Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

Rawhead

Stoner wrote: »

To be honest switching venues on the morning of the game is a joke, the under 21 game was moved too, at least there was notice there .
They waited until the hotels and pubs had their business done last night before moving the game.

The pitch was a joke last week and should not have been used, but that's no reason to continue to use it, the two games were cancelled afterwards. IMO this was about local business rather than who was playing.

Edit
Agreed about this , it's all things mayo here now

That sums it up perfectly. I hope he repay them this courtesy on the pitch today.

Cosmo Kramer

km79 wrote: »

I think it suited us to be fair!

It maybe suited us in the end (although we'd most likely have beaten them wherever it was played) but that's not really the point. It could easily have been the cause of a serious injury to one of our players. I'd be fairly certain that if it had been Dublin instead of us last Sunday the game would have been moved.

Edit - I'm reading on twitter that an official was sent down from Croke Park this morning to inspect the pitch, and he insisted it was moved out of there. Again, no way that would have happened (and indeed it didn't) for Ros v Mayo.

Kristopherus

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

It maybe suited us in the end (although we'd most likely have beaten them wherever it was played) but that's not really the point. It could easily have been the cause of a serious injury to one of our players. I'd be fairly certain that if it had been Dublin instead of us last Sunday the game would have been moved.

Edit - I'm reading on twitter that an official was sent down from Croke Park this morning to inspect the pitch, and he insisted it was moved out of there. Again, no way that would have happened (and indeed it didn't) for Ros v Mayo.

That official should've been on the first train yesterday morning to assess that boghole after Friday's downpour.

Fr Tod Umptious

Enough of the Roscommon talk at this stage.

I'm I right in thinking Mayo's last 2 league games v Down have been loss there and a draw in Castlebar ?

Are Down really terrible this year, I know Mayo should win but there seems to be a lot of counting chickens over this game all season.

davegrohl48

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Enough of the Roscommon talk at this stage.

I'm I right in thinking Mayo's last 2 league games v Down have been loss there and a draw in Castlebar ?

Are Down really terrible this year, I know Mayo should win but there seems to be a lot of counting chickens over this game all season.

They've lost six straight and some by big margins. They have no bench, are a little undersized and have lost Caolan Mooney. They are not at division one standard. A good division two team. If we cant beat them at home we deserve to be relegated.

padd b1975

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Enough of the Roscommon talk at this stage.

I'm I right in thinking Mayo's last 2 league games v Down have been loss there and a draw in Castlebar ?

Are Down really terrible this year, I know Mayo should win but there seems to be a lot of counting chickens over this game all season.

Down are poor enough as results have told us, but they won't want to go down with a 100% losing record.

If we're right mentally and improve our shooting from the last day, it should amount to nothing more than a routine victory.

I'm looking forward to seeing a continuation of Evan Regan's good form and keeping a close eye on Cillian.

Clarke back in goals is an interesting one, I suspect the jersey hasn't been nailed down by Henallyfor championship.

homewardbound11

Cork if I'm right are relegated

Fr Tod Umptious

homewardbound11 wrote: »

Cork if I'm right are relegated

Yea
Monaghan, Mayo and Cork all on 6, Cork go down with worse point difference.

Zeek12

Wow, Mayo cut that very close!
They were way ahead early in the second half.

So one semi finalist will have the same no. of points as a relegated team....

Fr Tod Umptious

Was it squeaky bum time at any point in Castlebar ?

With Monaghan coming from behind to win and Down getting that late goal a loss who have relegated Mayo.

Cosmo Kramer

Yes, a crazy finish. I think Donegal might have lost their last four games and still made the semis on 6 points, while Cork on the same points are relegated.

We have a lot to do between now and June.

charlie14

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Was it squeaky bum time at any point in Castlebar ?

With Monaghan coming from behind to win and Down getting that late goal a loss who have relegated Mayo.

Not just a loss, but a draw as well.

