It is said that you can get used to almost anything. At half-time in the recent semi-final I was talking to two of my three sons (both Dubs) about the likely All-Ireland final between Dublin and Kerry. It was a pragmatic conversation where I expressed the desire that the Dubs would win that final, just so we could have another crack at knocking them off their perch in 2022.
In recent games the mad, wild, roaring Mayoman that they had known in their childhood and teen years had been replaced with a quieter person who could still roar with the best all the way to the Dublin game, but who would eventually be silenced by the end of the big day. And after 35 minutes, this match was shaping up that way.
I wrote a piece earlier this year about the way the Dubs analyse the opposition and how they use that analysis at half-time to plot the third quarter. As I sat with the lads in the Upper Davin, I remarked that Dublin didn’t have much to analyse from that first 35 minutes.
To a large extent, it was like the Leinster final. Kildare had tried to slow them down in the first half, but never sought to go out and beat them and they continued with this doomed strategy for the entire 70 minutes.
The only thing was, Mayo had had four wides and despite having much less possession, their number of shots had not been that far off Dublin. If only we could get on more ball, being six down might not be a total lost cause. Still though, it was a big ask.
Five minutes into the second half, it was obvious that Mayo were the outfit that had done the better analysis and the level of Mayo possession had increased. Mayo were getting stuck in and the Dubs were beginning to feel the pressure. As the ould buck on Dad’s Army used to say “They don’t like it up ‘em” and the Dubs were finding the constant waves of Mayo intensity to be difficult to contain.
However, they stuck to the plan and on the 60 minute-mark were still a comfortable looking five points clear. The odds were shortening on the Dubs to win pulling up and it looked like it would be another nearly day for Mayo.
But then, Diarmuid O’Connor showed what Mayo are all about. When he made the run for that unwinnable ball, stretched his leg out so far that in a way would injure a mere mortal, stopped an almost certain wide and created a chance that Kevin McLoughlin popped over, the mad, wild, roaring Mayoman suddenly reappeared.
There was six years of frustration in my reaction. Diarmuid O’Connor had signalled that he would NOT give up and I (with the thousands of other Mayo people there) was suddenly back on message. It didn’t matter that we were still four points down. The following scores were a blur, but I remember my eldest son turning to his brother and asked “Do you remember this guy?”, to which the reply was “Yes, and I’m glad he’s back!”
I roared myself hoarse until the end of the match, I sang “Green and Red of Mayo” at the top of what was left of my voice at the end and whooped loudly all the way out of the stadium.
WHAT A NIGHT!
In the days after the match, I read all of the commentary and listened to all of the podcasts but none really captured WHY we won. So, in the calmness of two weeks later, here’s my tuppence worth on why we won:
- James Horan has learned the difference between strategy and tactics. Tactically, he is now making the right calls and, crucially, he is listening to his management team during the game.
- Ciaran McDonald is a bloody genius. The utter chaos that seems to be our new trait is McDonald to the core. We no longer have just one player thinking like McDonald, all 26 on the sheet are following his template.
- Dublin fell into the trap of seeking perfection (No wides, no turnovers, no opposition scores, etc). They have proved the adage “Perfection is the Enemy of the Good”.
- When Dublin didn’t have anything to analyse at half-time, they were sent out with instructions to keep doing the same thing in the second half. Their entire “football by numbers” strategy was negated. No subsequent amount of analysis on how Mayo changed the game plan could be condensed into how to readjust in the breaks that followed.
- And finally, Mayo refused to give up and go quietly into the night. To paraphrase Charles Stewart Parnell: “No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of our county; no man has a right to say to Mayo – thus far shalt thou go and no further”.
I’m really looking forward to the final.
Rte reporting the following
From September 6th outdoor capacity up to 75% of vaccinated
50% if not
What now ……
We also had a certain amount of luck on the day as well with Rob 45,thats something we haven’t had alot of and you need a bit somtimes.
