A week is a long time, it would appear, in U20 football.
Just eight evenings on from our shootout win over defending All-Ireland champions Galway, our U20s were tonight comprehensively turned over by a hungry, hard-working Roscommon team. We were on top early on but failed to register that dominance on the scoreboard and when the Rossies took over they put us to the sword with ease.
They won by seven points at the finish, on a scoreline of 2-11 to 1-7. It’s their first provincial crown at this grade since it shifted to U20. They last won at U21 level in 2015 and, taking two age grades together, it’s their tenth Connacht title in all.
First off it’s only right to congratulate Roscommon on their impressive victory tonight. They won all the big battles at MacHale Park this evening and were full value for their seven-point win, a margin that, to be honest, flattered us.
At the first water break there was no hint of the meltdown we were going to experience later in the game. We led by three points to no score then but we should have been further ahead after an opening quarter we’d comprehensively dominated.
Our shooting was hard to understand. Time and again, when ostensibly aiming at the posts, we instead ballooned the leather Bezos-like towards space, more than once when the shooter was under no obvious pressure. There are no marks for extra altitude and no credit at all for efforts sailing wide.
We’d shot a total of thirteen wides by the finish but, then again, so did they. We may have cancelled each other out on that metric but the same certainly wasn’t the case in relation to scores taken.
We hit four wides in the opening quarter, while our scores came from Jack Carney, Jack Mahon (a mark) and Connell Dempsey, the latter from a free off the ground well out to the left. We were also denied a goal in what was, on second view, a fairly questionable, albeit marginal, square ball call.
The visitors sat back early on and we laboured to break them down. Instead when we hit the fifty we resorted to lateral handpassing – surely the Gaelic football equivalent of scratching your head as you seek inspiration about what to do next – with the attack petering out.
By half-time the tenor of this contest had altered. Roscommon went in a point ahead, having emerged from their shell with intent in the second quarter, with five points on the spin putting them two clear.
It was a lead they wouldn’t lose from then to the finish but, while this was a wake-up call for us, things didn’t look overly ominous at that stage. We’d loads of ball but we definitely needed some better ideas about what to do with it.
Jack Carney’s point on the stroke of half-time was our first for twenty minutes and it reduced the gap to one at the break. Our wide count of nine at the half-way mark told its own story, though we still had no idea what an unpleasant tale it was going to turn out to be for us.
That became clear over the course of an increasingly calamitous second half. After Connell Dempsey knocked over a fine point two minutes after the restart we failed to score again for in excess of another twenty minutes.
Connell’s point had cut the gap to just one but our next point, scored by Owen McHale, came five minutes from the end of normal time and it reduced the visitors’ lead to ten points. In that barren spell for us, the Rossies had rightly rumbled us.
We had a shout for a free in the lead-up to their first goal. From a restart Conor Dunleavy stooped to take possession rather clumsily and he was bundled off the ball in short order by the excellent McDermott who found the net with ease.
We were thrown a lifeline soon after when we were awarded what looked like a very soft penalty. The Roscommon full-back stood his ground as a high ball we’d pumped in – yet another one – was falling back to earth. The ref adjudged Walsh to have impeded our man and so as well as the spot-kick the Roscommon player was off for ten minutes on a black card.
Jack Mahon’s penalty was hit with little conviction and the ‘keeper saved with ease. It was hard not to conclude that justice had been served there.
Seven down at the second water break, our goose was already well cooked. It got worse when Fitzpatrick rifled home their second goal after Ryan Baynes was expertly stripped of the ball while trying to break out of defence, the gap between the teams now in double digits.
We put a gloss on the scoreline when Connell Dempsey emphatically dispatched our second penalty to the net. This one was kosher – Paddy Heneghan got wrapped in the large square after he’d claimed possession – but by now it was a case of too little, way too late.
It was, on this sweltering summer’s day, in Roscommon that the hottest temperature in the country was recorded and the young Rossies certainly proved too hot to handle for large stretches tonight. For us, it’s the end of the road in this year’s U20 Championship, for Roscommon it’s now a tilt at All-Ireland glory. Good luck to them in their endeavours there and commiserations to our lads on their Championship exit tonight.
Mayo: Ronan Connolly; Seán Holmes (0-1), Ruairí Keane, Donnacha McHugh; Conor Flynn, Ryan Baynes, Aidan Cosgrove; Conor Dunleavy, Jack Carney (0-2); Ethan Henry, Conor Reid, Connell Dempsey (1-2, penalty goal and a free); Ultan O’Reilly, Frank Irwin, Jack Mahon (0-1, mark). Subs: Paddy Heneghan for O’Reilly, Dylan Thornton for Reid, Ewan Duffy for McHugh, Owen McHale (0-1) for Cosgrove, Rory Morrin for Mahon.
