Photo: MichaelMaye.com
We’ve been fairly fortunate so far this summer on the injury front, not least in light of our gruelling schedule of games, but it looks as if that luck may be running out a bit. Both the Connaught Telegraph (here) and the Mayo News (paper and digital variants) are reporting that Tom Parsons is a major doubt for us this Sunday.
The Mayo News states that Tom’s injury is hamstring-related, which, given the nature of such trouble, makes it unlikely that he’ll start against Roscommon. If this is the case, Donal Vaughan – who shifted to midfield ahead of throw-in against Clare when the Charlestown man was a late withdrawal due to a reported stomach bug – would appear to be the likeliest replacement. Stephen Coen, Danny Kirby and, possibly, Barry Moran are options for us in that sector as well.
Want some more bad news? Joe McQuillan is the ref for Sunday. The last time he had a game involving us was against Galway so at least we have recent experience of him. He’ll be grand, I’m sure.
Want some good news? The GAA, in its infinite wisdom, has scheduled our match for 4pm, with Galway taking on Kerry at 2pm. There was some talk that it’d be the other way around but with us bringing upwards of 15,000 to HQ and the Rossies coming with 10,000 or more that would have been complete madness.
Will the early arrivals from both counties, I wonder, cheer on our Connacht brethren in the curtain-raiser? We should and I certainly will.
It’d be great to have an all-Connacht All-Ireland semi-final (yet another real provincial final!) and a win for the Tribesmen would, however our match goes, guarantee such an outcome. Plus, with apologies to Gamechanger10, it’d knock Kerry out in the process too.
Have you got your tickets yet? The Bring a Friend option on the Season Ticket – in which it seems only Lower Davin tickets are left (that’s where we’re headed, Rob) – is open until tonight so get your skates on if you haven’t sorted them yet.
To finish up, let’s do a quick sweep of the nationals before tomando el sol over here once more.
The Irish Independent has a few bits of interest. First up was that piece from yesterday by Billy Keane about us, the supporters and all that. Nice, feel-good stuff – it’s here.
There’s a feature piece in the same paper with Roscommon’s John McManus – Tony’s son, by the way, so he comes from good footballing stock – which is here. The headline, which comes across as a bit cocksure, is actually quite misleading.
He sounds focused and confident but knowing too that he and his teammates are heading into a challenge unlike one they’ve never faced before. He says this Roscommon team “is capable” of beating the top teams but Sunday will put that confidence to the test. We know what we’re capable of in Croke Park.
David Brady is in the Indo too giving out about our inability to finish teams off. That’s here.
Donnchadh Boyle, also in the Indo, tackles this failing in a different way, noting there’s a kind of split personality to the way we play. He reckons our killer instinct might be due to the fact that so many of the team have been on the road for so long.
Dick Clerkin – who was on co-commentary with Mike Finnerty on Saturday at the Gaelic Grounds – reckons we need to shake things up a bit tactics-wise. His view on this is in the Indo here.
Finally, over in the Irish Times, Jim McGuinness’s column – penned from over in China – is here. Not about us, per se, but we get a mention and the Donegal man is always worth reading.
That’s your lot for now. Don’t forget those tickets.
Tom would be a big loss against what is a mobile Rossie midfield.
Hard to see how he can play any part if it’s a hamstring injury. I’m not a huge fan of playing guys half-fit. You’re either good to go full tilt or you sit the game out.
If Tom doesn’t make it, I wonder will AOS be named at MF with Seamie? That wouldn’t be the worst outcome ever. As well as more than adequately filling the gaping MF hole that Tom’s absence would leave, it would provide another berth for Fergal, or even (dare I hope) Shane Nally to start.
I have butterflies in my stomach already. I’m bringing my 7 year old daughter to her first Mayo game in Croke Park too. Mightn’t be the best plan I ever had, given the importance of the game, and the fact that her father has been known to become quite animated in the heat of the battle. She may learn a new word or two on Sunday, and if the homeward bound traffic is a fraction of what I expect, she might learn even newer words in the car.
Anyone injured at this stage would be a major loss although I do think our bench is stronger than it has been in previous years. Like yourself, I will always shout for the neighbours, no matter what and I do believe the majority of them do likewise.
Unfortunately I’m on foreign shores with the family and will miss a mayo game for first time in ages. Haven’t spoken to the wife in 3 weeks when I realised what was happening!! Hopefully I’ll get my trip to CP when I come back.
I will only be shouting for Galway for one reason and that because I want Kerry out.
Big loss if he can’t play, Tom’s box to box tracking is something I can’t see AOS replicating, though he, of course has other qualities, high fielding and power chief among them.
Have I got this wrong or has our game been switched to four o’clock
If TP carrying a Hammer ….
Given how Doherty, McLoughlin, Diarmuid & Loftus played on Saturday how about this. …
Name kevin at no 4 with Barrett & Harrison in full back line.If Ross play two up, let Kevin be the spare defender.
That leaves a hb line of higgins boyle & Durkan.
Mf of SoS & Keegan.
Hf of Doc, AoS & Diarmuid.
Ffs of Andy, CoC & Conor.
That gets all our best players on the pitch.
It leaves us light up top with sub options but good cover otherwise. …
Vaughan & Coen (if back to Clare form rather that Cork form). Boland will be fine against Ross.
Yup, we’re on at 16:00, We are Mayo.
http://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-results/
Lets bring on Fergal Boland , Danny Kirby ,Shane Nally, all in the Second Half because they will run at a tiring Roscommon defence.
Come on Mayo ye can do it
Cant say I am a fan of too many changes.When a team is settled leave it alone barring injuries.I do think a case can be made in the full back line if needed on Sunday but I think Ger will do fine.
D.Murtagh can score so needs tight marking and Mullooly is a good player.
Keep our heads…Donie or Durcan in…leave rest alone assume Tom does not play and thats not certain at all.
Agree with RogaMilla, will only be shouting for Galway because I’d rather Kerry out.
