Messages

Best of luck to Karol in his retirement. I think it's a good call in the sense it will prolong his club career with Brigids. My clearest and earliest memory of him was v Cork in the backdoor of 03 in the Hyde at full forward. He caused them alot of problems. I always felt no 14 was his best position but necessity meant he more often that not lined out in the middle of the field. From there he scored some memorable goals but never got on the ball enough for a man of his size. Karol was a classy intelligent ball player who happened to be a giant of a man and played his matches in that order. Always a sportsman and ambassador for his county. He has the brains to make an excellent coach...

Great win for us yesterday and a decent performance with fast attacking football for 50 minutes. We had a 15 minute lull in the first half and a 5 minute  one in the second.
Senan stayed awake for most of the game while Cregg was excellent throughout. Of course it helped that the ball was going in fairly fast and fairly regularly for a pleasant change. Some great catching by Donie in midfield - pity about the freetaking though. Enda Smith had a great game for a gasúnín while we seem to have eliminated all the slow paced lads. Ciarán Murtagh again staked a claim to a permanent starting place and certainly makes it easier for Cregg and Senan to shine when he's dashing about the place.
Defence was excellent - except for a few occasions during the lull periods - but then again there were Wexford lads getting it too easy to start things from further out.
Top of the League, 4 points gathered in February. Job done so far but won't be getting carried away yet.

+1
Not getting carried away but at least there are signs of some consistency. Well done management!

Genuinely sorry to see Paul retire. Top class athlete. As a footballer he worked on his weaknesses and improved as time went on. Should never have been taken off v the Dubs last season. I initially thought he was a pretentious fake but grew to admire him more and more as the years went on. To me this seems like a rushed decision..... for someone in his condition there is definitely a season or two still in the tank. However Galvin is his own man and has always been true to himself. I don't think we've seen the last of him in the public spotlight.......

Congrats to Dublin. You fully deserved your win.

Commiserations to Mayo. Bad day at the office. Too many key guys underperformed..... Aidan O'Se, Dillon, Cafferky, McLaughlin, Cillian O'Connor...... Vaughan also had his least influential match all year.

I thought James Horan panicked by taking off Freeman because he was so anxious to get Conroy ( who also played poorly) on to the field. Freeman gave them an out for a high ball and looked dangerous. McLaughlin gave away so much ball. Despite Andy being tired would he not have been the best man to snatch a goal if left on at the end? Did Sheamy O'Se deserve to be taken off?

Even when in front Mayo shot hurriedly and badly. They looked jittery on the ball and were the least economical they were on the ball all year.

Overall it was an intense contest but a poor match quality wise.

Best of luck to Mayo. You deserve it .... not just for all the AIF defeats of the last 15 years but because you've a fine team led by an intelligent manager that bounced back & improved immensely from the disappoint of last year's final.

That being said I've nothing against the Dubs and their current team is very attractive to watch. They definitely have the edge on Mayo in their more naturally scoring forwards and their excellent bench.

However the scoring workload on this Mayo side has been shared out all year and they've still put up big scores. They've a better midfield than Dublin and have the pace to match them. I also think they are more physical also and can set up better defensively when required during the match.

This is the match all neutrals wanted. Really looking forward to see the two best and most exciting teams in the country go head to head for the ultimate prize. Mayo by 2pt.

Connacht ABU!

Aw sad to hear that.
Mid Term Break will stay with me forever.

+1

On current form Dublin should win this match. They play an attractive blend of high intensity attacking football. They've a seriously talented forward line & a very resourceful bench. Their manager is ambitious and positive in his approach.

Kerry are Kerry and as the throw in time looms we're all naturally wary of writing them off. In Gooch, both the Sullivans and Galvin they have quality forwards. The O'Se brothers are legends in their own lifetimes with Tomas possibly one of the most consistently high achieving footballer of all time.

But the kingdom stars have miles on the clock and age in their legs. Most of them have a collection of AI medals in their bellies. Dublin have hunger in theirs. Plus youth in their legs and freshness on the clock.

With 15 minutes to go I think the above contrasting comparison will be a decisive factor re the final result. The Dubs by 5pt.

Best of luck to FOD & the Ross Minors. Here's to an all Connacht minor AIF.

[but surely it is better to have 20+ lads you can rely on rather than falling apart if the 2-3 stars fail to perform.]

Unsung heroes of the day BTW...
1. Cunniffe
2.Barrett
3.Carolan

And surely Seamie O'Se Ballinaman?

He was better than Aidan today.

What I'm loving about this Mayo team over the last two seasons, esp. this year as players get injured or not perform at their upper potential a new set of players or subs take up the mantle. Bomber Liston and others argue we need marque players but surely it is better to have 20+ lads you can rely on rather than falling apart if the 2-3 stars fail to perform. The Mayo bench keeps giving and lads are able to multitask across positions.

Completely agree. I think that particular trait define's this Mayo panel and Horan's management team. Probably why (apart from provincial allegiances or sentimental reasons) most neutrals want ye to to win Sam this season.

Unsung heroes of the day BTW...
1. Cunniffe
2.Barrett
3.Carolan

And surely Seamie O'Se Ballinaman?