Cosmo Kramer

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Was it squeaky bum time at any point in Castlebar ?

With Monaghan coming from behind to win and Down getting that late goal a loss who have relegated Mayo.

Even a draw would have sent us down, and Down got it back to one point in injury time before we got the last two to ensure we stayed up. It was squeaky bum time but it never should have come to that.

Zeek12

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Was it squeaky bum time at any point in Castlebar ?

With Monaghan coming from behind to win and Down getting that late goal a loss who have relegated Mayo.

I think Down had it back to just one point when they scored their goal....too close for comfort!! Had we not won we were relegated

Bunny Colvin

We made tough work of that but the win was all that mattered today. Played well enough at times but never fully got going. A lot of mistakes made in possession too but you have to think we will be a lot sharper when we meet London.

And please lads, send more Stewards down behind the goal in the future :pac:

yop

We will take it. Still division one status. Very close but happier than it looked 8 days ago

PressRun

A win is a win and happy to stay up in the circumstances. Evan Regan gave another good account of himself and you'd have to think he has his place for the championship. Handy to have a reliable left footer too. Brendan Harrison has his place, most definitely, too, I would imagine.

Felt sorry for David Clarke with the goal after making such a great save. The backs dealt with that situation very poorly. Kevin Keane, who I thought would stand up and make his case for a place, looked off the pace.

Alan Freeman didn't contribute enough for me. The conditions today should have suited him more than last week, but he still didn't get stuck in enough.

It was good to see Cillian get more time, even though it looked like he was taking it easy enough for the most part. He needs match time.

Fowler87

Relieved and at same time, disappointed this league campaign is over. Relieved weve kept our division 1 status as it looked ominous more so than previous years. Disappointed that regular games of intercounty football are over now with the drawn out structure of the championship. Next proper game not til June

naughto

Kk is no full back was off the pace.I thought Freeman did well.
He suffered under horan and the two boys last yr he needs to get his confidents back.
Thought conor o shea was poor today should have being taken off sooner.

I wonder have they started back heavy training a lot of the players had there hands on the hips early in the game

wirelessdude01

League Sunday is a shambles. No highlights from Castlebar at all. National broadcaster my ar$$

Rawhead

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

League Sunday is a shambles. No highlights from Castlebar at all. National broadcaster my ar$$

In fairness, you'd probably struggle to string together a decent highlight reel from today's game.

glack

That match today was so unbelievably frustrating! We are a much better team then they are but we made such hard work of it. It's like we can't cope with having a decent lead during a game. Totally switch off with lazy passing and sloppy mistakes. No momentum or drive forward from anybody in the middle third of the pitch for huge parts of the game. No leaders to be seen!! We could have won by 10 points if we had any killer instinct at all!!!

gigantic09

Fowler87 wrote: »

Relieved and at same time, disappointed this league campaign is over. Relieved weve kept our division 1 status as it looked ominous more so than previous years. Disappointed that regular games of intercounty football are over now with the drawn out structure of the championship. Next proper game not til June

Thankfully we have at least one u- 21 game to look forward to,which helps fill the void.

Oldtree

The game had its moments, highs and lows and a close finish, nothing better to get the heart beating.

Fair play to Down they did not give up and showed us a thing or two.

Keeping 3 backs in place, nomatter what, in the second half was an interesting approach by us. Thought the points scoring was more accurate, but a bit too much hand passing at times. Some lovely stealing of the ball out of Down hands and some spurts of pace that was breathtaking to see, as well as a bit more bulk added too. Come on June.

Fowler87

gigantic09 wrote: »

Thankfully we have at least one u- 21 game to look forward to,which helps fill the void.

Without doubt. Great performances from our underage teams last month.

But the sooner the GAA sort commit to an overhaul of the structure and combine league/championship the better it will be for everyone

seligehgit

Pretty mixed feelings about today,if I'd thought we'd get two wins to finish the league and retain our division one status I'd have bitten one's hand off yet there was a strangely anti climactic atmosphere at FT.

