Connacht SFC 2022

[seafoid]

This year most of the D3 and 4 teams will be playing in the Tailteann Cup. Qualifiers will be more challenging. Plus the Final is 3 months away.  Mayo won't have all
the time in the world to reach cruising speed.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Great to get the win but by God did we make hard work of it late on.  Root cause as usual was our kickouts with us only retaining 63% of our own ball (Mayo were 83%!!!) and it will be our Waterloo eventually.  We were definitely more solid defensively but a lot of that was helped by Mayo's very lateral play outside our 45 - they just couldn't get any runners to break Galway's formation which was somewhat surprising.  Conroy, Comer, Kelly, Molloy & Walsh (clearly not fully fit) put in a serious shift.  On we go with much to work on for sure but this was a small step in the right direction.

[twohands!!!]

This year most of the D3 and 4 teams will be playing in the Tailteann Cup. Qualifiers will be more challenging. Plus the Final is 3 months away.  Mayo won't have all
the time in the world to reach cruising speed.

I think the six weeks will suit them down to the ground, as regards their injuries/giving them a chance to rest/get a break.

While the qualifiers will be more challenging, there could be a couple of handy enough teams in their and scope for a friendly enough draw depending on how things shake out.

[IolarCoisCuain]

I have to say about Mullin too, and I said it last year, there's far too much pressure on him. He's been made out as some saviour of mayo football but we really haven't seen it from him.

He hasn't been very good this year. He was very poor in last years final, and didn't really feature before that. He did decently as a new player in the 2020 final when nobody else really played well. But I think expectations need to be reigned in a bit.

My starting half back line, all fit, would be Durcan Coen McLaughlin. Have Mullin on the bench, a bit less pressure, and let him really up his game to win his place

So you're dropping Mullin and Cillian O'Connor, but Coen starts, even though I don't think he's finished a game all year without being subbed? I see. Well, it's a plan, certainly.

[Blowitupref]

This year most of the D3 and 4 teams will be playing in the Tailteann Cup. Qualifiers will be more challenging. Plus the Final is 3 months away.  Mayo won't have all
the time in the world to reach cruising speed.

I think the six weeks will suit them down to the ground, as regards their injuries/giving them a chance to rest/get a break.

While the qualifiers will be more challenging, there could be a couple of handy enough teams in their and scope for a friendly enough draw depending on how things shake out.

I'd agree. Even some of possible harder games Mayo could get I'd still fancy them to reach the last 8 and then apart from maybe Kerry i don't think any of the provincial winners will want to draw Mayo.

[Maroon Manc]

Better team won on the day. Coldrick did his best to guide Mayo back into the game when they were dead and buried trailing by 5 with 2 VERY soft frees leading directly to 2 Mayo scores to put just a goal between them.

Maybe it's the bias but at the match I thought Coldrick was a disgrace not giving the black card and a pile of soft frees for Mayo on top of that, Cillian O'Connor could have murdered someone out there and I wonder would Coldrick have even looked at his book to give a tick.
Galway got serious white line fever and nearly fucked it away, kickouts will ultimately be our undoing, terrible again.
Great win in Castlebar but I thought Mayo were clueless in second half, incredible to see really given all Horan and those players have come up against before, Galway basically copied what Kerry did in league final but we don't have as good players to drive it home when on top.
Tierney and a few other Galway lads need to seriously up it if we're to win Connacht, lot of unforced mistakes out there today, Comer and Conroy were immense though, serious footballers.

O'Connor very lucky not to get the line, that tackle on Patrick Kelly probably warranted a red card. Galway only had one free in the scoring zone on Sunday and that was a fairly soft on Walsh so you've got to give Mayo credit for their tackling or lack of fouling whichever way you look at it. Doherty & O'Connor both hit the ground under no pressure to win frees in the 1st half whilst the latter managed once again to con the referee with the black card O'Laoi received. Heard a lot of moaning about the referee and Galway time wasting but 3 times the referee told Galway to get on with game when the man was down injured.

Walsh whilst clearly not fit had a huge impact, he nailed 2 45's and a free just outside the 45m line against the wind; He's improved in this department in recent years and deserves more credit then he's getting.

Mayo had a lot of wides but they were shooting from very difficult angles, think their was only once they missed from around the D and that was Ruane midway the 2nd half. Conroy missed 2 you's expect him to normally score and O'Laoi missed one he should be nailing.

