Photo: MichaelMaye.com
The votes are in and counted in the penultimate Man of the Match poll here on the site for this year’s League campaign. Once again we’ve a clear winner in the popular vote and this time round that player is Tom Parsons.
The rangy Charlestown midfielder put in a superb shift for us up in Omagh yesterday, a performance capped by a truly magnificent goal shortly before half-time. Then in the dying seconds of the game he forced Seán Cavanagh to cough up possession when he sent the Moy player sprawling with a thunderous shoulder. All told it was a great display by Tom, one that contributed significantly to our win.
Others to feature prominently in the vote this time round was David Clarke (yet again) who performed further heroics between the sticks for us for us yesterday. Paddy Durcan, a man reborn back in the half-back line, Shane Nally (what a sweet point that was early in the first half), Kevin McLoughlin (with that even sweeter winning point) and Chris Barrett (great to see him back) all featured prominently in the poll. Well done to them all.
Well done Tom, great to see you back to top form.
Like everyone else I can’t believe Reilly is reffing this vital game on Sunday. I am very worried this could have a detrimental role in our efforts to get a draw or better to guarantee our survival in the top flight. This guy is not up to standard and should not be allowed a game of this magnitude. As other posters have commented, it shows what croke park think of Mayo gaa. Worrying times.
Well done that man. Goals pay the rent and Parsons does his shift.
Well done Clarke too for actually saving a pint. Not just goals he saves.
I presume thats an early April fools day joke about the referee for this Sunday? Either that or the lunatics have really taken over the asylum.
Is the rumour true about the ref on Sunday? He who’s name shall not be mentioned
Yes incredible as it is Cormac Reilly has been appointed for this crucial game
It’s a bizarre decision, the pressure he’ll be under over every call will be multiplied if the game is close
Well done Tom. Great goal and overall strong performance. My preference was Durcan. Thought he was excellent and it reminded me of the good old days as our half backs tore up the field to score. Reilly reffing is a good one He will probably give us everything. Think its fair to say that he owes us big time. Monaghan could bring dubs run to an end if so dubs might not necessarily make league final were that to happen and donegal beat us. Will be an interesting and tense last day. We could all be talking about Reilly on monday
A form of protest should not be ruled out!!
Calm down guys,
Joe Mc Quillan is our match day ref.
Plenty of comments going around on Facebook……seriously one would have to question the wisdom of this decision
Seriously. That clown shouldn’t be let into the county. It’s odd that he’d even accept to do it. I honestly thought he would never ref a Mayo game again. Even my mother, normally very placid, wanted to run onto the pitch that day in Limerick!
It’s a potentially provocative and inflammatory call by the GAA to put him in a position to be in Castlebar particularly for a match which could decide our fate in Div 1. It makes absolutely no sense. In an odd way, it increases our chances of victory. I cannot see him giving much against us..
Check out gaa.ie willie mc
It’s on Gaa.ie at the moment. Joe McQuilan is the ref for the Monaghan and the Dubs , and the creme del creme Cormac Reilly for us and Donegal. Should make a tense game even more exciting in a ridiculous way unique to Mayo and the Gaa. I can’t wait for it in a weird way!!!
Did Paddy Macenaney ever ref a serious match involving Mayo after the 96 finals??
Scratch that last question just looking at the results archive he reffed the 2004 final!! I had erased him from my memories of that day!!!
I think they come in three’s, Mr Trump is in the White House, Reilly sent to Castlebar, Arlene Foster next Pope?
Unlikely refs set out to do teams but they do have bad days and I’m surprised the GAA have chosen to send that specific ref to a Mayo home game presuming it’s not an April fool joke given the level of emotion around 2014.
To me it’s an unwise move, would have made more sense to have him doing one of our away games. I would say though let him get on with it and none of the loony stuff we saw that day.
Reffing is a thankless job. On 2 occasions it affected a big result for us, 2014 and the 2009 quarter final vs Meath when we weren’t great but 2 big ref mistakes changed the result. The McFadden goal in 2012 was also started by a reffing error the other end but a Mayo player mistake caused the goal and we had some chances to turn that game early in 2nd half. But that’s sport, ref’s can change games, sport can be cruel but it’s only a game.
Agreed there Shuffly.
Let’s not let things get out of hand, we can only do our reputation harm if any behaviour is construed as negative or inappropriate towards that incompetent bastard.
Whatever we may think of the little shit, he should be treated with the same respect any other ref would get, even if he is entirely incapable of fulfilling the role to any standard befitting of a game of football.
If he were to be there to referee the Cumann na Bunscoil exhibition games at half time, it would still be a grade or 3 above his capabilities, but it seems the wise old heads in the GAA have decided he should be let ref in Castlebar for a Senior Football match at inter county level. While his appointment at this fixture is truly astonishing, it’s important that supporters don’t let themselves down in any way on the day.
Let’s leave that to the useless bollox that we hoped we might never see again, but unfortunately will have the whistle on Sunday.
The lads owe it to them themselves and to the supporters to deliever a solid home town performance. No doubt next sunday the stage is pefectly poised for them to do exactly that. Some of Reilly’s decisions in Limerick were at best inept , at worst sinister and devisive. If he continues on where he left off in Limerick on Sunday. He must be stopped. A repeat of Limerick must never be allowed to occur again. We the supporters should take to the field in a dignified manner and prevent a reoccurence of that abhorent and farcical reffing in Limerick.
Hopefully Reilly’s ego as been sufficiently placated and he has recovered well from having his judgement on “the Keegan sending off” questioned and ultimately overturned. This I believe was the sole reason for some of the bizzare decisions he made in Limerick resulting in the termination of Mayo’s progression in the championship. That’s history now. If we allow that shite to be repeated on our homeground Sunday, well I don’t want to listen to any more spineless bullshit on here regarding The Limerick Debacle.
I’m sure all will be well next Sunday around 4ish and Mayo will “be allowed ” to deliever the home town performance that we all crave .
Our opinion of Reilly is well known at this stage. We shouldn’t let it become a distraction though. As a couple of posters have mentioned, he’s likely to err on the side of caution (or guilt) this weekend.
Long time followers of Mayo GAA will know that issues with Mr Reilly well pre-date Limerick. Huge criticism of him after our u21 semi final win to Tyrone in 2006 where he came in for massive abuse from Mayo fans despite the win, 2009 qualifier loss to Tyrone in Croke Park, Connacht Final in the Hyde a few years back.
He has never reffed in Castlebar. The fact that he is being sent out now shows the contempt that the GAA have for Mayo GAA and the weakness of our county board. Like our punishments in Tralee has anybody else been subjected to this treatment?
Reilly wont look to make amends. He is a Meathman. He will show his brass neck and instead look to be seen as the tough guy and make big calls against Mayo with a view to progressing to bigger games come the Summer.
He has come along way since being dropped from the top 12 refs last Summer.
Well done to Tom, keep up the good work. In the three games that we lost, against Monaghan, Dublin and Cavan, it was one of the opposition’s midfielders that got the man of the match award, so it was good to see Tom putting in a big performance.
In saying that, in the second-half against Tyrone, they had 15 scoring chances and took 4 of them, while we scored 4 times from 5 scoring chances. It does show that we are still having problems in the possession stakes. With Seamus O’Shea and Barry Moran to come back into the mix, along with Jason Doc and Diarmuid O’Connor getting back to full fitness, we should improve in this area going forward.
People are kidding themselves if they think this won’t become an issue on the day. I think trump would get les abuse from the mayo fans(and probably do a better job reffing too). For every 50/50 call that he gives to Donegal he will be torn apart by the fans. It has built up to it and I cannot for the life understand why he is sent to castlebar. Can you imagine what’s it going to be like to watch him walk onto the pitch at mchale park??? Its will be like a red rag to a bull. My only hope is that we’re a bit wiser and a bit cuter and play him like Kerry did that awful day in limerick.
If Pat Barrett is looking for a ticket tell him I have a season ticket that I will gladly give him. Pitchside!
Crete Boom “Did Paddy Macenaney ever ref a serious match involving Mayo after the 96 finals??” I don’t think so. He became the head of referees for the GAA and is responsible for Cormac Reilly reffing in Limerick. He is no longer head of refs though.
