All-Ireland SFC Quarter Final Mayo v Cork

[highorlow]

 
 

Due to the inclement weather in Dublin I'm changing my prediction from a Mayo 7 point win to a 4 point win. 

 

[AbbeySider]

Absolutely incredible win for Mayo. Congrats to James Horan and his team... he has a great job made of Mayo and it seems that we are beginning to play with some confidence at last. There is a steely edge to the team and it was great to see some hits and Mayo play with physicality. 

Mayo had the surprise element today and perhaps Cork were too complacent so those things were in our favour and we seized our chance. Mayo hit them with everything and Cork looked shell shocked in that second half so it all paid off.

I still cant believe it, its fairytale stuff considering the position we were in in Ruslip with a few minutes to go. All of that is dead and buried now and some of the daemons have been exercised but to perform in Croke Park like we did there is no reason why we wont be able to get at least a performance against Kerry too.

On the game I was worried about the fullback line early in the game as Cafferkey and Higgns seemed a bit loose but they settled well after a switch with Cunniffe I think. As a unit the defence really were excellent and Tom Cunnife especially had a fine game. I cant fault Trev and Richie either and even Vaughan did well in the second half after a shaky start with Cork bombing up the middle.

The O Sheas raised the eyebrows again today. Being honest I thought they didnt have the mobility but Seamus especially surprised me. I know there was a couple of mistakes made when the ball was in hand but that can be worked on and I think they are a serious partnership.

Up front it was an incredible display from the forwards. Its amazing how well we played with the tails up and again when we found some confidence. Cillian, McLoughlin and Andy were fantastic. Dillon came good as the game progressed although I thought he didnt look very comfortable and could have been carrying a niggle. 

All in all I would be very proud of every Mayo player today, fair play to them. Its great to have days like this! 

[Kerry Mike]

Is it wrong to win 2 quarter finals in one day  ? Wasn't going to drink today but f**k me its a sweet day.

[HowAreYeGettinOn]

Terrific win for Mayo. It's sweet to be a Mayo man in Cork tonight 

Great to see the guts and determination the team showed from start to finish. That's all I was hoping for from the game - the win was a fantastic bonus.

There were mistakes - both of the O'Sheas (Aidan especially) need to give the ball once they've won it rather than walk into contact. And we wasted a lot of possession in the ten minutes after we went a point up. Kerry will punish those mistakes. But really, those are minor complaints on a day like this. Mayo and Connacht football are standing tall once more.

The semi-final? We're underdogs, but as long as the team fight to the end - as they've done all year - this fan will be content whatever the result.

[Orangemac]

Fair play to Mayo. Fantastic result and performance. Completely cleaned Cork around midfield sector and showed more hunger and movement in attack.

Someone recently said that when there is 0 pressure players can improve by 20%. Mayo definitely improved by at least that on the Ros game.

Cork and Kildare both play a similiar way in the way they work the ball out of defence with a man always in support to break the tackles. Where they both fell down was that when the hit the opposition 45 they came up against well organised defences and did not have cute enough forwards to find opportunites whereas Donegal/Mayo had a bit more creativity in their forward lines.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p915H1H7YjU

"first time since 1916" 

[Cosmo Kramer]

two fingers up to a whole lot of clueless d**kheads in the media today indeed.

The media predicted a Cork win because all form suggested that Cork would win. This craic of Mayo people saying nobody gave them a chance is bullshit. People gave them an outside chance of winning and they did it. But come on, Who in their right mind would have predicted a Mayo win today? I wouldnt blame any journalist for opting for Cork to win. If there were pundits that were saying Cork were going to wipe the floor with Mayo, then that would be a different story. But anything I read or heard suggested that Mayo were capable of putting in a performance; something which I agreed with. I didnt think the performance would be quite so good but there you go....

My comment did not relate to people predicting a Cork win today, of course that was the obvious prediction to make, they were the All Ireland Champions after all. Its the sheer uneducated disrespect that has been shown to Mayo football all summer from the likes of Spillane, O'Rourke, Brolly, Hayes etc. that is the issue. Not just Mayo actually but Connacht football as a whole. So, as the mayo gaa blog says tonight, f**k them. This ''exclusive' article is typical of the crap we've had to listen to and read. I mean presumably this Stapleton **** gets paid to write shite like this. So f**k him too.

http://eircomsports.eircom.net/News/news/gaa/Man-and-ball-July-28.aspx

Man and ball: Connacht teams don't really do August anymore

exclusive

Shane Stapleton

When last did a Connacht team cause an upset? A positive one, that is. No, games against each other don't count, so Sligo beating traditional powerhouses Galway and Mayo last year doesn't count. Nor should it in any case, when you consider how meekly both teams exited the championship. Come to think of it, Sligo went out to the tune of 19 points to Down; make what you will of that six-day turnaround.