I think Ger cafferkey could be under pressure to hold his place. The long injury lay off looks to have caught up with him. He looked very hesitant and slow on the turn v Cork. Diarmuid Murtagh could roast him. I think his days as a man marker are over. I would love to have seen him tried as a full time sweeper
As a general comment I’ve really enjoyed the football championship this year. The tired old cliche ridden journos will try and tell us its poor but the scoring stats are incredible and I think the introduction of the mark has been a huge plus.
Highlights for me so far is the drama of the Mayo games, Jamie Clarkes goal v Tipperary, Ronan O’Neill’s goal in ulster final, Flynns point for Kildare against the Dubs, the make the most of what you have and tonnes of heart from Carlow….still plenty to come.
Kirby M/F for TP it’s an easy solution
If Tom is out then the safe thing to do is to start Donie Vaughan in midfield and Lee at no. 5. If we want to take a risk then maybe start Lee in midfield and Donie at no. 5. You can always swap them around if its not working. We do need to try something different this year. As we have seen in the last few years, what we have, probably won’t be good enough again this year unless we try something new.
it really is a bit soon to think of replacing Ger Cafferkey
If Tom is not fit then surely it’s time to bring in Danny Kirby who has scored invaluable points for us in the past – and if he does not last the pace Barry Moran should be given the last 15 minutes.
Our full back line as its currently constituted badly needs bolstering. Harrison is big enough and agile enough to be given a go at full back and bring back Chris Barrett to his regular corner back position. We have seen what happens when Boyler is taken off – our opponents run riot up the middle. Please, please keep him at centre half where he’s earned his All-Star – and don’t take him off in the last few minutes when we so badly need his leadership on the field. So my half back line would be Lee Roy, Boyler and Paddy Durcan. Lee Roy is now on two black cards and needs to be calm in the face of all the provocationbhe’s going to get!
And what a gem we have in young Loftus – a penchant for goal, an unerring point taker and an astute footballing brain – as his pass into Cillian only too clearly showed. I believe management is right is bringing him on in the second half when his speed and swerve will trouble any defence.
Jason has now bloomed into a complete new half forward and it’s great to see Diarmuid and Cillian regain all of their old power. And what can one say about Andy? He gives a master class in forward play in EVERY game and his link-up with Cillian is a joy to behold.
I still think Alan Dillon is worth a few minutes at the end – despite his bad pass to a Cork player the last day. We need leaders to hold onto the ball. Closing it down takes massive work rate and heart, and I have no doubt management is working hard on this. We almost let it slip with a sloppy pass in the dying seconds which allowed Cork back into the game.
Would love to see Kirby come on for Tom, can’t understand why he hasn’t come on the last few games , Jason Doherty had a great game on Saturday , played out of his skin , got out in front of his man every time and his work rate was unreal , great to see loftus doing well also , great positives to take from Saturday’s game , forwards were fantastic , hopefully we will get the backs right in time for Sunday , if there are improvements in the backs on Sunday and the forwards play as well as they did , then it will look like everything is coming together , also keegan shines in croker, there are weakness but more positives .
Roll on Sunday
Thanks for the Links WJ.
I think Re: the “closing out games” issues is lost (a-bit) in translation. I Think the lack of impact the Subs made is the real issue here. Even if Stephen was naive in taking out the whole half back line the subs with their fresh legs should have been able to slow down the onslaught of Powter for that first goal, but then to gift cork 3 more chances (one converted and one a point) is damning for them boys that came on. Managers make decisions based on what they know of the capabilities of their players and Rochford must have seen potential in them to put them on…. and they just didn’t do their jobs. In fact these subs should have been fighting for their starting place and made an impact them selves to prove that are worthy of starting not just being part of the panel.
Isn’t it just a case of Brady trying to rile up the troops and lull Roscommon into false sense of security….isn’t that the role of ex-players in the media.
Willie joe I think we should start the same 15 as last sat and if tp is out bring in Durcan .sos barrett Boyle lee and Andy were all saved a full 70mins and more so fatigue is not a big issue with only 8day turnaround. Leave caff alone He has a good game in him yet. Up mayo
Jason Doherty won nearly every ball kicked to him but rarely was there a Mayo jersey coming off his shoulder… the game was crying out for one of our players to link up with him..instead he was very often isolated. It kept happening, time and time again – people were yelling for someone to come off his shoulder and if that had happened, we’d have split the cork defence open down the middle a few times. But we didn’t. We also didnt take goal chances when they were offered. There’s a time to take a simply point and a time to bury it… we took the wrong options. Overall, I think we made a very average cork side look good.
Next Sunday all depends on how recovered we are. Lads like McLoughlin were out on their feet at the end of normal time in Limerick. The rossies will have some butterflies cos it’s really their first big championship game but I expect them to play with abandon and tear at us early. Mayo must match their intensity and appetite. We MUST play with a structured and organised defence – one where lads know their job. Simply playing with an extra man back there isn’t enough.
When we break to attack we cannot leave a man isolated on the opposition 50 yard area, like we did with Doherty last weekend and we were over reliant on Andy winning ball inside. I thought Andy had a very good game but Cork allowed him acres of space. A better defence will make life much harder.
You can be sure McStay will have a trick up his sleeve. The Rossies won by 9 points in Salthill and probably should have won by 12/13 points given the 6 wides they kicked in a row after their 1st goal. They will run at Mayo and will try the odd long ball too – I expect them to mix it up. Rochford & Co need to get this one right on Sunday. If Mayo’s defence is tight and well drilled, and provided we get a grip on midfield then we should have enough to get through but with Mayo these days, who knows what’ll happen. Form suggests it’ll be very tight. After the past few weeks I dont see us having the energy to go all ‘gung-ho’ on Sunday. It’ll need to be a ‘professional’ performance, one where we use our heads and experience to grind out a result against a young, motivated, enthusiastic and pacey team with nothing to lose and forwards who can score.
Cannot belive people are still thinking Ger is playing good enough for Croke Parke. …
Eaten alive by two old footballers in Limerick. .. imagine murtagh/smyth/connellan ….
People and especially management need to see what is in front of them and act accordingly.
Same applies to A Dillon. … gave the ball away from a free kick & miles off the pace of the game.
Time for sentiment is over.