We started off like we were going to blow Down way with quick direct and accurate passing and movement.Cillian and Evan Regan were pinging lovely passes inside with resultant scores.However Down ran at us at pace and found a lot of joy worryingly down central channels.

We then resorted to type with a lot of lateral passing resulting at times in turnovers.It was a real Jekyl and Hyde performance.One could see that Down goal coming from a long way off.

David Clarke made that vital save after Shane Nally's error only for the goal to come in the immediate aftermath of same.Unfortunately despite a solid performance his kickouts have an awful tendency to hang a long time in the air,creating difficulties for midfield to win the ball.Brendan Harrison had a solid day,ditto Kevin Keane...tough day out for Chris Barrett.

Our half back line had their hands full defensively,we got a few forays from Lee Keegan,Shane Nally and Patrick Durkan.

Tom Parsons worked his socks off,Seamus O Shea turned a bit of ball over.He is still struggling a tad to reach the high standards we have to come to expect of him in the past.Barry Moran was introduced pretty late in the day.

Our half forward line is struggling,Conor O Shea and Jason Doherty are working their socks off.We need a bit more in terms of a scoring threat.Aidan O Shea could not faulted for the seventy minutes he put in,same about the missed goal chance after an excellent move.

Cillian O Connor footpassing was top notch,great game intelligence even at less than optimum fitness..faultless freetaking.Alan Freeman started off well but faded a bit as he was at times outmuscled by his direct opponent.

Stellar performance by the MOTM Evan Regan,from placed ball or play off either foot he was faultless,won some balls he'd no right to win,won the penalty.He killed his marker for pace on occasions.He has a natural swagger that hopefully will bode well for the championship.

washman3

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Yea
Monaghan, Mayo and Cork all on 6, Cork go down with worse point difference.

Don't count on that just yet.!!! It may be challenged. 'Frank' is mulling over the rulebook as we speak. There is a past precedent.
Watch this space.

P.S. if it was Cork hurlers there would definitely be a challenge.

Fr Tod Umptious

washman3 wrote: »

Don't count on that just yet.!!! It may be challenged. 'Frank' is mulling over the rulebook as we speak. There is a past precedent.
Watch this space.

P.S. if it was Cork hurlers there would definitely be a challenge.

I don't believe you but give us the past preceded that you say is there while you are here.

km79

washman3 wrote: »

Don't count on that just yet.!!! It may be challenged. 'Frank' is mulling over the rulebook as we speak. There is a past precedent.
Watch this space.

P.S. if it was Cork hurlers there would definitely be a challenge.

what ?

PressRun

seligehgit wrote: »

Our half forward line is struggling,Conor O Shea and Jason Doherty are working their socks off.We need a bit more in terms of a scoring threat.Aidan O Shea could not faulted for the seventy minutes he put in,same about the missed goal chance after an excellent move.

Cillian O Connor footpassing was top notch,great game intelligence even at less than optimum fitness..faultless freetaking.Alan Freeman started off well but faded a bit as he was at times outmuscled by his direct opponent.

Stellar performance by the MOTM Evan Regan,from placed ball or play off either foot he was faultless,won some balls he'd no right to win,won the penalty.He killed his marker for pace on occasions.He has a natural swagger that hopefully will bode well for the championship.

I think Freeman lacks a bit of physicality. I think he can be dispossessed rather easily and muscled off the ball sometimes, yet he is capable of kicking a lovely score. I don't know if he maybe just needs more match time to really get up to speed on the physical side, but I'd be kinda concerned if he was to go up against a really tough defender in the championship.

Chris Barrett got roasted today, I'm afraid, and overall, I thought the defence lacked pace and organisation (although Harrison is consistently reliable). Kevin Keane, while strong and imposing, I just don't think looked mobile enough. I think Caff really is the anchor the defence needs.