So just to get this straight, let's look at who eliminated Connacht's representatives in the All Ireland series in 2010: Mayo lost to Longford, Leitrim to Kildare, London and Galway to Wexford, Sligo to Down, and Roscommon to Cork. Outside the Connacht championship where it is unavoidable that someone should win, no side from the western province won a single game outside their own championship. Not one.

The All Ireland series wasn't a whole lot better in 2009: Roscommon drew with and then beat Wexford, Sligo beat Tipperary and then all the cards fell in on the Connacht house thereafter. Again, no big wins. How about 2008? Well no wins outside Connacht there either as three teams – Sligo, Leitrim and London – were all Division 4 so they never even got to go into the qualifiers, instead regressing to the Tommy Murphy Cup. The mud thickens.

The last time a Connacht side even got to an All Ireland semi-final was in 2006 when Mayo made it to the final, and they got spanked by Kerry – 4-15 to 3-05; only three points scored in the second half too with the game still alive. Just two men who started that final – Keith Higgins and Alan Dillon – will line out in the first XV against Cork, while Trevor Mortimer and Andy Moran featured from the bench in that final five years ago.

Then again, that can be seen as a positive. Mayo have been at nothing these past couple of years so manager James Horan has changed tack, brought in youngsters, reshuffled those who've stayed, and still delivered a Connacht title. Whether the title is even worth the leftover shavings from when their name was etched into the Nestor Cup is another matter. It represented progress, as does an All Ireland quarter-final. They would have taken it before the start of the year.

Getting any farther than that is unrealistic. Cork are too strong, too fast, too athletic, and too indomitable a team. Donncha O'Connor was in sparkling form against Down and there is no reason to suggest that won't continue against the Westerners. The O'Shea brothers – Seamus and Aidan – have been sometimes impressive and sometimes sluggish in midfield for Mayo but they will be cleaned out by Alan O'Connor and Aidan Walsh, particularly if the latter's form improves from the Down game.

It's heavyweights against flyweights all over the pitch. Whether you believe Joe Brolly's assertion that the Rebels are just a battering ram of a team or not, you can't deny their effectiveness. Plus, the Down game did, as has been roundly agreed upon, show Cork at their most fluid since 2009. Paul Kerrigan and Paddy Kelly are two of the more clever forwards in football, and they will open up doors. Fintan Goold have been waiting in the shadows for a long time but he had Down chasing that very thing. There are many prongs to the Rebel attack.

A surprise just isn't going to happen, even if the All Ireland champions have plenty of forwards missing: Colm O'Neill, Ciarán Sheehan and Daniel Goulding. The bigger shocks tend to be against sides from Connacht against sides that are nominally in the same province. By all accounts, London should have beaten Mayo a few months ago. Oh the laughing that would have been had at Horan's expense.

That was saved instead for Fermanagh and manager John O'Neill, as the Erne County gave the Exiles a first championship win since 1977. Not that the other Connacht counties can share in the joke, London are after all the only western team – again, nominally – to win a game outside their province in 2011.

Roscommon and Mayo get their chances this weekend against Tyrone and Cork respectively. We fancy both non-western teams to beat the handicaps of five points.

Connacht teams don't really do August anymore.

Chat to Shane Stapleton on Twitter @shanesaint

[Blowitupref]

Yes was a thread started on that above subject this week http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=19912.0

[sligoman2]

Well done mayo.  Excellent second half.
Very poor peedormance from cork but mayo shut them down and the best  team won
Good luck in the semis

[Mike Sheehy]

two fingers up to a whole lot of clueless d**kheads in the media today indeed.

The media predicted a Cork win because all form suggested that Cork would win. This craic of Mayo people saying nobody gave them a chance is bullshit. People gave them an outside chance of winning and they did it. But come on, Who in their right mind would have predicted a Mayo win today? I wouldnt blame any journalist for opting for Cork to win. If there were pundits that were saying Cork were going to wipe the floor with Mayo, then that would be a different story. But anything I read or heard suggested that Mayo were capable of putting in a performance; something which I agreed with. I didnt think the performance would be quite so good but there you go....

