82 thoughts on “Weekend club championship round-up”

1. Mitchels C team went out of the Junior C championship yesterday as well. All in all a real lousy week for our men’s teams.

   Tough draw in the last 8. Ballina going strong. That’s some turnaround from them after a few years of real mediocrity

2. Ballina have a crew of young lads from Evan Regans age to this years u21s. Driving it on to improve. Some of them senior and some of them junior. It’s good to see Ballina going well.
   It was great to see Kiltane win (commiserations Willie Joe).
   A lot of clubs are making progress. Claremorris can be pleased. Very unlikely they’ll beat Breaffy but this is a young Claremorris team.
   Mayo Gaels have made great progress.
   Phenomenal by Lahardane mirroring John Maughans success with Achill.
   Garrymore, what a club. No pick but what a generational club. Garry may not progress any further but other clubs could learn from them. They get massive senior careers out of whatever underage talent they can muster.
   A brilliant weekend of football I thought.

3. Set up nicely for Breaffy with Castlebar on the ropes. The Stephenites are building, the inside line of Regan, Tracey and Newell are dangerous.

4. I’ve just seen our match against Knockmore is in Ballina. I didn’t realise quarter finals were now being moved around. Good to see. Hopefully a good crowd

5. Pity that the QF’s are not two double headers. It is great to be able the top 8 over two days. The most fascinating game is the one in Ballina, will Mitchels recover in time. I think they will win by a point or two.

   Claremorris lost J Stretton today with a shoulder injury, he was one I thought might make a panel next year. He will be a massive loss. Breaffy should have too much fire power.

   Holly Carra have some good forwards in D Coen, Gooch Feerick & Conor Keane and will give Tubber a huge test. A toss up game but the Tubber forwards might sneak them home.

   Ballina are the form team in the county and will be expected to dismiss Garry rather easily. Hoping that Crowe & Nally can raise it and give them a game for a while!

6. Any likely candidates for Mayo seniors on view?

7. MayoMark – can you post the full venues and times ?

8. Don’t be at all surprised to see Garrymore upset Ballina and Holly/Carra do a job on Tubber

9. Padraig O’Hora who played in FBD League last year for Mayo had a very good game for Ballina.

10. Defo agree Tracey and o hora are definetly worth a look at for Mayo

11. Naughton and Reape for Knockmore were very good. The Ballinrobe wing back no.5 I thought had good game, young O’Brien also showed some good possibilities down line same with Jordan Flynn.
    If fancy bit of experience anyone for Peadar Gardiner? What a man, ever young a great role model and gent. reminds me bit of myself if hadn’t hit the beer and chipper at U14 a career wasted sadly, could have been one the greats 😛

12. Ciaran Tracey from Ballina, Jack Reilly for Charlestown, Josh Roynane for Davitts, James Stretton and David Reilly for Claremorris all impressed the weekend

13. Disappointed with the Balla performance and they failed to tame the gale at their backs in the first half. All they would have needed to do was get the ball to the 40 and most shots would sail over from there.
    None looked like intercounty material although Barry Duffy was unlucky to injure his hand with a block down just a few mins in and had to be subbed off at half time. Bar that only no 7 Ciaran Kilkenny and no 15 looked like intermediate or senior standard on the day. Mattie Flanagan has loads of football in him but often unwilling to use team mates in a better position. Also noticed same Flanagan putting over 45s for fun with plenty to spare into the gale in the warm up and kicked all his frees bar one with 1-1 from play. Laherdane were very efficient with the ball and used the conditions far better. No standouts but played very much as a team. Well done to them.

14. All – for info, I’ve now updated the post with date, time and venue details for next weekend’s SFC, IFC and JFC A fixtures.

15. Going by seeing how well Flanagan strikes frees there are a good few better free takers than Cillian in the County now. Maybe time to rethink the role with Cillian restricted to 35 or 40m as his close in stats still very good. Conor Loftus who’s a good free taker could be a challenger to Cillian’s place within the next year. Also think off the ground frees are be less risky as they have lower trajectory and only dealing in 2 dimensions.
    Also the captain role could be visited as Cillian takes on an awful lot of responsibility perhaps to the detriment of his forward role. If someone else had it we could see something different. Lots of leaders in the County team so why not share it round a bit more.