I see Dublin Joe McQuillan gets the Dublin games again! He is probably travelling in the bus with the Dubs now. One certain thing to look out for in this one, if it’s a tight game in the last couple of minutes expect Joe to hand Dublin a gimme free 30m out and in front of goal.
Better bring ear muffs on Sunday and leave the kids at home because I can imagine some of the comments from the crowd will be choice, to say the least 🙂
Niall,I know what you mean. If we play like Kerry did and the ref actually does the job right then we should lose!
Well done Tom Parsons. Great display on Sunday
On an aside though. Last Sundays result and achievements will mean nothing if we lose next Sunday and are relegated.
Ger Bohan, Reilly was dropped from the championship panel for 2016, as a delayed smack on the wrist for Limerick, but was always on the national league panel. You are right also, this is the ultimate 2 fingers to Mayo GAA and all Mayo supporters from Croke Park and GAA officialdom. They are happy to take our huge revenue streams from season tickets, gate receipts and match day spend but as for showing us due respect? Not on your life.
Never forget that they (Croke Park) forced us to play in Limerick, a Munster venue, v a Munster team in an All Ireland semi-final replay just so they could cream ANOTHER couple of million €’s so Garth f###ing Brooks or Bruce Springstein or whoever the hell it was could come over, talk shite and sing in OUR national stadium!! Croke Park had more respect for the € than they had for us. That is still the case.
Personally, I hope Reilly gets dogs abuse from start to finish and all the way to the Roscommon border. I certainly won’t be welcoming him. The nicely nicely, softly softly, happy Mayo heads attitude has gotten us nowhere so I believe it is time to let loose the 3 years of frustration and injustice that was forced on us by both the GAA and Reilly. If our own county board won’t voice our concerns and injustices to Croke Park well then we’ll have to do it ourselves.
If we show the same improvement in our performance on Sunday as we displayed last Sunday we will win. Then again, with Reilly in the middle anything can happen!
Not to take away from players like David Moran, he was class that day but reilly’s inept, incompetent and downright biased display tilted the balance firmly in favour of Kerry….not to mention it being played at a Munster venue. He was rightly relegated from the top tier of ref’s in 2015. The fact that he is back and being sent to Castlebar shows is indicative of a number of things:- 1. the glaring absence of quality referees at intercounty level, 2. Croke park’s indifference toward Mayo supporters, 3. It confirms how out of sync the gaa hierarchy are with the sentiments of supporters(it’s genuinely debatable as to whether it’s wise sending Reilly to Castlebar).
Pebbles, I agree.
I have the feeling the debt the county board created for the new stand here in Castlebar has cost them more than money.
Well the stand will be full on Sunday!! I’d say McHale park will have one of the largest league attendances in history with very many eager to welcome a certain man to Castlebar!
A funny protest would be of thousands of Mayo Mick masks were printed and distributed to patrons entering the ground.
I see the Mayo Bull is looking for 3 stout volunteers to lather him in hog fat on Sunday morning to make the stewards job tougher should he be needed.
So cormac Reilly referees on Sunday. That is a disgrace. But the bigger disgrace is the Mayo county board. After Limerick they should have ensured he never refereed again. At the least they should have ensured he never refed us. Barney Rock about 12 years ago said in a newspaper article nobody in the GAA world takes Mayo seriously. Dead right son. A disgrace going back to 1939 where Mayo boards have refused to publicly fight OUR corner.
A stand full of people shouting at the ref is simply a waste of time. A silent visual protest would send a much stronger message to the man in black and the GAA hierarchy. How much would it cost to produce 5000 or so A4 sized cardboard red cards. It would be some sight to see
Jesus guys, Reilly is only human – he isn’t the best ref in the world but I don’t believe he deliberately set out to screw us in 2014. What happened was that Kerry played the ref and got the soft calls. In big rugby games part of the pre-match prep is a discussion about the ref, what he is hot about and how to talk to him. We should take the same approach and just get on with it.
Having said that, Somebody in HQ must have it in for Reilly. His first big match on the road to rehabilitation? Ahh we’ll send him down to the county that hates his guts the most, and is guaranteed to boo his every call…
Silent protests?! Can we just concentrate on supporting the team and avoiding the drop and not making a laughing stock of ourselves. I’m sick hearing about ****ing Limerick and Reilly. Too big of a sense of victimhood in this county. When has a county board ever got a ref removed from the roster? I just hope sections of the crowd don’t disgrace us on Sunday. Reilly can ref and Pat McEananey and Martin Sludden can do the sidelines for all I care. Throw in Joe Brolly and Tommy Carr as umpires. As that matters is getting the result, trolling Reilly isn’t going to help us.
Oh, and congrats Tom!
i was mad yesterday when i heard about Reilly ,but i have since coped on to myself,we need to forget Reilly,and get behind our team and win the bloody game ,in the greater scheme of things,Reilly isn’t to be a distraction on sunday. if we score enough we will win,
all the calls for boos are crazy, lets do our talking on the pitch and beat Donegal,get our two points,stay up and get ready for the championship!
Hon Mayo
Protest facepaint – Check
One bottle of buckfast and two bottles of peach schnapps – Check
4 litre all-weather flask – Check
Mayo jersey – Check
‘We are all Pat Barrett’ wristband – Check
Smoke grenade – Check
Beef burrito – *Pending – *Will make closer to the game to ensure freshness
Nearly all set for Sunday. Maigh Eo Abu.
Some of the comments here are embarrassing, Mayo fans seem to have a constant chip on their shoulder with regards to referees. The fact of the matter is in all games, neither team has control of how a referee will interpret a situation in a split second. They will get it wrong on occasions and you just have to get on with it. Some decisions go for you and some go against, its swings and roundabouts. If these decisions are marginal then you can have no complaints. If the decisions are blatant by all means give out during/after the game but I really don’t get the mentality of people trudging up previous grievances about certain decisions years after they’ve happened. This is small time mentality that you’d expect to find with smaller teams, similar to what some Louth supporters do regarding the decision to award Joe Sheridan’s goal in the 2010 Leinster final.
By a lot of peoples assertions here (referencing previous threads), we are a top 2/3 footballing county, why then do quite a few supporters persist with buying into a victim-hood complex that the referree/GAA/world is against them when some decisions don’t go exactly the way they would want. Why can’t we, as supporters, show a bit of maturity, get over it, and focus our attention on the next game.
Whinging about a refs performance before he has even taken to the field is nonsense. For once I would like to see a better standard of supporter to coincide with the better standard of football we’ve enjoyed from this mayo team in the last 5/6 years.
I tght that buck was never to ref again after Limerick. I still get the shivers thinking of that awful day and had put it to back of my mind but it’s all coming back again. God please help us!!
Take all Mayo supporters money and then slap us all in the face with these decisions.
Well only 1 way to sort them. Almighty 16th persons with this almighty 15 man team next sun will be truly present. Cant wait.
Well done to Tom and great interview after the match too. Class goal and great work on Cavanagh at crucial pt at end of match.
Your Right Utair trolling Reilly won’t help
But giving him a massive kick in the liathroidi might help me get over Limerick
I would agree with Ultair. Time to stop the whole poor victims Mayo. Reilly had a nightmare that day, but it was 3 years ago, time to move on. Not the GAA brightest idea to give him this game but that just highlights the lack of quality refs. I for one dont know why anyone would want to be a ref, you are just in for a lot of travel and dogs abuse for one set of fans or the other, maybe even both sets.
Sundays game should be judged on its merits palin and simple. If the ref makes a mistake then fine shoe your disapproval but going there with the intention of abusing a person before a ball is even thrown in is childish. To take a line from one of the few truly great refs “this isnt soccer” . go to the match cheer on Mayo and enjoy the day out.
Forget about Reilly and support your team id say even the Mayo players are even laughing about some of the comments here….The biggest setback in Limerick was our 2 best players getting concussed when 6 pts up that wasnt Reillys fault …..stop living in the past with your backs to the future….