My comment did not relate to people predicting a Cork win today, of course that was the obvious prediction to make, they were the All Ireland Champions after all. Its the sheer uneducated disrespect that has been shown to Mayo football all summer from the likes of Spillane, O'Rourke, Brolly, Hayes etc. that is the issue. Not just Mayo actually but Connacht football as a whole. So, as the mayo gaa blog says tonight, f**k them. This ''exclusive' article is typical of the crap we've had to listen to and read. I mean presumably this Stapleton **** gets paid to write shite like this. So f**k him too.

http://eircomsports.eircom.net/News/news/gaa/Man-and-ball-July-28.aspx

Man and ball: Connacht teams don't really do August anymore

exclusive

Shane Stapleton

When last did a Connacht team cause an upset? A positive one, that is. No, games against each other don't count, so Sligo beating traditional powerhouses Galway and Mayo last year doesn't count. Nor should it in any case, when you consider how meekly both teams exited the championship. Come to think of it, Sligo went out to the tune of 19 points to Down; make what you will of that six-day turnaround.

So just to get this straight, let's look at who eliminated Connacht's representatives in the All Ireland series in 2010: Mayo lost to Longford, Leitrim to Kildare, London and Galway to Wexford, Sligo to Down, and Roscommon to Cork. Outside the Connacht championship where it is unavoidable that someone should win, no side from the western province won a single game outside their own championship. Not one.

The All Ireland series wasn't a whole lot better in 2009: Roscommon drew with and then beat Wexford, Sligo beat Tipperary and then all the cards fell in on the Connacht house thereafter. Again, no big wins. How about 2008? Well no wins outside Connacht there either as three teams – Sligo, Leitrim and London – were all Division 4 so they never even got to go into the qualifiers, instead regressing to the Tommy Murphy Cup. The mud thickens.

The last time a Connacht side even got to an All Ireland semi-final was in 2006 when Mayo made it to the final, and they got spanked by Kerry – 4-15 to 3-05; only three points scored in the second half too with the game still alive. Just two men who started that final – Keith Higgins and Alan Dillon – will line out in the first XV against Cork, while Trevor Mortimer and Andy Moran featured from the bench in that final five years ago.

Then again, that can be seen as a positive. Mayo have been at nothing these past couple of years so manager James Horan has changed tack, brought in youngsters, reshuffled those who've stayed, and still delivered a Connacht title. Whether the title is even worth the leftover shavings from when their name was etched into the Nestor Cup is another matter. It represented progress, as does an All Ireland quarter-final. They would have taken it before the start of the year.

Getting any farther than that is unrealistic. Cork are too strong, too fast, too athletic, and too indomitable a team. Donncha O'Connor was in sparkling form against Down and there is no reason to suggest that won't continue against the Westerners. The O'Shea brothers – Seamus and Aidan – have been sometimes impressive and sometimes sluggish in midfield for Mayo but they will be cleaned out by Alan O'Connor and Aidan Walsh, particularly if the latter's form improves from the Down game.

It's heavyweights against flyweights all over the pitch. Whether you believe Joe Brolly's assertion that the Rebels are just a battering ram of a team or not, you can't deny their effectiveness. Plus, the Down game did, as has been roundly agreed upon, show Cork at their most fluid since 2009. Paul Kerrigan and Paddy Kelly are two of the more clever forwards in football, and they will open up doors. Fintan Goold have been waiting in the shadows for a long time but he had Down chasing that very thing. There are many prongs to the Rebel attack.

A surprise just isn't going to happen, even if the All Ireland champions have plenty of forwards missing: Colm O'Neill, Ciarán Sheehan and Daniel Goulding. The bigger shocks tend to be against sides from Connacht against sides that are nominally in the same province. By all accounts, London should have beaten Mayo a few months ago. Oh the laughing that would have been had at Horan's expense.

That was saved instead for Fermanagh and manager John O'Neill, as the Erne County gave the Exiles a first championship win since 1977. Not that the other Connacht counties can share in the joke, London are after all the only western team – again, nominally – to win a game outside their province in 2011.

Roscommon and Mayo get their chances this weekend against Tyrone and Cork respectively. We fancy both non-western teams to beat the handicaps of five points.

Connacht teams don't really do August anymore.