16. Shuffly you are right about the captain’s role. Both of the O’Connors always look like the worries of the world are on their shoulders. There was a great picture a few years ago of Diarmuid tearing the shirt of a Dublin player and he was grinning from ear to ear. All this joy seems to have gone. Hard to perform without some feeling of enjoyment even the enjoyment of the stress and the physical encounters. They are two might fine representatives of their county. Might be time to give them a break from leadership. Let someone else pick up the baton instead. You never know where it might lead.

17. It was checked by dont foul.
    Freetakers from the hands from similar range are most accurate. Beyond a certain range mainly off the ground.
    Matthew Flanagan is not playing club football in goals unlike Patrick OMalley Westport who looks the best young keeper prospect.

18. I reckon Castlebar, Breaffy, Ballintubber and Ballina to make the last 4.

19. Is the semi final an open draw?

20. was at the Ballina game , I was very impressed with Treacy and O Hora, definitely worth a look for Mayo

21. Quick glance at western today I see jack Reilly hit 0-9 for Charlestown 0-5 from play.
    Also a guy to keep an eye on is Tommy Conroy the Neale.

22. Josh Ronayne togged for Davitts in 1D yesterday and scored all of Davitts 2-9 beating an undefeated Ballintubber team. A decent Ballintubber team togged with some senior panellists.

23. I think we will see Knockmore, Ballintubber and Breaffy in the semi’s. Haven’t seen either of Ballina or Garrymore but it looks like an interesting one.
    I know how strong Castlebar are but you can’t turn it on and off like a tap and after being beaten heavily by Breaffy in the league and now losing to Ballina I think it could be Knockmore’s day especially with the venue being Ballina.
    Went to see Westport/Knockmore and Cross/Ballinrobe on Saturday evening before being treated to the West Mayo derby between Lousiburgh and Burrishoole on Sunday and over to See John Maughans Lahardane impressively see off Balla just after.
    If speed is what we are after Adrian Leonard (Lahardane) was very impressive about the only stand out from the Junior semi final although some in the crowd who saw the first game had very good things to say about Micheal Forde (Ballycastle) who had previous runs in the county squad. Having seen him play before he has oceans of ability and athleticism required for a county panel.
    Others who have impressed are Peter Naughton (Knockmore), Jack Reilly (Charlestown), Padraic Prendergast (Louisburgh), James Stretton (Claremorris),Fionan Duffy (Crossmolina), Colm Moran (Westport) and Brian Reape (Moy Davitts).
    Has anybody an update on Seamus Cunniffe the Ballaghadreen man? Was an outstanding full back at underage and seems to have gone off the radar. Its certainly a position we could do with strengthening.

24. Seamus Cunniffe I seen him recently and he looks strong and athletic.
    I wasnt at the Breaffy game but reportedly he is in good form.
    Michael Forde what he has needed is a stone more muscle on his frame. He can pass and shoot very accurately. Probably the most skillful middle third player in Mayo.
    Josh Ronayne got six from play versus Hollymount. With the kickout rules changed and his experience at midfield on kickouts he is now in my view the perfect wing forward. Has the chunky power to break tackles and has plenty experience contesting kickouts.
    David OReilly got 3 pts for Claremorris from midfield.
    Did Padraig Prendergast score from play? How was Padraig OMalley?

25. Sinabhuil you have a point I thought about before. Contrast Cillian to Andy who simply seems to love the game. Several players like Leeroy and Tom Parsons speak about can’t wait for next game, they don’t care about draws, nearly prefer them because it brings an extra game. Why Cillian takes it so seriously could be ultra competitiveness aka Roy Keane or could be taking on Captains role at a very young age and trying to live up to it. Either way I think it would be good to freshen it up. Parsons, Barrett, AOS, Keegan, McLoughlin and Boyler… none of them have been captain to date and all have bucket loads of leadership.

26. Great to see these lads impressing at club level. Sadly one or two of those lads must slip through the radar regarding county. Maybe the mighty mayo gaa blog could put together a shortlist of 5 lads or so that are consistently performing at club level that we could recommend to whom it concerns over the xmas or whenever suitable. Thanks willie joe for all ur work with the blog. Its turning into a one stop shop for all mayo supporters. Great stuff. A tv channel next, mayo gaa tv willie joe and gerry glennon on the sofa.