I think some of ye need to grow up. I despise Reilly as a referee for Limerick but it’s history now. Concentrate on supporting the team and getting the 2 points. I do shake my head at the GAA appointing him though as it will drive many people (as seen in the replies here) mad.
Pat Mac I believe was ref in our ill fated 2004 final v Kerry.
Agree we have to move on, O’Reilly is only human, it’s an amateur sport, etc. However was there ever such an inept and seemingly biased referee performance in a high profile game before? Ah like let’s do move on and not be whingers, but come on, the man should have been guided into obscurity by the GAA. It really beggars belief that the GAA would send him to Castlebar! Like they must be testing the Mayo crowd.
I attended a NUIG v Trinity Sigerson Cup prelim round match last year in Dublin….match was very one sided in favour on NUIG and result was never in doubt. I hadn’t timed the match, but I had a rough idea on the time. When the ref blew up in the second half, I was sure there were about 10 min left, but anyway just thought time had passed by faster than I thought and headed home. Read the paper the next day where there was a smell report on the match….and the reported indeed pointed out that the ref had blown up about 8 minutes too soon. The ref? Cormac O’Reilly. Now that is just incompetence!
Agree mayomad. A lot of mayo fans love playing da victim. It was our own fault we end up n limerick don’t concede a goal we’re home & hosed. But he had a shocker! Da standard of refs r poor so him or someone else does it really matter
Sunday is all about beating Donegal and nothing else. It’s not about Reilly. Ignore him and focus on the game unless he starts to mess us about again.
Putting him in charge of this game wasn’t a bright idea but Croke Park aren’t out to screw us. They actually rescued us financially in the recent past. And NO the county board are not a bunch of idiots. They are volunteers who give a massive amount of effort and time to Mayo and who did so at club level for many years. Yes they have made mistakes (some big ones!) but we need to be fair and reasonable in our judgements. And we need to support them too. They are the background team that supports our players.
A win on Sunday……that’s the important thing!
The mayo donegal game will be hard but i can see mayo taking it by 1 donegal is a very good team but 7 players gone and ryan mc q wont be playing he had to be helped off the pitch last week its in our hands now donegal will have 12 men behind the ball at all times we need to keep runing at them i can see a few back cards and yellow one too
Exactly DJ – I still see Moran Kicking that ball right on front of where I was sitting under the Hogan Stand and seeing big tall Kieran Donahey hands up in the square……I could see what was going to happen. To give that lead with 5 mins left was unforgivable. We should never had been in Limerick.
I also remember we got the rub of the green v Cork in the quarter that year so it’s all swings and roundabouts. Ref’s aside we have enough chances to win games ourselves.
Well said there diehard.
Well done Tom – a superb performance from start to finish. Apart from the goal and the Cavanagh dispossession, his dive to fist the ball away from a Tyrone forward, back to Keith I think, was memorable, as was the one handed catch in the second half.
It was great to see Shane Nally and David Drake start and they repaid that faith handsomely. And with Chris Barrett putting in a very strong performance, after such a long absence, it shows that we HAVE a very strong panel, despite what a lot of posters maintain. When I watched back again last night, I was really impressed with Aido; he put himself about (what’s new), covered a lot of ground and steadied the ship.
A pity though that Conor Loftus hasn’t got more game time. He wasn’t great against Cavan, but it was his first full start and he just needs more and more mileage. Hard to see him starting against Donegal, and if it’s tight he won’t figure.
Good result the weekend and great to see when our backs to the wall the lads came out fighting .
I would like to see a few tweaks to the side to play Donegal , the deep running halfbacks/halfforwards is a good tactic for playing the blanket defenses but this could be a game to suit likes of Brian Reape .
He will add a bit of pace inside and maybe give Andy a breather and spring him from bench as required .
Other than that pretty much the same , I do worry about Boyler and for all his heroic coming out of the defence, ball in hand chest pumping 9 out of 10 times he is getting turned easy and not winning the % of possession he used to .
Coen is deserving of a start and Nally and Drake too although I would be tempted to start Conor O shea as the Parsons-Kirby – COS axis gives that mobility in center of pitch to help break down a blanket defence .
Cos or Coen should go man on man on Murphy .
Leave Parsons and Kirby to influence the game, dont tie them down to man marking duties .
Other than that hopefully get confidence back in Cillian and Kevin Mc and keep score board ticking over .
Was delighted with the returning Chris Barrett , mans a leader but also a real good footballer .
Just a reminder of how bad the said referee was in ‘that’ game!
https://www.livegaelic.com/craic/video-kevin-mcstay-laces-cormac-reillys-refereeing/
OOB – if Evan Regan and Conor Loftus cannot make the starting 15, how can you expect Reape to start?
And how realistic is the hype surrounding him? Would love to be proved wrong, but has he set the world on fire since his minor days? He didn’t really feature in the U21 last year, except against Dublin, and I didn’t think he caused them too many problems.
Fair points catcol and only speaking hypothetical here but I am a big fan of conor Loftus an fully expect him to make an impact sooner rather than later but with Donegal coming to town I would release Conor in the second half in his much preferred forward role at say 12 .
I think there is a bit of a perception on this blog that Loftus is a corner forward but hes more a Dillonesque playmaker/ tidy forward with all good round traits .
He really is a talent and with the temperament for the big day, ok he got caught up in the traffic and congestion against Cavan but who didnt ?
Regan is the ultimate Aidan Kilcoyne as in he is hot and cold but an undoubted talent . He is a total confidence player .
A lazy comparison is to say he is Enda Varley MK2 .
Reape on the other hand is a strong fast lad who will win his own ball and keep possesion .
Why I say this game would suit him is with he and Cillian inside he gives a bit more pace and will thrive on the space afforded to him as Donegal double up on Cillian . He scored 1-6 for U 21’s and is on more than capable on frees aswell as being on form .
Why havent these lads got a run to date?, I think some were spared for the U21’s but with the years training under his belt and good form for the U-21’s I think we might see him soon .
Irwin I liked and thought they were looking to get him to peak senior fitness which may take longer than one spring as such and thats not a dig at him just fact .
Hennelly wont get a run in the league now at all
How does a man going from starting the biggest game of the year to not getting a minute of league football, the decision last October will go down as the worst decision in the history of GAA
Get over it people
Referee/Limerick/Kerry Mayo/GAA against Mayo.
It’s old hat. It’s history.
Concentrate on Sunday.
Get 2 points
Then move onto next game
End of story
Outside of boot, I would agree on Reape, I think we could see him on Sunday. Dont think he will start but a good chance he will feature from the bench. He has had a years senior training so should be introduced to senior football. I dont think you cn carry a potential player for two years without him being available to take the field.
Thats a decent comparison with Regan and Varley. Personally I rate Varley higher than Regan due mainly to scoring rates and thats what he is there for. Regan gets plenty of ball (some not great ball) but his conversion to scores is very low. Varley always seemed to chip in with a couple of points when brought in.
Biscan, agree totally. Time to move on.
Morag, keeper debate has been covered to death. Clarke is number one and playing really well, think we should leave it at that.
District: Mayo gets biased Reilly.
The Capital gets McQuillan.
Let the Games begin…
Good response there OOB! I do like the thought of pace and ability to win and hold ball. Still don’t think he’ll feature on Sunday unless we are winning big.
Talking of Enda Varley raises another question: in our heart of hearts, do we all really feel that we have better replacements (right here, right now) for Varley, Freezer, Mickey C, Mikey Sweeney, or Mark Ronaldson?
I agree with the posters above saying we should get on with the game on Sunday and be positive and vocal in our support for the team rather than being negative to Reilly. Let him know how we feel about the team and get on with it and show a bit of maturity. We’ve left enough important games behind us over the years without any referee bias and personally there’s nothing worse that hearing anyone on the pitch being verbally abused on a consistent basis from the stands. What kind of message does it send out to kids anyway listening to it?
The world is hard enough! Let’s enjoy our day out and get two more points out of it!
catcol, I agree totally with your point, I don’t think we have better options In the panel now than these guys
conor o Shea and regan are in my opinion not at the level required
how many chances do they have to get?
