, look at Galway from 2011 -2017. We don’t want to end up like that.
Regarding Tipperary, they will cause us huge problems, unless we sort out midfield they’ll clean us out there. They have big and powerful players who will not fear going up against what they see as a ‘weak’ Mayo team. They are fully confident they can get a win, back in the mid 2000’s, they drew up a plan to develop football within the County. One of the aims of this plan was to win a Senior All Ireland by 2020, guess what year it is! Their manager Power also won the Minor All Ireland with them in 2011, he fully believes in this group. They ran us very close in 2016 and 2018, two lucky goals got us over the line in those games. Mayo need to be fully tuned in and focused for this game, anything less will result in a Tipperary V Dublin Final. There is a huge chance here to reach another final, however it can be very easy to fall into the trap that Cork and Donegal fell into today, i.e. believing all the hype that they only had to turn up. Mayo can win this, but if we underestimate Tipperary we are in big trouble. Focus and drive are the key for the next two weeks.
What a great day of football today was emotion,Passion and skill in abundance
A few points I’d like to make after reading comments in this blog and while every comment is valid and I accept everyone’s opinion can we please please relax with the negativity we are in an all Ireland semi final and will be favourites to make an all Ireland final what’s the cause for being negative in such downbeat times be positive that we are even here in the first place
In terms of Tipperary I believe we might struggle around the midfield with the powerful ball catchers and runners they have there so I think maybe Tom p and Ruane midfield with o Shea moving between FF and midfield depending on the time of play
With regards to Dublin yes they are the best team in Ireland and yes they are ahead of the pack as of now but can we stop writing off our chances before we even start the engine towards Dublin for the Tipperary game what are we going to win with the attitude that”I don’t know if we would want to get humiliated by Dublin”it’s better to get the chance to be in croke park a chance that some counties would die for this evening
Dublin looked superb against Meath but isn’t it easy when you’ve the amount of talent you have to look good especially when your opponents decide that it’s not a day to mark their men!!
Mayo ABU!!
– What an historic day for Tipp in particular and Cavan. Both totally deserved their wins and may they and their supporters enjoy it to the full.
– Why are some posters on here continually going back to the past and trying to rewrite history by stating we bet X because we got one lucky goal or the team we played were dire or we lost to Y because of a referee’s decision. It’s a pointless exercise repeating the same thing time and time again.
– Horan will have Mayo ready for Tipp there is no doubt about that as he and the Mayo team will be focussed on Tipp and not looking back over their shoulder.
-Let the battle of the big blue monster and the small blue monster take care of itself, will be of no relevance to us until we/if get to the final.
-BTW Meath were absolutely dire….
Cork lacked leaders and a plan, Tipp had players who stepped up, Sweeney is class but I think that Chris is well matched. We will bring more pace than Cork, but cannot afford to have Tipp build up a lead. It will be another tight game but heartiest congratulations to them this evening.
Similarly to Cavan, Graham has done a great job with them, they showed great heart, and have some fine player’s. Donegal were so disappointing, but Cavan recognised this and pushed hard to deservedly win. Obviously Cavan have a huge challenge in two weeks time. They need to recharge given they have had 6 week’s in a row, will be game versus Dublin but will do well to keep it to 10 or less.
Would play 4 across the middle for the rest of the championship. Whatever we want to do v Dubs if we get through, needs to be road tested v Tipp.
Roll the dice on Higgins and get Keegan out the field. Horsepower is going to be needed around the middle versus the Dubs.
Team i would go with:
Clarke
Higgins
Barret
Mullins
Coen(deep sweeper)
Mclaughlin
Keegan
K Mclaughlin
AOS
Ruane
DOC
Durcan
COC
Carr
Conroy
Come up with a system for long kick outs who is it going to and who is going to be waiting on the ground. This stuff needs to be off to a tee
Cenrefield, I get what you mean by road testing BUT we all saw how it fared out for Kerry…they were trying to use a more defensive system v Cork, with latter stages of championship in mind and it backfired. By now, a team should know its strengths and be cohesive etc. In many respects Mayo are a new project…due to the injection of so many rookies. We dont know what to expect.
Anyway, trying something new can be risky.
Mayo now just need to think, how do we beat Tipp? Nothing else matters. If I were a Mayo player I wouldn’t even tune in to the game on the Saturday. Absolute tunnel vision now, tipp being the target. We seriously need to ‘up the performance’ from our showing in Salthill last week. It wasnt very good.
I think it’s well that we have two weeks to think about Tipp while getting Cork out of our heads. Because we will need to think about Tipp who have some excellent players in their line up. Are there two better forwards than Sweeney and Quinliven in the country? I cannot see them if there are.