Silke had a nightmare in the first half, directly involved in nearly every Mayo score from play but had a great 2nd half. Galway did well on the long kickouts until the 65th minute when they lost the plot, 4 long kickouts lost and another one lost within seconds whilst the one short one which was given to John Daly resulted in a free in to Mayo. We all know its a huge problem which eventually will be Galway's downfall.

I've been impressed with Glynn and McHugh deserves credit because there wasn't too many of us who thought he could hack it as this level but he had another good game; He's a clever footballer. Patrick Kelly did very well when he came on, was impressed with Owen Gallagher earlier on in the year and a little bit surprised not to see him Sunday unless there's some sort of injury issue.

Joyce will be delighted with the win but will be very disappointed from the 65th minute onwards, Galway let a team back in it who were completely devoid of any ideas how to break them down because of their inability to retain primary possession.

[An Fhairche Abu]

O'Connor very lucky not to get the line, that tackle on Patrick Kelly probably warranted a red card. Galway only had one free in the scoring zone on Sunday and that was a fairly soft on Walsh so you've got to give Mayo credit for their tackling or lack of fouling whichever way you look at it. Doherty & O'Connor both hit the ground under no pressure to win frees in the 1st half whilst the latter managed once again to con the referee with the black card O'Laoi received. Heard a lot of moaning about the referee and Galway time wasting but 3 times the referee told Galway to get on with game when the man was down injured.

Amazed that there is so much whinging from Mayo about the referee, he did his absolute level best for them on Sunday, what more did they want aside from several extremely soft, handy frees and Cillian allowed to continue on with his usual tricks in terms of "gamesmanship" and "mistimed tackling" with impunity. The injury layoff might have robbed him of full fitness and sharpness Sunday but he was straight back to top class form on those aspects.

[Farrandeelin]

O'Connor very lucky not to get the line, that tackle on Patrick Kelly probably warranted a red card. Galway only had one free in the scoring zone on Sunday and that was a fairly soft on Walsh so you've got to give Mayo credit for their tackling or lack of fouling whichever way you look at it. Doherty & O'Connor both hit the ground under no pressure to win frees in the 1st half whilst the latter managed once again to con the referee with the black card O'Laoi received. Heard a lot of moaning about the referee and Galway time wasting but 3 times the referee told Galway to get on with game when the man was down injured.

Amazed that there is so much whinging from Mayo about the referee, he did his absolute level best for them on Sunday, what more did they want aside from several extremely soft, handy frees and Cillian allowed to continue on with his usual tricks in terms of "gamesmanship" and "mistimed tackling" with impunity. The injury layoff might have robbed him of full fitness and sharpness Sunday but he was straight back to top class form on those aspects.

I thought he could have added on a bit more at the end. But Mayo lost the game due to being ineffective going forward when Galway had 15 on the field. Ó Laoí looking back shouldn't have got a black. So we'd be more behind if he hadn't been sin-binned imo. Also the facr we scored 0-2 for half an hour in the second half, the first straight after half time means that no Mayo fan in their right mind could blame the ref. And yes, if Mayo had to kill time, I'd be the first one shouting it. So no qualms from me there.

[weareros]

An interesting game. As if anyone didn't know, but Galway are a different team with Shane Walsh fit. It was quite generous of Mayo to let them in to practice on the new sod - which looked great. I expected a close Galway win because of the Mayo injuries. Seems to be a lot of disquiet in Mayo with "Horanball" - in fairness it was a style of play that pulverized many teams and got Mayo so close to the summit but now seems to take it's toll on players and teams are better at defending it. Mayo do have a kicking game but usually like to send a dangerous hopping diagonal ball into where Galway smartly deployed two sweepers, which cut out that kick and stopped runners. Someone in Galway said Mayo don't have the forwards to score out wide. While he's slow, they do in Darren Coen. He might have been worth a try. Should we beat Sligo (and I take nothing for granted in Markievich Park - never an easy place for Ros), I'd hope we've better equipped.  Galway still a funny team - when they hit top form they can quickly destroy a team as they did to Derry, and then they have purple  patches where they do a lot of damage - when they went 6 ahead of Mayo or the 6 points in a row they got against us late in Croker, or even the 2019 Connacht final when a late scoring spree sent them 5 ahead of us at half time - under Kevin Walsh. And then the opposite happens too. That's still in their game. If they become a 70 minute team, they can go far. But not yet the real deal.

