Mayo v Roscommon - Connacht SFC Semi-Final, June 20, Venue TBC

[stephenite]

Barney is probably on Honeymoon?

Didn't he say his wedding interfered with the New York trip / game.

I thought he said he was having his wedding deferred because of the NY trip. We need clarification.


Nobody has mentioned Harte in dispatches back to the old world. Scored 1-1 and had an assist in O Sé s goal. Mid-west identified him as being to the fore in the awakening after the sluggish start. Pat Holmes ( for whatever his opinion is worth) had him man of match but curiously no mention from those present here. The local papers were happy enough with him it has to be said. Yet one contributer on here is going to drop him for the next match I wonder.

Apparently he had a stormer - but it was only New York, I've no doubt that he'll play a big part with Mayo this year. He's been a class act for years and everyone who watched come through underage back the park knew he'd make it at the highest level. His performance in the All Ireland semi final against Dublin shows that he's already proved himself at the highest level.

[RedandGreenSniper]

NOt sure what game you were at Moran looked very sharp sunday and will have well cemented his place. as will have t howley. cunniffe may well get a jersey but not num 6 i think. A o se will def start too but im not so sure it will be at full forward . he was brought to CHF for a lot of the second half after one of trevors more exotic shhoting days. he was truly woeful on sunday. not sure i ever saw such a bad performance from a man on a winning team. I still think himself and conor should be the corner forwards with moran in the middle.
after sunday my curremey front 6 would be(though ronaldson is probably only excluded by his absence on sunday, with trevor hanging by a thread)

dillon A O Se A moran
Cmort Bmoran  Tmort

I know you were there Ros and I wasn't but did Trevor Howley not get taken for four points from play by his direct opponent? Against any centre-half forward that would be worrying. Against New York its cat bad so it is. Cunniffe is ahead of him, at present. Also, and again I know you were present and I wasn't, but everyone I've spoken to who was at the game was full of praise for Harte. Surely if you can acknowledge that B Moran was sharp the last day, you can do likewise for Harte, no? I've always said Harte wouldn't be a guaranteed starter in this Mayo team BECAUSE of what O'Mahony might do, but that he should be on the best Mayo XV. He looks now like he will be.

[rosnarun]

Looked very sharp..?   Against who?

who would you have like to see him look sharp against on sunday? you can only beat the team your upagainst on any given sunday. my words were merely in his defense?

As  for harte he was his usual self . got a couple of high profile score but should have seen the line twice in the 1st half . if he cant hold it together against NY he nots not the man to be looking to  when times are tougher.
If needed best used sparingly as an impact sub but lacks the present of mind to be a serious contender. I was hoping we had got over the 'but he was a great minor' mindset

[rosnarun]

Looked very sharp..?   Against who?

who would you have like to see him look sharp against on sunday? you can only beat the team your upagainst on any given sunday. my words were merely in his defense?

As  for harte he was his usual self . got a couple of high profile score but should have seen the line twice in the 1st half . if he cant hold it together against NY he nots not the man to be looking to  when times are tougher.
If needed best used sparingly as an impact sub but lacks the present of mind to be a serious contender. I was hoping we had got over the 'but he was a great minor' mindset

Mayos pisspoor starts did not begin with Howleys return. and he definetly took time to settle but when he did he looked rock solid. more than ive ever though about Cunniffe. Howley is an out and out defender . where as cunniffe like Gardener is very fond of going forward which is fine at wing back but then wherefore higgins?

[RedandGreenSniper]

Looked very sharp..?   Against who?

who would you have like to see him look sharp against on sunday? you can only beat the team your upagainst on any given sunday. my words were merely in his defense?

As  for harte he was his usual self . got a couple of high profile score but should have seen the line twice in the 1st half . if he cant hold it together against NY he nots not the man to be looking to  when times are tougher.
If needed best used sparingly as an impact sub but lacks the present of mind to be a serious contender. I was hoping we had got over the 'but he was a great minor' mindset

Mayos pisspoor starts did not begin with Howleys return. and he definetly took time to settle but when he did he looked rock solid. more than ive ever though about Cunniffe. Howley is an out and out defender . where as cunniffe like Gardener is very fond of going forward which is fine at wing back but then wherefore higgins?

In his last two league games Cunniffe was given a marking brief on the centre-half forward and kept both Padraig Joyce and Brian McGuigan quiet. Up to that he had been allowed roam too much. Can't agree with you on Harte . . .

[stephenite]

I was hoping we had got over the 'but he was a great minor' mindset

There's no harm in anyone saying that they knew a young fella was a serious footballer when underage - especailly when espousing one that has natural talent. He's stood up for his county on bigger days then the first round in New York, bit insulting to question his presence of mind at this stage.

I'd swear he's riding your wife

[Foreverhopeful]

Andy moran will not be at no. 12. Barry moran should be playing more centrally than O'Shea in the full forward line.
JOM is not going to change trev from no.11 yet.
However if my team for nxt game would be:

                                                            David Clarke

Keith Higgins                                           Ger Cafferkey                                   Kevin McLoughlin

Peadar Gardiner                                      Trevor Howley                                   Tom Cunniffe
                       
                               Ronan McGarrity                                      Seamus O'Shea

Pat Harte                                                  Tom Parsons                                Trevor Mortimer

         
                                                                Alan Dillon
                Aidan O'Shea                                                          Barry Moran

Of course Liam O'Malley will start and he deserves to but not sure will he last the year. When's he playing well he is worth a spot there.
David Heaney could be pushing Cunniffe on that team i picked. There is room to move the backs around.
Serious ball winners around midfield, you have the 4 midfielders who can win clean ball in the air and trev for scrappy breaks.
Alan dillon probably the cutest guy to have in around 2 lads, doesnt need to stay in ff line. Parsons could do damage at no.11 running at defences.