I know as a kerryman it may not sweeten your tea but I think that day if Hennelly had pointed that free at full time to win the game the people of Kerry would have been fairly poised off as David Moran was blatantly fouled after a wonderful catch just before he have Mayo that match winning opportunity. Seamus o Shea was also well dispossessed right in front of the Mayo square and O Donoghue won possession and was bearing down on the Mayo goal with menace when ge gave a screamer of a free out when you consider the pace and intensity of that unbelievable battle.
Mr McStay was his usual self and highlighted a number of questionable calls but if Thomas O Sé had been given that particular task I think he would have highlighted a few very critical calls made against Kerry that day also.
That game was a stinker to lose I know because we have lost our fair share of “classics” but it was the most incredible sporting event I have ever been at. The effort by both sets of players was very worthy of the ovation they both got at the end of full time. In extra time Mayo could and should have gaoled but I think it was Lee who fumbled the ball just as he prepared to pull the trigger and the opportunity to kill Kerry was lost and never regained.
The two penalties Kerry got I with hand on my heart thought they were both correct decisions at the time they were given, Boyler foolishly put his two hands out and pushed or at least made enough contact with O Donoghue to give away the penalty. The second one I thought at the time was a penalty but to be fair on armchair review I thought the Mayo player, Cafferky I think made good contact with the ball but apparently the way he led with the leg was the infringement, harsh I thought in seeing it that night. To be fair the Mayo people around me were annoyed with the Mayo players for the first one and were absolutely not complaining about either decision but we’re obviously lamenting the opportunity it gave us in the game.
O Reilly made poor decisions that day but if extra time had ended in a draw I think little would have been said about him as the occasion was almost overwhelming for those in the stands, for amateur players to fight on their backs for their respective colours as they did will forever live in my memory. I was exhausted mentally after that game so I can only imagine how the crestfallen players felt and all the Mayo folk who’s hearts were broken, a dreadful game to lose.
I hope nobody thinks me smart or disrespectful for posting this as I know what it is to lose huge championship games based on dodgy decisions. I’m only posting what it felt like from the oppositions viewpoint. I wasn’t thinking about the calls that were or weren’t made against us but if we lost they would haunt me to this day I have no doubt.
Great win last Sunday i was delighted for ye and football,
Nest Sunday I’d say Donegal we’ll be as happy to see Mr O Reilly taking to the field as Sybil Faulty was when she returned for her golfing shoes, !!
@Catcol. I would think we have more effective replacements for all those players.
If we take the ages u24 to U21 you have Kirby, COS, Loftus, Reape. Four players from which I think we’ll get two starters and two subs.
Ronaldson is probably the most skillful footballer we’ve had recently but at his size you need speed like Darren OSullivan.
GameChanger – good post from your point of view. I am on record saying Mayo people need to get over it as 1996 has haunted us for too long before. Nothing can be gained from looking back. We have had enough chances to win games ourselves all be it with lady luck never shinning on us in a final.
I do think though it is a bit easier for Kerry folk to take such defeats on the chin with all the All Ireland win’s you have experienced and will experience in the future. The vast majority of Mayo people alive today have never seen Mayo win an All Ireland and every defeat is hard to take add to it a controversial defeat and it’s much worse.
Someday…
Gamechanger – your posts are always written well, welcome and interesting but in my opinion we were shafted by Reilly that day. The 2nd penalty was never one. What about his failure to produce a black card in the opening quarter – it was textbook and he bottled it. I like Kerry alot, still do and I have huge respect for the county but some of the kerry lads got away with stuff that they shouldnt have that day off the ball, particularly in extra time by which time Reilly had long lost control of the game. There were people with me at the game who are normally quite placid and they couldnt believe the decisions he was making against us (or lack therof!) or what he was missing. He gave Donaghy every decision going. He no longer had control of what was going on. It was the most incompetent and borderline biased display of refereeing I’ve ever witnessed – at any level from underage, junior up…
You may very well know what its’ like to lose big championship matches – but you’ve seen your county win countless titles. We havent – we’ve seen countless runners up – and so with teh greatest of respect, you do not know how that feels. Reilly robbed us that day in Limerick and we would have beaten Donegal. I’m certain of it. Kerry have beaten us fair and square on many occasions and fair play to ye, ye’re the best gaelic football county in the land but on this day we were done. Done by the ref and c’mon, the game was played in a venue Kerry were far better used to.
It may have gone down as a great sporting occasion in 31 counties, let me assure you ‘Limerick’is remembered for all the wrong reasons for us.
Yew tree
I know what you are saying, I can’t imagine what it must be like having never seen a Mayo player lift Sam. Having been so near ant yet so far must be unbearable. I look forward to the day one of your players walks up the steps and lifts the hearts of a great footballing county. I think it would bring a tear to the eye of all but the opposition. Good lock in the ongoing quest,
I never really comment on refs but you know what the mad thing is, no matter who was given this game some people would be giving out. I know alright that it was a crazy decision to give it to Reilly but people would be giving out about other refs as follows:
1. Joe McQuillan – Cavan (a Cavan ref would try to do us to help his own county survive or he is an Ulster ref with us playing an Ulster team)
2. Conor Lane – Cork (people didn’t like his performance at the weekend)
3. Maurice Deegan – Laois (people didn’t like his performance in the replayed All-Ireland final)
4. Padric Hughes – Armagh (an Ulster ref with us playing an Ulster team)
5. Eddie Kinsella – Laois (has retired, he can’t do it!)
6. Wicklow ref that reffed us against Cavan (he actually did a good job that day of our game against Cavan, maybe we wouldn’t have given out about him!)
It just shows the lack of choice of refs for the big games and that pretty much no matter who it was, there would be people giving out. So the morale of the story is, most of the refs are shite anyway (some more shite than others) and a certain section of our supporters will always be giving our about refs. Our job is to control what we can control and win the game. For us as supporters, the job is to roar our team on.
We seem to have a certain section of supporters who nearly see themselves as celebrity supporters, they are always all over twitter giving the rest of us a bad name over things like this. The thingsthatlee campaign was a very good idea but the giving out about refs, venues etc. is a bit annoying to see constantly on twitter from some people.
We seen Tom Parsons and Kevin McLoughlin take their scores with real conviction against Tyrone and you’d love to see more of the same against Donegal. Roll on the game!
Mayo axe,
Yes failure to black card Enright was a screamer and should never have happened. If it was me it would have left a bat taste in the mouth for sure.
Gamechanger, Your sugar coating what happened down in Limerick for your own needs. Enright should have gotten a second yellow and sent off for pulling Cillian down in the square. Enright was already on a yellow and he pulled down Cillian, Mayo were awarded a penalty and no card for enright, he should have been off in the first half. Kerry would not have stayed with Mayo for the remainder of the game due to the extra man. Donaghy acted like he was shot by the mayo players everytime he was tackled legitimately.
Reilly should not be allowed ref an u10’s match, nevermind a match involving Mayo. GAA HQ has alot to answer for. Did the county board complain about Reilly or did they lie down and take it like they did when the replay was moved to Limerick. Has anything really changed with the county board or is it the same aul craic?
Ah enough with refs. Let’s just keep our usual obsessive drive about it all.
See Meath have appointed John Coghlan a respected athletics coach as athletic development director overseeing all Meath teams. At the end of the day speed is critical and you can develp it immensely by starting on it in teenage years .
So we play Donegal knowing what we need to do, thanks to a solid win on Sunday. A point will do us.
After a couple of fairly major blips, if we get our desired result Sunday, it will be a good league campaign.
We are, as far as I can see anyways, nearly at absolute full-strength coming up to April. Are we missing anyone for the Sligo game?
Caf, DOC, Doc, AOS, SOS, Gibbons, Barrett, Harrison all back from layoffs. Barry and Alan D as far as I know are training. Cillian has a full league under his belt. We are in a very healthy position right now.
I hope some enterprising young street urchin adds pitchforks and flaming torches to his inventory of hats, scarves and headbands on Sunday. I’m old school myself and prefer a well weighted clod of turf hurled over the netting at the bacon factory end.
#je suis Barrett
good aul positive comments there MayoMark,,here’s hoping we can get the result on Sunday.