I really think we can continue are domanace over tyrone and win this
Nice piece of writing Four Goal McGee, capture’s how it was perfectly.. Hope you get the chance to capture exactly how it was in the day’s subsequent to the 11th September, the story with the happy ending!
Enjoyed that. Great writing. 75% capacity would be over 61,000. Have the GAA a plan ready to go?
Km79, 75% capacity for fully vaccinated people (with an obvious exemption for u12s who are told not to get vaccinated anyway) would surely make sense for the GAA. Season ticket holders happy, clubs happy, up to 20k less people congregating in pubs due to not having tickets. I know there are pods already assigned but with the vaccine element I assume it would be irrelevant? The biggest issue is with the GAA adapting to this new measure and being able to check/police the vaccine cert on entry. The match being a stand alone fixture doesn’t help with this element as there would not be a staggered entry of people. Even if the capacity was still at 50%, there is surely scope for the GAA to look for a slight increase in attendance to cater for season ticket holders from both counties, max 5k. Maybe make one stand a vaccinated stand where they can have more people, i.e. canal end full or upper tiers full!
Great post Fourgoal.
I was in an equally manic state from the 50th minute onwards.
Over 90% of adults population is vaccinated
There is no reason the capacity cant be increased if the will is there . And there is a lot more money to be made for the GAA so i suspect it will be !
It’s makes it all the more strange our county boards rush to get tickets assigned before the other semi had even played .
Still don’t know what that was about
Hope mayo do it all the talk down here is Tyrone will run true us but in James we trust to come up with a game plan i hope the Covid-19 scam Tyrone pulled comes back to bite them in the asshole
Id be worried about our lads running down dead ends and getting gobbled up. Not to mention their aeriel threat and our lack of a dominant goalkeeper for high balls now that clarkey is gone!! We would require a huge game from Diarmuid to win, which hasnt happened yet this year. Hopefully the 4 weeks break suits us!
Always like your pieces Four goal.
The GAA have no system in place to ensure only vaccinated people attend. I hope I’m wrong but I can’t see 75% of Croke Park being filled as u der the directive it’s for vaccinated people only.
Link to that km79 please?
They can tickets from phones they can scan certs ……..
Or at least be seen to be attempting to scan certs !
It would be a shame if no attempt is even made bow to increase capacity
https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0830/1243685-covid-ireland-restrictions/
I know of 1.5m reasons the GAA could do it!!!
Exactly !
Thanks km79
Anybody see a pattern here
96, 97
2004, 2006
2012, 2013
2020, 2021
Mayo seem to get to the final in two’s.
Back to the ticket hunting.
Add, 2016, 2017.
Would one COVID jab get you into croke park I myself am waiting on a second one
I think if we start this nonsense about vaccinated and non vaccinated it’s going to cause an unwanted fuss
75% capacity in and let’s start living our lives again because this is here for the long term
My opinion
Source: E Fitzmaurice in Examiner.
“Turnovers were the chief source of scores for both teams but Tyrone’s incredible workrate is borne out in the numbers. They scored a staggering 2-9 of their 3-14 total from turnovers. They turned Kerry over 35 times in the course of the contest. 30 of those turnovers came in Kerry’s attacking third.”
Football is a simple game, you score from either primary possession (your own kickouts or throw ins) or secondary possession (turnovers), you can’t score without the ball. As per the stats above 65% of tyrone’s scores came from turnovers, 65%. The lesson – don’t get isolated, lads are gonna have to break tackles but there will need to be a man off their shoulder all the time – a very anaerobic gameplan. I expect Tyrone to sit deep and give us our kickouts, I expect us to press their kickouts forcing Morgan to kick long. We should have the advantage around the middle. So in terms of primary possession we should secure more than them. It comes down to not getting turned over. They can’t score without the ball, That is the key to victory. Let’s not bring kamikaze to this, let’s do a Dublin – controlled, boring but effective
Don’t think that 75% applies to sporting events, seems to be concerts (which makes no sense). It’s not very clear though so hopefully I’m wrong.