Threw that game away in the first half, underestimated Ros
Very disappointing display and hard to watch. Better team on the evening won and congrats to Roscommon. But Jesus we absolutely played into their hands and played the game on their terms.
Having started off well, Roscommon figured us out after the first water break. They were happy to let us pass the ball around their 45 going nowhere. At times we were patient, but we were never potent! More often than not we would either kick an atrocious wide or turn the ball over and they hit us on the break particularly in the second half. Frustration would be the one word I’d use to sum up how I felt watching that. We seemed to make the same mistakes over and over and I would have hoped management might have spotted that and changed something up.
Ending on a positive note Jack Carney looks a fine player and hopefully he and one or two others progress into senior Mayo players.
A couple of points.
Congrats to Roscommon on a well deserved win.
Some nights results, performances go for you but for these Mayo lads tonight was one of those off nights.
Blaming management is poor form, Maurice Sheridan and Peader Gardiner are two former Mayo greats. Until such time as people here realise the massive time and commitment that goes into managing any team then its truly unfair to be firing comments at them.
Sheridan is held in really high regard here in Galway with Claregalway. It’s an off night for everyone connected with Mayo u 20.
Very disappointing display loads of possession but little to show for it.Roscommon defence was good and good luck to them in the their next match.
Full credit to the Rossies. They bided their time the first ten minutes or so, then slowly took over. They seemed up for any physical challenge, as any probing run by a Mayo attacker was met with a hard shoulder. Also looked like our half forwards ran down blind alleys with no option but lateral or back passes. Almost as if the Rossies knew what we were going to do before we did.
Held in high regard in Galway, well i hope he gets the galway job someday.
if you can explain to me why you would coach a team to repeatedly pass the ball at a snails pace around half forward line back to the midfield area without attempting to break the line at any point but take a wild pot shot from a low percentage shot or worse wait till youre turned over.
what coaching manual is that from?
Terrible dissapointing performance but more worrying is the decline in our underage teams. We’ve won two u-20/21 Connacht titles since 2009 and it’s not much better at minor level.
Better team for the first 15 minutes, completely lost their way there after. In truth bossed and bullied by the Rossies and they were good value for the 7 point win
I’d hope it not a sign of things to come on Sunday but I think they seniors should be alright in their home from home of Croke Park.
I totally agree Sean Burke. It was brutal to watch at times..irwin was the only shining light for me. But playing 14 out around the middle when your 7 points down……management surely had to change something in the second half. It was lost in the first 20.
Tuamstar, I fully agree. Tonight was a systems failure. I’d criticise managers where I felt it was due but tonight, the lads just didn’t perform. From my limited managerial experience of underage club teams (no pro I can tell ye!), there are times you think you’re really well set up but lads do inexplicable things wrong. Kicking really poor wides, passing the ball to the opposition, etc.
Reality is Maurice Sheridan has had those lads together for TWO games. That’s not enough to judge any man by. Himself, Gardner, Molloy (who was on the knockmore backroom team) are lads who know what they’re doing I’d think. I’ll judge them after another campaign, not after tonight.
Ultimately, the best team won. I don’t get people calling roscommon mediocre. Thought they were damn good tonight. They played very well in brutal conditions and never wilted. I wish them the best of luck in the all-Ireland semi final.
Roscommon were good because they played the ball forward and into the pockets.mayo were just lateral and ponderous…This possession based football that Rochford was so famous for is not mayo football..donegal were at the same thing last Sunday and that should spell the end for bonner and his side kick
The Mayo Galway u20 game last week was the worst game of football I watched in a long time but this was probably the worst performance from a mayo team in a long time. At one stage the average scoring was one point every 8 minutes. I am not having a go at the young lads but rather the worrying trend of underage results in the county of late/our coaching record 20 below year on year and I do think the development and coaching of young players needs an urgent review. If you cannot score or make decisions/take chances on the pitch one needs to look at the development of said players. Genuinely embarrassed tonight.
Tuam star you mentioned two of the management as being “Mayo Greats”. One of them was a fantastic freetaker but like our team tonight preferred to play the game about twenty yards from the action. Several times tonight mayo’s passed the ball sideways to someone standing beside them and whats this new jig acting before kicking simple frees?