[fearsiuil]

Galway deserving winners on Sunday but maroon and white posters here must all be tapping away on the same device - beforehand it was all Galway have no hope and now they have won it's we were rode by the ref. If the ref had any balls he would have red carded the Galway medical team, they did more running than any player - Galway lads dropping at every foul/ tackle and on the meds come a running. He got apparently wise to it and kept waving play on but yet on came the medical team with the bageens. At one stage they were 'attending' another victim of horrendous Mayo rough play and they spotted another 'man down', ahh shtop up the med team get grab the bageen and off to save another fallen hero.
That setup by Galway reminds me of how Mayo under 20s had the game plan to take on Galway last 2 years but may struggle to adapt to the Rossies etc. Shakes up the championship nicely in fairness and the hope on the Mayo side is that players come back in and we get a bit of variation to our game unlikely and all as that may be.

[galwayman]

An interesting game. As if anyone didn't know, but Galway are a different team with Shane Walsh fit. It was quite generous of Mayo to let them in to practice on the new sod - which looked great. I expected a close Galway win because of the Mayo injuries. Seems to be a lot of disquiet in Mayo with "Horanball" - in fairness it was a style of play that pulverized many teams and got Mayo so close to the summit but now seems to take it's toll on players and teams are better at defending it. Mayo do have a kicking game but usually like to send a dangerous hopping diagonal ball into where Galway smartly deployed two sweepers, which cut out that kick and stopped runners. Someone in Galway said Mayo don't have the forwards to score out wide. While he's slow, they do in Darren Coen. He might have been worth a try. Should we beat Sligo (and I take nothing for granted in Markievich Park - never an easy place for Ros), I'd hope we've better equipped.  Galway still a funny team - when they hit top form they can quickly destroy a team as they did to Derry, and then they have purple  patches where they do a lot of damage - when they went 6 ahead of Mayo or the 6 points in a row they got against us late in Croker, or even the 2019 Connacht final when a late scoring spree sent them 5 ahead of us at half time - under Kevin Walsh. And then the opposite happens too. That's still in their game. If they become a 70 minute team, they can go far. But not yet the real deal.

I've seen this mentioned several times over the past few days. I assume counties can come to their own arrangements on this?
I know for a fact that Mayo were allowed in to train in Pearse Stadium when they played Galway there in the last decade - used to live near Pearse and saw them there myself.

[galwayman]

Galway deserving winners on Sunday but maroon and white posters here must all be tapping away on the same device - beforehand it was all Galway have no hope and now they have won it's we were rode by the ref. If the ref had any balls he would have red carded the Galway medical team, they did more running than any player - Galway lads dropping at every foul/ tackle and on the meds come a running. He got apparently wise to it and kept waving play on but yet on came the medical team with the bageens. At one stage they were 'attending' another victim of horrendous Mayo rough play and they spotted another 'man down', ahh shtop up the med team get grab the bageen and off to save another fallen hero.
That setup by Galway reminds me of how Mayo under 20s had the game plan to take on Galway last 2 years but may struggle to adapt to the Rossies etc. Shakes up the championship nicely in fairness and the hope on the Mayo side is that players come back in and we get a bit of variation to our game unlikely and all as that may be.

Could well have been a horses for courses setup. They haven't setup in the same way in other games this year.
I heard one pundit saying on a podcast yesterday that Galway setup the same against Derry - I was there and they absolutely didn't.
Mayo have struggled against teams that sit and protect their D in that fashion so it made sense to do it on this occasion.

[iorras]

Mayo groundsman has been admitted to St Marys in Castlebar, all of his hard work getting the pitch ready and now its full of dead patches where Galway players lay so long on the ground they killed the grass. Thoughts and prayers.

Only taking the piss Galway people, fair play on the win, Cian O'Neil showed his worth with the tactic of blocking up the "Mayo attacking" channels with the wing forwards. A joke that after so many years managing at a high level JH couldn't find a way around it but there it is. I dont rate O'Neill, I'm sure hes worried, but hes become such a journeyman at this stage its a bit of a joke. I think thats all he will contribute positively to Galway this year.