27. Good to see reports on promising players.

    It would be interesting though to analyse further and figure out, the type of player that is likely to impress Rochy and co. Likely to differ from our perspectives I would bet

28. 2 things the County board could to help develop players for the Mayo county panel.

    1.Put more work and time into the Mayo junior squad. get the best players in the county at intermediate and junior clubs under 24 like Kerry do ,this this give players not yet ready for the jump up to county seniorlevel game time in the county jersey.

    2.Encourage and give incentives to junior clubs in each division or board to come together and field a team in the Mayo Senior championship. This gives top players from these small junior clubs exposure to senior club football and helps in there development.North Mayo should have no problem as it has a number of junior clubs

    These 2 ideas are both adopted in Kerry is it any wonder they keep developing top players.they get the most of what they have.

29. JP I think Forde has huge potential to be an addition. He glides effortlessly with the ball and can play anywhere on the pitch. It would be no harm to see him getting game time in the FBD.
    Padraic O’Malley was injured, not sure if he’s fit to play at the weekend. Prendergast had his moments, don’t think he scored from play although he belted over a few fine long distance free’s. He has the power and a big left foot. With the correct coaching (improving his decision making) I think he could be an addition.
    Great to hear on Seamus Cunniffe, very hard to find a good full back these days.

30. Saw Seamus Cunniffe recently, he looks every bit a County full back in the making. A real Rory O’Carroll look about him. Im sure he’ll get a chance in the fbd.

    I’ve said it here numerous times, (swear im not related to him) but Brian Reape will be the real deal, has that God given burst of pace that can’t be thought. Hope he gets a chance after xmas, as he was on the extended panel in 2016.

31. Willie joe , do you know if the semi final is open draw or what ?

32. I wonder if we looked at some players purely in terms of impact sub would we have a wider pick of players. Not everyone needs to be strong in stamina. Obviously speed from a standing start is necessary and a certain amount of bodyweight/height/power in contact. A sub coming on for the last 20 minutes of a game does not need strong endurance. What is interesting are those players who are elite fast over 20 metres and bulky at the same time. That kind of build often has well below average endurance. There might be players who we bring in , test them and we reject because of poor stamina. Such a type of athlete will be out on their feet after 20 minutes at inter county level but it doesn’t really matter seeing as the final whistle is blowing.
    This type of athlete would be the last type of defender a guy like Kevin McManamon or Diarmuid Connolly would like to see coming on. We are trying to mark those guys with traditional high endurance defenders. What might be more necessary is to bring on from the bench two low stamina, raw speed power hitters. I know of a defender in the intermediate championship who has represented Ireland in sprinting. He predictably has very low endurance being a sprinter athlete. I have seen him in games get sent off for fair shoulders, when he has someone lined up his leg strength and explosiveness is off the charts and he’s bringing a solid 13 stone to the table. That in my view is the type of defender needed to put the initial hit in on Kevin McManamon to lift him up out of his stride and unbalance him.
    Anyways just a thought provoker to start the day. Are we missing a Moneyball trick basically in terms of high speed, highly explosive players with below average stamina. This might explain why we see lots of players scoring heavily in the club championship but then they are brought in and barely feature. An unwillingness to have panel players purely as sub options. I can’t recall any Mayo player yet who had a career as a sub option? It’s an area worth exploring for us in my view.

33. Lets not over complicate it, get the best players outside the team a fair crack at the whip in the league next year and it will quickly become apparent who is has the real potential – cut to the chase, we have failed to do this abysmally over the last 5 years and now we are suffering with a very limited bench. Have been too focused on keeping the core group together. You really cant fully judge a player on club performances, although obviously a good indicator. Many a player might not stand out at club, however adapt very well to the county level, as it is a very different game. Its up to the management to select the best prospects, wherever their attributes, and give them proper opportunity next year, not 5 min at the end of a game we are loosing in in the league. We all know who the best prospects are as they have been in and around the squad for the last few years, now is the time to really give them a chance. There is not going to be a saviour springing from the obscurity of the mayo club scene in fairness!

34. Just interested what you count as the obscurity of the Mayo club scene. Not being argumentative, just interested in your view on that. Do you mean junior?