Before the Galway game I pointed out that when the same team met Leitrim at minor level they only started to motor when Irwin was moved from full forward to wing forward. At full forward the Leitrim full back had his measure. At wing forward he began to dominate the game and the rest of the team upped their game as well and they ran out easy winners. Yet where do we see Irwin v Galway and tonight? At full forward and ineffective. Square pegs in round holes make for a leaky bucket.
@Craggy boglands.. Stephen Rochford has absolutely ZERO to do with it.. for my money No Mayo team has ever played to a higher standard than several of the performances under Rochford.. and as to his role in Donegal, again what has that got to do with it?.. And if you watched the Donegal/Tyrone game last Sunday, you might have noticed that Michael Murphy missed a penalty and then got sent off, I’m sure that had something to do with the Donegal defeat, but you couldn’t lay the blame on the management, could you?
Andy D. Irwin wore the the number 14 jersey but he played in the 1/2 forward – midfield positions tonight and also against Galway. He has been tried at full forward in the past and it has not worked fore him. We are extremely poor at underage for quite some time now. Underage has progressed in the last 10 years. County players now at this level need to have the aggression and football intelligence to perform. We have to accept that as a county we are not where we would like to be. Take Roscommon tonight they had the strength, power and intelligence that is needed. Don’t forget that we were only a point down at half time to be completely dominated by a team who played much of that second halve with 14 men
Firstly, congratulations to Roscommon and good luck going forward. As for Mayo, that was an embarrassing performance. We have a lot of talented players on that panel, so for me, the management must shoulder a lot of the blame. I could detect no discernable game plan and whatever about Plan A, we had no Plan B-maybe we were complacent after beating Galway and our domination of most of the first half, but Roscommon took over after they copped on to our ineffectiveness. We should have been 7,8 or more points ahead and in complete control, with the amount of possession we enjoyed. But Roscommon allowed us to to advance to their 50/45,where we passes over and back latterly, until someone lost patience and took a Hail Mary shot with inevitable consequences, altho’ some of the wides/misses were shocking. In addition, we took the ball into contact too many times, when there were other options and conceded many turnovers and we never seemed to use pace to break the lines and never looked like scoring a goal from play. The number of times we came away from our attacks with nothing to show was depressing. On the other hand, Roscommon attacked with pace and purpose and seemed to score much more easily, probably because the Mayo defending was very poor. Overall, this was one of the most disappointing performances by an underage Mayo team that I have witnessed for many a year.
Tuamstar, why is blaming mgmt poor form? It’s a results based sport and this was a poor result so questions need to be asked. I’m not saying turf them out but you can’t ignore what was a piss poor performance from the sideline.
Bear in mind They get 2 extra chances to talk to the whole team and change things, water breaks. They had no discernible influence on the team after any of them. And these are young bucks who will usually do exactly as they are told. Mgmt are even more culpable for failures on the day from underage teams than senior imho
This defeat had nothing to do with Stephen Rochford. Stephen owes Mayo football nothing and was incredibly unlucky not to land Sam and I wouldn’t bet against him coming back in the future and winning Sam with us. There is nothing wrong with possession based football provided you have the guts to release the ball early and go and take a score. Management got it wrong they will know this so no point criticizing them too much. There is something wrong thought with our strength and conditioning methods at this level a lot of the Roscommon lads looked like seniors big and strong and bulked up where as our lads looked thin and scrawny. As for the freetakaking river dance run up routine all I can say is my goodness
Congrats Rossies on a well-deserved win.
I felt (and think I said), after the Galway game, that we were a bit limited, even though there were great things in it. That feeling was confirmed after watching Cork win Munster semi-final. As Craggy said we were ponderous; we were also soft- centred, and didn’t manage the 26 degree heat as well as the Rossies.
Yet, we had lots going for us, but stacks of wides, missed penalty, easy turnovers – not surprising we lost our way.
Rossies could give any team plenty to think about.
For anyone looking for tickets for match Sunday – there are lower deck tickets available now on Ticketmaster- different pod sizes
Just read all comments from last nights game, very disappointed WJ had to delete so many and probably could have deleted many more.
This team and management was built up after a very poor game last week. They go out last night and put in a poor performance, both players and management, and now the vultures are out in force. It was a poor performance but kicking lads, especially under age, when they’re down isn’t really helpful. In saying that there has been plenty of valid, clean criticism which is of the more healthy variety. Sometimes you can learn more in defeat and there’s certainly plenty to be learned after last night. Time for an under age reset, the cracks are coming through the paper.
Of course now that we’re beaten, this ros team is only mediocre. If they’re mediocre what are we. WJ match report above gives a unusually (sorry WJ) unbiased report of the game. No excuses. Ros had 13 wides like us and missed more than a couple of gilt edged goal opportunities. This ros team will improve from this game it will give them more belief.