To all those posters telling the rest of us to cop on and forget about Cormac Reilly, I think they need to have a long hard look at themselves.
Cormac Reilly was the main reason Kerry beat us in Limerick in 2014. That is generally accepted by supporters and analysts alike from non Mayo backgrounds. He was so bad on that day and by all accounts had previous experience of ineptitude. He is nowhere fit to referee any national league game in any division.
Refereeing decisions do count and can have a huge impact on the outcome of all games regardless of the level.
Will the same people be telling us to forget about Cormac Reilly on Sunday evening after he is responsible for more idiotic decisions that cost us our proud div 1 status.
Mayomagic, while I agree he had a shocker in Limerick, unreal in fact, if we loose on sunday , no matter if he makes a dodgy call or two, the fact is we will be relegated because we will have lost 3 of our 4 home games and we cannot blame that on Cormac Reilly… he wasn’t in charge against either Cavan or Monaghan.
While i am at it, i think we need to look at ourselves as well in relation to Limerick in two main . 1) Horan left Caff on Donaghay when he was getting roasted , and 2) Rob kept blasting kick-outs down the middle when Walsh was having the game of his life. I also think the two penalties were against us were correct calls…. was it the second one that was a ” sliding tackle” .. that’s illegal in GAA i am afraid.
I think some of the talk on this thread is bananas stuff and people need to calm down a little….. we smack of pure wingers
I think we`re in a strong position going into this game…Let nobody think that Cormac Reilly is going to try to balance things in our favour on Sunday. Simply because, in his eyes, he didn`t do anything wrong in Limerick. If it had been one decision, fair enough. But it was a catalogue of terrible decisions.
As for the gane itself, surely Mayo won`t let their Division 1 status disappear.
A win or draw keeps us up.
Events in Hyde Park only become relevant if we lose..Despite their troubles, Roscommon have been very competitive in Hyde Park, only losing by one point to Donegal and being only one point behind Kerry with 3 minutes to go, before losing by 6.
I`m sure they will be determined not to lose all 7 games, and wouldn`t be one bit surprised to see them beat Cavan, even if the formbook suggests otherwise.
I hope the players are not thinking like some of the posters here and just ignore Reilly otherwise they will lose their discipline and there will be frees brought in nearer to goal for Donegal we could have playera sent off for lack of discipline and that could all cost us…..Its time to move on and grow up and stop acting like a bunch of downtrodden whingers….We have a great team lets give them the support they deserve not booing like a circus….ps congrats to Tom Parsons surely now up there with Fenton abd David Moran as the midfielders in Country..
Cormac is a brave man, coming to Mayo after all that he done in Limerick to bend the result in Kerrys favour in 2014. I assume he will hear all about it from the stands on Sunday so Ill leave it at that. On this upcoming donegal game, I wonder if donegal will have any interest in trying to win a league title against the machine in blue? Maybe they’ll try and win against us just to get to croker and annoy the daylights out of dublin one more time before the summer?
Some of you are embarrassing yourselves with all the whinging. You’d swear we’d never benefited from a refs decision. I think it’ll be a draw this weekend. Anybody know if Cillian is ok. He walked off like Bambi last weekend.
People get embarrassed on this blog fair easy these days. Of course the players won’t be concerned about the ref as it’s just about process to them, control the controllables and all that. But if anyone thinks I’ll be clapping mr.reilly onto the pitch they have another thing coming! Cillian passed the HIA and is fit for Sunday.
Will someone please tell me that this ‘Cormac Reilly’ ( Reffing) another Mayo match??? , well it rhymes with (Reffing) alright, is an April fool’s joke. Maybe it’s not an April’s foools joke at all. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. The GAA’s supposedly even handed admistration if the rules of the game doesn’t fill me with confidence. They pick their fights alright. More than a decade ago in the height of the Celtic Tiger era, the GAA backed down against Tyrone, in their efforts to suspend players when Tyrone looked like going to the High Court. Ditto more recently for Diarmod Connolly. They robbed the Limerick minor hurlers blind in an All Ireland semifinal when a blatant point was disallowed, . And when it came to robbing blind, they allowed Joe Sheridan score a try in Croke Park and call it a goal, depriving Louth of their merited Leinster title, which would have been a first the people of the Wee County for. about 40 year’s. They then decided Joe.iSheridan would be the right man to show none other than the Queen of England around Croker, well he is from the ‘Royal County’ and he would have something in common with ‘Her Royal Majesty’… Don’t think we will see any retrospective action in the case of blatant assaults on the pitch in Omagh last Sunday. That’s retrospective action is reserved for Danny Kirby…Maybe it’s just me I’m getting more anti establishment every day I get older,.. But the same as with several institutions in Ireland, the top echelons of the GAA don’t fill me with confidence… All that said, you got to be positive where possible and Mayomad makes a few great points in his earlier excellent post and of course ‘there is no future in the past’ , Still tough , facts are facts and you have to be in a position to tell it as you see it…
Guys the ref is a tool and full that but we need to concentrate on supporting the team and I think the result will take care of itself. @Dave i really do like your comments on this blog but are you obsessed with Dublin lol!!! Every post you write you mention them…..
You shouldn’t speak like that leantimes. You’ll be branded a “whinger”
I’ve noticed that too Mayohusband. They are in the media enough as it is without mentioning them on our blog constantly :/
What will we be posting sun evening if not 1 bad decision but a number of terrible decisions drop us to div 2. A lot of other counties will enjoy that.
Media will enjoy reams of writing and talking.
I’m usually positive but have a bad feeling about this. Anyway let’s shout for our team and not at him.The team will be feeling positive after Tyrone win.
Winning an All Ireland culminates on the third Sunday of September generally speaking. But the ground work, planting the seeds, cultivating that crop often starts years earlier.
Witness Dublin dragging the Connolly case to the moon and back until they got the (illogical in law) but right decision. Did they do that because of Diarmuid? No, they exhausted every avenue to send out a marker to every referee and opposing county that they would take them on both in the pitch and boardrooms.
Try and recall a controversial decision awarded against Dublin, Kerry or Tyrone in recent years? I find it hard to. They have the players to do one job and the legal expertise and balls off the pitch to do another. I’m not anti referee nor do I lay our final day misery at refs feet, we ourselves have blown both feet off enough times ourselves. But this I know, decisions given against us Year in and year out wouldn’t be tolerated in another county.
So we suck up our bile, we swallow, we listen as we are called whingers. This is understandable. But people on this blog from Mayo who think we are wrong to express our feelings that perhaps maybe we get shafted by officialdom might as well get used to waiting for Sam. Unless we match on the pitch endeavours with the way Dublin did in 2013 where they had their own personal referee all the way, by the way he did them no favours, but they knew what he would wouldn’t put up with, then we need off the pitch toil too, we are at the mercy of the various GAA cabals and idiosyncrasies. Referees are human. They are clever. They know who carries the big stick and clout. They also know who doesn’t. All do their best to get it right but in that searing heat of championship battle and a Sky Blue jersey or Green and Gold one barks at you, and you have micro seconds to figure it, human nature often misses out on the dark Green and infernal Red. Just saying. Don’t take me too serious. Rant occasionally. Age permits that.
Hahaha at the more balanced rational supporter , you’re actually not youre just a placid Aul softie who wrongly believes alls fair in the world .
Reilly was a disgrace in limerick , he bowed to the aristicrats like some do but he cost us dearly . you can go on and on about decisions like donaghys frees in extra time but we can just start with a very black and white issue , we were awarded a penalty for a drag down , Shane enright was the culprit , cormac fucking Reilly rightly awarded it but he then proceeded to cheat by not producing a card . he cheated .sin e .
You’re not welcome to Mayo you tramp.
Interesting about Meath getting a speed coach. After being in Tuam last Saturday and having been to most u21 games for the past 6 years we need a serious look at what’s going on at that level. The development of our players from 17 to 21 years is simply not good enough. We won’t win an All Ireland unless this is changed. Last year was a flash in the pan, a very exciting and great one, but we were walloped at u21 in 2014/15 and again in 2017.