From the Irish Times:
“Among the plans are to increase capacity at outdoor sporting events from next Monday. It is expected this would affect smaller events rather than test events like the All-Ireland football final on September 11th, for which 50 per cent capacity is already allowed.”
It would be no trouble really to sell an extra 20k “vaccine tickets”. Those 20k people will have to scan their Covid cert at the turnstiles along with a ticket.
See Declan Bogue in the Examiner of yesterday and what he had to say about Pat Spillane’s rant about the hidden nature of the Covid situation in Tyrone. It seems to have been in the public domain and the GAA were well informed.
It is tiring to read all the pundits and everyone else at this stage. All bladder to suit ones own preference.
I agree that this is a great opportunity for Mayo with their players and Management. I could not even watcn Kerry v Tyrone as was so confused about whom I wanted to win.
Have had a good innings from following Mayo especially since John Maughan’s time and it is great to hear how others see things. Really will ‘Retire’ if Mayo win as I expect by 6 points
Why did Kerry not hit it long more from their own kick outs? I watched the game again yesterday and Kerry won all their kick outs it seems but they were nearly all to the corner backs. Tyrone were more than happy with this as they could set up at the back and then Kerry decided to run it so often and ending up getting swallowed up so bloody often. Thats why Kerry players esp their backs were cramping up on the day. This could be a perfect game for Aiden to start at centre forward and play as a third midfielder….yes it will be 50:50 balls to centre field but if we win some we will score goals with our running game. And with a 6′ 5″ monster out there, there is every chance we will win some or break them to runners. Kerry management were asleep on Saturday.
If the only problem was scanning for Covid certs on entry, this is easy restaurants and bars just use ordinary phones with a camera and the following government link;
https://app.digitalcovidcertchecker.gov.ie/
Scan your own cert if you have one and you will see hiw easy it is, you get a green tick if it is verified.
If it were possible for Croke Park at 75% capisity.. 60K+, all previous season ticket holders could easily be accomadated in both counties (Vacinated only I imagine).. with another 14K tickets available, for others in both Counties as well, fingers crossed it would be great!.. From my many visits to Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone seemed to have allot of season ticket holder the same as ourselves.. Just saying, it might even encourage some unvacinated people to get the jab, which would be a good thing for society!
Kerry were obsessed with scoring goals and running down into blind alleys and getting turned over. Their reputation for goal scoring went to their heads. Management probably encouraged this. They were beaten by one point. A fisted point instead of a narrow angle goal effort would have done it. Wrong choices. Take your points first and your goals when the opportunity present themselves. If we win our own kickouts and Tyrone give away theirs as they did on Saturday we will win. The Kerry backs were a disaster. I believe we have the best backs in the country and we will not concede three goals. Hennelly is a revelation this year. People may comment on the Basquel miss but in fact it was Robbie who came out and made himself big that resulted in the wide. Robbie’s confidence will be very high in the final. This will be a hard physical match. But these Mayo lads are teak tough and well able for the red hand. What is more they are a clever and well drilled team. There is only one plan but several options to execute it.
Pull hard after a Tyrone set piece (free-in, 45), they tended to press. Those are the ones you hit long and aido should know to come out to midfield after any Tyrone free in. Hitting every kick out long is a 50:50 gamble into a crowded middle 1/3 and securing possession against Tyrone is a must, if we go short we can use our half back line and pace to attack from deep and slice through the blanket
I don’t think it makes sense to argue on the one hand that Kerry were so poor and in the same argument say Tyrone were so good.
If Kerry were so poor and took Tyrone to extra time then Tyrone couldn’t have been brilliant.
Two of Tyrones goals I felt were fortunate.
The square ball for the disallowed Kerry goal was a silly overplay by Kerry.
Spillane could have easily fisted over instead of blasting for goal.
That’s a ten point swing before examining the completely unexplainable reason why Kerry kept carrying the ball in to the Tyrone defense.
I’ll give plenty of credit to Tyrone for their doggedness and refusal to quit, but Kerry were totally unprepared and their management seemed incapable of changing their style of play throughout the 90 minutes.