Last night they wanted it more. Last night all we thought we had to do was show up.
Sometimes criticism is justified. Every coach/ management team have their stamp and style. Now I’ve watched maurice Sheridans I personally dont like it and find it could only ever have limited success . If you enjoy watching that style that’s your lookout . Like I say every modern coach out there has their idea , some of them are crackpots imho . I know of one man involved at senior county level who’s ambition is to win a game by 0-1 to 0-0 .
Mayo were well capable of playing football last night with a lot less conservatism , but that ridiculously conservative style of holding possession for long periods in no mans land drained them cause they were getting nowhere most of the time , not alone was it a non fruitful tactic last night ,it was also a really wrong one in that heat too . At the start of the game the roscommon manager said “it’s a night for letting the ball do the work ” , sometimes them age old cliches you heard on the sideline 30 yrs ago still ring true albeit they wont sound as clever in the modern era .
2018 Connacht Minor Championship(this group)
Roscommon 4.12 Mayo 0.11
They were and have been decent at underage and anyone calling them mediocre has it wrong.
They are currently reigning U-20 and Minor Champions
While last night’s performance and result was very disappointing some of the criticism is over the top. Lots of us on this blog think we have a God given right to beat Roscommon. We don’t. We need to treat our opponents with respect and stop underestimating them. For anyone watching last night Roscommon were superior in most aspects of the game, defended better, turned us over loads of times, scored much more frequently, kick passed better and were not obsessed with lateral hand passing. Yes of course we can point out our dominance in first quarter but if you don’t score it’s all irrelevant We scored 19 times in 80 minutes in our 2 u20 games. Not enough. The outburst of angst here about our performance is understandable but the problem often is that we have such high expectations that we let rip when we lose. In a similar fashion there are high expectations by many for Sunday. But if you look at it rationally do we really have reasons to be so confident. Games v Sligo and Leitrim were no benefit. You can get your life that GAlway will give our young forwards plenty of it. Without Cillian to organise, control and score up front I feel we could be light weight. Our defence has given us cause for concern during the league. With the slew of retirements we are missing some serious experience and there are also question marks about injuries to some of our better players availability. Ant the there the effects of the covid outbreak. If Mayo win on Sunday it will be an excellent achievement and I really hope they do. If not we will just have to regroup and come back stronger next year. And we won’t solve anything by condemning all involved for our disappointment. Maigh Eo Abu .
Sean burke
Absolutely agree sometimes criticism is justified, after last night definitely, but sometimes people here can get too personal with throwaway comments against individuals who put their hand up to do what most of us wouldn’t do.
Re ros manager pre game comment, it’s a night for letting the ball do the work, that cliche certainly rang true last night.
Credit to Roscommon. Well organised zonal defending forced mayo into playing laterly. Poor shooting did not help Mayos cause. Mayo looked very average
Excellent turnovers by Roscommon including for both goals., Mayo players very easily disposed.
Maybe a bit of overconfidence on mayos part….
The turnover for the first Roscommon goal was unforgivable – it looked, to me anyway, that our midfielder went down very softly fully expecting to win a free, and rightly the ref didn’t buy it.
Anyone whose played in defence knows to pin that ball to your chest, break the tackle and get it cleared
I actually agree with the criticism of management. The players didn’t play well but they are very young and some of them will likely make the step up to senior, which is the main thing. But if you watched both games (Galway and Roscommon) you’ll see a team that was set up incredibly negatively. Maybe Sheridan believed that we were very limited in attack so had to play defensively but jees they were so poor at breaking forward then when they did turned the ball over – in both games. Really does not reflect well on the management team. Also, the comment re Rochford is daft. The best Mayo team since 51′ were the 2016/2017 teams. Tactically astute, getting the best out his players, and most of all, playing to their best on the final day.
Like it or lump it management blew it last night. Gave ros great encouragement to come in to the game by playing lateral and pot shots from distance. On the Rochford comments . Michael Murphy was not sent off in 2020 and still no ulster title. Rochford left a team in Newbridge that resembles the tipp hurlers last Sunday. Out of steam and ageing. .he added nothing to the squad. Neither did Holmes. 3 years of no new blood. Now James has the task of building again from that fantastic team that he handed straight over to the great Rochford..thank god horan is back
I think as @Spotlight mentioned we should be fairly worried about the future based on our performances at underage in the last 10 years.
Other than one team that won a minor and an u21, the results have been shocking. If you remove that team, we have two minors wins in Connacht since 2010 and 1 u21/u20 win since 2009. More worrying still is that in the years we aren’t winning Connacht, we are more often than not not even making the Connacht final.