We also need a a disciplined performance – McQuillan will award frees all day against us if there’s even a sniff of a foul on a rossie forward. No more stupid black cards or reds! Mayo have worked very very hard to get back to the last 8, it’d be a waste of time and shame for them to mess it up now.
This would be my team below for the Rossie game
I would start Harrison at full back instead of cafferkey no question
If Parsons is injured I would start Vaughan I think he played well when he came on the last day
another possibility would be to start conor loftus with AOS at midfield
I would definitely like to see boland / conor o shea /Barry Moran been given a place on the bench instead of Dillion
As a poster said above time waits for no man , I think Dillons days are past him
what do posters think of the below?
D Clarke;
Barrett
Harrison
Higgins
Keegan
C Boyle
Durcan
S O’Shea,
T Parsons /Vaughan /AOS
K McLoughlin
A O’Shea /Loftus
Diarmuid O’Connor
J Doherty
C O’Connor
A Moran
Great upbeat comments ……has to be the weather!
The presence of Loftus and Higgins and MC Loughlin I think is not appreciated to the extent they should. Their mix in the upfront activities could make for an abs lethal cocktail….defence splitting pass, runs and that little magic ingredient which we ve lacked …..for the major scores. We ll see it yet and I’ll hit the sky when it happens!
Mayonaze,
To be fair I don’t think the Cork team that went to limerick last Saturday could be compared to the timid mild mannered subservient Cork team that presented itself for execution at Fitzgerald Stadium on the 2nd of July. Personally from a neutral point of view it was a brilliant game in limerick and the twists and turns and Herculean efforts on show were like being on a roller coaster that visited the house of horrors, game of thrones and when the ride was over you didn’t know your arse from your elbow and I was only a neutral watching it on the TV.
Cork had a very different attitude last Saturday and to be honest it was an attitude we in Kerry were expecting to see in the Munster Final. In all games between these two counties there is always that local Darby edge. Cork have turned us over plenty of times when on paper we should have wiped the floor with them, that’s the hidden ingredient of your neighbours hens eating in your back yard. Mayo will have to be careful next Sunday with this very issue as it will rise the passion and some players have been walking on the cliff edge in this campaign as it is.
The best possible result would be for Kerry and Mayo to progress next Sunday as it is my opinion that whoever meets the expected dubs in the final will have to do battle with one of the two next best teams in the country, also our playing styles will compliment a favourable tilt at the dubs. I’m not being at all cocky as I can assure you I am fully aware that Galway are a coming team and will around for the next few years. That are well trained and are a dangerous prospect no more than Roscommon are for Mayo. I won’t be shocked if either of us fall but I do expect us both to get over the line after a good joust.
Agree with cantini, Brady is at last playing the media game, keep negative and bad press on Mayo, and not a mention of the positive performance of the forwards. Brady is now probably the highest profile pundit we have and has an important role to play in the media, especially if we beat ros and meet Kerry with their media Mafia.
Def up for Galway in curtainraiser and have two connacht teams in semis. Tiredness our biggest worry after battling through qualifiers and two games going to extra time. Conor O Shea would be my choice at midfield, coming in fresh.
Roscommon will try to run us ragged no doubt about that and they have youth and fitness
Puckout – Brady is now a “made man”
100% will not be cheering for Galway on Sunday, I live amongst them and while they are the salt of the earth, and great people, my worst nightmare is if we get past the Rossies and Galway beat Kerry, Galway then turn around and beat us in semi final in Croke park…. they would be unbearable and world lord it over us for ever. much like 1998 and 2001 is still mentioned every time I talk football with them. But….. they are playing Kerry…. its like chosing between a kick in the nuts or punch in the face…
Brady isn’t making things up!! The facts are we haven’t killed off a team in years! Our win in Ennis was comfortable with 5/10 mins to go, but that’s about it. Nearly every team we have played has been still in it approaching teh final quarter and in some circumstances have been ahead of us!
WJ – am I right that Clarkey was our Man of the Match in our league game v Roscommon. Another day when our defence was waltzed through…it’s frustrating that we have been so porous at the back. I left Croke Park last Sept thinking, ‘damn it’ we were incredibly close and feeling we have the best defence in the country. Our defence in 2017 wouldnt even be in the top 6 teams I’d imagine. We conceded soft goals against Derry and Cork, and two of these were late last gasp efforts to keep the opposition in the game and we weren’t able to close up shop.
Mayo arguably have the best defenders in the country…but no way have we the best defence. Certainly not in 2017, so far. If Mayo want to win on Sunday this needs to be improved and IF we have any ambition of going further then this area of the field needs serious examination.
On Gal v Kerry….Couldnt care less who wins and might only go in for the 2nd half. People saying they want Galway to win, be careful what you wish for.
Focus on Mayo and the immediate opposition…only.
Good rebuttal provided by Oisin McConville on why Cillian o’connor is a marquee forward.
https://www.balls.ie/gaa/cillian-oconnor-369954
very well put mayonaze – focus should be on our next opponent only. And if we do advance to the semi we’ll worry about that then and i can be certain that whoever is playing us will be equally as worried playing us. If Parsons is out, i think Rochford will go with Donie in MF. Donie has played well in croke park on most occassions and is a safe bet to perform. The attacking threat of DOC, COC, AOS & AM is really improving and if they contiune in that vein we will be just do enough to get over Ros. Thats all we need, as another poster said a 1 point win is all we need.
Kirby could be in the reckoning with Parsons likely to be out. Great kick passer and can kick a score. I’d be very surprised to see Crowe considering the lack of game time this year. Shane Nally is a man I’d have faith in to do any job asked of him.
Will the big mayo flag make an appearance on Sunday.
Dublin supporter site saying that following fire brigade instructions , Croke Park have banned all large flags as a safety hazard. Shame as love seeing the big mayo and Dublin flags at games
We should support Galway as our neighbours and as Connacht representatives (plus we have a better chance of beating them than Kerry in semi- final!) Was proud of vocal Mayo support for Leitrim in Junior semi-final last Saturday. Muigh Eo Abú agus tar éis sin Connacht Abú!