Meantime I will enjoy asking my Rossie neighbour who was so upbeat a few weeks ago about league promotion how he sees it now with relegated Cavan as Ulster Champs. Not to mention relegated Mayo. I haven’t seen him since the Hyde, I’m told he was self isolating and that that had nothing to do with Covid.
@Croaghan, yes I heard of that plan and you’re right about Tipp…theyve actually been impressive underage.. reached 4 Munster Minor finals in a row between 2011-15, winning two and going on to win an All Ireland in one of those years and lose another final in 2015 as well as losing the u21 All Ireland by a point to Tyrone in 2015 (beating a cormac Costello lead Dublin side in the semi final). So relatively speaking, Tipp had huge success during that period and it’s why they are now in their second senior All Ireland Semi Final in 4 seasons. So these lads are well used to provincial honours AND well used to Croke Park.
Mayo will need a big performance..a proper performance.
Fair play to Tipperary and Cavan. Their provincial wins are great for the game of Gaelic football regardless of where Sam Maguire ends up in a few weeks. We should beat Tipperary. They looked good today and were full value for their win but Cork were shocking and played into their hands. Tipp narrowly avoided relegation from division 3 and needed extra-time to overcome Limerick in the previous round. If kerry had been in that final today I think Tipp wouldn’t have been able to live with them and we’d be looking at this through a very different lens. We should absolutely not take them for granted and prepare like as if were about to take on Kerry but we should also approach this game with confidence combined with a steely determination to get another crack at an all-ireland. We should look forward to this as a great chance – not fear it. Tipp bridged an 85 year gap today and I salute them. It’s time now for Mayo to write our own history and make up for lost time also.
I think we need to get ready now Mayonaze. There is opportunity this year it may be remote given how the blue juggernaut is going. I’m not suggesting playing anyone where they haven’t played before or play extremely defensive (Coen has played sweeper against Galway). As i see it the only hope against Dublin is to stop conceding goals (1max)by whatever means necessary and playing with an extreme level of intensity around the middle that means all your best ball winners have to be out there and needs to start trialling that next game.
Well said Liamontherunsince51
Centerfield that is what we need to avoid at all cost. Our only game is against Tipp. Any thoughts to a match against the Dubs is pie in the sky unless we beat Tipp.
Great post Liamontherunsince51
Really hope James carr is let loose in croke park
Centre field Higgins is way past it and has been for few years. Tipp would love it if he started. The attitude in knock out football should be to rip into everything. Leave it all on the field.
As always a lot of talk about kickouts. But fir me turnovers are an absolute killer. We gave away a lot of ball against galway and I’m hoping 3 weeks rest and prep will sort that. Aiden to midfield for me but it wont happen.
Delighted for Tipp and Cavan. Michael Quinlivan, Conor Sweeney, Colin O’Riordan & goalie Evan Comerford were excellent. An emotional interview with Colin afterwards – just shows what it meant to him. We had good battles with Tipperary the last two times we met them. Great too for Cavan. On another note I am after reading an excellent open letter by former Westmeath player John Connellan re his concerns about football – could you please share it here Willie Joe. It is well worth a read.
Justoutsideballagh any thoughts of beating Dublin is pie in the sky if we don’t setup the team the next day the way we intend to play against Dublin or pretty close to it
Most enjoyable days football for manies the long day. Brilliant for both counties.
In all fairness the 4 AI semi finalists all got here playing football on the front foot. Great to see positive open football getting it’s due rewards.
Our semi with Tipp should be some spectacle. 2 teams playing free flowing, flag raising football.
I believe we have enough to win this on the scoreboard playing open positive football. Tipp have players that no matter what way we set up, are going to be putting the ball over the bar.
I hope we don’t spend too much time working out ways on how to negate Quinlivan and Sweeney and the likes. We have oodles of talent going forward ourselves and need to concentrate on keeping our own scoring total rolling up on the scoreboard.
Congratulations to both Cavan and Tipperary, deserved winners both of them… Exciting games, with the result in doubt until virtually the final whistle… What a difference to last night’s virtual procession?…. The Ref certainly didn’t give Cavan anything soft… But I really taught that Michael Murphy, no doubt legend of the game wasn’t at the races at all today…Got on very little ball in advanced positions…It would raise a few eyebrows and draw plenty of criticism in Donegal, but I taught he should have been replaced before half time.
Taking on Tipp in a shoot out is frankly insanity Revellino. They have 3 hammers in quinlivan, sweeney and o’riordan. Hammer the hammers and we will win
Michaelincork. Your a fair man for coming on this evening. I was hoping the games might go the way they did but that was in my heart. My head was telling me otherwise.