Well done Mayo. Better side end of. Good luck in final.

However,

What was amazing was the complete omission of any viewpoint on Aiden o Sheas throat grab and subsequent cheating whereby he went down holding his face, when replays showed Packie mc Connell made no contact anywhere near his face ?

The previous week it was cynicism, coached at underage levels, permeating down to u-16 levels and a total blight on what was good in the game!

I find it totally incredulous that this incident should go unchallenged and totally hypocritical two weeks later upon previously whereby it was a total affront to western society that resulted in deformation of an individuals character!

You seemed to miss Pascal McConnell's third man attack of Aidan and he didn't even get booked.

O'Se made a tool of himself in that incident. But McConnell also was at fault for getting involved. However Tyrone can never expect to hold the high moral ground in these type of situations.

Well I posted after the Donegal match that Mayo needed a "dog" of a game and they certainly got it. Tyrone like I expected focussed on stopping Mayo from getting their customary good start that normally enabled them to have the match won by half time. Mayo regrouped, refocussed and won easily in the end.

In fact they won playing poorly for alot of the match. This was probably the best way they could have entered an AI final. If (as I suspect) Dublin will be their AI opponents then they wont go in as favorites based on today's performance.

For most of the first half today Mayo were all too easily dispossessed and forced in to shooting from angles that they shouldn't have been shooting from. In other words they allowed Tyrone to do to them what they've been doing to other teams all year.

The lazy analysis suggests that Mayo were frozen/nervous/anxious etc about the big occasion in the first half. Uncomfortable with the favorite's tag and so forth. I actually think it was the opposite. Mayo were over confident.... didn't show due respect to a proud but limited Tyrone side and were casual in their approach to the match. Coming off a performance where they blitzed the AI champions probably meant they entered today's match in an anti climatic (albeit subconscious) mode.

Once they engaged with their manager at half time where he presumably pointed out a "back to basics" 2nd half path to them they won pulling up. They pushed up... ran through the middle... supported each other.... shot on the run.... dominated midfield. In other words typical Mayo 2013.

The worries going in to the AI final....... most of their scores in this years championship have come from the supporting player off the shoulder of the player on the run. In order to execute this type of game plan you must be utterly dominant. During the first half today they were on the back foot and if you need scores in this type of situation you need your inside forwards to be creative and instinctive in order to magic scores out of nothing. That didnt happen for most of the first half as they were instead forced in to half shooting from impossible angles.

Cillian O'Connor has been an immense contributer to their 2013 scoring board to date. He can ghost in and make a point or very often a goal (as in Donegal match) out of nothing. If he has dislocated the same shoulder again he will be an inestimable loss.

I'm a huge fan of James Horan. I'm a huge fan of Andy Moran. But even in the Donegal match Andy was behind his man. In a tighter match like today he was even more so. Why did he remain on the field so long ? Is Andy the only achilles heel that James H has? Conroy (despite obvious sharpness due to lack of match practice) caused more problems for the opposition than Andy did in the last 2 matches. Conroy is  a natural forward. Andy is a few months short of his return to best form. Conroy should start the AI final. Andy should be the impact sub.

Mayo are on the precipice of greatness. They  really deserve this AI title. However in order to win it they will have to be at their level best for 70 minutes. I think they can tick this box. I certainly hope so.

PS Carney should not be commentating on matches involving Mayo. Fantastic player for Donegal and Mayo but unable to conceal his obvious bias.

2nd PS Tyrone can hold their heads high. Their 2013 model is a pale reflection of their 03-08 ones. They are in the process of merging young talent with experience. Yet for at least half of today's AI semi they were more than competitive. They are a great example of good attitude and maxing out to the best of your ability.

Mayo by 6pt. Tyrone will ensure Mayo dont get a good start and Tyrone wont give up or lack belief even if they fall behind themselves early on.

However I just think Mayo have far too much overall balance in their side and momentum in general this season. I certainly hope so.

[He'd fetch a fair price at the mart, though]

He'd fetch a fair price at the mart, though. They're well used to stopping bullock runs there too.

RTE commentary stated he was 14.5 stone..... surely 15 or 16 stone? Can any Mayo men enlighten us ?

[A performance that included serial possession winning, vision, right place, right time, anticipation, 32 possessions (THIRTY TWO!) inspired defending, finding the right pass 98% of the time and just one (ONE!) error is dismissed as "a couple of bullock runs". All he didn't do was score a goal and save a penalty.]

It's like trying to teach trigonometry to calves. They see but they don't understand. Some don't even see. A performance that included serial possession winning, vision, right place, right time, anticipation, 32 possessions (THIRTY TWO!) inspired defending, finding the right pass 98% of the time and just one (ONE!) error is dismissed as "a couple of bullock runs". All he didn't do was score a goal and save a penalty. But that's not good enough for those who think his brother was better. Even if that was in some other match. Sometimes I wonder. More times I don't bother.

(FOSB - don't you think the 1996 theme is a bit played out? We still enjoy the memories but it would be healthier for you lads to forget the trauma.)

+1000

Best midfield performance since Jacko 1984/85 (and even then the Kerry man had few rivals that could realistically rival him so it was easier to excel. )