35. Point is there is a batch of players in an around the squad for the last 3-4 years who have not been given adequate time, if any to show what they can do or establish themselves, its those lads we need to give game time to and determine if they are options or not. These players have been there for a reason.
    Re junior players – made the point before, need to re-instigate regional teams to compete in senior championship – how else are these players going to be able to get noticed?

36. I’ve no idea, Mayoman – can anyone else confirm what the position is on this?

37. You are whetting my appetite .MayoDunphy.

    Does Brian Reape flatter a bit to deceive though? He was sensational at minor, but I haven’t seen anything really from him since – though what I have seen has been very little.

38. Brian Reapes scoring rate is still going strong since minor.
    2017
    FBD – 3 pts in the game against NUIG
    – Mayo U21 He scored 1-2 from play on supposedly the best U21 full back Sean Og O’Ceallaigh.
    Club – Div1B – 2 goals v Westport in league wins the game, 2 goals v Ardnaree in league narrow loss, 3 goals v Castlebar B within 25 mins game over. Away for summer but most club games he plays he gets a goal. It’s rare for him to not get a goal.

    2016 – Mayo U21. Very tightly marked in games and sometimes double marked. Teams knew him as a danger man. Didn’t score much, injured for final.
    DCU Freshers – 1-2 from play in the Freshers final. Excellent goal.
    Club U21 final v Aghamore – 2 Goals.
    Club intermediate and league. Lots of games with one and two goals per game.

    2015
    Mayo U21 – he came on as a sub against Galway, caught a high ball and rifled it to the net, ridiculously disallowed for a push in the back. Damian Comer had done a blatant push in scoring a goal earlier on the Mayo full back.
    Club intermediate and league. Lots of games with one and two goals per game.
    Club U21 – Plenty goals.

39. Fair play JP, them stats back up my opinion that he is a killer in waiting. Still only 21. I’ve seen him play 2-3 times, was very impressed with him in that freshers final in croker, has the physique and most important raw speed. Very quick off the mark, he’s a finisher. Expecting him to give Rochy seirious headaches this year.

40. JP you certainly have your finger on the pulse there. He definitely is a very good forward. He is strong and fast off the mark and can win his own ball. He. And also finish and at times looks lethal. However, I would discount some of the goals particularly against Castlebar as they were very poor on the day. I was surprised Stephen Rochford didn’t keep him involved over the summer if for no other reason than to learn his trade from more experienced players.
    Hopefully, he will get an opportunity to prove himself in the rest of the club championship and with mayo in the fbd and league where he will come up against better defenders. A definite prospect.

41. Not like me to be praising anyone but I am getting very good feedback from underage players who have been part of Mayo squads over the last few years. Great advice given on stretching, diet and light weights. Good to hear that the excellent backroom teams seem to extend to underage as well.

42. Great stuff JP – those stats answer a few questions! Game time is all, like a pilot’s flying log. Aiming for the final of FBD would be good as it would produce one more game, 70 more playing minutes for newbies, and a bit of prep for the league opener.

43. Could be wrong here catcol, but I think theirs no fbd “final” this year. Heard its just going to be one group, where every team play each other, team at top of group in the end wins.

44. Great to hear on Reape and Cunnife. Also saw Andy Moran bigging up James Carr from Ardagh in a recent newspaper interview.
    I think Mayo should take Dublins approach of using a panel of untested players for at least the 3/4 FBD league games. If we can get 5/6 lads from that and use them in the first couple of league games integrating them in slowly we might strengthen our panel in the long run.
    JP makes a good point of finding an impact sub of such. There are players in the county with frightening speed who could cause serious problems for tiring opposition if brought on with 15 to go. These lads might not have the stamina or physical attributes of the current Mayo squad but if we can find 2/3 new players and a few trump cards we might get over the line.

45. You need a really strong squad to win an All Ireland now. Having a panel where the top 17/18 are all of equal strength but with a significant drop off from 19 on (which is where we are probably currently at) is no longer enough. We need new forwards and midfielders coming through and fast, Galway have buckets of them…whether they make it at senior who knows but they have them as two of the most prominent have Mayo fathers.