I have full confidence that if the game plan needs to change on the 11th, James and his team won’t be found wanting and they’ll ring the changes pretty sharpish as well.
Kerry went short with 23 kickouts and scored 4pts, 17% return.
They went long with two kickouts and scored 1pt, 50% return small sample size.
The idea that we can go short with our kickout and slice through them with our half backline, that is not going to happen.
According to the irish independent the final is capped at 40 thousand but maybe another 1000 tickets might be available for croker on sat week Would mayo fans travel up to croker without a ticket in their hands on sat week?
If they concede the kickouts we will win the game, we will get turned over at times but not as much as Kerry did
i think we should seriously plan that they will not concede kickouts, etc. this time
@up for the match, have we better shooters than Kerry?
So, in my view, we might do better in not getting turned over, giving us more attacks, but I think our shooting percentage would be worse.
.My Left Foot. What you’ve got to take into account is that the Tyrone supporters will be using a NHS app. Will that cause a problem.
Our shooting has improved on other years I think. There will be certain times in the game when u turnover them and create an opportunity to score. It’s a mighty confidence builder.
JP generally I’d say Kerry’s shooters are better but they misfired on Saturday e.g geaney. D. Clifford was the only forward on form so I think our execution will be better and we won’t get turned over near as much. Possession is the name of the game – 50/50 kickouts are a gamble. What would Dublin in their prime do? Short kickouts, Retain possession, frustrate Tyrone, be patient and work the score. It could be one of the lowest scoring finals but I’m confident we’ll win
They made the point on the GAA hour podcast, Kerry’s entire full back line had to be substituted with cramp. Probably because all the Kerry kickouts went short and the full back line had to carry the ball upfield everytime. We have to mix up some long kickouts as well.
Tyrone conceded 22 scores to Kerry, think about that. Bar lots of indecision and “going for glory / newspaper headlines” Kerry should have had (but didn’t I know) 4 goals – Sean O Shea, first half, lacked composure, got a point, the fiasco with Geaney / O’Brien, Spillane and a pop handpass to the Kerry guy at the edge of the square (name escapes me) and the last one, Sean O Shea and his v poor handpass to Clifford. On any other day Kerry would have converted 3/4 so their scoreline would have read 3-19, certain win.
The 3 Tyrone goals, first well worked and nice finish, 2nd bad defending and McShane standing free at edge of / inside the small square in the 69th minute (criminal from Kerry) 3rd goal, McGeary was going for a point, sailing wide, Murphy swings his leg at it to boot it back into play, he should have used his body to shield it wide or the goalie should have come out to claim it, instead it fell to unmarked McKenna to blast in. 2 of these 3 goals shouldn’t have happened. Kerry win all day.
Tyrone looked great with their tackling / intensity etc…. easy to look good at this when Kerry tried to run at them all the time. Gavin White, as an example, soloed and ran and soloed and ran, Stephen O’Brien same. Paudie Clifford same. Mad tactics from Kerry when Tyrone were playing man to man. You’d wonder about Peter Keane…..
Being totally objective, Mayo have better players than Tyrone do. The better team wins (not always but they find a way to win) Bar Cillian we should have a full panel to select from plus a very strong bench, the trump card for Tyrone last weekend was McShane (1-3 from bench), he will probably start, he certainly won’t get the acres of space he had when Kerry gave up marking him. If he starts then Donnelly goes to 8/9 so they lose his inside play. Hession is the man for McCurry, left foot only…..
With regards to physicality and what Tyrone will bring, Mayo are more than capable of matching this all over the pitch. A few people remarked that Ryan is too small, he may not be very tall (5,7″) but he’s incredibly powerful, Tommy Conroy is now too, he got a fair belt from Dean Rock after a few minutes and springs up to keep going etc…
We’ve powerful but more importantly we’ve athletes all across the pitch. Athleticism wins in Croker, the pitch dimensions being so.
Of course we need some luck (make your own) and match-ups right (O’Hora / McKenna) etc.. but we will win.