Mayohusband, i hadnt noticed that i mention them so often, but thanks for pointing it out. If it was kerry or donegal that were dominati
ng everyone else, im sure i would be mentioning those counties just as much. Incidentally, my bet is donegal will ease up and not seek a league final appearance and_ _ _ _ _ _ will collect the trophy. As usual, there, I didnt mention them.
We have had a few decisions go for us in the past few years too lads…ye seem to forget that. Refs don’t fail to defend a lead, drop a ball short or score two own goals. Time to move on and support the present. IF Reilly has a bad day Sunday then we will let him know all about it like any ref but forget Limerick.
Some comments on social media lean towards violence towards the man which is totally unacceptable.
Just to make sure , I don’t condone or encourage violence in anyway towards Reilly . absolute no no . I will boo him and I hope so does everyone else to just let him know we shall never forget his diabolical performance.
Can I ask those who will be in Castlebar on Sunday to concentrate on cheering the team and giving them every encouragement in what will be a difficult encounter and ignore the referee. 2014 is history 2017 is the present. Yes he was a disgrace that day but the fact is we threw. away that semi final the week before when not reacting to Donaghy’s introduction as a desperate measure by Kerry and also had our chances in Limerick that evening but as I say that is all history and starting Sunday we move on with this year.
@Dave fair play great reply. I think they will the five in a row no problem and steamroll Leinster. To be honest I hate to say the only way they might trip up in in a semi against Tyrone or Donegal……they are without dobut a great side can win anyway u want but I feel they will be caught this year…….anyway there is me saying to you too much Dublin talk and I go off on one!! Mayo to beat Donegal by 5 plus on Sunday.
I just can’t let Limerick go. Reilly didn’t just have a bad game, he had the game he planned to have. After Keegan’s red was overturned he decided he’d teach us a lesson and somehow he got away with it without ever being questioned by Croke Park or McEnaney which after such a diabolical performance seemed inevitable. He should never have been given the game after his involvement the first day. It’s the only time I can honestly say that a ref deliberately cheated in a game of such magnitude. Reilly should never get another Mayo game anywhere
Even if we did make a balls of defending our lead the first day, that in no way excuses Reilly’s “performance” in the replay. He was a disgrace, and Mayo supporters are quite entitled to let him know we haven’t forgotten that.
We’d be bigger eejits if we just smiled, said “ah sure these things happen”, and got a pat on the head from Reilly and Croke Park.
Faith51 and Tubberman, I agree with you both.
From reading the posts this afternoon, the GAA basically have it in for Mayo and are sending their No 1 agent down to Castlebar on sunday to finish us off. people need to stop living in the past and blaming Mayo losses on refs, venues, Media, Brolly etc. Even Keegan was blamed for not scoring a point last year (we were 4pts up, no excuse not to win). Mayo have lost games beacuse they were not good enough and made major mistakes in games. Maybe the GAAare being nice to us and sending down Reilly as a ready made excuse in case Donegal wins. We can blame him for being relegated and not beacuse we were brutal for two of our home games.
Mayo GAA just posted this on Facebook:
CONFIRMED: Official GAA have appointed Cormac Reilly as the man in the middle for Sunday. Throw in at Elverys Sports MacHale PK against Official Donegal GAA is 2pm. Buy tickets in advance & save 20%.
Surprised by that, I would have thought the best course of action would be to let it slide under the carpet instead of highlighting it!
Just in case ye dont know but Reilly’s wife is a Kerry woman, 100% correct.
Ok..the red card suggestion earlier was tongue and cheek but the notion that we need to build a bridge and get over Limerick is perplexing to say the least. The only thing that Limerick and Reilly have in common is that he presided over that game. The only thing that concerns me now is thar Reilly was a well documented rubbish ref before Limerick, during Limerick and you know the odds are after Limerick and not just against Mayo. A leopard don’t change his spots and if people think he’s suddenly going to turn into a reasnably competent fair minded referee then they are deluded. I don’t trust this referee… simples
I don’t trust him either. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with us booing him at start of match but def if he is being an ass again during it. All I know is I’m going down to support the team and help shout them over the line. I hope a big crowd turns up.
@Mayonaze. Bear in mind that with a proper full time development plan in place we provably dont win All Irelands at U21 either.
You reap the benefits by having a larger pool of well developed players physically ready for senior football.
Dublin are not winning plenty U21s but their players all seem to have this gymnast type strong build which helps them at senior.
When the final whistle blows on Sunday and we’re in a position where we left a referees call be the difference between us being in Division 1 or not, then we don’t deserve to be still in it.
Do the talking on the pitch and concentrate on beating Donegal. Never mind this seafóid about a ref. It’s really getting tiring at this stage. Move on from 2014 or we’ll be the laughing stock of the country.
The mans name is MICK BARRETT. not pat barrett.HE IS a terrific mayo supporter. i hope he dos’nt have to go onto the playing field on sunday. LET US SUPPORT THE TEAM and let the referee do his job .i think we will win the match.
How about everyone giving Reilly a standing ovation when he comes onto the pitch,now that would get him thinking.
Yes Reilly was brutal in Limerick but thats over now. I wonder have we ever had a good ref in our lives when I see some comments. McEneaney was an asshole{which I agree with,) We dont like dublin Joe,dont like Deegan, didnt like Lane on sunday. Coldrick is from meath etc etc They are all out to get us to make sure the curse continues. And then the Co Board the rotters stand idly by and let it all happen. Are we really any better off by always being the victims. I was as critical of Reilly as anyone but we really cant always moan about every ref. Im sure we get the odd decision now and again and that other counties feel hard done by the odd day. Even last sunday Lane could have given Tyrone a free in injury time but penalised them instead. What matters on Sunday is that Mayo perform and Mayo win. Supporting the team and being vocal in that is far more important than vocally abusing the ref. If we play to our potential we can win, if we dont, we may go down. Its about our team, not the man in the middle.
I hope reillys is given the memo from croke park this time to give mayo the 50/50 chances
Surely booing Reilly shows he’s gotten under our skin. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure. Eyes on the ball and a big roar for our lads. Show him what we’re really made of….better stuff than him!
Is there to be no action taken against the cowards who subjected some of our players to acts of thuggery late in the game last Sunday?
When you consider what some of our players got a 1 match ban for down in Kerry a few weeks ago. Not a level playing field and this would not be tolerated in any other western European Country.
As for the referee situation. I wonder will Dublin Joe get a lift on the Dublin team coach up to Monaghan. May as well pick him up on the way through and drop him home after the game.
We ourselves will need a massive crowd in Mchale Park to be the 16th man. Donegal will have 16 on the pitch and their number 16 can do serious damage on the scoreboard.
-Sludden and Cooney never officiated another intercounty match after their mistakes if my memory serves me right.. Reilly should have done the same and sailed off into the sunset.
– We are not North Korea so people can roll out the red carpet for him OR they can voice their disapproval, I will be doing the latter.
-Appointing him is an insult to Mayo GAA people. There are plenty of other refs which makes decision baffling.
– I too think that Donegal and indeed Kerry do not want to play the Dubs in the league final so I would expect an experimental Donegal team…
– Either way Mayo should win because we have to, a draw while it would do is too risky.
– Its all about the result rather than performance of team or of Reilly or of the Muppets that appointed him.
P.S. On the way into Limerick on the evening of the replay in 2014 I stuck my flag out the window of the car in a moment of childish excitement forgetting that the thumb tacks holding the cloth to the bamboo pole had fallen off at the first game. Off flew the green and red cloth with the wind. By the time I turned around and went back it had disappeared.
Truth is I felt this was a bad omen for the game ahead and so it turned out, even though I’m not normally superstitious. What’s the point? I don’t know but this post may have saved me a session on the psychiatrist’s couch. Lord knows we all have our nightmares when it comes to Mayo football and that evening in Limerick was one of them. Let’s not keep reliving the nightmare.
Lads some people are taking the ref thing to another level. Yes Jim the Flag Joe Mc Quilian is getting a lift on the Dublin bus, come on lads better than this. Why are people getting so worked up about things we have no control over. Like everyone refs are human and make mistakes. No matter who the ref is they are going to make calls that we don’t agree with. 99% of matches that I have played in or watched have been won or lost by the players.