46. Kk, can you explain how the inter county game is different to the club game.

47. Good discussion here. Firstly, couldn’t agree more regarding 4 divisional teams in senior championship. It works very well in kerry. But honestly I can’t see it happening in Mayo, there’s no appetite to lose 4 senior teams in the county, so unless we go from a 16 to a 20 team senior championship it won’t happen. The last time it was done it was junior clubs only, Back in early 2000s. They ended up mostly getting hammered. Including Intermediate clubs in the divisional sides would be the only way to go, but would seriously strengthen these teams and make them real contenders to win the championship. It should happen for the good of Mayo football, but I would be surprised if it does. By all accounts the powerhouse senior clubs in Mayo are vehemently opposed to it, and until that changes the idea will be a dead duck. It’s standout junior players that would really benefit. I know for a fact that the big senior clubs often try and poach the best talent from smaller junior clubs in the county. There’s plenty of historical examples of it in the county and coming from a small junior club, it’s a practice that disgusts me to me honest. So much for “One life, One club”.
    Regarding players for 2017, the likely lads should be the guys already on the panel. James Carr, Brian Reape, Matty Ruane (how was he for Breaffy at the weekend by the way??) Eoin O donoghue.
    Brian reape is the real deal – the best player on this years atmitedly poor u21s by a distance and provided his attitude is right I expect a big impact from him next season.
    Players like Regan, Kirby, Drake, Nally and Conor o Shea would want to be nailing down a start in most league games next year too.
    New guys in the squad next season are more likely to be options for 2019 (people like Akram and Shane Scott fall into this bracket).
    Michael Forde is a quality player. Back in 2013 he was on James Horans squad. He could certainly come in and make an impact. Should be given a run in the FBD at least.

48. A selection of results from this years Kerry County Championship with games involving amalgamations

    St Brendan’s Board 6-24 vs 1-8 Shannon Rangers

    Kenmare District 2-4 vs 3-16 Dingle

    Dr Crokes 2-14 vs 0-9 Mid Kerry Board

    Rathmore 2-16 vs 2-7 Feale Rangers

    Kerins O`Rahilly’s 3-12 vs 1-6 East Kerry

    Dr Crokes 7-17 vs 0-16 St Brendan’s Board

    The Kerry teams are doing so well because there are only 8 Senior Clubs, therefore the 9th best team in Kerry is playing the 17th in Mayo and the 33rd in Dublin in Intermediate. Dr Crokes were the first Kerry team to win a club championship since Laune Rangers in 1996.

49. If you have amalgamated teams in senior championship – when do you play the intermediate and junior championship? As I said previously the Kerry intermediate and junior championship was down to the semifinal stage by Easter this year. It is played as knockout as early as possible to get it out of the way. Would intermediate and junior teams in Mayo be happy with this. At least half the amalgamated teams in Kerry make no effort in terms of preparation bar 2-3 get togethers.

50. In fairness Redcol I think you are cherry picking some of the more one-sided games there. West Kerry and South Kerry are both strong teams and real contenders for the title.
    In Mayo there would be just 4 teams, and all 4 should be able to field competitive sides if they were able to field junior and intermediate players.

51. Why, Larry Duff, do you assume that, if amalgamations were allowed in the Mayo Senior Championship, there would be four teams involved? Are there eight divisions in Kerry football?
    Whatever prospect there is of amalgamations being allowed there is none if the teams are seen as being too strong. Back in the day when amalgamations were allowed Junior football was not very well organised. Were there even Intermediate clubs/championships in those days? It’s a bit before my time [and therefore before most people’s time] but were the few wins by amalgamated teams the death knell of the amalgamations?
    About this time last year [I think] there was a similar debate on amalgamations on this site and I put forward my own suggestions of possible amalgamations, seven I think in all, which generated a small bit of comment.
    I do not see amalgamations taking off in Mayo, mainly because of a lack of tradition and the difficulty of fitting them in with Junior and Intermediate championships. What might be of interest though is a post championship competition between the divisions involving prospective county players from whom FBD & Junior county panels would be picked. Played on a round robin basis and with Cup and Shield finals it should give four good games of a decent standard. If it was seen as a way into the county senior panel it should generate good interest. Indeed I would say that if a player was not interested there would be little prospect of him making a senior county panel whatever his talent.

52. Two of the amalgamations are in the Semi Finals, alright but what these results show is the danger of amalgamations. A Senior club could be knocked out by virtue of a bad result against an amalgamation in early season, later on that amalgamation may may lost interest.

