Mayo v Galway, MacHale Park, Sunday 13th May 4pm

[GaillimhIarthair]

If Walsh told Comer to go out the field in the first half then you would have to seriously question him.

Even though they were playing a putrid style Comer was an outlet up front and causing plenty of problems for Barrett.
Once he went out the field that threat was completely gone.

Barrett got to grips with him second half but that was more to do with Galway playing no direct ball in and trying to run through Mayo with intricate passing.

Mayo will still make the super 8's but they would need to have their players fresh for those games rather than coming in like the walking wounded.

Direct ball was rarely if even an option after the sending off as there were usually 14 Mayo players inside their own '45 - it was next nigh to impossible to try and thread something through to whoever was in the inside line or even near the edge of the square.  Ideally we needed to have a a few players hog the sidelines and try and stretch the Mayo defence and then give a little more room to try and work the ball to to a shooter around the D etc.  The middle of the defence was totally choked with bodies and we managed it poorly enough in an attacking sence bar the goal and the few points we got late on - we had some poor misses also from good positions in the 2nd half and that was very disappointing.  We'll take the win BUT plenty to work on going forward!!

I wish Tom Parsons a speedy and full recovery from that very bad looking injury he picked up yesterday.

[galwayman]

If Walsh told Comer to go out the field in the first half then you would have to seriously question him.

Even though they were playing a putrid style Comer was an outlet up front and causing plenty of problems for Barrett.
Once he went out the field that threat was completely gone.

Barrett got to grips with him second half but that was more to do with Galway playing no direct ball in and trying to run through Mayo with intricate passing.

Mayo will still make the super 8's but they would need to have their players fresh for those games rather than coming in like the walking wounded.

Comer faded out of it yes certainly but Mayo had all 14 players inside their own 45 for most of the second half when Galway were in possession so the space to hit ball into him simply wasn't there (when he was in there as he drifted out).

[Chimley]

That's three years in a row that Galway with the same template have beaten Mayo under Rochford. We showed very little signs of getting to grips with them until we started to match their 15 men behind the ball (14 in our case) after the sending off.

In the first half we committed too many men to attacks who were getting in each others way and that left us a bit open at the back once we finally and inevitably lost possession.

It was sad to see Parsons get an injury like that and his mobility around the middle will be hard to replace. No more needs to be said about the DOC sending off except that he can have no complaints.

Good luck to Galway for the rest of the championship. For Mayo, we'll need to use our panel fully from here on out even at the risk of going out early. I'd like to see a perceived soft draw allowing the likes of Hanley and James Durcan get a run.

[mouview]

Paddy has made Galway hard to beat and hard to watch in equal measures

No, they've been like that mostly since KW took over. They're better at it now due to having better players.

As others have said, yesterday was about win only, the style can come later. The big moments in the game didn't go Mayo's way but O'Connor's sending off was inexcusable. It's tempting to say that with 15 men Mayo would have pushed on to victory in the second half, but even down one, they had enough possession and chances with the wind (of Pearse stadium comparisons) to get the scores. Super 8s aren't beyond them but old conversion habits allied to Parsons' absence and O'Sheas' indifferent form make the job hard now. Keith Higgins remains a wonder.

Surprising things from yesterday;
1) Galway team played as selected
2) KW made tactical substitutions in time
3) Despite playing well, Shane Walsh wasn't taken off
4) Galway goalie was almost completely untested

[Manning18]

A sign of what Comer's become that in a game that lowscoring, two points & a scored free won is considered a poor return from him. The second half didn't suit and Barrett played him well I thought. Galway need to do some serious video analysis of how to best utilise him, or utilise the space his attention creates for others. Probably wouldn't swap him for anyone else in the country at this stage given the sheer matchup nightmare he presents before games to the opposition

[seafoid]

Paddy has made Galway hard to beat and hard to watch in equal measures

No, they've been like that mostly since KW took over. They're better at it now due to having better players.

As others have said, yesterday was about win only, the style can come later. The big moments in the game didn't go Mayo's way but O'Connor's sending off was inexcusable. It's tempting to say that with 15 men Mayo would have pushed on to victory in the second half, but even down one, they had enough possession and chances with the wind (of Pearse stadium comparisons) to get the scores. Super 8s aren't beyond them but old conversion habits allied to Parsons' absence and O'Sheas' indifferent form make the job hard now. Keith Higgins remains a wonder.

Surprising things from yesterday;
1) Galway team played as selected
2) KW made tactical substitutions in time
3) Despite playing well, Shane Walsh wasn't taken off
4) Galway goalie was almost completely untested

Surely the core reason behind the style or lack of is that KW doesn't want the team to be labelled Fancy Dans

[sligoman2]

As someone who lost a few teeth (while wearing a gumshield I might add) to a similar incident

Pity you didn't lose your fingers.

Classy. Well done.

What a disgraceful comment highorlow, Shame on you, what an as$hole.

[mouview]

Paddy has made Galway hard to beat and hard to watch in equal measures

No, they've been like that mostly since KW took over. They're better at it now due to having better players.

As others have said, yesterday was about win only, the style can come later. The big moments in the game didn't go Mayo's way but O'Connor's sending off was inexcusable. It's tempting to say that with 15 men Mayo would have pushed on to victory in the second half, but even down one, they had enough possession and chances with the wind (of Pearse stadium comparisons) to get the scores. Super 8s aren't beyond them but old conversion habits allied to Parsons' absence and O'Sheas' indifferent form make the job hard now. Keith Higgins remains a wonder.