JP, Dublin won u21 titles in 2010, 12 and 14. It’s coincided with their dominance now at senior.
Galway won in 2011 and 2013 and will be hard beaten this season; Kerry will prob just shade them in the semi. They are now on the way back to the top table.
Meanwhile we’ve been atrocious at u21 level for 6 years with the exception of 2016 where we were blessed to have Diarmuid O’Connor who won it for us. I was every u21 match last year; without Diarmuid we’d have lost against Roscommon and he was crucial against Dublin.
It might be harsh to say we were atrocious this year but we were very well beaten last sat in Tuam.
Let no one have any doubt, unless there’s a quick turn around in our fortunes at underage, this era of relative success at senior level just won’t last. Others will pass us out.
Olive,.. Referee Sludden certainly did ref intetcounty again, maybe about a year or even more after his appalling error (or even worse) in that particular Leinster final. What made his decision even more diabolical was him remmonstrating with his umpire and telling to put up the green flag, who was clearly disagreeing with him. Cooney was a different situation he just made a very human error in blowing early. It could happen a Bishop, and maybe it did! Fair play to Clare, they sportingly offered a replay to Offaly, and the money raised at the replay played in Semple Stadium went to a victim’s fund of the Enniskillen bombing a bit earlier in the year! But I don’t think that anyone could impune the integrity of the that referee, in fairness to the man. Human error!
There is a prospect of a mighty day out on Sunday for all….an absolute D-Day feel about it!
As all are saying there,the job of looking after the whistle is a true calling in the present state of things and really they deserve more assistance than is the case…we all know that and therefore we can’t be blaming them alone without calling into question the true culprits…..enough said!
To get our win on Sun will need;
1 yet closer swarming defence and watch the pulling and high arm tackles…it’s lazy….bottle them up… hard work!
2 T Parsons work rate and bite to be maintained and upped…poor Tom!
3 The general body language of entire team to ooze busy… no lolling about…thinking we’re more special than anyone else!
4 in and out and over and back as often as they like as long as there is mostly a positive at the end of move!
5 our line breakers will be watched like a hawk so their timing needs to be spot on.
6 two types of scores… Distance and hard earned worked. Both call for judgement/ precision of thought and action! Mix them up.
7 I’d love to see COC taking an odd out of the blue quick free kick to emphasise his intent….at times the approach slows things too much!
Can we be beaten if we score well on those couple of points?
C’mon Mayo…
Reilly is the only ref I’ve a problem with. A ref making bad calls is almost expected these days but as long as he’s consistently bad for both sides I’ll put up with it. A few who cheats though is a massive problem in my book! He cost us in Limerick but we’re to blame for pretty much every other big game defeat. We either made too many mistakes on and off the field or were simply beaten by a better team. Only 1 defeat I put down to the ref so forget about us always playing the poor mouth
While I was reading the Monday morning reports provided by W.J. I noticed another news item on one of the papers to the effect that Pearse and Cian Hanley have arrived home to be with their younger brother Tom who has terminal cancer. Their respective clubs released them. Very sad for all the Hanley family
@Mayonaze. Forgot that 2014 Dublin u21 title. I think we’ll be okay with having talent coming through to senior.
Condolences to the Hanleys on that sad news.
Pearse Hanleys brother passed away this evening..Only 15 years old..Such a short life..RIP .Reilly doesn’t deserve the energy we are giving him..On a positive note I can’t wait to see Caff back in a Mayo jersey..hopefully sooner than later..
Leantimes…the Omagh bombing you mean. Enniskillen was ’87 I think.
My condolences to the Hanley family.
Absolutely , sincere sympathy to the Hanley family, sad to hear of death of such a young man,… Mayonaze,I stand corrected, you are of course correct , it was indeed Omagh!
Condolences to the Hanley family.
That’s very sad news to hear about Tommy Hanley, brother of Pearce and Cian Hanley. Condolences to Pearce, Cian and the rest of the Hanley family. RIP Tommy Hanley.
When reilly and his umpires arrive at the groune politely tell him there is no parking for him.
When he walks to his dressing room let him know that there is no referees dressing room.
Let him onto the pitch to do what the GAA sent him to do but no courtesies should be afforded
Dreadful news. Truly awful. My condolences to the Hanley family.
RIP Tommy
Rip Tommy.
Very sad news.
RIP Tommy and condolences to the Hanley family. Heartbreaking news.
What has happened to Finonan Duffy from crossmolina ??
Was he injured at the weekend for the u21’s?
Like he started last year in the all Ireland final and did not get a minute at the weekend , sad too see.
My condolences to the Hanley family on their very sad loss. As regards Cormac Reilly, I was as annoyed as anybody over his 2014 performance but it really is time to let it go. The most annoying thing about his appointment for Sunday is the staggering insensitivity shown by the GAA to both Mayo supporters and, in fairness, to Reilly himself who is hardly looking forward to the trip.
Rest in peace Tommy.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/reillys-officiating-lacked-consistency-284360.html
Here is an independent assessment of Reilly’s performance in Limerick by form ref John Bannon. Now I wasnt a fan of his as a ref but he is better qualified than most here to comment on the performance of Reilly. It speaks for itself
I was wondering that also mayoman too re
Finonan Duffy
I was looking at the western people yday and he wasn’t even togged for the u21s at the weekend ,
does anyone know why this was the case ?? Was he injured
There were three that were unusual not to be togged. Fionan Duffy, Jack Reilly and Barry Duffy. Maybe injuries played a part. You’d figure them stronger and more experienced than the u19s.
Finbar, it is up to Reilly to accept a fixture. Refs are not assigned games, they are asked if they are available. He agreed to come to Castlebar.
God help them at this heart breaking time, this is so sad. RIP
There are loads of posters on here giving out about Reilly’s appointment including some whom I have massive respect for and indeed even quote when discussing football with other supporters. However this time I totally disagree with them. Reilly had a bad day in Limerick but this is not what maddened me most about Limerick. That was the reaction of various football commentators who fail to call it as it is. The Kerry team were as cynical as anything I ever seen that day but I say fair play to them. They were very cynical. What I hate though is the media then commentating that Kerry are the aristocrats of football – pure football. Pat Spillane was right but he was talking about the wrong teams. Dublin and Kerry have proven that they are the most cynical of teams – fair play to them I wish we were. A little bit of balance in the media would be nice call them as they are and I will have no problem with them or with the media. I say to Tyrone I hope you go down there and drag, pull, whinge and steal a win. As for Mayo fans we need to cop on. When we complain about Lane, McQuillan, Reilly, the ground, the timetable and all the other refs we let our selves down. We are becoming whingers. Stop please. Dont tell me you have every right to complain. So do I and I think you are seriously wrong. Don’t take on the mantle of a victim.
Heard a rumour about Fionan Duffy that he didn’t ‘winter’ well. Whatever that means is anyone’s guess .
That’s sufficiently vague, Heath Braxton, to avoid censure for breaking the rules on unsubstantiated rumours. Best avoid comments like that, though – this is a young player whom you’re naming here.
You can delete it if you deem fit Willie Joe.
WJ, did you not make similar comments about Liam Irwin?
I think that’s half our problem down in mayo
These u21’s winning minors and u21s , not really pushing on , two many egos and guys thinking they are superstars
You don’t see it in the kerrys and Dublins
How many of these winning teams have pushed through … diarmuid , coen and Boland
Kinda sad to see the likes of Duffy not even making the bench on his final year in u21 after starting last year and Irwin been dropped from the senior squad
But maybe both management teams feel that these guys are of no asset to mayo football going forward
Mayoman, we’ve seen Irwin, Loftus, O’Donoghue and Plunkett feature in the league this year in addition to Diarmuid, Coen and Boland.
Just because they’re dropped from the panel now does not mean they can’t make their way back on to it again.
It’s up to them to prove they’re worth a place on the panel at all times if they want it, both those that have their place and those that don’t.
Duffy featured in the 3 games in the North West cup, as it happens.