I have to say. I was against football going ahead this year with the virus and the risks and everything. How wrong I was.
I must say. This year’s championship has been a revelation. I give the gaa plenty of stick and often enough too. The gaa and the different counties have done a wonderful job and for me anyway, we are seeing one of the best championships in years.
Well done to all.
This is a new Mayo team in all fairness, the only focus should be Tipp. Cannot understand people talking about implementing a strategy for Dublin! Have ye not been watching the championship? Cavan wer 8/1 to win today! Cork something similar against Kerry. Tipp could clean up on forward marks, definetly a big height advantage in their forward line.
Also, why would anyone implement a new system in a semi final??…all your doing is giving Dublin 2 weeks to figure away around this system!
@our time has come. You might be right. I just feel these Tipp players are going to get their scores no matter how we set up. I feel we have to have confidence in our own firepower.
We saw what happened to Kerry by not going at Cork and I would hate us to exit the championship by being negative.
Revellino. I will give up buying the local rag down here. I admit to being brainwashed. I am truly delighted that we are not playing the Rebels on 6th December . The football on TV today was so entertaining. Pity about the hurling. Let’s hope we score more against Tipp than we did 100 years ago. Up Mayo
Not trying to jump the gun here with tipp. My thoughts are still the same whether tipp or mayo win the semi. Giving Dublin home advantage in current climate is now even more an unjust advantage. The argument for capacity not an issue. All Ireland final should be in Páirc Uí Chaoimh to guarantee a neutral venue.
I think there is too much focus on whether we should be preparing for Tipp or have an eye to the Dublin match. The reality is that any team should be focused on improving their own play. See what Dublin do! Certainly, you have to think about the opposition and take their particular threats seriously. But this mainly has to do with matchups. Much more than this and you run the risk of screwing up your own game.
I’m all for showing respect to the opposition and being wary of them. Tipp will fancy themselves against us no doubt and we will have to be wide awake.
But for all the talk about Sweeney,Quinlivan and co let us not forget some of the talent we have. AOS,Paddy,Lee, Chrissie Barrett, Diarmuid, Kevin Mc, Tommy Conroy, Eoghan Mc and a fella by the name of Cillian who I saw earlier is the top scorer in this year’s championship so far.
Every single person in Mayo bar none would have taken an AI semi final against Tipp.
Let’s embrace it,back ourselves and get the job done.
I agree diehard. it’s absolutely ridiculous to have it up there. i would have gone with Tullamore for semis and finals modern ground/central location
Quinlivan and Sweeney contributed 0-12 of Tipps overall 0-17 today.
James Horan will be already thinking of his match ups.
I think we’ve a few wind-up merchants tonight suggesting we trial a system to beat Dublin in the Tipp match. Give it over, please.
The reality is we nearly got beaten in our last match by an average Galway team, and indeed should have only for a bit of luck towards the end. We’re not looking beyond Tipp that’s for sure. They’ve got everyone’s attention and respect today.
Quinlivan is 27 and in the prime of life footballing wise, similar with Sweeney at 30, their able and inspirational captain and spiritual leader. O’Riordan is a player who could also really hurt us. He’s a professional athlete who has been away from gaelic for 5 years and slotted in there today as seamless as anything. Every chance they could end our season in 2 weeks time. We’ve recently been dumped into Div 2 and have a rake of new players, totally untested in Croker. Positives for us are the experience we have on the team and the likelihood that the expanse of Croker will suit us. It will also suit Tipp as their crafty forwards will have ample space.
Must offer congratulations to Cavan & Tipperary. Brillant performances by both. Hopefully, Tipperary will give up on any silly thoughts soon of going any further this year!!!.
On a serious note, very worried on our options at the back – other that the six that normally start. Who else has got game time that can be thrown in and relied on – Higgins, Plunkett? Is that it. Who else?
Really need a player like Boyle available. Someone who can hit hard. Do the right thing. But can we conclude his powers have disappeared this year and he is in no shape to offer anything? If not, why have we not seen him so far?
I still think we haven’t seen the last of Padraig O’Hora this year. All depends on form in training I’d imagine. He’d be my first sub in, if not a starter.
Fair play to Tipp lived there for a few years. I know Evan Comerford personally, sound lad and well deserved. Recall him saying back in about 2016 how much he’d love to get a Munster title m. Now he has got it,fair play to the lad, but we have our mission. To bring sam home. Dubs look unstoppable though in fairness, have to admit but we are mayo. Lets go full tilt.
