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Moysider,  why do you suggest that Evan regan is probably not under consideration? Has he played recent club championship games for ballina?
I think the reality is that we need to get a sharp quick forward up beside o'shea. An unknown like regan might be able to bring something different. Has he the physical strength to be able to handle himself against a very well conditioned dublin back line?

Mayo have to figure out some way of stopping Cavanagh... Tom Cunniffe's fitness could be a key aspect in all of this. If he is fit, it will allow us to play Keith Higgins at wing forward again.
Higgins could take up a role that would allow him to attack and defend depending on the situation and also get in close to Cavanagh when needed. If we can get Higgins in Cavanagh's line of sight, we may be able to disrupt his attacking game, force him into a defensive game, where he needs to be mindful of Higgins burning it up through the middle.

If we dont manage to curtail Cavanagh, it could go pear shaped for us.. Another big performance from him will inspire those around him.. (from watching the videos on the tyrone website, his team mates have massive respect for him). He has to be the focus for Horan and Co this week.

Brilliant performance by mayo.
After Donegal rallying to score 3 in a row after our good start, we completely took over the show. It was hard to believe what was happening when Vaughan stuck that second goal.
We had great performances all over the pitch and o'se was undoubtably man of the match. It would do ya good watching such an awesome, honest and spectacular display of fielding, running, blocking and passing.
Cillian o connor is proving to be a clinical operator that will keep any team honest for a full 70 minutes. His finish for the first goal was gooch like in his sense of calm slotting it to the corner.
After 18 months of injury and a dip in form, it was great to see Donnie Vaughan show what he can do. He has the potential to be our leader.we need him to keep it going if we are finally going to get over the line.
Also need freeman to keep ticking over for the remainder of championship.
His own achievement will go hand in hand with how much the team can achieve.
Fantastic day in Dublin yesterday

Yeah he is Kevin Loftus' son. For a 17/18 year old to be so influential in a senior championship game is a fair effort. Good to see mick Moyles back in action. We badly need a bit of physicality round the middle with Gabriel gone.
Boyle is great to watch. He's all action.

Would love to see Evan Regan get a run of games with mayo. He might have the xfqctor we need

Colm Boyle was excellent for Davitts against Crossmolina. He played Wing forward.
Best for Crossmolina were Peadar Gardiner (midfield), Conor Loftus (Centre forward) and Colm Reilly (corner forward)
Conor Loftus looks like a star in the making. He scored about 1-06 out of the 1-10 if recall correctly, including a super point into the wind in the second half and a brilliantly taken goal. I wasnt at the minor game on sat but heard he was much quieter there.

It was a big win for cross..first win of the year, will hopefully keep them safe from relegation battle and give a bit of confidence to grind out a few wins in the league

Ballintubber beat Crossmolina this evening by a point. 1-08  to 1-07. Very difficult conditions with the weather.
Dillon and O'Connor did not play.
P Gardiner went off after 25mins with a hamstring injury.
Ciaran Mac also went off injured at half time.

Well done James Horan and Mayo. Brilliant display of work, pressure, tackling and heart. Kicked over some great scores when needed, but we will have to more clinical the next day and avoid dropping the ball into the keepers hands when the game is the melting pot.

The type of workrate the team displayed will keep us competitive for the rest of the championship

We should be able to break even at midfield

As far as I can see, Alan O'Connor is becoming the most dominant midfielder in the game. He is a collosus.  We really struggled against him in the league final last year and he has only got better since. When you add Aiden Walsh to that, I think we are going to be living off scraps in that area of the field, which will ultimately be our undoing. We need a massive performance from the O'se brothers for us to be in with a shout.


Hopefully we get a solid performance all round and come out of it with some credit. Horan is starting to get a settled team together which will help them grow in confidence. A lot of the mayo lads can take inspiration from the u21 final a few years back. Here's hoping.

Don't like goosen at all, i think his major winning days are behind him (well until he hits senior status).  I like the call on overton though, that's the type of guy I'm going to back, good solid player who's won a few times and is a big big price.  Thw guy Mark Wilson has won twice in the states this year and is near 400/1.  Short hitter, but i get the feeling that short might be better on this course.

I dont think Overton has managed to get over the line in a tournament yet, but he is a big talent. Stuart Appleby managed to overhaul him in a tournament last year with a 59 in the final round. I'd say he's a bit of a header, He completed his final round of the PGA last year in Whistling straits in just over two hours (thats a record).  Would like to see him do well.

Think Harry will come good this week. Apparently the rough is pretty sparse due to the very dry weather they have been having over there for the last few months, this will be condusive to his chaotic driving.

I think Poulter is going to win it

Good to beat the old enemy. As the saying goes, you cant beat them often enough or by enough. There was a galway flag flying at half mast at the factory beside us here in Tuam this morning

Positives from yesterday:
Alan Feeney looks like a decent full back. He had a good solid game.
Kevin Mcloughlin. Hoovered up a lot of ball and is a real natural footballer (begs the question as to why he was benched for London game??)
Seamus O'Se had solid game for the 60 minutes or so that he was on
Alan Freeman. Got limited enough amount of ball but still scored 1-02. class act.
Good second half will hopefully give the team a bit of momentum for the final

Negatives:
Free taking calamity. What is Horan at? He had 4 different freetakers inside 20 minutes.
Dillon not able to kick the ball over from anything outside 25yards. (good player,and in most people's view, our best forward,  but he wouldnt cut it on any of the contenders teams ie Cork,Kerry)
K Higgins acting the clown.
The keepers studs... He was like a baby giraffe on ice.

Mickleson's wayward driving means that the US Open is the major I would fancy him the least in.
Westwood would be my pick.

As bogball mentioned he has a very decent record at the open, he pretty much threw one away at winged foot a few years ago with a double bogey at the last. I think the rough is graduated this time so not as penal for slightly wayward drives. He will throw in the odd pull hook but then we'll get a chance to see some of the mickelson magic out of the unknown

Mickelson will finally win a US open.

Three that i reckon will do well:
Luke Donald
Matt Kuchar
Mark Wilson

I think Harry will fail to make the cut (hope im proved wrong on that one)

Does anyone know where I could find the fixture list for the county senior championship from the quarter finals onwards?

Horan is failing miserably. 7 free takers is  a complete joke.his credibility is shot to bits. Just think about it, 7 f@*king free takers, you'd be doing well to find 5 penalty takers for a penalty shootout yet he has half the team takin place kicks. That in it self would demoralise a team..( the players must have been deciding themselves to take the fees, you couldn't possibly come up with a plan like that in the team room...absolutely no leadership from management) He can't even sort out the basics, any optimism for the year ahead is truely misplaced, avoiding humiliation outside of the wider public eye is about all we can hope for!!

why are we taking Ger Cafferkey from centre-half back

Cafferkey is a superb athlete. He is strong, fast and has a good change of direction which allows him to be a reasonably sticky defender. He has enough height to at least contest high balls against bigger full forwards. I think he will do well for us at full back.

I dont think he has a future at centre back. He struggles to  control the ball when he is soloing out of defence, even when he is in open space. He has poor technique. His kicking is not good.

At full back, you dont need to be a good kicker or solo-er. Who was the donegal full back that played and won an all ireland in '92 without kicking the ball in the final?