Two changes for Tyrone game

Willie Joe
Image: @MayoGAA

We named our team a bit earlier this evening for Sunday’s National Football League Round 7 clash with Tyrone at MacHale Park. Here it is:

Mayo (NFL Division One v Tyrone, 25/10/2020): David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites); Oisín Mullin (Kilmaine), Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), Lee Keegan (Westport); Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels), Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Eoghan McLaughlin (Westport); Matthew Ruane (Breaffy), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers); Diarmuid O’Connor (Ballintubber), Mark Moran (Westport), Bryan Walsh (Ballintubber); Tommy Conroy (The Neale), Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy, captain), Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber).

So it’s two changes and a few positional switches from the team that started against Galway in Tuam last Sunday. In come Kevin McLoughlin and Bryan Walsh (who appeared off the bench the last day) while out go David McBrien and Fionn McDonagh.

The positional changes see Stephen Coen move to full back, with Kevin McLoughlin slotting in at centre-back. Diarmuid O’Connor shifts wings at half-forward, with Bryan Walsh slotting in on the left.

The county’s hurlers, meanwhile, start their Nicky Rackard Cup campaign tomorrow. They travel to Clontibret to take on Monaghan (throw-in at O’Neill Park is 2pm) and details of the Mayo team for this game are here.

Best of luck to both Mayo teams who are in action this weekend.

59 thoughts on “Two changes for Tyrone game”

  2. i wish we would stop playing Keegan in the FB line. putting rolls royce HB into fb line is crazy.was at the same thing with Durcan last year. if problem back there put a sweeper there

  3. Smart move placing Kev Mc at centre back. That hole in our defence needed to be plugged. For all the positives last Sunday, conceding 17 points was too much.

    Most of those 17 points came from Galway playing through the middle like all our opponents earlier in the league.

    Hopefully McLoughlin’s positioning at 6 will tighten things up. If I remember correctly he played sweeper a few times in the past, successfully.

  5. Looking at the forecast and the opposition this going to be an absolute slog. Mcloughlin is a massive addition because he picks up so much breaking ball. I’d move Aidan out to midfield and I’d have Boland ahead Moran and Seamie for Loftus. Boyle would be great to have at some stage too. It will likey be a day for winning hard ball and Cillian being unerring on frees. Basically the opposite of the Galway match.

  8. @catcol ah I rate Mark Moran quite highly and he has a nice confidence about himself but any time I’ve seen him play well it’s been an open game in good conditions. Interested to see how he backs up the Galway game this weekend though. Loftus is different for me and hopefully I’ll be proven wrong, but there’s just not enough intensity/agression in his game. He has an eye for a goal/killer foot pass but not a man to win breaking ball around mid field like Boland/Doherty/O’Connor do. Just can’t understand how he is ahead of Boland in the current pecking order.

  9. I assume from reading the teams that Keith Higgins must still be with the footballers. I had thought that with his declining pace he might be on the way out of the football team

  10. TG4 player schedule says that it is the same as TG4 and will be showing deferred coverage of the match. How do we see live coverage of the game?

  12. @AndyD, Higgins has lost barely any of his pace, still well worth his place in the squad and one of our all time greats.

  13. @GBX1 That’s just extremely unlikely that over a full match Keith Higgins has anything close to his pace of his peak years.
    As regards Lee Keegan and half back he has been inconsistent there 2018 and 2019.
    Eoghan McLoughlin now brings more pace and stamina to that position.

  14. Time moves on for everybody, its along time ago since 2011 when many of the guys came through and even longer since 2006, it’s not just pace but strength also.

  16. You can be sure lee will get the job of marking Peter heart if his playing mullin on there aussie we have there number horan will hit them hard and fast with youth build an early lead bring on Boyle Barrett Higgins apply the blanket for second half close out the game

  17. Lots of differing opinions on the mayo team and that’s what’s great about following sport. People see things others don’t in players and that’s great for debate. I suppose we have to trust the management that they know best. On another note I thought it very sporting of antrim to offer to play Waterford in neutral venue because of Waterford fears of travelling to the North. Showed fair play

  18. Sacrilegious to say it but I think Lee could struggle on Clifford. Size being a big factor and Clifford’s sheer brilliance in that part of the field, where we know Lee has struggled in the past, ie last year. Put Mullin on him.