I’m sure of it.
Jp, it’s questionable how good kerry shooters were if you took Clifford out, I think we have alot of options to get scores it’s just how far out we will have to get them from
Fair point onemoreyear, it is for EU countries.
It is possibly a moot issue, doubt if they will allow above 50%. GAA club games are set for 50% capacity and All-Ireland football will likely fit into this bracket.
Colm Keys is generally in the know and writes today in the Indo:
“It (new guidelines) won’t have any major impact on the All-Ireland football final however on Saturday week. That has already been capped at 40,000 and while the stadium’s capacity is 82,300, it could possibly provide at a late stage an extra 1,000 tickets for the first ever Mayo-Tyrone final.”
@up for the match, it’s not questionable how good Kerrys shooters are, key word are indicating seasonal ability.
Even in that game 22 scores from 33 shots is good shooting.
With Clifford off Kerry pulled back in a 5 pt deficit to 1pt.
There was only the kick of a ball between Kerry and Tyrone. Kerry would have won if they had taken their points instead of trying for goals. Tyrone’s turnovers were massive but Kerry had some too, could anyone tell me how many. Still think we are better meeting Tyrone as they put a huge effort into Saturday’s game and probably won’t improve much, whereas Kerry were capable of much more. Despite all our All Ireland disappointments I’m quietly confident about this one.
Too reliant on Clifford, marquee forward s doesn’t always work out, also I don’t see us conceding 3 goals
Agree I am very confident going into this one, it could come back to haunt me but I think this game is set up for us nicely
Rte now specifically mentioning sports events from September 6th
“ Large outdoor sports stadiums and venues will be able to host 75pc of their full capacity if they are only admitting vaccinated or Covid recovered fans. ”
Pressure on GAA now
Mayo will go into go this game full of confidence. The body language from the younger cubs and aggression shown through the Dublin game suggests to me these guys have what it takes. A lot of talk around Tyrone’s steel and steely gaze focused on the final well they will be meeting a team more than their match in that regard. Throughout the years the mental resolve of Mayo has grown. Horan has to take great credit for instilling this into his teams. We have athleticism, physicality youth, and talent to win like all other All Ireland Winners we just need our fair share of luck on the day to bring it home.
Km79 this is good, but I wonder how on earth they would manage to screen “Covid recovered fans”? How does anyone prove they’ve had Covid? Show the text that they got to say they tested positive? That could have been over a year ago at this stage. Bizarre.
Anyway here’s hoping the chatter continues to grow but I imagine they will want to be seen to sort live music and entertainment first given the pushback against the GAA last week. Fingers crossed.
They’re not only allowing vaccinated fans though. A large portion of tickets are going to sponsors, are the GAA going to put the proviso on their sponsors that they cannot have the tickets if they’re not vaccinated? I don’t think so. Hope I’m wrong but I doubt the capacity will change.
They should Go with the 75% vaccinated option – it will probably unfortunately mean kids and some adults can’t go but it opens the possibility to more fans who are vaccinated to attend. Probably makes it safer too and more vaccinated fans in the ground means less overcrowding in pubs. Also means unvaccinated people won’t travel in hope of getting a ticket as they know they won’t get in. Do a phased entry into the ground to allow scanning of certs etc – upper tiers first 3-4pm, then lower tiers 4-5pm etc. Put on some pre match entertainment.
GAA could make it known that if you don’t have your COVID passport with matching ID – you won’t get in. No exception to the rule. Tickets will make their way to vaccinated people then. Sponsors will get their tickets to vaccinated people in their organisations no doubt
I find it hard to learn much from the Kerry v Tyrone match that might help us. Yes we can expect a tough battle and we know Tyrone will not be fazed by playing us in a final. We suspect that their kickout could be got at.
But we can learn much more from our match against Dublin and Galway.
