Saturday July 22 Cork v Mayo, Gaelic Grounds, 5PM

[macdanger2]

AZ, you sound like me after watching a game live in that you missed a whole lot of things. I thought Petey Harte didn't have a good Ulster final but when i watched it again on TV I completely changed my mind.
It's good to be at games cos you see things that you miss on TV but you get a better all round view of the game from tv coverage I feel.

I agree with mrhardyannual and Tomás O'Se on TSG in that Rochford nearly cost Mayo that game with his crazy changes in the second half. I don't know what to make of him as a manager as in one way I thought he got his tactics right against Tyrone and Dublin last year but then he tends to make some very rash decisions. I think maybe he thought Cork will play a very open game and so they were happy enough to do the same and for the neutral it was a very entertaining game of football.

I thought CoC had an excellent game and really looks a top notch all star forward these days. He looks to already have top scorer for the season wrapped up with 2.40 after 5 games and I'd say he fancies his chances getting to an AI semifinal. Conor McManus is the next player still in the championship with 2.17.

Aidan O'Shea looks to have reacted to his criticism and has upped his game this year and is playing much better as a team player.
Mayo have got back to the quarterfinal stage again, the long way and I think they are actually benefitting from getting momentum from the qualifiers. I think Roscommon will suffer from their lack of matches as they've only really had one decent game all season going into a big game in Croker. When was the last time they won a quarterfinal in Croker?

Fair play to Connacht for getting 3 of their teams into the quarterfinals though it looks like Mayo will have to beat Roscommon and Galway again to get to the final. 

I'm not sure Rochford can take all the blame on the subs, it's not like he was throwing on complete mugs. The game was as good as won so if you can't give players game time in that situation, how can you be expected to rely on them in the dying minutes against Dublin.

[Syferus]

Why was Jason Gibbons dropped but Barry Moran kept on the inside of the bubble this season? With the problems Mayo are facing with injuries there now it looks like an insane decision.

[Maroon Manc]

AZ, you sound like me after watching a game live in that you missed a whole lot of things. I thought Petey Harte didn't have a good Ulster final but when i watched it again on TV I completely changed my mind.
It's good to be at games cos you see things that you miss on TV but you get a better all round view of the game from tv coverage I feel.

I agree with mrhardyannual and Tomás O'Se on TSG in that Rochford nearly cost Mayo that game with his crazy changes in the second half. I don't know what to make of him as a manager as in one way I thought he got his tactics right against Tyrone and Dublin last year but then he tends to make some very rash decisions. I think maybe he thought Cork will play a very open game and so they were happy enough to do the same and for the neutral it was a very entertaining game of football.

I thought CoC had an excellent game and really looks a top notch all star forward these days. He looks to already have top scorer for the season wrapped up with 2.40 after 5 games and I'd say he fancies his chances getting to an AI semifinal. Conor McManus is the next player still in the championship with 2.17.

Aidan O'Shea looks to have reacted to his criticism and has upped his game this year and is playing much better as a team player.
Mayo have got back to the quarterfinal stage again, the long way and I think they are actually benefitting from getting momentum from the qualifiers. I think Roscommon will suffer from their lack of matches as they've only really had one decent game all season going into a big game in Croker. When was the last time they won a quarterfinal in Croker?

Fair play to Connacht for getting 3 of their teams into the quarterfinals though it looks like Mayo will have to beat Roscommon and Galway again to get to the final. 

I'm not sure Rochford can take all the blame on the subs, it's not like he was throwing on complete mugs. The game was as good as won so if you can't give players game time in that situation, how can you be expected to rely on them in the dying minutes against Dublin.

You'd think he'd brought on average players with some of what I've heard in the media. Durcan & Vaughan were the first 2 subs to come on in that half back line and I don't need to tell any of the Mayo lot that both started in the AI finals last year. The rot had already set in well before Keegan received his black card.

Did Corks comeback coincide with SOS substitution? He came off after 50 minutes when I think Mayo were 7 points clear.  I heard James Horan mention on one of the podcasts about SOS coming off and how it affected the half back line. Given what we've seen this summer SOS would do well to last more than an hour and as its his 4th game in 5 weeks this will only exacerbate the issue.

[Ballaghman]

AZ, you sound like me after watching a game live in that you missed a whole lot of things. I thought Petey Harte didn't have a good Ulster final but when i watched it again on TV I completely changed my mind.
It's good to be at games cos you see things that you miss on TV but you get a better all round view of the game from tv coverage I feel.

I agree with mrhardyannual and Tomás O'Se on TSG in that Rochford nearly cost Mayo that game with his crazy changes in the second half. I don't know what to make of him as a manager as in one way I thought he got his tactics right against Tyrone and Dublin last year but then he tends to make some very rash decisions. I think maybe he thought Cork will play a very open game and so they were happy enough to do the same and for the neutral it was a very entertaining game of football.

I thought CoC had an excellent game and really looks a top notch all star forward these days. He looks to already have top scorer for the season wrapped up with 2.40 after 5 games and I'd say he fancies his chances getting to an AI semifinal. Conor McManus is the next player still in the championship with 2.17.

Aidan O'Shea looks to have reacted to his criticism and has upped his game this year and is playing much better as a team player.
Mayo have got back to the quarterfinal stage again, the long way and I think they are actually benefitting from getting momentum from the qualifiers. I think Roscommon will suffer from their lack of matches as they've only really had one decent game all season going into a big game in Croker. When was the last time they won a quarterfinal in Croker?

Fair play to Connacht for getting 3 of their teams into the quarterfinals though it looks like Mayo will have to beat Roscommon and Galway again to get to the final. 

I'm not sure Rochford can take all the blame on the subs, it's not like he was throwing on complete mugs. The game was as good as won so if you can't give players game time in that situation, how can you be expected to rely on them in the dying minutes against Dublin.

You'd think he'd brought on average players with some of what I've heard in the media. Durcan & Vaughan were the first 2 subs to come on in that half back line and I don't need to tell any of the Mayo lot that both started in the AI finals last year. The rot had already set in well before Keegan received his black card.

Did Corks comeback coincide with SOS substitution? He came off after 50 minutes when I think Mayo were 7 points clear.  I heard James Horan mention on one of the podcasts about SOS coming off and how it affected the half back line. Given what we've seen this summer SOS would do well to last more than an hour and as its his 4th game in 5 weeks this will only exacerbate the issue.

Have been thinking the same thing myself regards the subs. He brought on quality players who I feel let him down and didn't do their jobs. Maybe he made too many in a short space of time and this may have unsettled the rhythm of the team but some lads simply didn't track runners and do the basics.
I didn't think SOS was having a great game but maybe it's his unseen work that needs to be appreciated more when you see the collapse after he went off. Still, one man can't explain it all away and I think quite a few players need to look at their defensive performances from the last day, namely Coen and Durkin.

[AZOffaly]

P.S. Almost forgot, Billy Sheehan is two ends of a bollox. He spent more time on the pitch on Saturday than he did when he played for Laois!

[Ballaghman]

P.S. Almost forgot, Billy Sheehan is two ends of a bollox. He spent more time on the pitch on Saturday than he did when he played for Laois!

Is that who he was? Unbelievable that the ref never dealt with him. He was some mouthpiece the last day