[rosnarun]

I was hoping we had got over the 'but he was a great minor' mindset

There's no harm in anyone saying that they knew a young fella was a serious footballer when underage - especailly when espousing one that has natural talent. He's stood up for his county on bigger days then the first round in New York, bit insulting to question his presence of mind at this stage.

I'd swear he's riding your wife

wouldnt suprise me if he was.

if you saw the 2 incidents im talking about you couldn't argue . real rush of blood to the head.
anyway im not in the budiness of slagging off mayo players unnecessarily and have had my say on harte.

back to austin now

[stephenite]

Arrah I'm sure he's not Ros - honestly.

[Tubberman]

I went down to Mullingar yesterday evening for a look at the challenge match v Westmeath. Firstly, that's some ground St Loman's have - floodlights, decent 'standing stand', full sized pitch beside the main one, and 2 smaller pitches behind the main one.

Anyway, the Mayo team was:
              K O'Malley
L O'Malley  K Conroy    K Higgins
Gardiner     Howley      Heaney
    McGarrity   Parsons
B Kelly        Dillon        Kilkoyne
Sweeney   B Moran    BJ Padden

Subs (all in 2nd half): T Mort for Dillon, Vaughan for Howley, Clarke for K O'Malley (they were the only subs on the bench)

Firstly, on the CHB debate I think Cunniffe should definitely have the jersey for Ros/Leitrim match. Howley isn't up to speed yet at all based on last night's game. He wasn't the commanding presence you'd expect and was taken off after about 5 or 10 mins of the second half. The more training and match practice he gets, the better he'll be but I don't think he'll be ready for 20th June.

Keith Higgins is in a similar position - he lasted the full match but it wasn't the usual performance you'd get from Higgins. He was playing in the corner which isn't his best position but he was still looser than I'd expect and there weren't the bursts forward at top speed that he's known for. Again, it's just a matter of time. He probably has more of a chance of starting than Howley, since we are short corner backs (even if that's not his best position).
Donal Vaughan came on for Howley in the 2nd half and Heaney went to CHB. Vaughan did pretty well, but wasn't on the ball that often. I thought Heaney had a good game, but tends to commit a few too many clumsy fouls - good job that yellow card rule is gone  

Parsons and McGarrity both did well at midfield. They weren't completely dominant but both won some great clean catches at different times and Mayo won most of the breaks as well. Dillon was by far the most dangerous forward I thought, took some lovely points and made very good runs.

Barry Kelly worked very hard. He won a lot of ball, made himself available and won a couple of turnover too. I don't see him starting but he's a useful player on the bench.
Kilkoyne's free taking was good - got one from 45 or 50 metres and a few closer in. He seems to be best receiving a ball around midfield and bursting straight down the middle and taking his point. He did that 3 or 4 times last night, but apart from that he didn't get on much ball in or around the forward lines.  
Trev came on for Dillon in the second half, and the first ball he won he kicked straight to a westmeath man with no mayo player anywhere near so I don't know who/where he was aiming for. Apart from that there was one very bad wide, but he did get a nice point as well and put himself about as you'd expect. But if you compare himself and Dillon as CHFs, Dillon won by a country mile. I don't expect Johnno to change it for 20th June though.

Mikey Sweeney got one brilliant point from out on the right wing, but apart from that was pretty anonymous really. Barry Moran won a few good balls at FF but was quickly surrounded by Westmeath defenders. I don't think he was aggressive enough. He was waiting for the ball to come to him, and by the time it did, he managed to win it but was surrounded. He needs to attack the ball when going up for it - he did this once in the second half and won it cleanly and was able to lay it off for a score. This depends on the ball that's played in to him as well obviously, but if he was more aggressive about winning it, we'd get better returns.
BJP didn't see an awful lot of ball. As you'd expect, he was roving around looking for breaks and making himself available to take passes and lay it off, but he wasn't ever threatening.

[the Deel Rover]

who won the match tubberman ?

[Tubberman]

who won the match tubberman ?

Sorry, rushed off for breakfast and forgot about the result 
There was no scoreboard but from what a fella near me was saying, Mayo won by a point or two. I think it was something like 16 points to 14, not certain though.

Denis Glennon came on for Westmeath at half time and looked like a man with a point to prove. He kicked a few great points, one from near the end line, a la Graham Geraghty against Dublin a couple of years ago.
It got very misty in the second half and the ball was very slippy so the standard of football dropped quite a lot.

[the Deel Rover]

who won the match tubberman ?

Sorry, rushed off for breakfast and forgot about the result 
There was no scoreboard but from what a fella near me was saying, Mayo won by a point or two. I think it was something like 16 points to 14, not certain though.

Denis Glennon came on for Westmeath at half time and looked like a man with a point to prove. He kicked a few great points, one from near the end line, a la Graham Geraghty against Dublin a couple of years ago.
It got very misty in the second half and the ball was very slippy so the standard of football dropped quite a lot.

yeah it was a great report bar the result missing tubberman thanks for that

[Tatler Jack]

RTE gave the result as 0-19 to 0-17 for Mayo

[heineken_on_tap]

Any word on how the match with Limerick went?