There is a lot of talk about the great work being done at underage level in Mayo, even a long article on gaa.ie this week about it. But I think if you take away the 2016 u21 and the 2018 u21, who now make up a big share of our senior panel, it can only be described as a really bad decade for Mayo underage football.
We used to dominate underage football in the province, especially at minor level. Those days seem like a distant memory. And while its great that our senior team are giving us great days out, it shouldn’t be forgotten how important the minor team is and how much of a buzz we all got from 30K in watching a Mayo minor team before the Seniors took to the field.
We need to sort this soon because at the end of the day, despite all the good things you hear about the Mayo Way, the proof is in the pudding. We need to be competing at the top table at every level.
I think Connal Dempsey played midfield even though he wore 12. Now consider this regardless whether he played midfield or in the forwards he got 1 point from play and no other starting forward for Mayo scored from play. Roscommons forwards scored 2-08 from play. Case closed, how can you score enough to win a game when you consider that stat.
Well,changing keepers mid stream wasn’t that astute but we don’t need to go there again.
It’s hard to gauge from t.v.pictures but I couldn’t figure why Mayo players hardly ever sent in the probing ball from around the 45. Was there absolutely no one making any kind of run inside or was it just keep ball for the sake if it. On many occasion last night, lads just seemed to amble round the middle of the park,head down, then make a 2 yard pass to a teammate,equally going nowhere. This must have come from management surely.One of the most exciting young forwards of the last few seasons with loads of pace in my opinion is Paul Walsh. He doesn’t seem to be around this squad
Someone who watched the game up to the water break and then recorded the game after that would have astonished that Mayo lost the match. It was the most one sided game I’ve ever seen. Total dominance from Mayo,all through the field. Let’s take positive’s from that period. The high fielding from Carney and Irwin. The backs made the Roscommon forwards look like school kids. Not all doom and gloom.
Looking at it last night Mayo were clearing out the middle D, but very consciously playing the ball in handpasses backwards, forwards, sideways, backwards. Then they’d eventually kick in a hard to win ball out wide to Jack Mahon running away from goal out wide, no runner coming off his inside shoulder.
The shovel ball around the 45 in my view played a big part in sapping the teams energy.
Agreed jp , sapped energy both physically and mentally.
I saw the full game yesterday, some woeful comments here since the game.
Roscommon had at least 5 really top footballers that made the difference, numbers 14, 11, 12 and 8 were the best players on show.
A few things to note, the Rossies had great hand skills in controlling the ball, much faster in the middle of the pitch and the most of all they were physically stronger than most of the Mayo lads.
Yes Mayo started brightly but once Roscommon settled and played to their game plan there was only going to be one winner. Alll credit goes to them.
Unbelievable fickleness of some posters, reading far too much into the state of underage football in the county. Clubs are doing massive work in coaching young players and ensuring Mayo will reain strong well into the future.
Reality checks are great for young lads, they have to take responsibility for below par performance, hard to blame management imo
Congratulations to the Rossies last night deserving Connacht Champions. I am going to be different by not criticising the players or management They can draw their own conclusions on this run in the Championship. Our underage performances have been very poor for a long time. Thomas Morley a manager I rate highly had some very interesting things to say about our underage system 8 months ago after the u17 team lost to Sligo. As regards the U20 competition it should be noted that Sligo scored 2 12 against this Roscommon team and Leitrim scored 0 10. Now if could arrange to meet Leitrim first in the U20 Championship we could at least save yourselves a lot of excitement.
Two things— Agree big time that our underage record in the last 10 to 12 years is a real concern though we have got some very good lads from those groups playing Senior now .
And 2 I can’t understand how a James Horan v Stephen Rochford discussion arose from last nights match. Personally I think both managers have been excellent in different ways.Under James we dominated Connacht and competed very well in AI series. Under Stephen while we didn’t motor in Connacht we had some remarkable days via back door and excellent performances in AI finals of 2016 and 2017. Well done to both.We were (are) lucky to have you.
The super negative style beat us and thats something that the Galway management will have to look at hard but Roscommon obviously looked at what was one of the worst games ive ever seen last week and said we can take these lads by not allowing them to play their ponderous negative football. Fair play to Roscommon they turned Mayo over time and time again and were far superior. Best of luck to them in the semi hope they win it out playing attractive football.
Anyway time to move on now , anyone know what the minor team are like who are to play ros tomorrow night? What were ted webb results like with this batch for example? sean deane is said to have coached u16 mayo teams in the past , would that have been in recent years?