To be fair to everyone we were in bonus territory according to most but now we are in big trouble again, I personally don’t buy this! If we beat Tipp which we should and will imo then if we are struggling to believe that we can and will, surely we wouldn’t want to play the Dubs anytime and especially not in an All Ireland final. I think we need to realise Mayo no longer fear anyone and James Horan loves the so called impossible ie the latest version of the Dubs, but more imminent the Tipp match. If Mayo play well we win regardless of any major tactics, Horan teams made for Croke park as we all know and have all witnessed so it is there for us but if we are this negative then Tipp would be doing us a favour according to some. We are the number 2 team in the country for a decade who are now in transition and we will be competitive against anyone including the Dubs so bring it on!!
James Horan plays to his own style and system. There’ll be no “preparing for Dublin” or fiddling about with different set-up for different opposition. Horan believes in a certain style of play and it’s clear that he is trying to get the team to play in that style, which is the same thing we’ve seen for the last decade. I think the game against Tipp will be open and mistaken-strewn and possibly fairly high scoring, as I think both teams might really go for it. Could be very entertaining.
Liberal role in the tie
Galway are a div 1 team.
Tipp are a mid div 3 team who beat the div 3 champions (who were terrible today) and Limerick the div 4 champions to get into the semi.
management should have one eye on Dublin we have zero chance in the championship if they don’t
@ Liberal role in the tie. Exactly your 11:43pm post hits the nail on its head.
I’d be a bit wary of Tipp and a lot depends on midfield. Get enough ball winners and moppers in the middle zone and we can win with probably more talent in our panel, albeit they have 2 of the game’s best forwards. The main threat from Tipp is their confidence which today is very high for a lower division team. Get an early lead would definitely help us. Keep them more on the back foot which forces more mistakes.
liberal role in the tie
I would agree, think we could see O’Hora before year is out.Would worry about Stephen Coen’s pace in Croke Park.He was roasted by Stephen O’Brien in Killarney last year.
suggest we ban any discussion on Dublin
Yes, Coen’s pace or lack of it is his achilles heel. He ticks every other box.
Changing the subject….Stephen Rochford…
I wonder would his fellow Crossmolina man, Liam Moffatt approach him about the Mayo u20 situation. Rochford is too good not to have involved in the Mayo set up. The experience he has gained over the 5 years is immense.
Look at the effect Jack O’Connor had on the Kerry minors when he went back to manage at underage after such a successful time as the county’s senior manager.
Stephen’s talents should be used to the benefit of Mayo.
Could easily see Rochy taking over Donegal as manager. Hope not and hope he returns to Mayo in some capacity.
Rochford u-20 manager with Andy Moran selector would be a great appointment. Andy probably has the raw ability to be a good coach/manager but working under a great coach like Rochford would hone his skills and bring him on a lot.
Can’t believe fellas are still quoting league form here in their assessments of upcoming championship matches, quite honestly. If the 2020 season has shown us anything, it’s that league form counts for little when there’s a knockout championship format in play.
Mayo got relegated from division one having only beaten a poor Meath side and a Galway side who clearly had one eye on the upcoming championship tie with us. Mayo will be playing division two football next spring but defeated both Roscommon and Galway in the Connacht championship, who will both be playing in the top flight.
Division three Cork upset Kerry, were then thought of as raging hot favourites for Munster but were beaten by division three Tipp, who finished in fifth place relative to Cork’s first during the league.
In Ulster, Cavan finished in sixth place in division two but managed to upset division one Monaghan and division one Donegal, who many people were tipping to put it up to the Dubs.
There could hardly be a worse indicator for future championship results this year.
Can’t see Rochford going for the under 20’s having managed at Inter County level to be honest.
Will the knives be out for Rochford now in Donegal? For the second year in a row they were seen as all Ireland contenders but failed to make the semi finals, not physical enough either year.
It means nothing to me, spot on there. How can anyone even think of looking past Tipperary. Donegal and Cork thought they only had to show up, look at them now. To much emphasis is placed on the league, over exuberance when we won it…..led to us falling straight into a Roscommon trap. Too much doom and gloom then when relegated. The answer is always somewhere in the middle.
Lets just stick to one game at a time, its served us well so far. People need to remember we are only ever 1 positive covid test away from either having forfeit or send out an u20 team. Same for all Counties. One day and one game at a time. As someone said above, any talk of Dublin should be banned until a time where it is clear we are playing them.
Hard to see Rochy coming back to Mayo anytime soon. I think Galway missed the biggest trick ever not giving him the job, I beileve he interviewed for it. Granted, its too early to judge PJ, but I feel they backed the wrong horse.