The backdoor will suit Mayo if the injuries clear up and they could find themselves in a semi, however I said there was no point in Horan coming back unless he had improved his tactical abilities and was willing to be less stubborn and listen to others. Neither has happened so Mayo wont be winning any All Ireland this year and thoughts must start to turn to who next. Problem is there are no obvious choices unless we were willing to go mad an look at someone like Jim McGuinness. Not sure he would be an answer either, I believe, as much as it pains me to say it, if they had been playing any other top team of that era except James Horans Mayo they probably wouldn't have won that All Ireland. I know they beat Dublin
The answer to get over the line last year was getting in Rochford for 3 weeks before the All Ireland to help plan the tactics, I think Sam would have been nestling in the West now. It was wishful thinking of course because JH would never consider it. I dont know if Rochford is the answer either but we do love to go back to a previous manager in Mayo (would that be the 5th time?) so who knows

[fearsiuil]

Galway deserving winners on Sunday but maroon and white posters here must all be tapping away on the same device - beforehand it was all Galway have no hope and now they have won it's we were rode by the ref. If the ref had any balls he would have red carded the Galway medical team, they did more running than any player - Galway lads dropping at every foul/ tackle and on the meds come a running. He got apparently wise to it and kept waving play on but yet on came the medical team with the bageens. At one stage they were 'attending' another victim of horrendous Mayo rough play and they spotted another 'man down', ahh shtop up the med team get grab the bageen and off to save another fallen hero.
That setup by Galway reminds me of how Mayo under 20s had the game plan to take on Galway last 2 years but may struggle to adapt to the Rossies etc. Shakes up the championship nicely in fairness and the hope on the Mayo side is that players come back in and we get a bit of variation to our game unlikely and all as that may be.

Could well have been a horses for courses setup. They haven't setup in the same way in other games this year.
I heard one pundit saying on a podcast yesterday that Galway setup the same against Derry - I was there and they absolutely didn't.
Mayo have struggled against teams that sit and protect their D in that fashion so it made sense to do it on this occasion.

100% makes sense for Galway to block up the centre and go on the counter once possession won back agsinst Mayo. Challenge for Galway is to put wins back to back against a team that's not married to the running game. Are you happy Galway have a back division that is capable of playing without double sweepers?

[An Fhairche Abu]

Wouldn't have expected it but mighty to see all the concern for Galway from our neighbours in Mayo since Sunday as if there isn't complete recognition of the issues and limitations of our current squad already within the county. Easy to make excuses and justifications for losing to an inferior team but where would Mayo have been Sunday if Galway's kickouts weren't so awful? If the flakiness that has dogged the team for years didn't rear it's head again down the stretch of a match that was already won? If Shane Walsh was fully fit at the moment? If Galway didn't make so many completely unforced errors as occurred on the day? Instead it's the cheating Galway cads lying on the ground or the ref not playing sufficient injury time who have thwarted the people's champions this time around.

I'm sure once Mayo get all the injured players back and get a bit of a run going through the qualifiers they'll be back in business but the Galway team was setup to beat what was in front of them Sunday, I didn't think Joyce would have the good sense to do it, he did and bar Galway doing their level best to pull a defeat from the jaws of victory in the last 7 minutes it worked effectively.

Losing to Leitrim is unthinkable (exactly the word the Examiner described the prospect of Mayo losing to Galway in their Saturday preview btw) but that Galway performance won't be good enough to beat Roscommon, their forwards won't be like Aido - who was fairly good on Sunday besides I thought - taking inaccurate, balloon shots up into the air from 40 yards out. I see a lot of talk about how many more attacks and shots Mayo had, how many of those were gimmes outside of Ruane's horror miss or the bad 2nd half free that O'Connor would usually nail? Galway seemed happy enough to let them play away to a certain point in the knowledge that Mayo would crowd out their good shooters themselves and eventually run out of ideas, it worked a treat in the second half. The likes of Carr and O'Donoghue inside should be put into a position to toast the (as we're only too well aware) limited Galway FB line, getting them on the ball in space asap.

I don't think Roscommon will be as accommodating in repeating the same tactics time after time into a packed defence as Mayo have been in successive championship matches against Tyrone and Galway, while also doing the same thing in a league final where a far superior outfit than Galway destroyed them. Although we were led to believe from some Mayo sources that league final hammering was only because of disinterest and because Mayo were training heavy the Friday beforehand in preparation for last Sunday, what happened there?

Only thing missing from the Mayo post match coverage is John Gunnigan referencing how Mayo would have hammered Galway Sunday if only it had been played on the the "wide open spaces" of Croke Park but I suppose hard to say that with the excellent and expanded new pitch surface in MacHale Park. If I sound bitter then full disclosure, I'd absolutely dread another match against Mayo, not for the likely defeat but knowing that I'd only get sucked back into reading all the reams of nonsense coverage that goes hand in hand with Mayo football again in the run up to and the aftermath of the game, mea culpa on that front but here's to the Leitrim match in two weeks and blissful ignorance on both sides.