We know that we need to play from the start not depending on a second half comeback again. We need Aidan O Shea playing at his best. Giving away soft possession is not on either through poor passing or carrying the ball into contact without being able to break the tackle. Ryan O Donoghue and Tommy Conroy need to have a big impact on the scoreboard and not be put off their game by Tyrone backs. (I would play Tommy Conroy at CHF where he would have more room to use his pace and ball carrying skills. It would pose different problems for Tyrone.)
Anne-Marie – if a person tested positive for Covid – they can actually get an EU covid certificate. It can be issued from 10 days after you tested positive. Once you put in your date of birth and ppsn you can get this covid certificate. It assumes you are recovered after 10 days. This assumption might not always be correct – but that is the assumption they make.
Willie Joe – any chance of Rochford coming back on as one of the guests as well? One of his comments in the run up to the Dublin match re completed attacks could have a big bearing on the game. If Tyrone’s kickouts can actually be got at the difference between a turnover of a committed Mayo attack vs a wide could be key.
Given Stephen’s work with Donegal recently I’m sure he’ll have spent a whole bunch of time looking at Tyrone as well – a nice link back to our quarter final meeting too!
I am wondering will clubs get a second allocation? Seems a very small allocation as it is.
I have heard of some clubs asking members to sit in a pod with somebody else from the club…how do we feel about that?
I don’t personally think the GAA will up the capacity on less than 2 weeks notice.
Thanks Southmayo Exile. I actually didn’t realise that the EU Covid cert included recovery from Covid but I had a look there. I see it’s only in the last six months (which would make sense). You learn something new every day here!
I’d imagine it’s a bit late in the day now to be specifying that only vaccinated fans could be allowed in, given that ticket allocation has already begun?
Fourgoal McGee, I can empathise on the hoarseness front …
That’s a good point @Anne-Marie,
Isn’t it tomorrow that links are sent out to purchase the tickets? How could you put in place the checks in order to ensure the person buying is Covid Vaccinated or recovered? If that were the case some would be going back to their clubs saying they can’t go, which would lead to another issue of redistributing tickets…to which I would be ok with taking one 🙂
I would agree that the Tyrone players will try every trick in the book. (including a bit of sledging to see if anyone takes the bait). I hope the training goes well and no injuries. If I had a say I would do a few sessions of fifteen fellas against nineteen – – – just to give them a feel of what it will be like. There are no wide open spaces in Croke park when you play against Tyrone.
i am both dreading and looking forward to the season ticket draw tomorrow…. but i have a feeling i could turn into Donald Trump….
If I get an email with an option to buy a ticket i will say “all above board nothing to see here” if i don’t i will somehow think it is rigged against me…
Best of luck to all… but not at my expense…. i hope i get a ticket .. then ye…
WeJustWantOne, I would doubt if there would be any issue with someone not vaccinated buying tickets. The vaccine check will be done at the turnstile I would think, so someone who is not vaccinated could still purchase a ticket and then give it to someone who is vaccinated!
Can’t confirm anything on that yet, Exile, but we’re working on it. By the way, the episode coming out this evening has second helpings from Declan Bogue following Tyrone’s win on SaturdayZ
I doubt that Tyrone will have the same kickout strategy for us as they did for Kerry (that is, conceding their kickout).
They had that strategy for Kerry because they wanted to protect themselves from the Kerry forwards who could destroy them on the scoreboard, the Kingdom’s ace.
I have a feeling they won’t fear our forward division in the same way – it is not this that they will perceive as a threat in our case.
A lot is about perception.
What will they see as threats from us?
They’ll fancy themselves to have a good go at us and Morgan could be used as an attacking platform.
However, I do think we have a good hand of cards ourselves.
I agree with the poster above who said we can learn a lot from the Galway and Dublin games, while also getting our tactics right for a strong, gritty, counteracting team.
P.S. I’d like us to tightly mark McShane when he comes on as he seems to lift them.
Really looking forward to the episode WJ and whoever is in for the run up the following episodes won’t be lacking for quality either! Both the blog and the pod have been particularly good this year compared to already very high standards – feels like you can take so much more out of the run up as a fan rather than making do with clickbait articles from a lot of other sources.