  19. For anyone who hasn’t used the TG4 player before you will need to download the app, it’s pretty straightforward

  22. Hi, I seem to be able to get tg4 player without downloading App. Won’t know for sure until tomorrow.

    Just Google tg4player.ie. Then enter the site and select Watch Live. This is on a mobile phone.

    You may not need to download App.

  23. JP dont have any recollection of Keegan being average in championship football in the Half Back line at any time. For me he’s in the top 3 Half Backs of the last 30 years and Durcans getting to that category also.

    In 2019 he picked up Con O Callaghan in the semi final and he was average in that match because he’s not a corner back which is a highly specialist position.

    Its like we have always to be moving our best backs further back instead of looking at moving some of them forward.
    Look at Meath. in 91 All ireland Final Brendan Reilly played corner back and Geraghty played wing back for them in 94. In 96 they were corner forward and half forward in the all ireland final. if it was Mayo they would probably both have been playing on the full back line.
    For me I would be picking 4 forwards and Durcan/Keegan as 3rd/4th midfielders. Helping defence when we dont have the the ball and bombing forward when we are on the attack

    ………………………………………..
    @GBX1 That’s just extremely unlikely that over a full match Keith Higgins has anything close to his pace of his peak years.
    As regards Lee Keegan and half back he has been inconsistent there 2018 and 2019.
    Eoghan McLoughlin now brings more pace and stamina to that position.

  24. So you go to tg4.ie/en/player/categories/sport-tv-player/

    Under GAA Beo you will see Maigh Eo V Tír Eoghain so click that.

  25. Thanks, Justoutsideballagh,. I will note all that and am sure it will be helpful to others.

  26. I wonder is the talk of who will mark Cliffird a small bit premature… ! Tyrone will be a tough came. They will try and strangle the life out of us and have done it successfully in the past. In bad conditions it could be a low scoring game. But I do expect us to get the win.
    We can freshen up the team for Leitrim and gives guys a rest.

  31. Keegan fouls too much to be in the FB line. They tend to be watched that bit more closely by refs and I don’t think Keegan will get away with the type of stuff HB line would get away with. Asking for trouble putting him there long term imo.

  32. Teamtalkmag Tyrone reporting a Tyrone senior footballer has tested positive for covid and they not sure if it have an effect on game tomorrow.. A trusted site so hopefully I won’t get repremanded for this post

  33. Re Lee Keegan at corner back and last years mishap. I’m pretty sure that Lee was pushed to the ground just before Con O’Callaghan got that ball which led to the first goal. TV did not show it clearly but Lee seemed to be getting up just as the camera picked up that play. Of course there was no replay or second camera shot. RTE would not do anything which might reflect badly on the Dubs.
    Re Keith Higgins’ pace, in recent times he has not been doing those defence splitting runs which were a hallmark of his game. More often than not when he does come up in attack he looks for a man rather than scorch into a shooting position.

  34. No Doubt, Just looked up that and the latest is that the game will go ahead. The case is confirmed, I think.

  35. With the greatest respect to Tyrone but if one of their players have tested positive they should not be allowed cross the border let alone in to Mayo. We have to think about both sets of players and their families.

  36. If the player whom tested positive is in the squad then Tyrone can’t send the existing squad down. There has to have been close contacts.

    Either way we’ll win.

  38. Close contacts means they must have shared dressing rooms. Dressing rooms are closed so they’d only be casual contacts.