We don`t need to be scared but we do need to be wary of Tipp and give them the respect. They won the
first half of both games (croker and semple.) Conor o Shea got us out of jail with a volley and James Durcan
scored a lucky one from a crossfield ball. Neither game was comfortable. The tipp crowd were singing Slieve
na Mban at half time in that home game. (lovely people) They were that confident. It was a lovely day but I
did`nt enjoy that match at all.
What an unbelievable number of comments on a weekend that Mayo were not even playing.
Its great stuff and keeps us rightly distracted at a time it is sorely needed.
Well done Willie Joe and team.
How can Mayo mark Sweeney, Quinlivan and O Riardon , that’s the big question.
Barret, Coen, Durcan
The problem here is simple, too many people obsessed with the opposition, how do we stop this guy and that guy, what are the best matchups, ye are totally focused on the opposition, this is exactly what cost Mayo an All Ireland in 2016 and 2017.
I say to James Horan, let the guys play their own games and focus on what we ourselves will do.
If Mayo make it past Tipp, I reckon they will, then v the Dubs its every man for himself, all out attack, so sitting back, no relying on sweepers, this plays into the opposition hands.
Sure what better motivation is their for the seasoned Mayo guys that to meet the old enemy in the final, assisted by the new young runners.
Tipp stand in the way.
I think Tipp won because their work rate was super. Yes they have very good footballers.
They wont have a higher work rate than Mayo .
I’m never too confident about Mayo . I thought Galway would beat us narrowly but feel we have a squad that can beat Tipp . Semifinal is for winning, doesn’t have to be fantastic ( like Galway match) . Just get it done.
Tipp have a lot of pace and caused us big problems when we allowed them to run at us in 2016 and 2018. This is why our midfield is a bit of a worry as we haven’t dominated there as in previous years.
There needs to be huge work rate from our forwards in hassling the Tipp backs and not letting them out easy. In fairness, this has been one of the more positive parts of our game in the last two matches.
While it is a great achievement for Tipp to win Munster and we recognize that they have certain weapons that can hurt us, let’s not turn them in to world beaters. Had Limerick, a division 4 team, not missed a sitter of a goal they would have taken Tipp out earlier in Munster, plus, Tipp have only played division 3 teams to get this far so they will have to step it up a level or two to beat Mayo.
Cork had 40 attacking chances yesterday, FORTY! That’s a chance every two minutes! Between wild shooting, balls carrying out over the end line and poor skills execution they went a long way to beating themselves. If we get that type of leeway we are going to take 22 to 25 scores and won’t be caught. I counted 6 or 7 Tipp points from play where there wasn’t a Cork man within touching distance of the Tipp shooter and they had that extra 2 or 3 secs on the ball to shoot, or decide what they are going to do with it. There was very little pressure on the shooter, or the man in possession. They are not going to get that time on the ball against us.
I am not being dismissive of Tipp but to judge yesterdays game in a proper light you have to take the opposition into account, the level of intensity and the level of skills execution, done at pace, into account also. All of these will be significantly higher when they meet us.
Congrats to Cavan and Tipp.
On Tipp
– Definitely have the forwards and size to cause Mayo real problems.
– If they can score 0-17 points again in the semi they will put it up to Mayo
-Fitness may be an issue for them. Lot of lads out on their feet in last 10-15min. Our S&C work seems top notch.
-Their forwards dont do the same donkey work ours do, so, I would expect lots of run from Mullen, McLoughlin etc
-Bigger pitch and good good surface in CP should suit players like Conroy, O’Donoghue, Walsh and Moran
Pebblesmeller I remember Mayo almost being beaten by London and getting through to the AIF… anything is possible in this game and we must be 100% focused. Tipp are a strong and confident team and, no more than ourselves, they see their chance here. I simply hope we give them the same respect we’d give Cork or Donegal or Dublin.
Congrats to Tipp and Cavan… amazing passion and self-belief. Maigheo le do thoil…
Good stuff Pebbles. That match yesterday was a division thee clash, and looked every inch of it. Your stat on Cork is telling. What were they doing? They were terrible against Kerry, who really did play all the football, but were caught by a sucker punch. Fair play to Cork that day, and to Tipp yesterday.
That said, every match is a new situation, and Tipp will feel they have a lot of plusses going to Croker. We have quite a few issues to get right based on all the matches we have played:
* Midfield – it’s not all about fielding, but if we are not fielding we should be picking up the breaks. We should be ravenous – we were against Galway in the league and against the Rossies. Big fall off in the CF.
* Closing out a game: Our last 10 minutes in every game bar Tyrone have been poor. Even against Tyrone, with a big wind and momentum, and our Div 1 status on the line, we tailed off in injury time.