If they’re stopping flags being brought in, between the camera bag and flag I’ll be left sitting out in the middle of Clonliffe rd
Hopefully Tom’s injury isnt too bad.
Not too bothered about Galway v Kerry. I think I would prefer Kerry and ourselves to come through & then we could have real payback for ’14 – to be the best you need to beat the best and all that.
Re. Shouting for Galway I won’t be losing my voice anyway. I remember Semi Final last year against Tipp, a miserable Galway crew beside us after their own minor game shouting for Tipp. I couldn’t get over it & just weeks before Tipp had knocked them out in both the Hurling & the Football. Between that and their ‘Back Door’ sign now . . . .
Anyway we’ve enough to be going on with to mind our own house!
MaigheoGoDeo.
Cantini, it’s been a good championship, with the 3 best game’s all involving Mayo,… V Galway,, V Derry and V Cork, the latter is in the Classic genre…. Anyway I think the moment of the Championship has to be Connor Louftus wonder goal V Derry… It was simply Sublime, the clock almost in the red and Mayo heading out of the Championship and the build up… Pure Class!… Hope Tom’s injury is not as bad as reported,.. He put in another fine shift in Limerick, and has been a top class performer all year, allot of the time being the only regular midfielder playing for us, with Séamus, Aiden and Barry all unavailable for the spring.
ah mayoingalway
you are very harsh. I can assure you there were 31 counties cheering for Tipp against Mayo last year as is the case any time a massive underdog plays one of the big guns – which you should take consolation in being. I have no shame in saying i was shouting for them myself and that was an anti-mayo vibe – far from it. I don’t think Roscommon are the same level of underdog this week as Tipp were and they are unlikely to enjoy the universal good will Tipp did but there will still be an awful lot of people shouting for them as the percieved minnow in the battle…I won’t be one of them btw….but i won’t be shouting against them too hard either
The overwhelming majority of Kerry and Galway people who remain on in Croke Park for game no.2 will be shouting loudly for roscommon. There’s every chance we’ll be outnumbered meaning we need a repeat of the level of support the Mayo fans in the Mackey Stand brought. I have to say, as someone who stood at the back of the other stand (teh North Stand in Limerick) there were a hell of a lot of Mayo people not shouting but just watching an cheering scores. Myself and the fella beside me roared our way thru that second half while plenty others sat silently. I had to nudge them and get them to join in.. which they seemed a bit embarrassed about.
If you are in Croker on Sunday and there are Mayo supporters around you – even if you dont know them – urge them on to shout louder and join in.
So the big flag is a safety hazard now is it? Ah Jasus.
Anyway at least its not a six day turn around. Eight days not as severe. In world cup tournaments teams play 90 minutes (sometimes 120) every four/five days in often a hot climate towards the quarter, semi and final.
Having said that, who to sub and when to sub him will be more important than ever this Sunday. Rochford has to get this right on this occasion. Stupid black cards and even more stupid reds to be avoided at all costs. No starting a man who is carrying an injury or bringing him on as a sub either. No back chat to Dublin Joe when he awards a free against us from say 50 yards out so that it can be brought forward to much easier kicking range (happened v Cork). Loftus to start up front with Cillian and Moran and stay there. Goals will follow.
How in the name of Gerry McInerney is a big flag a safety hazard, yet the Dubs are permitted to bring in blue and navy smoke bombs to the Hill every time we play them?
A friend of mine was up in sligo for the Galway v Donegal over the weekend and was watching the mayo game in the pub beforehand. He was amazed that every Galway supporter was cheering on Cork.
Can’t understand that as I would always support Connacht teams in qualifiers.
@It means nothing to me – I think smoke bombs are easy enough to hide if you wanted to bring them in.
A big flag is a different kettle of fish altogether however.
Ya Wide Ball, Kerry fella told me similar story – he was on Holidays in Galway for the AI last year & watched match in Galway pub & was shocked to see everyone shout for Dublin.
He said one fella nearly didn’t know what to do with himself he was so afraid we might actually win it :-D.
He said Cork is one of their biggest rivals but if Cork are in Croke Park & they aren’t, they back Cork all the way.
Anyway Mayonaze, you’re right, we’ll need to be louder than ever on Sunday :-).
Surely we can still paint ourselves green & red and bring our bodhrans!!!!? 😉
Be sure to bring the big flag on Sunday, I got into both finals last year with alot of stuff, ie, large homemade flag, loads of sticks to use as poles, duct tape, plastic joiners, this was in the Nally / hill area.
I had if fully erected a hour before kick off.
The most thing the stewards are concerned about is too many people jumping over the railing dividing the Nally from the hill, over crowding in the hill.
Tom will be a huge loss
Not sure DV is mobile enough for midfield
Kirby is not a midfielder….not good at winning ball in the air. DOC could be the right choice.
There was a comment yest here from Tuamstar ‘
‘ Shame on Galway beating Donegal’
Says it all..when you can say that about your own co. Players.Agree with Mayonaze and others above.need to roar like lions and lioness’s.
I dont understand sometimes how many Mayo fans can be expressionless at our games.
Jez if this team does’nt stir ye to rise up!!!!?
I think Donie is an able replacement. He has played well on numerous occasions there. The concern is
when SOS legs go after 50 mins. Coen to come in i suppose .. He is usually reliable but was badly at
fault for the 2nd goal against Cork and for giving the ball away for the equalizer. Kirby hasn’t the pace to play there.
Would have been nice to have Ruane in reserve if he’d been blooded in the league ..
McStay will target Caff. No doubts about it. Long diagonal balls will be sent in at some stage. Its a big concern
for me.
Whoever is at #3 will be a target for sure and will need protection, sweeper required I would think. Need more practice at retaining possession for times when trying to hold onto a lead, more conservative play, team mates need to show and passes more certain. Even Dillon the last day and AOS last year made bad choices.
Whatever about the north stand the Mackey stand was rocking and EVERYONE was jumping and roaring. We need more of that Sunday….don’t underestimate the power of supporters and Cillian even refernced it after the game.
