All Ireland Football semi-final;Mayo v Kerry,Sunday Aug 20

[rrhf]

Aidan o se didn't go near donaghy. Wasn't interested and didn't want to. Brolly talking through his hoop about a lifetime achievement award needed to play full back. Would he have went one on one if he was in full forward either. If there was a hedge in croke park he'd have jumped over it. Always a hider on the big day. Top 5 sub.

Know the one too many, drink sensibly

Good point - over the top from me.  As a mayo supporting neutral it has been very frustrating.he has to do raise it on the big day. He definitely could have stayed closer to donaghy.  I would give him another go at it.

[guy crouchback]

Any Mayo supporters slightly concerned at how they finished both halves last Sunday?  22 minutes was Mayos last score in the 1st half and in a half that was 40 minutes long and only scored one point in the last 16 minutes of the 2nd half.

One thing i noticed is the interest in this game has increased in the last 3 years. Attendance 52,495 for the drawn Kerry v Mayo semi final in 2014. Sunday the attendance was 66,195. The replay in Limerick had attendance of 36,256 what is the expected crowd this Saturday?

ya i 'm surprised there has not been more talk about this.
while the phenomenon that is the mayo support has garnered some comment in the last few years last Sunday took it to a new level.
of that 66,000 in excess of 45,000 were mayo fans ( allowing for 5000 neutrals which is very generous) id guess. mayo outnumbered kerry at least 3-1.
the population of mayo is 130,000, this means that in excess of a third of the population of the county were in attendance. now obviously this is not physically possible. when you take out the old and infirm, very young children etc it would mean that in the region of 50% of those  capable of going went.
of course mayo has a huge diaspora and they make up a fair percentage of the fans but even still the level of traveling support is now approaching what would be termed a migration.

i would guess that that was biggest mayo crowd to ever attend a game in croke park.

[ballinaman]

Any Mayo supporters slightly concerned at how they finished both halves last Sunday?  22 minutes was Mayos last score in the 1st half and in a half that was 40 minutes long and only scored one point in the last 16 minutes of the 2nd half.

One thing i noticed is the interest in this game has increased in the last 3 years. Attendance 52,495 for the drawn Kerry v Mayo semi final in 2014. Sunday the attendance was 66,195. The replay in Limerick had attendance of 36,256 what is the expected crowd this Saturday?

ya i 'm surprised there has not been more talk about this.
while the phenomenon that is the mayo support has garnered some comment in the last few years last Sunday took it to a new level.
of that 66,000 in excess of 45,000 were mayo fans ( allowing for 5000 neutrals which is very generous) id guess. mayo outnumbered kerry at least 3-1.
the population of mayo is 130,000, this means that in excess of a third of the population of the county were in attendance. now obviously this is not physically possible. when you take out the old and infirm, very young children etc it would mean that in the region of 50% of those  capable of going went.
of course mayo has a huge diaspora and they make up a fair percentage of the fans but even still the level of traveling support is now approaching what would be termed a migration.

i would guess that that was biggest mayo crowd to ever attend a game in croke park.

The Gooch, Paul Galvin and Mike Quirke all pleading on twitter yesterday for Kerry supporters to travel next Saturday.
The aristocrats, dripping in Celtic crosses....wow.

[BennyHarp]

Aidan o se didn't go near donaghy. Wasn't interested and didn't want to. Brolly talking through his hoop about a lifetime achievement award needed to play full back. Would he have went one on one if he was in full forward either. If there was a hedge in croke park he'd have jumped over it. Always a hider on the big day. Top 5 sub.

Know the one too many, drink sensibly

Good point - over the top from me.  As a mayo supporting neutral it has been very frustrating.he has to do raise it on the big day. He definitely could have stayed closer to donaghy.  I would give him another go at it.

I seriously think the whole Donaghy thing has been blown up way out of proportion. The template to stop the big man on the edge of the square was set years ago. A man to break the ball in in high and a man to sweep in front. The big question of the Mayo management is not why did the put O'Shea on Donaghy but why they have been unable to implement an effective sweeper? They faffed around with McLoughlin last year who was like a fish out of water. At some stage they must know that they may come up against a Donaghy and may need to have a sweeper in place and it's a bad show that they haven't been able to coach this as part of a defensive strategy. The whole O'Shea thing just wreaks of panic.

[macdanger2]

Tbf, it does reek of panic to an extent. Mayo would have hoped to meet Kerry at this stage from 10 months ago and if Aos was the plan, it should have looked like it had been well practised

[rosnarun]

this must be one of the Greatest GAA PR coups of all time
Kerry full back line were a shambles , a forward subbed off after 20 mins a midfielder and Full back at half time a penalty denied to mayo for handling in the Small square
But  all the attention falls on the mayo full back who held his man to a point .

is it because the only players most people are aware of are Donaghy and Aidan  O Sé.

[Syferus]

this must be one of the Greatest GAA PR coups of all time
Kerry full back line were a shambles , a forward subbed off after 20 mins a midfielder and Full back at half time a penalty denied to mayo for handling in the Small square
But  all the attention falls on the mayo full back who held his man to a point .

is it because the only players most people are aware of are Donaghy and Aidan  O Sé.

How much more difficult would AOS have made that Kerry FB line's day if he was on top of them too?

Donaghy was the architect of a lot more than a point, mainly thanks to AOS's ropey marking - no one is going to let you away with recasting what we saw unfold in front of us on a few days ago.

[Mac2]

this must be one of the Greatest GAA PR coups of all time
Kerry full back line were a shambles , a forward subbed off after 20 mins a midfielder and Full back at half time a penalty denied to mayo for handling in the Small square
But  all the attention falls on the mayo full back who held his man to a point .

is it because the only players most people are aware of are Donaghy and Aidan  O Sé.

Yes that's it surely, Donaghy had no influence outside that point, cop on would you.

[Mayo4Sam14]

predictions?

[mayo.mick]

predictions?

ET, then Mayo by 2

[Keane]

The reason the Kerry full back line is not being discussed much is because nobody is offering tortured rationalisations for how they weren't destroyed.

[macdanger2]

The reason the Kerry full back line is not being discussed much is because nobody is offering tortured rationalisations for how they weren't destroyed.

Or because there wasn't a massive last minute tactical switch in the Kerry FB line..... Definitely one or the other 

[macdanger2]

Anyone remember the last time an underdog won a senior IC replay?

[larryin89]

The whole county now seems to think aido is the best full back since mick lyons. Love my county but detest the way some are so naive . Aido was roasted. And it will be worse if we persist the next day.

Kerry by 8


Or if Mayo set up right we are capable of beating them.well.better team

[Farrandeelin]

While AOS is criticised by all and sundry for being at fullback last Sunday, I'm not sure he can be blamed for all Mayo's ills. He was too loose on Donaghy all day surely, but the expected aerial bombardment didn't happen. Incidentally, having watched the game back last night for the first time since Sunday, it seems to me all AOS did wrong for the second goal was mishandle a poor pass from Higgins. He appeared to urge someone else to pick up Donaghy (I assume). He hardly was saluting him. Yet he's criticised for that too.

Prediction: Kerry by 3 or 4. I feel a strange sense of calm. Maybe it's the fact the players will give their all regardless.