Surprising things from yesterday;
1) Galway team played as selected
2) KW made tactical substitutions in time
3) Despite playing well, Shane Walsh wasn't taken off
4) Galway goalie was almost completely untested

Surely the core reason behind the style or lack of is that KW doesn't want the team to be labelled Fancy Dans

That's true, the stigma would be unbearable. 

[ck]

Genuinely can't see Mayo making super 8s. They prove us all wrong every year but I think they are aging team that are not regenerating with youth. This year will be this groups biggest test.

[Duine Eile]

Good win by Galway but this was never going to be pretty, intriguing yes. Ian Burke, Peter Cooke and Sean Kelly made the difference for us yesterday. Hopefully Ian Burke is left to make that position his own now, he's such an intelligent player and should have started yesterday. Comer is a huge player for us but he needs to use the options around him better, on a number of occasions yesterday he had players in better positions but didn't use them and turned over the ball or put it wide. A lot of silly errors and mistakes yesterday but they managed to grind out the win. Five players making their championship debut, to get a win against a team like Mayo with that level of inexperience is a good days work. Hopefully Conroy is alright for his club at the weekend, he's meant to have a fair cut on his face as well as the bust lip I think. Poor Tom Parsons, what a fluke of an injury.

On a side note, no Michael Daly or Kieran Molloy on the Galway bench yesterday.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Good win by Galway but this was never going to be pretty, intriguing yes. Ian Burke, Peter Cooke and Sean Kelly made the difference for us yesterday. Hopefully Ian Burke is left to make that position his own now, he's such an intelligent player and should have started yesterday. Comer is a huge player for us but he needs to use the options around him better, on a number of occasions yesterday he had players in better positions but didn't use them and turned over the ball or put it wide. A lot of silly errors and mistakes yesterday but they managed to grind out the win. Five players making their championship debut, to get a win against a team like Mayo with that level of inexperience is a good days work. Hopefully Conroy is alright for his club at the weekend, he's meant to have a fair cut on his face as well as the bust lip I think. Poor Tom Parsons, what a fluke of an injury.

On a side note, no Michael Daly or Kieran Molloy on the Galway bench yesterday.

I know Daly missed the entire league with injury but he should be back by now unless there is a problem still lingering there. Not sure why Molloy wasn't even amongst the subs. He's one fella that could be very useful in the half-back line off the bench.

Think Ian Burke has to start from now on. His movement, vision and link up play is sensational and all the other forwards can play off him. Him and Comer inside is the perfect pair. Power and pace alongside a bit of craft and guile.

[Duine Eile]

Good win by Galway but this was never going to be pretty, intriguing yes. Ian Burke, Peter Cooke and Sean Kelly made the difference for us yesterday. Hopefully Ian Burke is left to make that position his own now, he's such an intelligent player and should have started yesterday. Comer is a huge player for us but he needs to use the options around him better, on a number of occasions yesterday he had players in better positions but didn't use them and turned over the ball or put it wide. A lot of silly errors and mistakes yesterday but they managed to grind out the win. Five players making their championship debut, to get a win against a team like Mayo with that level of inexperience is a good days work. Hopefully Conroy is alright for his club at the weekend, he's meant to have a fair cut on his face as well as the bust lip I think. Poor Tom Parsons, what a fluke of an injury.

On a side note, no Michael Daly or Kieran Molloy on the Galway bench yesterday.

I know Daly missed the entire league with injury but he should be back by now unless there is a problem still lingering there. Not sure why Molloy wasn't even amongst the subs. He's one fella that could be very useful in the half-back line off the bench.

He was at the game but not as part of the panel I don't think, I saw him with some Corofin lads leaving the pitch. You'd nearly hope Corofin don't get caught up in a club run next year, its really putting potential county players like Molloy in a difficult position. Even though I'm sure Corofin won't give a hoot once they're winning!

[Maroon Manc]

A sign of what Comer's become that in a game that lowscoring, two points & a scored free won is considered a poor return from him. The second half didn't suit and Barrett played him well I thought. Galway need to do some serious video analysis of how to best utilise him, or utilise the space his attention creates for others. Probably wouldn't swap him for anyone else in the country at this stage given the sheer matchup nightmare he presents before games to the opposition

Aye, Comer had a very good first half. Their was very little space in the 2nd half as for him to operate, he gave one free away and Barrett made a great interception too but apart from that Comer didn't do much wrong.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but on the TV the pitch surface looked terrible and dangerous. Was it in anyway responsible for Parsons' injury?

[moysider]

Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but on the TV the pitch surface looked terrible and dangerous. Was it in anyway responsible for Parsons' injury?

Pitch was fine.

After a difficult and mostly awful league this was another tough day to endure from a Mayo perspective. Lack of discipline - again - cost us and that is just not good enough. However losing Parsons is the biggest blow - bigger than losing the game imo. We don't have enough players that can play at top level as it is so losing top players like Keegan and Parsons is not something we can cope with. We started yesterday with 2 lads that struggle at that level and our bench was largely ineffective. Calls to use our panel for qualifiers but really - what panel? We will have to play strongest team all the time if we are to survive at all. Remarkable that 2 lads played yesterday that didn't even play part of a senior league game. Sad that we haven t produced a quality inside forward in the years under Horan and Rochford. You would imagine it would be easier in a team that was relatively successful.
Anyway all the best to the Galway lads here. I was thinking before the game that when a big Galway crowd show up for these games, Galway win.