I see many tipping Roscommon on other forums…if that’s down to the fact Mayo aren’t rated or they just can’twair to see us beat I don’t know….
It all goes to show how absolutely essential it is for an intercounty player at this level to be 100percent tuned in and focused on what needs to be done. Errors will be severely punished from now on and while our lads are improving and showing immense heart, we’ve rode our luck at times and better teams would have ended us.
The Rossies will feel they have the tools and the motivation to do just that. Perish the thought, especially given the amount of matches we’ve played and failure to close them out from winning positions.
I would start Donie on Sunday. He was a threat in Limerick and played smart when we needed it. Like last year, he will thrive in Croker and he was a key man for us there last year. All the more need if Tom is out. He’s a huge loss.
No need to remind everyone how key the support will be. The Rossies are fanatics and it’s a massive day for their team and county.
We need one more almighty push everyone. Be prepared for a different type of atmosphere given we’re second up in a double header. And it’s Croker. Don’t give an inch in the stands!
Yes alot tipping Rossies ..Everyone loves the underdog and thats the Rossies this week.Also there are many out there that just want us out of the picture..especially Kerry and Dublin..
The rossies really targeted the Galway kickout in Salthill and got a lot of posesion from them ….They will do the same for our short kickout with their mobile forwards Im wondering could we see Barry Moran given mins would be a great man for the mark and Clarke the option to go long ….Andy Moran should be licking his lips after his heroics in Kiltoom in the FBD league same again Andy…
I have been racking my brains since saturday to understand what happened.I now think the subs coming on for barrett,boyle and lee keegan thought the game was over and were not fully tuned in for the battle.WE escaped and everybody have learnt a valuable lesson. ONWARDS TO ROSCOMMON GAME.. I think evan regan and conor loftus should start the game and give them responsibility.they are both exciting players and they will bring something different to the team .this is the game to play them in to see what they bring to the table.IT will give us options for the semi-final.
After Saturday I’m not convinced Barry Moran is an option at all.
Himself and Dillon simply haven’t played enough this season due to injury. Huge ask to slot them into a quarter final and expect them to deal with the pace of the game.
Right there Jimbo but let’s take care of Ros first. Ros are young and will try to run us into the ground.
On that note – I’d be looking to Loftus, Boland, Coen and Nally to inject some energy and pace into the side when required.
Kirby deserves a chance to start. It would be a hugely important step in his development as a senior intercounty player. I would position him at CHF with Aido moving to MF. Is Vaughan not on two blacks anyways or am I mistaken? If so then I don’t think it would be advisable to play him if at all possible.
Would anyone care to give an opinion on this question which I raised last night, but didn’t get any feedback on – Let’s say Cillian gets injured or black carded early (a la Rock for Dublin). Who takes over free kick taking and 45 duties?
With the games coming thick and fast there was always the possibility I was going to miss one of these games but of all the games I would really have liked to be at is this next one. Simply for the shear Craic of it.. I get on well with my Roscommon co-workers and whoever would have lost would have to dig deep to pay for a few rounds. Alas I must travel further a field and so GAAGO will have to suffice. Enjoy the day out everyone.. days like these don’t come around that often. Give it socks. Maigheo abu
@Maigh Eo go deo,
Conor Loftus was the free taker for last year’s U21s and kicked some pressure frees so he is one option. Jason Doc has taken frees in the past for us too, out of his hands. Andy Moran can hit 45s as well from the ground. Then I suppose Evan Regan for the left footed frees would be another option or Kevin McLoughlin but he never seems to be comfortable taking them. That’s all of the options I can think of anyway, except dare I say it, apart from Robbie Hennelly who has kicked some long range ones in the past but who is the most unlikely option for us, unless we had a long range free that was the last kick of the game to draw or win a match.
In the absence of Tom Parsons my starting team for Sunday would be:
David Clarke
Chris Barrett Brendan Harrison. Keith Higgins
Lee Keegan. Colm Boyle. Paddy Durian
Diarmuid O Connor. Seamus O Shea
Kevin McLoughlin. Aidan o Shea. Jason Doherty
Conor Loftus. Cillian O Connor. Andy Moran
Listen up guys, the only set of supporters adhering to this love in for the west are Mayo supporters. Thers such a soft belly to some mayo people .Why do ye feel the need to be such nice people, to hell with Galway and roscommon. Its all about Mayo. Get yerselves a snickers before the game , might take the mother theresa outta of ye.
HopeSpringsEternal – Good answer. I’d like to see Loftus taking frees if it comes to that.
Look if Mayo supporters can survive the Dublin fans we will survive much less Galway, Ros and Kerry fans shouting against us. I don’t think Kerry hate us so they won’t shout even though they would like us gone.
I will be honest when Galway were rocking well in the 90’s I did want Kerry to beat them in a semi that I attended. It’s the same as all of Leinster shouting for anyone but the dubs. We are galway and Roscommon’s dubs. They are tired of us. Would you blame them?!
Anyway I’m raring to go! A game against the rossies/dub/Tyrone seems to do that to me. I can feel Galway beginning to get that reaction too. Like other posters the only reason I want galway to win is to get Kerry out of the way for us and because it’s better for Connaught football which is a bit contradictory.
@maigh eo go deo.
To answer your question, we’d be up sh1t creek without a paddle.
Maigh eo go deo, I’ve been thinking of the same thing lately. What the hell would we do without COC?! Dub pages are really targeting him as a dirty player. If he is to get sent off in any match it is next Sunday’s with the ref we have. Plus a final against Dublin when we get that far!!!!!!!
Yeah Maigh Eo go deo, Conor does seem like a lad with a good temperament but hopefully its something that we won’t have to worry about and that we won’t lose Cillian at any time!
Conor can be decent but he’s not at the metronomic level of Cillian. Ah now is probably right in their previous comment. I think most refs are letting a lot go this year, while it makes for a more free flowing game when a free is actually called it’s inconsistent.
Sinead37 – Great minds and all of that.
I’m aware of their absolute hatred for Cillian, and my only response to them would be ‘Has he ever being guilty of eye-gouging or biting’ because they have absolutely no problem with worshipping certain players who have been guilty of that.