I hear what everyone is saying about our underage record, and I agree its poor enough to say the least. BUT, for me the real goal of underage is to get players through to senior ranks (obviously enough), your never going to have a situation where lets say the 30 starters of an U21 game in 2014 will face off in a senior game in 2020 or 2021 or 2022. It just doesn’t and never has worked like that for a multitude of reasons.
Kerry won how many minor titles in a row recently?? Yet they still haven’t landed the big one, having played a Dublin team with 14 men for 35 mins in a final! They get away with it in the media, but we would a been torn apart if it were us. Im sure this Kerry team will win an AI at some point (probably this year), but for all their underage success they have 1 Senior All Ireland title in 12 years. Thats a shocking return for a County of their stature.
Tommy, Oisin, and Eoghan would start for any team in the Country now including the “big two”, thats a brilliant example of the underage set up working to some degree within the County. If one or two lads last night filter into the seniors next year and make a big impact, then thats mission accomplished.
Having said that, underage titles are not to be sniffed at, but their not the be all and end all either. You have to look at the bigger picture, some games you win some games you lose, but its getting them into the proccess of being a senior player, identifying their weakness’s, honing their strengths etc. A young lad always learns far more from defeat than a victory. I personally fancy at least 2 players on show last night to make league debuts next spring, thats the real aim imo.
Thank you two hops. Case closed. In the second half last night our midfield was cleaned out so I would have thought management might have tried something different like putting carney to full forward and playing off him. He did field some good ball in the first half.at the end of the day how many men did we need around the middle.carney.dunleavy.dempsey.irwin..OK irwin came deep for possession on the wing. Mayo played with fear
Very disappointing all round on the field and sideline last night. Well done Roscommon. Surely the County Board will review the coaching and games development in the county. We seem to be slipping more than improving and undeage results in the last decade as outlined by other posters are very worrying. I thought there was going to be s Director of Football, but no word recently.
Good luck to.the Minors. Connacht Council are well able to charge – 10e to view it! Hopefully no drama in Croke Park on Sunday morning with the passemger in the kitvan trying again to breach security!
MayoDunphy Fair play to you if you could get 2 from that run, but clearly you’re closer to these things than I am. Don’t know where our u17,s are this year, but nobody getting too excited I hope.
I don’t know why there is a discussion on Horan vs Rochford on this post but as previous posters pointed out he inherited the best mayo team since 51 then failed to beat an average galway team, win a connacht title or any silverware and blooded no new players. And he tried to stay in the position following a shock defeat to Kildare after being out foxed by an ex Mayo selector but was eventually replaced by Horan (which was the correct decision to replace him) and Horan has won a title in each of the seasons he returned unlike Stephen…as I said don’t know how this came up but there should be no discussion.
The county development system is so poor that we might be better off without it as exists in it’s current form. The Limerick development approach is needed. Look at their success after a few short years of implementing a whole new approach. I appreciate that they have had significant financial backing, but there are plenty in Mayo willing to help out. I watched a regional development squad in action over the past number of weeks. They basically picked out a few teams and played games at every session. That’s certainly not coaching or player development. When you see big clubs like Crossmolina and Knockmore among others, operating almost exclusively in lower divisions at underage this year, then you know that they too have massive problems that need to be addressed.
I read the article on gaa.ie ” the interview with billy mcnicholas” about development of young mayo footballers yesterday and then sat down to watch the under 20 match. I got a bad feeling when Maurice Sheridan sent peader gardiner to do the managers interview the match. Maurice is the manager and he should have done it. I still have nightmares of maurice sheridan in the right corner back position shaking with the ball in his hands and then kicking the ball to john mcdermott who then passed it to colm coyle and everyone knows what happened next, in the dying minutes of the 1996 final. Mayo should have won last night and would have if they kicked in quick ball to the full forward line and stopped arsing about with it out in the middle of the field.no team will get scores the way mayo players were carrying on. Its a bad start to CONNACHT FINAL week but we have to put it behind us for the trip to croker on sunday. i hope everybody travelling on sunday bring their shouting voice with them
Again thank you pk. That discussion is now over. I wouldn’t be too downbeat going in to the connaught senior final with the great man in charge. Downbeat as in under age football in mayo. Them lads are a lot better than that. Time to look at management. Mayo football is traditionally not played so negative as last night. Big calls to be made. We have every chance of beating galway on Sunday thanks to James and ciaran blooding new exciting pacy players last years.
The quality of performance of underage teams generally is directly related to the quality of those in charge of those teams!