Chat to Shane Stapleton on Twitter @shanesaint

Mayo are a fantastic side. Having beaten the reigning AI champions you would have to have them as favourites at this stage.

[southsidejohnny]

Who in Gods name is Shane Stapelton? Some anorak who thinks he knows about sport I would hazard. Does he actually get paid for this?

[Barney]

What a day! What a night!! And it still feels so good this morning. Boy did those lads give every ounce of energy to the Mayo cause yesterday. They have worked so hard since the disaster of last year to get themselves to this spot and they should revel in it, and give the rest of the Summer one hell of a go because you never know what might happen.

It was unbelievable being in Croke Park yesterday. It was a real day for the die-hard supporters. Many gave up on the team and didn't bother travelling. Those that were there stood by the team and were the 16th man that helped push us over the line.

Can we beat Kerry? Well we're in the very same position as yesterday but with more expectation. We actually need to improve on that performance to do so. Nobody will be talking about All Irelands. It is one game at a time - we are in bonus territory and I for one am bloody well going to enjoy it.

[spuds]

Who in Gods name is Shane Stapelton? Some anorak who thinks he knows about sport I would hazard. Does he actually get paid for this?

Twitter address at bottom of previous post so you can send him some love. Not arsed myself, too happy after that win to be dragged down by reading old page fillers. Fantastic result and full credit to James Horan for turning the shambolic previous regime around to playing a style of football suitable to the players at his disposal. The heart and guts showed yesterday along with no little skill filled me with immense pride. Was great to be in the pubs last night talking positive again about Mayo football. Will go into Kerry game as big underdogs again, nice position to be in as I feel the days of mass hysteria by the Mayo fans is gone with our history with Kerry. Walking tall today.

[mckieran]

My comment did not relate to people predicting a Cork win today, of course that was the obvious prediction to make, they were the All Ireland Champions after all. Its the sheer uneducated disrespect that has been shown to Mayo football all summer from the likes of Spillane, O'Rourke, Brolly, Hayes etc. that is the issue. Not just Mayo actually but Connacht football as a whole. So, as the mayo gaa blog says tonight, f**k them. This ''exclusive' article is typical of the crap we've had to listen to and read. I mean presumably this Stapleton **** gets paid to write shite like this. So f**k him too.

In fairness, that Stapleton article is going a bit too far.

However, Mayo were atrocious this year up until the Cork game. I was at their matches against London and Galway where they struggled to beat 2 very poor teams. Respect is earned and Mayo did nothing to earn any respect before yesterday. Yesterday, they put in a wonderful performance and many of the critics you list talked glowingly about them afterwards. What do you expect? That pundits speak glowingly of Mayo after their showings against London, Galway & Roscommon; A team needs to do an awful lot more than that for these pundits to say good things about them. Yesterday, Mayo did that. Anybody could see Mayo needed to improve a lot from their Connacht performances to beat Cork and that is what they did. However, they did little to suggest they would be able to put in that kind of performance and most of the pundits were correct in their analysis. It seems some people expect pundits to be pyschics rather than analysts! 

Nobody will be talking about All Irelands. It is one game at a time - we are in bonus territory and I for one am bloody well going to enjoy it.

Haha, All I have been hearing since yesterday is talk of All-Ireland's. I logged into my FB a/c and nearly everyone of my Mayo friends had some sort of status stating something like 'SAM here we come'. I wish I had been able to hit the town last night to hear first hand what some of these deluded supporters were saying. Dont get me wrong, Mayo have a chance but talk of winning an all-ireland after one good performance is being premature.

Can we beat Kerry? Well we're in the very same position as yesterday but with more expectation.

There is more expectation which doesnt usually sit well with Mayo. However, Kerry have a lot of problems in their team; probably more obvious ones than Cork. It was difficult to see a huge amount of weak links on the Cork team before yesterday (Who must have the worst subs in the world as I have never seen a team struggling so much so reluctant to use subs). But Kerry have serious issues in their defence where Brosnan & O'Mahony are weak links. Have a very poor midfield. And have some players in the forward line that are really carried by the star names (Donncha Walsh has never impressed me for example). The new O'Leary guy hasnt done anything to suggest he is of the calibre of the O'Sullivans or Cooper yet either.

[Hereiam]

Barney I knew Mayo would win this after 20 mins of football where the Mayo lads were making some great tackles, they were puttin ther bodies on the line and were not holdin back. Cork didn't know what to do. Great win for the county hope Mayo give Kerry a real going over.