  39. The entire Offaly hurling squad were deemed close contacts when one member of the squad was diagnosed Covid positive during the week

    Taking a step back from the relative importance of the game . It would be absolutely ludicrous if they are not and are allowed travel down from Tyrone in these circumstances
    Makes a mockery of what we are all trying to do say to say

  41. This will be interesting. The Roscommon player who tested positive didn’t play against Armagh, but travelled on a bus (one of two) to and from the game. Everyone on that bus including a few officials could not train or participate today against Cavan. So if this Tyrone player actually played last week and trained during the week, what happens? Are all players involved last Sunday or trained during the week then ruled out?

  42. There have been several Covid cases in County squads and Offaly is the only one where the entire panel was considered close contacts. Why? Could it have been that they travelled somewhere together on one bus? There seems to be a tendency in the last week or so for teams to travel independently by car. In any case it is the HSE who decide these issues in ROI. How clear are the rules on these issues or is it left to the personal opinion of the deciding official? Presumably it is the health authority who decide in NI as well. Part of the problem is that we are not being told the whole story on any of this Covid business and journalists, who are so often so willing to tell us how important they are in holding people in power to account , are not asking any hard questions.
    I expect Tyrone to be travelling tomorrow. How will Mickey Harte look at the Donegal team who played Kerry today with several key players “rested”. Will he feel the need to rest key Tyrone men? Regards the Mayo team how many of them can consider themselves certain starters? A bad performance tomorrow could see prominent players of the past decade slide down the ladder by quite a few steps.

  43. Hope game goes ahead, for a few reasons.
    it would be cruel to a team to get relegated in the circumstances.
    both teams need a hard game before championship and we need a dose of reality after Galway game.
    (I’m not a fan of Mickey Harte’s teams, Last Sunday was a pleasure)

  44. If this game is called off there may not be a championship
    And if there is it might have a big asteroid beside it as it is inevitable there will be a repeat if this situation again

  45. If Tyrone have a covid case and are still planning on playing a match they should at least name a team ridiculous or let people know what’s going on

  48. Paddy Power has shortened the odds drastically on Mayo.

    It looks like Tyrone will field a weakened team. Hence no team news?

  50. Who knows, could all be mind games. If its played, Tyrone will lash into this one.

  52. Catcol – You wouldn’t be saying that if the shoe was on the other foot and such a scenario cost us our division 1 status or what happens if we have to forfeit our game v Leitrim…? Nothing can be taken for granted here.

  53. The question of today for Tyrone have is this, do we really have any chance of winning Sam? Or should we just be sure that we are in Division 1 in 2021 and keep rebuilding? Donegal is the game they they face next weekend, do they risk injury or red cards today in a bid to hold Mayo ? Did anyone see how tamely Donegal surrendered yesterday to Kerry? They’re certainly planning on next Sunday’s game. They win that and next stop is semifinal against you know who and their new manager, anything can happen with Hill 16 empty of the 16th dub player. I think Mickey Harte, like the Donegal manager will want to be in. a semi final more than division 1.

  54. We should be fully armed and ready for Tyrone today…make no mistake they are coming to win..they are at their most dangerous when its least expected off them ..im sure James will be drilling that into the lads ….thats if its stll going ahead .no word of a Tyrone team

  56. So my understanding is that is a player tests positive in the squad, all players and backroom team members have to undergo a rapid test with results in 48 hours. There is no official announcement that a Tyrone player has tested positive that I have seen, only the information on the Teamtalk Tyrone page. If there is a positive test, when did it happen and has rapid testing taken place for everyone else?

  57. I agree with you KM79. This championship will undoubtedly have an asterisk beside it. There are going to be cases during the championship and teams weakened a as a result which in my view undermines the championship and the integrity of the whole thing.

  58. Anyone thinking that Tyrone will go easy today with Donegal on the horizion, will be sadly mistaken. We’re in for absolute dog fight at 2pm. Galway hammered them last year, and a week later they went out and bet the dubs in conditions errily similar to today! Bad weather will suit them no matter what team they’ve out. Im even wondering if a player was even diagnosed with Covid, could well be mind games!

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