* The FF line. With O’Shea inside and a good service, I think this line is very effective, but not if he wanders out. Yes, he should if we are in real trouble, but otherwise his marker dragging him out should be tracked by a half forward, as Jason or Diarmuid did for Andy Moran
* Forwards still need to ‘work’ harder. Think Jason Doc. and Cillian. They set the template.
It was a great weekend of intercounty football.
You can’t beat the do or die championship game.
“We are a knockout people at heart” – Mick O’Dwyer.
One of the great benefits of this covid championship is that the oul bullshitters promoting their nonsense B championship and even C championship are very quiet this morning. Tipp and Cavan wouldn’t even be playing in the Sam Maguire cup if some of these clowns had their way.
Cracking results for Tipp and Cavan. The sheer delight that they showed and the emotion in the interviews was a joy to watch. Such a pity that there weren’t massive crowds there and waiting in their home counties to welcome them home. Really, knockout football is so much better. There is a real case for running the league at a leisurely pace of 4 games in February and March, clubs May, June and July, then knockout (result on the day) championship with the last 3 league games in August, September & October. Closed season November, December & January.
But then, all 3 of my predictions for this weekend were duds, so what would I know.
I’ll get my coat…..
I just hope neither Cavan nor Tipp ending up giving a walk over due to covid based on the celebration videos. Can’t say I blame them, something that hasn’t happened in decades has to be celebrated just would be very unfortunate if it impacted them
I think you’re wrong there , both tipp and cavan won provincial so would be into super 8 or perhaps I have it wrong ?
Its gas , Mayo Men watching the hurling while the tipp men glued to the football. Mad year indeed!
Larry Duff,
Does not every county get to play in their provincial championship even with the proposed Taillteann Cup? So why would Tipp and Cavan not be in the race for Sam having won their provincial championship.
Somebody was getting excited about Jack O’Connor’s work with Kerry minors. Those same minors should now be coming through in Senior but their contribution so far seems a bit short. And Jack seems to be coming up a fair bit short in Kildare too judging by results in Leinster. As another Kerryman known as Mick O’Dwyer before him also came up short.
Good point East Cork Exile, I was thinking the same. Hope there aren’t covid breakouts now in Tipp or Cavan. Could easily happen and would ruin the rest of the championship.
A few comments after the weekend
– You gotta love knock out football, all football people (expect Cork and Donegal this a.m) would have loved yesterday and will get a few weeks chat out of it.
– Full knock out is less predictable than the backdoor /super 8 format overall so much more enjoyable.
– While fresh in the memory after watching Meath v Dublin (and not counting chickens etc.)
1. Fenton needs to be man marked by a very speedy / agile player, although out of position Paddy Durcan was the most suitable I thought might work (Keegan No.2 if back to his Connolly best but I think he has lost a fractional yard of pace).
2. The most likely times Meath looked like scoring (which was rare) was when they got the ball quickly and directly into there forward line (not long ball but not 10 passes from defense into attack either). Any time Meath carried the ball through the field Dublin had plenty of time to get men back and they just created a blue wall that was impossible to penetrate.
3. For this reason I believe its imperative (if we get there and don’t mean to be jumping the gun) Aiden has to play up front. It will allow us play the more direct kick passing game plus the attention Aiden gets means space will be created for our other forwards which is the greatest asset of playing him up there.
4. This doesn’t mean the ball has to go his direction all the time as the threat alone can give other positives and when it does go his direction the flicks, quick lay offs and cross field balls from this can be great tools if utilized properly – timing is key as you want him to hold the ball long enough to pull defenders but let it go for a meaningful pass before or without getting swallowed up, there is a fine line there.
5. Cluxton is still unreal and his accuracy is just brilliant – man on man tight marking on kick outs is about all that can be done (in conjunction with a high press but that ain’t easy to do as you need the opposition to follow)…
Roll on Tip and then hopefully on to an under cooked Dublin after their Turkey shoot…(no offence to Cavan folk but it will be a 20pt gap give or take a couple)
To my mind in straight knock out provincial titles have more meaning and importance. In backdoor / Super 8’s they had become watered down and seemed less significant..What would be the discussions today/yesterday in the media if we were heading into Super 8’s ? I’d say Cavan/Tip wouldn’t be getting as much of the limelight, the media would be no doubt spending more time on the ‘Donegal’ blip and lesser extent Cork ….have they time to recover etc, etc..
The virus has forced the gaa back to a place where they would not have ventured otherwise.
Knock out football, championship warp speed.
No calender congestion issues with knock out football and where a win means a win.
Unbridled celebrations yesterday with the year and decades of waiting on the line.
Hope it’s not back to the drawn out format when the virus is under control but I fear it will.