Sean Burke…. you are spot on, this love they neighbour seems unique to Mayo and I just don’t get it. The rossies and Galway love when we loose big games, anybody thinks anything else is fooling themselves
Anyone know what is our record against the Rossies in championship. Won – Drawn – Lost ?
what about Big Barry on the edge of the square for the start on Sat. If it were me i would try to put goals on them early.
Also really go after Smith and Murtagh. Maybe put Keegan tracking Smith
LOL Sean Burke, ‘. . .that might knock the Mother Theresa outta ye . .’ Too funny.
I agree with what you say.
Up Mayo where ever you go :-).
What is wrong with Boyler centre back. Always solid there. Barrett Harrison Higgins keegan Boyle durkan. If we need a sweeper why not drop sos back like Tyrone do with colm kavanagh. Why would anybody want keegan midfield. Does more damage from wing back and takes a half forward out of it. Change for sake of change not good. We are close. Need to change full back.Huge return from forwards last time. If we had that previously would have been over the line. Mcguinness says in his piece today the possibles need to do something different that is not expected. Put sos sweeping. Rotate midfield, we have enough of big men to do this and see where that takes us.
We need a stopper at CHB–we were doing fine there until we made the changes
I have it figured out what us Mayo supporters will do… Between Galway and Kerry, we’ll hope for a draw.. Don’t quite know how to go about that, but we could whistle to incourage the Ref to blow up early if they were level… We could also encourage the to send off several player’s from both side’s.. A good filthy match between the two of them, would be good as well and a draw, after extra time..with several player’s suspended.. . We could get the Rossi fan’s to join in..as well, it’s in their interest just as much as ours… What I think will happen is that Galway will set up with the by now out of fashion blanket, and I think it will be real physical around the middle, can’t see any Ref letting Galway away with what they got away with when they were playing Mayo. Galway would love to have Joe McQuillain playing /sorry I meant to say Reffing them again. But luckily there is only one ‘Joe McQuillain’.. & he’s Reffing (or at least it rhymes with Reffing) us.and the Rossi . And then we have to beat the Rossi and the Ref… I seen some comments on on another forum, saying it must be hell to be a Mayo fan…. Sure we wouldn’t have it any other way… As for the fan’s getting behind this team, you won’t get better fan’s in Ireland, I think with the large number of season ticket holders, and the encouragement of many poster’s on this Mayo Gaa blog, we are becoming a significant weapon in the Mayo arsenal… More of same on Sunday please!
Lads and lassies, in all fairness, there`s a lot more to Roscommon than just Smith and Murtagh.
For starters, there`s 2 of each.
Devaney, Cregg, Connolly, Mullooly all good players
Just for the craic. Stop every rossie you meet on the way in on Sunday and ask them do they need directions. What do ye think?
Why are so consumed with how other County’s see us or whether they support us or not. Most other County guys I know couldn’t care less about our never ending quest for Sam and in fact, quite enjoy our misery and Mayo God Help Us stuff. So I say man up everyone, let’s go make our own history and fuck the begrudgers.
Seanie McDermott and Ciaran Murtagh are the only 2 Roscommon players who started against us in Connacht Final in 14 named to start on Sunday.
Too funny Leantimes!
Really like the idea of encouraging red cards etc! As long as the Rossies don’t win and we end up helping them in the long run!
Agree wholeheartedly with Sean Burke above, I couldn’t care less about the neighbours. Honestly hope Kerry give them a hammering, I’ll worry about a semi final if we get there. All out focus has to be on Roscommon, tell every Rossie you know you think they’ll sneak it, hopefully their players will believe the massive hype within the County. They had players traveling round to Supervalu’s all week, parading the Nestor cup. To me that’s cringy to say the least, so hopefully the players think they’ve “made it”.
We’re in big danger here if we take the eye of the ball, our sole aim all week has to be to start with a bang, I’d place Aido in on there small FB line and hammer ball in from the start. We have to open up a lead and quietin the crowd, if it means dropping a gear in the second quarter so be it. Lot of their players may have energy, but they lack an awful amount of size, few well timed hits will send half of them back to Supervalue in Castlerea.
Devanney a big danger, need Diarmuid on him to track him back, the Murtaghs could kill us if we give them space. Parsons will start don’t worry, I expect Durcan in for Cafferkey, with Harry at FB and the rest to remain the same. Why make wholesale changes? Let the Rossies worry about us for fucksake.
Last point, Ger has took some horrendous criticism the last few days, especially from Brooklyn! We should be rallying around protecting our own, he’s come back from an atrocious injury, and maybe needs a break now. Remember, when we are lying in the bed or swamping pints, Ger and his ilk are running their bolloks off, bursting themselves in the gym, or eating some horrendous concoction of chicken and broccoli! All for the love of our County. He had bad day, but no need to be constantly criticizing him here. Best of luck to the lads on Sunday.
Sean Burke…totally agree.
Feck Ros and Galway.Lovely people but they will still be lovely people when out of championship.
Are people really suggesting we put in Regan Kirby and Nally with hardly any experience of Croker.And who do we leave out?
Get a grip .
Watched the game again this evening.
The goals we conceded were really poor defensively, all from direct running down the middle. What was even more striking was that we could/should have conceded at least two more.
The Rossies went after goals against Galway. They knew that full-back line is porous and took full advantage. There’s little doubt they’ll be looking at this again for Sunday.
The challenge for us is to maintain cover in front of the D and halt runners down the centre of our defence. This has been an issue for the entire summer so far.
Installing a sweeper will only go so far, and find a way to drive attacks wide instead of retreating with them and conceding territory.
Could be the day to blood Kirby ..we will need him in the future, and maybe in the not too distant future !
I don’t understand the negative emphasis on Dillon and his misplaced pass in extra time. He did well in the latter stages of the chip last year and it impacted on our forward line when he got injured for the replay. Anybody can misplace a pass and he wasn’t long on the pitch.
I think it’s a plus to have him back as a sub as he has the ability to kick the odd score.