53. Hey has anyone heard any news on SR? hope to Christ he gives it another lash

54. An Example would be a South Mayo combination of Kilmaine, Mayo Gaels, The Neale, Ballinrobe, & Shrule. If they made the QF’s this weekend how many players from the first 4 clubs would take Sourh Mayo seriously. They all would have more important games with their own clubs. Earlier in the year they may have beaten Claremorris / HC / Garrymore to keep them out of QF’s

55. The conversation about amalgamations is always an interesting one. In my playing days I played against both the North (friendly)and South selections in my first ever season involved in a senior team and I can certainly see the merits of it in terms of getting experience in the championship for Junior players (as it was back then).

    I know some clubs have reservations in terms of losing their senior status if we took the approach of including the divisional teams in the senior championship and there is always the worry that the Junior and Intermediate grades would be hard to run off without having games throughout the year. For me however the benefits for including the divisional sides out weigh the negatives.

    My solution is something like this:

    4 groups of 4 teams with each group including a divisional team.

    In terms of relegation, only results against other “senior” count. This means that no matter where a divisional side finishes in the group the bottom “senior” club is the one who goes into the relegation playoff (as is currently the case). This can have the benefit of having more meaningful games (no dead rubbers) as there would hopefully always be something to play for within a group.

    To run off the Junior ans Intermediate championship, currently a lot of Junior matches don’t run on the same weekends anyway as the intermediate and senior championships so this grade wouldn’t really be affected. Play the games when ever you can. Intermediate (if you want to include them in a divisional set up), I will admit is a tricky one, possible solution is to keep it to Junior teams. However this currently would mean that this year Eastern Gaels and Kilmovee would make up an East Mayo selection. With all due respect to both those clubs could they expect to compete against Castlebar, Ballintubber etc.

56. Good to hear some ideas about future panelists. JP has a good point about speedster impact subs. One player who has a lot of attributes but hasn’t made a consistent impact is Conor O Shea. Could he be converted into a full back at Intercounty level. Big fast and strong and a good carrier but just doesn’t seem to have big game vision. Plenty of football in him just allow for weaknesses. Not prolific enough for corner forward and passing not good enough for half forward. Did get a big score for Breaffy in a club game last year from FF but I would say best options are FB and FF.

57. What about Jack Reilly. I have not seen him play but seems to be getting big scores every week for Charlestown.

58. I think we have too many panelists like Conor O’shea who have been there a few years and really don’t look like credible alternatives to the 16/17 high performers we have. Time to let a number of these guys go, if they’re good enough they’ll the shoot the lights out for their clubs and earn a recall. It seems there are number who are happy to make up the numbers and are comfortable with their bit part roles. Bring in new blood like the names mentioned above and give them a cut.
    Also whether we like it or not there needs to be some retirements, otherwise there will be a raft of retirements next year, and the gap will be harder to bridge. In particular 2 of the 26 named for the final should bow out, I’ve no idea why they were been carried when neither got game time.

59. Puckout u getting a little carried away there we were only one point away in the last 2 years of beating supposedly the greatest squad ever in the history of Gaelic football and you want a raft of retirements.Who do u want to retire our favourite for player of the year Andy Moran,our all star goalie David Clarke?? Maybe Alan Dillions time is up he has given us some great service through the years but I would not be calling for retirements.We are so close now and Dublins hunger has to be seriously tested next year going for 4 in a row, the only other team that could stop us is Kerry .There is 2 players on the panel I won’t name I would question are they good enough to be on the Mayo panel more athletes than footballers to my mind.I would like to see Mayo do something like Dublin did last year in the O’Byrne cup for the FBD in that they rested there main crop of 20 and played the upcoming talent this where Niall Scully was found.
    I am really interested to see what Brian Reape can offer has the makings of a top class finisher.

60. Brian reape is very good but can be put off his game when up against a physical player who’s aggressive. Perhaps that has something to do with why he was left off.
    No Kiltimagh players getting a mention, which is surprising seeing as they’ve beaten a lot of senior teams, lost the intermediate last year, won a few cups and are promoted to 1A for next year. I’ve seen them play a good few times and the full back is better than anything I’ve seen in the county and is only 22/23. Wing back excellent but needs to focus and control his head. An excellent CB/MD/CF in a guy called Ciaran charlton and then a David Lydon up top who looks to be a serious player if he had a proper year of strength and conditioning.