Strange thing is – you would expect the underdogs to win more provincial finals with the backdoor in place- but this didn’t happen. This is on the basis the bigger teams would be timing their training schedule to peak later in the year and winning another provincial title wouldn’t be their priority. But its only when the back door went – we got yesterdays results.
I doubt that we would be celebrating knock out football if we got a different result in Salthill last week.
Yesterday’s games were brilliant, but so are the qualifiers. I recall travelling West on Summer Saturdays, and it was wall-to-wall qualifier matches, one better than the other. And that was radio!
For this year its an enjoyable change (especially since we are still in it) it probably wont happen again in most of our life times ….the safety nets will be back next year ! $$$$
i think the knock – out format will be only for this year because the extra games generate more money for the gaa to pay the people sitting up in croke park all day. hopefully at least they get rid of all that SUPER 8 nonsense.
I think the backdoor will be back in next year but I agree with jimbo – the super 8s will be gone
Its certainly strange that the 1920 semi final pairings are the same in 2020. Looking at it as a whole a Dublin vs Mayo final with a Dublin win seems likely. I think Cavan could be overwhelmed in the semi final and I would fear for them to be honest. Mayo should and would beat Tipp 9/10 but this is a funny championship with Tipp having the hand of history literally on their backs I think they will give it a right go and if they can unsettle Mayo where they are weak in the middle they could cause an upset. Mayo just need to keep calm and pick their point chances and make changes in Midfield when lads tire and not leave it too late. The way Dublin destroyed Meath, humbled them and put them back in the box for 5 – 10 years was frightening. I would think the team that plays Dublin will need 15 performing at 100% to avoid a double figure pasting. Its Dublin’s title to win unless you have very rose tinted glasses on.
A lot of people getting very ahead of themselves here! I think the chat about straight knock-out is absolutely daft. Firstly, the Tipp win over Cork is nowhere near the shock that it is being made out to be. What is it that Cork have done in recent times that people saw them being so far ahead of Tipp? A 1 in 100 win against Kerry in a downpour? Wasn’t it the case that Cork-Kerry were always kept apart Munster so that they played each other in the final? Not this year obviously, and so Tipp just had to scrap past Limerick and then have one big performance against a team that hasn’t made an AI semi-final in 8 years and the 85 year wait is over. Now, Cavan’s win over Donegal was definitely a shock. Donegal had been playing very well up until the Ulster final but were really flat on the day and fair play to Cavan, they were so tuned in.
But people are putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5 with all this talk of straight knock-out stuff. Tipp and Cavan aren’t examples of the need to go back to that horrible, old system. They are examples of causing an upset on the big day. We tried that old system for over 100 years and it didn’t work. Teams training all year for one match is ridiculous. The real discussion should not be of straight knock-out but of getting rid of the provincials (at least in their importance to the AI series) and having a tiered competition. What is the point in Leitrim and Sligo trying to compete with Mayo and Galway and losing by 10+ points each time? Or Carlow and Louth trying to compete with Dublin? Same with Limerick, Clare, and Waterford in Munster?
The answer is more games, more often, at similar levels, and in a condensed format. Championship should start in Mayo and finish in earlier August. That leaves all August, September, and October for club championship. I think the GAA is moving to this but like everything in the GAA, it’s moving at a glacial pace.
A straight knockout has been exciting but that has a lot to do with the condensed timing of the championship too with games coming thick and fast, would it be as exciting spread out over 4 or 5 months as previously the case. Even so the backdoor or some other format is needed in the long run, cant have teams training half the year for only one game. Remember Mayo have benefited greatly from the backdoor over the past few years, it would have been short summers without it and no football odysseys like 2017 & 2017. I do agree that the super 8s should be scrapped, it was worth a try put ultimately a failure (too many dead rubbers) the previous quarter finals format was much better.
On another note Westmeaths John Connellan’s open letter is well worth a read regarding the state of the Leinster championship, an insight to what players in the province are thinking and will hopefully spark a debate on the imbalance of that competition and the GAA in general (Doubtful though).
The Super 8s were brought in for a 3 year trial period. Two years have elapsed, so normality prevailing, they are almost certain to be in place in 2021.
Overall, I think I’m for them. We benefitted last year; indeed all our 3 games were important. While we flopped in Killarney last year, the pre-match excitement was as good as anything I have experienced. The train journey down, the town itself, the weather were all simply wonderful. After the national anthem, it was all downhill for us. Even the Kerry supporters were disappointed in the damp squib.
Then Castlebar was something else. A family occasion prevented me going, but I could almost feel the atmosphere from 150 miles away. The other side was a flop, but then Dublin steamroll through everything.