Minor team named
Very poor performance by our under 20s 2 years ago against Galway, the future of Mayo football was written off after that game too. 12 months later 3 players who started that evening were the 3 players nominated for young player of the year Oisin mullin, eoghan McLaughlin and Tommy Conroy. Others like brickenden, orme, Coyne and towey have also played senior championship.
Poor performance last night but some of these lads will be future Mayo stars. There will be better days ahead for them.
No disrespect to the young lads who gave it their all last night. However, last night was the worst performance by a Mayo team I can remember. Boring, bland, and blunt. Some great prospects on show, particularly like the look of Dempsey, Carney and Frank Irwin.
I have realised in the last few years that James Horan signifies what Mayo football is at its best. Fast, free flowing attacking football. With that said, the approach to this campaign has left a bad taste in my mouth. Under Mike Solan, Mayo played a lovely style of football that came with success while developing lads to be ready for the senior system.
@PJMcManus, ah look I know where your coming from, but I genuinely think there was at least two players on show that have what Horan looks for. Athletic run all day types, Jack Carney who i think might have come on against Galway in last years league (could well be mistaken) is one who looks to me could have a real future. Ruairi Keane looks like a future corner back imo. I suppose time will tell.
Forgot to say I agree with @Justathought, Eoghan McLaughlin was very raw at U20 and didn’t really start much…needless to say he’s a different animal now!.
I don’t think Eoghan McLaughlin started playing Gaelic properly until he was 18. One year u20 was the only Mayo experience he had before last year. So it wasn’t the county underage structures that brought him through. Though to be fair Oisín, Tommy, Ryan, Enda Hession etc. would have played all the way through the age grades with Mayo.
RE: Team Management
If the Mayo senior team go out with the same game plan as the U20 team who do you think will win?
Management are responsible for how a team is set up to play. If a team is set up and play a style that results in pot shots being your only option then something is seriously wrong with the set up. Players play as they are instructed or they won’t be in the team very long.
Can we honestly say Mayo had a right cut at Roscommon? Unfortunately it was the other way around and they fully deserved the win.
I see the minor team is named. And something i noticed from it… there is alot of discussion today about the success/failure of recent mayo underage teams, and the success/failure of coaching etc. in place that i am not getting into. But can anyone here explain this to me.. We have 46 clubs in Mayo by my math’s and 15 of them are junior, approximately 33% of clubs. And yet our minor team has not one player from a junior club, and our u20s had one, Jack Carney…how is this possible and is it not something that should be discussed looked going forward. If there is no player good enough to make the grade from such a large pool of players something is wrong… if people suggest things like the level of coaching these players are receiving at the clubs is not of a high standard should mayo gaa not be doing something about that…if its a thing there are exposed to a low level of football at these levels again should mayo gaa not be doing something about that. What i really hope is that its not a case that there is players good enough from these clubs but there are overlooked for whatever reason.
I really feel its a discussion that need to be had. Famously years ago there was fears the gaa was not strong in Dublin and there was huge resources and money pumped into them… is this something that can be done at a county level, and put more emphasis, and resources into these smaller clubs??
Fair point Blondie. Whats the junior club representation like on Mayo u17
The Starting 15 are:
1.Tiernan Burke – Kiltimagh
2.Lorcan Silke – Westport
3.Jack Walsh – Burrishoole
4.Brendan Collins – Ballina Stephenites
5.Cathal Corless – Davitts
6.Jack Ferguson – Swinford
7.Conal Dawson – Westport
8.Sean Morahan – Castlebar Mitchels
9.Diarmuid Duffy – Ballinrobe
10.Sean Neary – Ballina Stephenites
11.Fiachra Cruise – Bohola Moy Davitts
12.Tom O’Flaherty – Aghamore
13.James Maheady – Crossmolina Deel Rovers
14.Ronan Clarke – Bohola Moy Davitts
15. Pierce Deane – Breaffy
MANAGER: Sean Deane
SELECTORS: Shane Conway, Gary Ruane, Danny O’Toole, Martin Costello
Strength &Conditioning: Shane McCann & Eoghan McGrath
Goal Keeper Coach: Shane Nallen
Not sure what level a club is at in adult football has to do with the level their youth are at. Kilmeena might be Junior at adult level but their u17s are in A championship. Balla are another example of a team in recent years where underage teams were excelling whilst adults were in Junior. The intake of those youths has propelled them up to Senior
Presumably there is some pathway for a player playing in lower championship grade to get called up to development squads. But it must be more difficult nonetheless.
We could be discussing until the cows come home…
Shur its been talked about for as long as i can remember , easy solution , Kerry club model . tis not worked out too bad for them throughout the decades .