I think they will definitely look to use Morgan. However, bringing him out is a real risk as Mayo are very good on putting pressure and tackling from the front. Mayo could look to leave a man that is of no danger free and push up on Morgan when he receives the ball.
@Its Too Hot
Yes you are probably right in that regard. Let’s see what happens. I imagine more information may come out tomorrow after people start to get their ticket allocation.
I am really hoping clubs may get a small additional number in the coming days.
I totally agree with ya swallow, I don’t expect Tyrone will have the same problems with his kickouts against us. He has a fanstastic kickout in fairness to him, he didnt play well against Kerry but he was meant to be one of the guys to contact covid so maybe thats why.
If I was Tyrone, I’d put McShane, McKenna and McCurry in the FF line & I’d kick ball into them, looking at the Kerry game everyone is expecting them to run the ball, they are bound to try something different. I hope we are prepared for all eventualities.
Well done 4 Goals for capturing just what it felt like from the 50 minutes or so onwards. I was with my family also and now they know how to shout for Mayo.
An appetiser section of podcast from 4 years ago which might be worth a listen, given it is directly from a Tyrone player.
It is a Tiernan McCann interview in the GAA Hour, a year on from their 2016 defeat by Mayo.
The part of interest starts around 29 mins, 3 mins or so in length.
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/CKZdc
No surprise that they look for when teams tire to launch into their purple patch. He also briefly discusses the 2016 Mayo-Tyrone game.
Kerry had alot of goal chances so the tyrone defence may not be as good as one thinks. Going long and losing kickouts is bad practice but they had no option. They rode their luck too and a cuter kerry would be in final. They’re not that watertight and as Rochford says completing the attack is and always was imperative. I reckon we will beat tyrone and beat them well.
Tyrone did a job on the Kerry forwards and looking at our forwards they will think they have nothing to fear. Only Tommy and Ryan OD have been consistent in the league and championship so far. Aido had a great 2nd half vs Galway but was poor vs Dublin. We need big games from Kevin and Diarmaid as they have been solid but not as yet reaching the scoring peaks they are capable of. We don’t know who will be selected for the other half forward position and that speaks for itself. If Tyrone can stop Tommy and ROD, and believe me they will try, we will be in serious trouble.
Anyone expecting a classic final full of Mayo running and goals are mistaken, this is be an arm wrestle where patience is key. Everyone knows what Tyrone will bring and how they will setup defensively, its up to Mayo to break them down, there will be alot of possession and recycling in order to work scoring opportunities, that’s how Mayo will win. It will be a different type of game for Ryan and Tommy, they simply won’t have the time or space to play their own game. They will be required to put in a shift of hard work and selfless running off the ball before things open up for them in the second half
Dooniver Swifts, our scores are not only coming from forwards. Our half backs and midfield are good for scores too. In fact, Tyrone are similar enough to ourselves in that they are getting their scores from the back. Their forwards weren’t up to much the last day.
Here’s hoping the Tyrone players are as confident as their fans are when I listen to them up here in Derry. Kerry were the bookie favs to win the all Ireland before the semis were played but only cause they had what was perceived to be an easier semifinal. Tyrone folks are offended when I say that if given the choice at the end of normal that I would have preferred play Tyrone in the final. For all their effort they were still not able to beat a Kerry team in normal time that had misfired on nearly every front and Kerry would have had far more room for improvement. Comical when they say sure ref gavels two black cards and nonetheless Kerry!! That’scause Tyrone deserved the two black cards andkerry didn’t. So we are in a good place and the extra few weeks since the Dublin game should do us no harm either. Maigheo Abu
I seem to remember a certain player for ourselves who inflicted a lobbed goal on a keeper who came off his line.
The Tyrone keeper probably will venture out the field a few times during the final.
A very dangerous game against James Horan, who will have his players fully prepped on where to put the ball once we have turned it over, with the Tyrone keeper miles from his goal line.