New podcast episode is online. It’s the first in a series of episodes we’ll have between now and the semi-final.
Super 8s ???
Dublin are 1-100 betting for the semifinal game against the ulster champions.They are 20-1 for 10 all Ireland’s in a row, Cavan are 39-1 to win a single semifinal game against them. Gaelic football has a lot more than super 8s to worry about or else bookies have gone soft.
Hit the nail on the head there GBXI.. we have to move to getting rid of provincials in their context of importance to the All Ireland Series and have a tiered competition. The season would be more structured and condensed, the games would be relevant with no dead rubbers, every county would get a number of games and a chance to win some silverware.
On another note I would love to see all our team fit and healthy and raring to go once we hit croke park. It was Harry Redknapp I think that said if Gareth Bale were a car he would be a Ferrari. Very hard to keep on the road, broken down half the time but when it moved there was nothing to stay with it. Would love to see a few of the Mayo Youngs bucks really open it up in Croke Park. One James Carr springs to mind!
The best thing to come out of this year was the split between the club and inter county season. It resulted in the best club championship I’ve seen in years. It’s just a pity we couldn’t attend games. I expect that the interest in the county game will wane in the next few years as the dubs dominance continues. It’s already happened in Leinster. The Longford manager was on the radio yesterday saying after a pasting from Dublin players leave the squad, so it sets them back so many years. On the super 8’s, I think it obviously favours the bigger counties but it’s great to get big games outside croke park. I think if they are scrapped consideration should be given to playing quarter finals at provincial grounds.
Looking like Tipp will be wearing the Green and white jersey against us. I’m guessing we’ll have to play in our blue kit.
Mickey Harte has taken the louth manager job
Just because Tipp win their first Munster title in 85 years is no justification to retain the current system, why is a tiered competition ok in club championship, I have seen similar celebrations when county junior titles are won.
The back door has been mixed blessing, Tipp benefited in 2016, which may well be a useful experience for this semi final. Similarly, winning a tiered competition may also develop a team to become more competitive in the main competition.
Why is change so hard for people to accept?
GXBI and Mikey.
I seriously cannot believe ye are promoting a tiered championship after what we saw on the weekend. Seriously?
Out of interest – what would the tiers look like. I’ll give you mine.
Tier 1: Dublin
Daylight
Tier 2: mayo, Donegal, Kerry Tyrone.
Tier 3: the rest. For example, Cavan would have been considered the 20th best team in Ireland a month ago. Sean cavanagh had them 7/9 in ulster ahead of Antrim and fermanagh.
Yet they beat the team many consider the second best in ireland at the weekend?!?! In a tiered championship they wouldnt have even had the right to play them.
Intercounty senior football is not club football where there have been Tiers for decades. It’s the highest level of the sport and every footballer in Ireland should have the right to play in the Sam maguire cup every year.
Those pointing to hurling as an example -look at the disdain with which RTE treat the christy ring joe Mcdonagh etc etc. I’m sure Tipp and Cavan would prefer yesterday’s scenes to a 90 second highlight club in the last few min of the Sunday game with John Kenny narrating and probably filming it on his iPhone in front of two men and a dog.
That’s all they would get in the tailteann cup or whatever other meaningless cups with no history or tradition that they come up with.
I think everyone agrees that a new format is needed in football but whatever form that may take every county must be in the running for Sam at the beginning. Placing teams in a tier which isn’t associated with Sam McGuire is a non runner. The majority of calls for a tiered system are people from stronger counties who would be in a top tier. Very few from div 3 or 4 are calling for a tiered system or a secondary competition they want to be in the championship proper and they need to remain in it.
Larry Duff, it all depends on the format of the competition, if all teams enter Sam Maguire and then lose a game, they would then go into a secondary competition. I repeat, just because Tipp win a Munster title, the first in 85 year’s is no justification for the current format.
I live in Sligo, and there is a high drop out rate from the county set up, Cavan had 8 players from last years panel who declined to come back this year, similarly Leitrim have had a high turnover, I think that this is linked with opportunity for success. This happens much less in more successful counties.
You mention the lack of media coverage, this is a risk but is related to interest. WJ has had a number of articles on our hurlers but little or no comments, I think that viewership could be high as gaelic football is more popular than hurling, TV companies will follow the audience if promoted correctly.
Wonder will Cavan get to warm up at the Hill 16 end against Dublin. Gaa said after the time Mayo (accidentally) went to the Hill 16 end to warm up that it was to be decided alphabetically by Irish name in future. (Ath Cliath v An Cábhan)
@Maigh Eo Rebel: I’m guessing in that scenario, HQ will decide not to count the “An” as part of the name.