Congrats to the young Rossies,
I do think the apres match discussion is a bit harsh, I have no doubt these young Mayo lads will have learned more in this defeat than a massive victory, games can go strange on the day as we all only know too well.
Firstly I think it’s been a difficult 18months now for younger sports people, and lack of continuity in training and development hasnt been at all easy.
And to put all into perspective thinking of that wonderful young Oige o Dufaigh, an u20 captain and future of Monaghan football, just taken away from his world of family, friends, and Gaa life. Rest in peace Oige.
We appreciate all the efforts made by coaches and management for all underage players.
There are 12 different clubs represented on that minor team, which is a good spread. No surprise Westport and Ballina have 2 players each considering the pick available to them.
“There are 12 different clubs represented on that minor team, which is a good spread. No surprise Westport and Ballina have 2 players each considering the pick available to them.”
any junior clubs represented ?
Keep an eye out for James Maheady at number 13 he’s a special player I’ve been watching him play football since he was about 5 he’s only programmed to go one way and that’s straight towards the posts. He’s an exciting prospect glad to see him get his chance
In regards to the Junior teams I heard the same side about East Mayo in the not to distance past that they weren’t producing players but I see the spine of this team has players from Bohola Swinford Kiltimagh and foxford which doesn’t happen to often as these club teams typically comes in cycles were the bigger pick teams like Castlebar Westport and Ballina typically have more to select from. Like the make up of the management team hope they setup more adventurous. The difference with the head coach is he is familiar with the players having been involved with ted Webb panels so he knows what is in the county. Sheridan looks to have put the U20 group together on past deeds didn’t look like any cohesion between the players or any type of attacking plan. Filling the forward lines with midfielders doesn’t work I think this is a problem with the smaller clubs their best players play only one position and can’t adapt to county. I think amalgamating some of these teams and getting them to play in a higher grade of underage football work help, not playing against players 3-4 years younger as typically happens with junior clubs to make up teams. Not saying they should abandon the junior teams but follow the Kerry structure more when the best junior layers have the chance to play in senior and junior competitions at all grades to help develop the talent.
Dublin v offally now on tg4 , conditioning is different gravy .
Dublin v Offaly two well matched sides, not sure if Offaly has improved our Dublin regressed at this grade maybe a bit of both. Cork will be hard stopped from winning this AI
Great game in progress
Agree Sean, the strength and conditioning of the Dublin and Offaly lads is on a different planet. The speed, intensity and skill level is immense. Fantastic game. Offaly have been outstanding. If they can get 5/6/7 of these to make the step up in next couple of years they will be in good shape.
Delighted to see offaly wining. Hopefully they will see the same funding as Dublin into the future and make leinster competive again
Take note Mayo Senior management, I saw what a very fast player can do when brought out the pitch to attack from deep, this was Offaly’s nr 13.
Mayo have had this type of speedsters in the past Keith Higgins, he was wasted at corner back for years.
Now we see this being done to Oisin Mullin, some guys are just meant to be ball carriers and are untouchable with their blinding pace.
What a win for Offaly. Super exciting match and joyous scenes at the end. The no. 13 who got man of match was great. The difference in skill, build of the players, the way they played etc. to our lads last night is alarming.
Cormack Egan of Offaly, what a player.. sensational on the ball.. and what energy.. Like the 1970s hairstyle.. Watch out for this guy in the future.
Leantimes , did you watch his interview too. Superb stuff , charismatic , good heart on your sleeve type speak , the way he explained they want to get back to the days of old when offally were a force , really great to hear it from a young man like that. I will be shouting for them to win the all Ireland now that’s for sure .
I think we all will, Sean! I have a huge grá for the Faithful myself, a small county who achieved so much, in both hurling and football, from the Sixties to the Nineties. That ’82 team were something else and, of course, we benefited from them when Sean Lowry played for us in 1985 and, arguably, made us alter our aim towards higher prizes. A great county and more power to them – I’d love to see them land the U20 this year.
I hope people can see now that it’s not the end of the world to lose an underage provincial final.
All our underage systems aren’t suddenly broken. If they are then they’re broken in Dublin, kerry, Tyrone, donegal and galway too. All out like ourselves.
We will get players from that team stepping up to senior, I’ve no doubt about that whatever.
Would be great to see offaly see it through and to a lesser extent ros.
Well said Sean Burke in above post….absolutely nailed on….dire stuff there when we shoda been out of site…
I wonder if John Maughan’s arrival among the Faithful has reignited a bit of interest there again….I’m with you there WJ, loved that ’82 team. Matt Connor got me interested in football. A certain D.Clifford is the closest in style,I’ve seen.