The idea that a misplaced pass demonstrates that he’s past it is nonsense……we might as well hand a P45 to Coen as well then. He may well prove his value when coming off the bench.
Anybody looked at the Paddy Power outright winners lately, the Dubs are evens, Kerry at 11/4, Tyrone at 11/2 and Mayo somewhere at 3/1, I hope they are wrong this time. Baring some catastrophic event, I see these as the semi final teams ( I said this even before the championship kicked off ).
Sometimes sport can deliver the odd upset, maybe Kerry or Dublin will get caught along the way.
Done Deal says:
July 25, 2017 at 11:36 pm
Seanie McDermott and Ciaran Murtagh are the only 2 Roscommon players who started against us in Connacht Final in 14 named to start on Sunday
_____________
Just highlights the huge turnover of players Roscommon had in a short space of time.
Niall Carty a 2006 minor AI winner had to retire early due to injury. Neil Collins arguably Roscommons best defender moved to New York. Ciarán Cafferkey goal scorer that day did his ACL. Niall Daly gone overseas, Kevin Higgins knee injury problems, Donie Shine was injury prone since minor, Senan Kilbride retired and Cathal Cregg busy with work and doing his PHD.
Well said MayoDunphy re Ger Caff. And after a look back on the game he wasn’t as off colour as he was made out to be by people incl myself. He ll be there on Sunday and prob will have a blinder.
That Cork team was a completely different animal to what was there against Kerry and indeed there were many refs to the potential they had shown and that they’de be no pushover
Powter a great piece of stuff but had 7/8 steps afore his goal. It seems to pay to have short butty legeens…..did u see the thighes on him….as broad as they were long and what about the way they dragged him off the pitch?
Have to say I admired particularly the grafting and bravery exhibited by Jason Doherty besides all the other notable displays but not so much those bloomers executed by Harrison, Coen and Alan Dillon and at that stage….what timing!
Well said MayoDunphy re Ger Caff. And after a look back on the game he wasn’t as off colour as he was made out to be by people incl myself.They wee no slouches he was marking . He ll be there on Sunday and prob will have a blinder.
That Cork team was a completely different animal to what was there against Kerry and indeed there were many refs to the potential they had shown and that they’de be no pushover
Powter a great piece of stuff but had 7/8 steps afore his goal. It seems to pay to have short butty legeens…..did u see the thighes on him….as broad as they were long and what about the way they dragged him off the pitch?
Have to say I admired particularly the grafting and bravery exhibited by Jason Doherty besides all the other notable displays but not so much those bloomers executed by Harrison, Coen and Alan Dillon and at that stage….what timing! I’m afraid I nearly stopped breathing.
Mayo Dunphy…….re the Nestor Cup going to SuperValu. .Three regulars, a couple of very fringe players, and five of their Connacht U-17 champions did the honours.
With regards to what we’d do if Cillian was unavailable… Andy or Loftus would be next up on the frees. Regan could take the left footed ones. Diarmuid is an excellent penalty taker, almost as good as Cillian.
No doubt we’d be in a right hole if he was absent for any reason.
I agree with Mayo Dunphy to lay off the criticism of Ger Caff and totally agree when we are swamping pints and eating before us and after us Caff and the rest of the guys are bursting a guy and are beyond being disciplined. However, having said that the full back position has been problematic for us this year and needs to be resolved before Sunday and wlll most certainly need to be resolved if we are to progress further otherwise I’m afraid it will be resolved in the FBD next January
The records books show Roscommon have only won one championship match in Croker since 1980 that being the 1980 Semi Final since that time Mayo have won over Twenty Times in Croker
The funny part is the Rossies will be dreading this match against Mayo because of the drubbings they got particularly in the Hyde
Nevertheless they have no fear of Galway who on paper have 2 all irelands in recent past.
It will be interesting but nothing less than a Mayo win is expected
There have been some interesting articles over the last few days on the need for challenging teams to Dublin to do something different. I agree with this overall sentiment as regards Mayo also.
What we have done so far this season has resulted in:
– Competitive with Galway, unlucky to lose (lower Div 1 level performance)
– Drawing with Derry (Div 2 level performance)
– Beating Clare but not comfortably (lower Div 1 level performance)
– Drawing with Cork (Lower Div 1 level performance)
I can’t see without that “something different” us moving up above a mid table Div 1 type of level as in 3rd of 4th best in the country.
My something different is different to what we have done so far in 2017 championship.
1. Make the full back Stephen Coen. It is most likely his best position.
2. Revert to having a sweeper for the entirety of the game. The sweeper being Kevin McGloughlin.
Result of (1) and (2).
We should cut the goal count down. We should establish a more solid platform behind our half backline and have our centre more closed off.
3. Retain Chris Barrett at centre back. (Not something different, but retaining what was different). He looked the most commanding centre back we have seen. He was really operating as the launch pad of attacks.
4. Move Lee Keegan to midfield and have Patrick Durcan (5) and Colm Boyle (7) with only Patrick Durcan having a licence to attack as he is as good a shooter of points as Lee and can break through lines like Lee.
Result of (3) and (4)
We will offer better protection to our full backline by having our half backline stick more in position.
5. Start with Tom Parsons and finish with Seamus OShea. Seamus not being as athletic as Tom is more effective coming on than in the earlier quicker part of the game.
6. Barry Moran into the game around the 65 minute mark to play out what can be 10-12 minutes. Barry’s role being to give us a boost on kickouts. This substitution being late, Barrys lack of speed is not as big an issue.
7. Late on with Aidan tiring he stays more around 11.5 position. He tends to do this now in games and it is sensible. The defence will have stacked up some yellow cards, bodies are tired. Aidan will be less effective further down the pitch. He is a super option between centre forward and full forward late in games.
Result of (5), (6), (7)
We will solve this issue of losing energy at midfield by finishing with two bench fresh midfielders (SOS, Barry Moran) on the pitch complemented by the running power of Lee Keegan. We would also have a constant target late on in Aidan in that 11.5 position winning us late frees, posessions and making passes for scores.