Agreed on Cillian. He didn't even look to be overly exerting himself much today, but there's just a bit of vision and class about everything he does. He's a very smart player.

I can't wait to see Evan Regan on harder ground in the summer months. I think his pace and skill will really shine then.

Does anyone think Michael Hall might be in with a chance of getting a place? And will Keith Higgins be given a more forward role this year?

seligehgit

I doubt Michael Hall is in contention at the stage in his career,he's likely to be part of the future of the senior team in years to come.At moment we've got Lee Keegan and Colm Boyle as certain starters in the half back line and Shane Nally,Patrick Durkan and Donal Vaughan vying for the other spot.

Michael Hall is currently holding down the number 6 Jersey for the under 21s and played corner back on the minor team.

I could definitely see Keith Higgins holding down a more attacking role.Our need is great at corner back but I'm not sure if Keith fancies marking tricky corner forwards as much as would have at this stage in his career.

PressRun

It wouldn't be too bad to have Keith's pace going forward anyway.

Any word yet on who the captain is going to be for the summer? I noticed Aiden O'Shea had it today, and I think might have had it for the last match too?

davegrohl48

I thought Cillian OConnor was the captain today? Most people think Colm Boyle will be captain.
I think Keith Higgins will move out to one of the wing back spots. Durcan, Vaughan and Nally none of them have his evasion and that low trajectory 50 yard pass he can do. Right now with likely Keegan Boyle Nally/Durcan/Vaughan, it just lacks a bit of a driving boot.
Cafferkey seems to be the leader of the defence. Harrison has come on a lot.
U21s has a while to go yet to see who is in the running. Bear in mind for personal reasons a young player might wait a year or be advised to wait a year. University, clearing up old injuries amount of matches can handle in one year etc.
Diarmuid a starter obviously.
Stephen Coen could push for corner back n I think will make bench.
Michael Hall bench option. Doesnt seem to make mistakes.
Conor Loftus. Hard to see him oust JDoc/Dillon this year but one for future.
The triplets - Irwin Reape Duffy. Love how these three have such complementary attributes as a full forward line.
Irwin provides a backup left footed free taker and he is hard stopped one on one.
Reape/Duffy have pace and scoring ability. Especially on goals.

PressRun

How do people think Jason Doherty is getting on?

davegrohl48

PressRun wrote: »

How do people think Jason Doherty is getting on?

He's a player you have to rewatch the game to assess accurately. Never spectacular and never poor either. Yesterday from memory:
- Scored
- Setup a score
- Made two blocks, one with his head and up and got on with it

yop

davegrohl48 wrote: »

He's a player you have to rewatch the game to assess accurately. Never spectacular and never poor either. Yesterday from memory:
- Scored
- Setup a score
- Made two blocks, one with his head and up and got on with it

Agreed, always does the un-fancy stuff. Used to be more obvious last year when he was taking the frees but I think he is still worth his place.

davegrohl48

The return of Kevin McGloughlin will probably see JDoc on the bench. McGloughlin is just a bit better attacking and not losing the ball.
Diarmuid AOS Kevin Mc
Regan Freeman Cillian
Is probably championship forward line. But one of the u21 full forward line might bolt ahead of Freeman yet.

km79

davegrohl48 wrote: »

He's a player you have to rewatch the game to assess accurately. Never spectacular and never poor either. Yesterday from memory:
- Scored
- Setup a score
- Made two blocks, one with his head and up and got on with it

Yday was his best game for awhile
Very poor the 2 before that

Rawhead

davegrohl48 wrote: »

The return of Kevin McGloughlin will probably see JDoc on the bench. McGloughlin is just a bit better attacking and not losing the ball.
Diarmuid AOS Kevin Mc
Regan Freeman Cillian
Is probably championship forward line. But one of the u21 full forward line might bolt ahead of Freeman yet.