61. I didn’t call for a raft of retirements but u can’t keep going with the same panel, u have to evolve. Yes we’re close to the dubs but look at the dubs, they keep the gradual replacement going. The reason we didn’t beat them is we had 2 subs to bring on. After that the rest, that’s 9 players, that weren’t up to that level. So what do u do, persist with those 9 or shake things up. At least 2 of the starting 15 had said at the start of the year they would give it one more year, if that was their mindset then staying another year might see a dip in their performance, as it’s hard to reset again. I don’t want any of the 17 to go but it shouldn’t be mass hysteria if 2 or 3 decide to go, it might be better than 6 or 7 going together next year.

62. AndyD there have been amalgamations playing senior in recent years. In 2000 or 2001, an unfancied West Mayo team was seconds away from dumping the great Crossmolina side if that era out of the Mayo senior championship. As recently as 2010, West Mayo tried to put an amalgamation into the senior championship. If it was Junior only, just north and west Mayo Could submit teams. No current junior club in south Mayo apart from Kilmaine, and just 2 in east Mayo. So it would need to include both grades. The bottom line is there is 46 adult men’s teams in Mayo to pick a panel of 30 players for the Mayo senior team each year. Roughly half of these teams are footballing wasteland when it comes to Mayo senior team and for me that just doesn’t sit right.

63. A team I would like to see get a look in the FBD
    1.Matty Flanagan Balla
    2.Eoin O’Donoghue Belmullet
    3.Seamus Cunniffe Ballagh
    4.James Stretton Claremorris
    5.Michael Hall Breaffy
    6.Caolan Crowe Garrymore
    7.Michael Plunkett Ballintubber
    8.Shane Nally Garrymore
    9.Conor O’Shea Breaffy
    10.Jack Reilly Charlestown
    11.James Carr Ardagh
    12.Adam Gallagher Mayo Gaels
    13.Evan Regan Ballina
    14.Liam Irwin Breaffy
    15.Brian Reape Moy Davitts

    Other players
    Matthew Ruane Breaffy
    Kevin Lynch Mayo Gaels
    Fergal Boland Aughamore
    Michael Plunkett Ballintubber
    Ciaran Treacy Ballina
    Peter Naughton Knockmore
    Josh Roynane Davitts

64. so what puck out you think Andy and Clarke should be replaced??

    come on… Andy still has loads to offer and Clarke as a goal keeper could play for years

    [Deleted].

65. Where did I mention Andy mayomafia? He’s already said he’s staying!? As I said I don’t think any of the 1st team should go but wouldn’t be surprised if 2 go, and it’s not necessarily an age thing, careers, travelling from Dublin could be reasons.

66. Mayomafia hangers on hangers on? I’d love you to call those guys hangers on to their face. Them lads but their whole life on hold, can’t go on holidays, can’t go out at weekends, if they go to one of their families weddings they have to drink water all day and come home early. Not to mention the gruelling training regime they have. I could go on and on about the sacrifices these guys make and them they might be named in the programme to start and be told at the last minute they’re not starting believe me these guys deserve a lot more than to be called hangers on. You should withdraw that statement

67. Another player I’d add to that FBD list Sam is Niall Murphy from Charlestown. Scored 5-5 in 3 championship games playing corner forward and he has blistering pace, something we’re lacking in the forward line at the moment.

68. Well said, Backdoorsam. I’ll withdraw that part of Mayomafia’s commment for him. I’d also remind you, Mayomafia, that using denigrating language of that kind about players isn’t on here.