@dreamysleepynightysnoozysnooze, yes that’s true that we get scores from our half backline in particular but we need big games from our forwards other than Tommy and ROD especially from Aido, who definitely will be selected, Kevin and Diarmaid. i.e scores on the board. JH might consider bringing on Flynn at MF and moving Loftus up to the 40. That would put pressure on Tyrone’s half backs who are strong there. His accurate foot passing and ability to get points from out the field would keep them on the back foot. We need to strangle them around the middle 8. Of course they are thinking the same about us. It certainly will not be for the faint hearted.
What happened to seasontickets.ie ? and how does one access ones account these days? Will they email us if we win the lotto? Thanks in advance.
I watched the Kerry v Tyrone game again. I don’t think Kerry played with the kind of urgency and intensity required to win a big game until probably the second half of extra time. And yet they could have and possibly should have won the game. Had Geaney taken his goal chance I’m not sure Tyrone would have survived. If Kerry had popped over a few other chances instead of trying to work a goal they probably would have won. Also the third Tyrone goal was a fairly lucky score.
So I wouldn’t be getting mad excited at how good Tyrone are. Neither would I be drooling over some of our own performances. I think it will boil down to who can produce a decent display on the day with no awful mistakes and a small bit of luck as well. From our point of view, nothing too spectacular….fewer silly mistakes, hard work and a bit of Mayo mayhem might just do the trick.
Cant go for “Only Vacinated Allowed” as that would not allow most of the Tyrone player in
It is obviously the accumulation of all the final heartbreak that has a lot of people jittery. How else would you explain that despite playing clearly stronger teams in finals we nearly always managed to talk ourselves into believing we could win and yet here we are facing a team which we are better than and we’re talking ourselves into losing.
If this game was in Omagh you could bring the odds a little tighter in Tyrone’s favour, but outside Dublin, no one has mastered Croke Park better in the last 10 years than us. No silly early goals, no reaction to the sledging and 3/4 points up or down at half time will see us in the driving seat for the customary 3rd quarter blitz and on to Valhalla.
We have only one plan…
Large outdoor sports stadiums and venues will be able to host 75pc of their full capacity if they are only admitting vaccinated or Covid-recovered fans.
Could be good news for Mayo GAA Fans!!
Talking about kickpassers capable of moving the ball up the field, we have Kevin Mc, Conor L, Paddy, Lee, Aidan. There might be others.
This might be valuable in playing Tyrone.
I’ve seen each of the above feed the ball forward to set up a goal chance, but never mind the goal, they could cut out some of the crowded space at midfield.
So on my question above, seasontickets.gaa.ie is no more and I was able to go to
https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/
and see the acct. They had incorrectly translated the contact number. I’m assuming if lucky enough to win the lotto we will be able to login and check or they will email.
Has anyone received any correspondence on the season ticket office on the lotto? I’ve only seen it reported in the paper, nothing official from the season ticket office itself to say if the lotto was actually been done!
New podcast episode is online! Back by popular demand is Declan Bogue, with more great insights on Tyrone. Rob hosts the show, Ger Flanagan and I feature on it too.
Just tuning in now Willie Joe!!
Thank you WJ for providing this excellent forum for Mayo mad fans, and keeping us exiles bang up to date with all the latest news.
I will be returning or the final (no tickets yet) – just to be there. I took my son there in 1989 for the semi final against Tyrone and we won that one and I strongly feel that we will win this one too. James Horan and Ciaran Mc are the dynamic duo. The victory over Dublin and the recovery time will be a benefit to our mighty brave boys.
I believe that James Carr has a huge game in him for Mayo, just needs to look up before shooting.
Finally what will Pat Spillane write about now that Kerry and the Dubs are gone ?
I’m absolutely immersed in the various pods reviewing our semi-final, the fallout from Tyrone and now the slew of previews to the final.
Flights home booked. I’m in game mode two weeks out which really isn’t a good thing for anyone around me!
McQuillan reffing Final……what happened to Gough???
Really surprised at that.
Gough was the obvious choice given a Leinster team is not in the final.