No, it’s okay, Heath Braxton – it’s sufficiently vague. What I said, Tubberman, in relation to Liam Irwin was aimed at dampening down speculation about the reason for his being dropped from the panel.
Quite right, FDBinashui – a certain L Keegan was deemed surplus to requirements prior to the start of the 2010 championship campaign!
I think thats very harsh and a wild generalisation say those young players are not making it through beacuse of egos and them beliving they are superstars etc. While id like to see more of them making an impression particularly in the forwards, the Mayo senior panel is a very tough one to get into. Duirmuid, Coen, Boland have broken through and are competing for starting positions. However we also have Loftus, Hall, O’Donaghue, Plunkett, Reape pushing for championship panel positions. Thats 8 players from that team. There are players like Akram &Ruane who will be in consideration next year. Add to that Cian Hanley who is doing well down under, Gary Boylan has choosen soccer and was called into the Ireland U21 squad.
So I think the management is doing a good job of integrating that group of young players into the senior setup.
We also lost poor Darragh Doherty who was a great prospect. Tommy Conroy has had his problems with injury and personal tragedy, but hope to see him in the mayo colours in the future.
I wouldnt say egos or the like are holding those guys back, that exceptional group of lads are doing very well and are probably doing better than any other underage county side.
If lads aren’t prepared to commit, then they’re not prepared to commit. That’s on them. There’s nothing ‘sad’ about it. When they’re ready to settle down, then they can try for a place. Nobody deserves a place just because they won an U21 medal.
Exactly , but I agree with mayo man a lot of these guys just like the ” celeb status that goes with it ”
Fbd- do you think it’s good enough for a guy like Duffy from crossmolina starting a couple of games in a Mickey Mouse u21north west league ?
After starting an all Ireland final a couple of months previously ? Guys like this are in my opinion of no use to any team environment
In fairness a few of these guys have pushed through , would like to see what Reape is like
Mayo51 – do you know why Duffy hasn’t featured in the under 21 game against Galway last weekend?.
I don’t.
Perhaps he’s injured, perhaps he isn’t.
Perhaps he’s not playing well in training, or perhaps he’s shooting the lights out.
Unless someone knows his situation, it’s all speculation.
Either way’s he didn’t play that single u-21 championship game and got 3 games in the North West cup. Whatever has happened since then to have him left off the selection for that game against Galway I don’t know, but I’m not going to speculate as to whether he is of any use to a team environment based on him not featuring in one specific game.
Like Duffy wasn’t in the u21 squad photo on Saturday , do any posters know why ??
Too many in Mayo have a habit of hyping up young lads as being “The next big thing”. Let them at it. Some players develop faster than others and sometimes a player comes along at senior level that did not impress or even feature at minor or u-21 level.
I have no doubt the best players we currently have are on the panel right now. Debate on quality forwards is another issue and should be address further back the line when coaching the younger lads in national school upwards.
Re U21s Michael Hall has also featured, but seems to be injured at the moment. So if you take Hall, Coen, O’Connor, Loftus, Boland, O’Donoghue, Plunkett and Reape, as ‘strong’ panelists, that’s not a bad haul (!). And, akram, Ruane, Flanagan, Cunniffe, and Carr are still under 21. What’s the problem.
BTW, I’m quite relaxed ( to quote Peter Mandelson) about U21 flash in the pan teams that land an All Ireland. – having previously won a minor title. And I doubt if Diarmuid O’Connor would see himself as the sole reason they won. Tell that to Matty Ruane, Conor Loftus, Matty Flanagan, Shiroize and all the others.
It’s actually rare enough that a 21 year old is physically capable enough to compete for places in the top sides these days. The game has moved on so much in terms of S&C that a bolter from u21 is nearly gone. There’s always freaks like diarmuid who can make it but he is a freak. He was head and shoulders above everyone else in the country at u21 level and that includes anyone in the dubs panel. Players now make the break through at 23/24 after at least 3 years strenuous conditioning work and it’s not for everyone either. A very good player under age just may not have the drive to succeed at senior level and that’s ok too. It’s a hell of a commitment for what reward? Coen, diarmuid, boland and possibly loftus could be pushing for places come championship. That’s a pretty good return from the u21 panel of last year.
Heath Braxton , you mentioned that Finonan Duffy has not wintered well, is this why he was not involved with the u21’s ??
I thought he was a decent player , why is the story will Liam Irwin Willie joe ??
Very true yew tree. Players do develop at different stages. Also some young players (not all mind you) can get second season syndrome, where they don’t perfirm to everybody’s expectstion. It’s then the fans get impatient and call for XY or Z to be called in ahead of said youngster. Those fans drive me daft.
Nearly every other football forum in the country.. especially the top footballing counties have discussed the progression of underage footballers onto the County panel and they have all come up with the exact same conclusion as us.. players just dont make an impression now before 23/24 aside from the odd rare gem such Diarmuid. It’s going to be much more difficult to keep potential future stars engaged with the process and focused on the long game but I think we are doing pretty good so far. It would be nice to keep players like Irwin close to the inner workings of the team via a large extended panel but it’s just not financially feasible in an amateur sport.. although this is one area I feel Dublin have the greatest advantage over any other County in the Country in that their reach and pockets are great indeed.
I don’t think the rumour above was vague Willie Joe. ‘Wintered well’ is basically poor lifestyle and hence not fit. But this is unfair as for all we know he might be injured.
[Deleted].
What would a champaign lifestyle entail? Going out enjoying themselves. I really hope they were. Amateur football is a pass time to be enjoyed especially at underage level, they must have a life away from it. They are young fellas, most in College they should be socializing, going out etc. They won an All Ireland they better have celebrated it and milked it for all its worth, its not like we have many to boast about. Are thes lads to be locked away in training camps only thinking of football. I dont know Duffy, never met the lad so im not doing to comment on his character or mention rumours about him, im sure those who have posted regarding his character must know him well.
U21 is not simple to judge year to year. Last year they were younger and very few were around the senior set up so were training towards the U21 championship. This year alot more of the panel are either too old or are training with the seniors so are on a different training programme designed to peak later in the year. Cork whom we played in the final last year jus got hammered by Kerry. Judging U21 from year to year is unfair as the team changes dramatically in a year.
Mayoman – I’m not sure if you’re trying to be ironic or just offensive in that comment but either way you’re out of order. Oh and that’s not how you spell champagne either.
Forget about the ref,forget about u21s & lets go out and win this game—no excuses. Most of our failures in big games can be put down to poor decisions on the line.
Most of our failures in big games were about not being quite good enough. Lee Keegan always references that.
JP – exactly. There will always be things that go against you but who can say Mayo have not had it within our own hands to win games we lost?
Mr.Reilly….remember v Cork 2014 and O’Neill (I think) took the point for Cork when two points down. Reilly blew the Whistle on the Mayo kick out and Cork players went mad claiming they were told there was enough time for another play.
I wouldn’t waste any energy “booing” Reilly. Limerick is in the past. Concentrate on the present and put your energy into supporting the team.
Again I would call on anyone here that follow’s Mayo GAA Banter page to un-follow it. They are a disgrace to decent Mayo supporters with the comments they come out with and should be shut down.
There was another decision in that game, yew tree, when Ger Caff clipped Colm O’Neill (I think) as he was bearing down on goal and it could just have easily been a penalty against us. In fact in real time I was full sure it was going to be. Reilly deemed it an accidental collision but the Cork crowd (all six of them!) were going mental over it.
I actually remember that WJ now that you mention it. The whole country deems us as whingers for always giving out about referee’s….only recently have we stopped talking about 1996 the fiasco. Now not that I care what anyone think’s, far from it but I think we need to focus on the now. If the referee makes a bad decision this Sunday let him know but talk about banners and for fans to wear “Mick Barrett” masks at the game is actually embarrassing.
I understand we are in the unusual spot of challenging since 1989 and coming so close so often. I would argue it is easier for a Kerry, Dublin or Kilkenny fan to take a defeat easier since they have experienced so much joy and probably can sleep well knowing they will in the future too.
Mayo on the other hand it is like we are stuck in purgatory and as each year goes by it increases the tension.