69. As a fellow clubman id certainly like to see Adam Gallagher getting another chance to prove himself in the county jersey in 2018. Don’t think he has been given a fair crack at the whip over the years despite putting up big scores in the FBD league and at club level (12points last weekend) Hopefully we can take another scalp this weekend over a fine Louisburgh side and progress to the semi finals as I believe we have other fine young footballers who have played for mayo at underage level and they can grow from strength to strength such as Kevin Lynch, Tommie Keane, Gerry Canavan

70. Agree with a lot of the posts ‘re adding some impact players like Dublin have coming on for the last fifteen or twenty minutes and I would stress that length of time, what can you do with two to three minutes which is often the case.
    I was at the Ballina Castlebar match in Knockmore, and if I was a neutral observer from outside the County and if asked who were the County players in the forwards I would have picked O Hora and Tracey without a shadow of doubt, these are two I would love to see coming in for the last period of a match.
    They have speed and accuracy, can win
    their own ball and make it stick and are not unlike Mc Manamon and able to find the onion bag.
    Incidentally Paddy Durcan, Cafferky played well and of course Clarke was outstanding.

71. ok apologies , I shouldn’t have called them hangers on, guys that have not made an impact for a number of years despite been on the panel

    we have a fallen short the past two years by one point to ” the greatest team of all time”, we need to try something different is all I am saying.

    I did not mean to offend anyone

72. That’s grand, Mayomafia, apology accepted.

73. @wegoagain. Ye have a James Jennings also coming through. I remember playing Mayo Gaels and they would have two or three senior club standard footballers. There has been a massive lift in underage and internediate team. Coaching and the new gym?

74. I also seen O’Hora from Ballina play this year. Whilst seeming to be a bit small he has massive pace and accuracy. He was quite tough also – not unusual in a Ballina man!

75. Darren McHale from Knockmore another consistent and clever footballer worth a look

76. O hora and Tracey definetly good enough for Mayo

    Have you seen them play Willie Joe ?

77. 1. Mattie Flanagan (Balla)
    2. James Stretton (Claremorris)
    3. Seamus Cunniffe (Ballagh)
    4. David Kenny (Aghamore)
    5. Padraic O Hora (Ballina)
    6. Caolan Crowe (Garrymore)
    7. Michael Hall (Breaffy)
    8. Micheal Forde (Ballycastle)
    9. Padraic Prendergast (Louisburgh)
    10. Fergal Boland (Aghamore)
    11. Adam Gallagher (Mayo Gaels)
    12. Jack Reilly (Charlestown)
    13. Colm Moran (Westport)
    14. Brian Reape (Moy davitts)
    15. James Carr (Ardagh)
    That’s just an example of a 15 I would like to see. Could also throw in Adrian Leonard (Lahardane) James Shocks (Claremorris), Michael Plunkett (Ballintubber), Brian Mcdermott (Westport) Peter Naughton (Knockmore) and Fionan Duffy (Cross) in to the mix there. I think those lads with another 4 or 5 lads from the outskirts of the senior panel should be used for the FBD. 3/4 games to give them a chance. Too often players only get one game to show what they can do. 3 games is a fair chance in my book.

78. I’d even play the likes of Evan Regan , Conor o shea , Stephen Duffy , guys like these in the Fbd

79. Just a few notes,
    If you played divisional teams then how would Castlebar B fair out, it’s not fair to not let them take part when junior clubs are,
    The old divisional teams were a joke and insult to senior clubs, if players got the chance now they would treat it properly.
    Super 8 means that there is less time for fixtures so adding 4 more teams won’t work (you cannot take away 4 senior clubs)
    Maybe smaller league and a second c.ship. Open draw knockout. All senior and inter clubs and divisional junior teams. Every club player in mayo get a chance to play senior club football. My parish has 8 players playing senior club football this year , all living in my parish all there life but playing for other clubs. I don’t speak to them but don’t blame them we’re Junior.
    On the FBD. time to pull out and play A v B in castlebar for 3 games in January. Then we the supporters get to see what we want to see. It would probably generate more money than the fbd does for us

80. Ed. Players playing for Castlebar B and C already have an opportunity to play senior football so I would not be too concerned about them. Alternatively like Dublin maybe the town should be split in 2 – west of main street and east of main street!!

81. Any predictions for the weekend?
    I think
    Breaffy
    Tubber
    Ballina
    Knockmore

    Burrishule
    Louisburgh
    Moy Davitts
    Kiltimagh

82. Takeyourpoints say u not to far off. Garrymore could be surprise if Nally and Crowe prove worth. Castlebar were already qualified before Ballina game so would not be ruling them out v Young Knockmore team but Knockmore being Knockmore are capable of anything.
    Relegation wise who do people see in trouble? Davitts could struggle.