Think Keith Higgins will be in that half forward line before McLoughlin, that's the impression I'm getting anyway.

seligehgit

Highlights of the under 21 game on GAA 2016 on TG4....

davegrohl48

Rawhead wrote: »

Think Keith Higgins will be in that half forward line before McLoughlin, that's the impression I'm getting anyway.

Doubt that very much. McGloughlin is used to the position and gives you 7/10 guaranteed. Keith Higgins is still a novice forward. Doubt we are going experimenting at this stage. Opposition would pick a pacy defender and nullify Higgins who is not used to close marking.

TCDStudent1

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Doubt that very much. McGloughlin is used to the position and gives you 7/10 guaranteed. Keith Higgins is still a novice forward. Doubt we are going experimenting at this stage. Opposition would pick a pacy defender and nullify Higgins who is not used to close marking.

He's a good player and I rate him highly. But McLoughlin has given plenty of < 7/10 performances in the last couple of years.

km79

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Doubt that very much. McGloughlin is used to the position and gives you 7/10 guaranteed. Keith Higgins is still a novice forward. Doubt we are going experimenting at this stage. Opposition would pick a pacy defender and nullify Higgins who is not used to close marking.

Higgins is still our best corner back
one of the best in the country
that's where he should be played end of story
and will be imo

Fr Tod Umptious

km79 wrote: »

Higgins is still our best corner back
one of the best in the country
that's where he should be played end of story
and will be imo

Higgins at half forward was an experiment that played off onces again an already beaten team.

Mayo need quality and experience at the back as much as they need creativity in the forwards.

Leave the All Ireland captaining, multiple All Star, dual player at the back were he is at his best.

km79

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Higgins at half forward was an experiment that played off onces again an already beaten team.

Mayo need quality and experience at the back as much as they need creativity in the forwards.

Leave the All Ireland captaining, multiple All Star, dual player at the back were he is at his best.

Absolutely !
I remember a similar experiment with another all star corner back who was played CF one year as well

Bunny Colvin

Higgins should be deployed in the half forwards, just to give us something different. Going forward we can look very static at times, at least he would give us a much needed burst of pace and could drop back a little when we don't have the ball. Harrison, Barrett, Keane, Cafferkey will do a decent job without him, it's not like we don't concede scores when he's not there.

Higgins - AOS - Diarmuid

^That would be an interesting half forward line for the Championship, I'd also tell AOS to keep moving in and out of the full forward line. Kevin McLoughlin/Jason Doherty would be used as impact subs.

PARlance

Bunny Colvin wrote: »

Higgins should be deployed in the half forwards, just to give us something different. Going forward we can look very static at times, at least he would give us a much needed burst of pace and could drop back a little when we don't have the ball. Harrison, Barrett, Keane, Cafferkey will do a decent job without him, it's not like we don't concede scores when he's not there.

Higgins - AOS - Diarmuid

^That would be an interesting half forward line for the Championship, I'd also tell AOS to keep moving in and out of the full forward line. Kevin McLoughlin/Jason Doherty would be used as impact subs.

I'm not sure McLoughlin and impact go together. Not saying that he wouldn't affect a game but he's not the type of player that's going to have a massive impact. If he's on form, he has more impact starting. I wouldn't start him at present though.

If that makes any sense.

PressRun

I would say the question mark around where to start Keith probably rests on whether or not he still has the legs to be running around after nippy forwards, some of whom are probably going to be a good bit younger than him at this stage. He has had two injuries already this year and hasn't actually seen a huge amount of game time.

davegrohl48

PressRun wrote: »

I would say the question mark around where to start Keith probably rests on whether or not he still has the legs to be running around after nippy forwards, some of whom are probably going to be a good bit younger than him at this stage. He has had two injuries already this year and hasn't actually seen a huge amount of game time.

Hence why I think play him at wing back on whichever wing forward drops back. Use his long right boot like artillary.

MaroonAndGreen

km79 wrote:

Absolutely ! I remember a similar experiment with another all star corner back who was played CF one year as well

Your some divil