8. Have Conor Loftus on the pitch for the entirety of the game. This is all about that x factor.
9. Start with JDOC and finish with Diarmuid. JDOC is in the better form overall while Diarmuid is shooting well and still has that speed once up into his stride. Diarmuid is capable of a big contribution in the final 20 mins of the game.
10. Leave Andy Moran on later than we currently do to around 60 minutes. The substitution we make is in bringing in Keith Higgins to drop back towards midfield/half forward and use his bench fresh elite pace against a 60 min defence.
Result of (8), (9), (10)
More x factor (8), (10) ,shooters (9, 10) and finishing the game with a lot more pace (9, 10)
Overall result of (1-10)
We would concede less goals, have more shooters on the pitch for longer and we would have a fresh midfield and pacey forward line to go and win the game in the final 20 minutes of the game.
The key thing that has always let us down is this in ability to finish out the big games strong.
I know a lot of text in that, but I put a bit of thought into it. There is evidence from snippets of game time for a lot of those points example Keith Higgins has been far better in attack and Diarmuid has been more effective late on.
Lee you would have to agree has been more effective in attack. I don’t recall him disposessing much or making a block?
Just another point is to get Barry Moran on the pitch in above points you have to take off a defender and put Lee Back to wing back.
Re Barry Moran. I watched him play for his club two weeks ago and he’s way, way, way off fitness wise. Really can’t see him involved this weekend. Hopefully he will have 3 more weeks to work himself into contention.
Can’t resist playing with that headline WJ. Tom’s a major doubt, or Major Tom’s a doubt.
Mayo in Ros, I dont think Ros will be dreading it, if fact I think this is the game they have been setting up for all year, its just a few weeks later than planned. They had Galway well sussed in Conn final but im sure the majority of their championship plans revolved around meeting Mayo in the conn final.
Ros are going to come out all guns blazing, try and create a high tempo game to burn off tired mayo legs, Mayo cannot allow this to happen. We must keep it tight and controlled, ros young and mobile side, with only 8days recovery after a big game we dont need an open high tempo game v a team with very good forwards and plenty of rest. Keep it tight, dictate the game and play at our pace. We let this develop into another frantic final 10mins then it may not end well. A boring, controlled, comfortable 4pt win with no heart scares is whats wanted this time around
Well said Dunphy, great post. Never in a 1000 years would the Sunday Game allow a personalised filleting of a player like that from Kerry or Dublin.
@Inbetweener – I agree with you about Powter, despite the highly suspect number of steps, you have to admire a guy who had to be *carried* off the pitch, and even then, if you watch back, he wiggled out of being carried to walk over the white line himself. He gave it his all, and I have alot of time and respect for his attitude.
@Mayomad – Back in February, it was becming apparent that Roscommon had a master plan for the year. They pretty much ditched the league, and any chance of staying in division one, in favour of some other goal. I reckon they were targeting Mayo in the Provincial final. I’ve seen little from them since to dispel this notion.
And now with some Silverware in the cabinet, they’ve been given their shot. I think if you’d have given them their pick of teams to play in the quarters, Mayo would have been it.
A fascinating encounter, Mayo to win in extra time, provided discipline doesn’t let them down.
Wow JP! Some effort there.
In the Cork game Powter was Corks spare man as he was due to mark Keith. However, he played a much more attacking game than Keith in that he attacked at every opportunity. I would like to see Keith – if he is in that role on Sunday – to attack much more and put Ros on the back foot. Keith has the pace and if comes through the middle at pace in Croke Park he could create panic in Ros defence. Would like to see us really attack Ros from start on Sunday and put them on back foot. To date we have sat back to much and let teams attack us.
Anybody remember the last time Mayo and Galway were on on a double header in Croke park? Here is us shouting them on for their game and then when we played they shouted for the opposition. If they win I will only be happy because it would be nice to set the record straight.
Jaden – I could be wrong, but I don’t think the first QF game will go to extra time? I think it goes to a replay.
@Maigh Eo Go Deo…. correct, replay if there is a draw
Thanks a_mc
I availed of my free travel pass on Saturday last to commute up and down to Limerick from Heuston Station to support my native county Mayo against The Rebel County. I had a premonition that, contrary to what all the pundits were predicting, it would prove to be a difficult task for our Mayo warriors. I knew from experience that Cork always have an abundance of good footballers and that all they need is organisation. On my mind as the train travelled through the fertile Tipperary countryside was that great day fifty years ago in Pearse Stadium when at last we broke the dominance of a great Galway team. It was then I began my crusade as a Mayo supporter.
After fifty years of supporting Mayo, I don’t think I ever experienced anything like what I was to witness over the next ninety five minutes of football. It had everything, and for a change our forwards were brilliant, none more so than Cillian O’Connor. I was a very proud Mayo man walking down the Ennis road in the evening sunshine chatting with fellow supporters to get the train back to Dublin. I dearly hope that this is the game that does the character building to win that much coveted and long overdue All Ireland. Onward and upward Mayo!!
Mayo88, that directive from Croke Park regarding bringing bags into Croker appears to be a safety-related response to recent terrorist incidents. There’s no point advising people to bring a big bag or a giant flag as the chances are, either they or the items won’t be allowed in. Debating even bringing the flag to this one but I assume they’ll let people in with sticks as they usually do.
Certainly won’t be busting a gut shouting for Galway – have seen a bit too much mean-spiritedness from those quarters down the years and was quite happy to see them get a chastening in the Connacht Final, even if it was to Roscommon. I’d prefer to get Kerry in a SF if we progressed – we owe them a Championship beating and if we can’t beat them, well then we’re just not good enough to go all the way, are we?
As for the Rossies – I wouldn’t mind them too much making the most out of these days. It’s a massive occasion for them and they’re as well to make hay while they can. Definitely detouring home via Donegal if they win however.
I would 100% prefer to be facing Galway in the SF and then Tyrone in the final.
Agreed, especially Tyrone in Final part
Prefer kerry and Dublin should we get over Roscommon. There’s zero complacency involved with Mayo when facing either of them. And chances are it will be them anyways.
I can’t really see Tyrone stopping dublin unless the donegal them to death, likewise for Galway, donegal them into a low score game and hope for the best.