Mayo v Galway 26.6.11

[macdanger2]

I presume CO'C is in there partly for his freetaking.

If one of the corner backs is struggling, there's not much cover on the bench for that position.

[ross4life]

Horan starting 4 of the 6 defenders that played v London is a brave choice & he's keeping faith with Freeman,Doherty after their 2pts v London. that midfield should win enough primary possession & if ye sort out the free taking (possibly O'Connor) Mayo should win this by 2-3 points.

[RedandGreenSniper]

I presume CO'C is in there partly for his freetaking.

If one of the corner backs is struggling, there's not much cover on the bench for that position.

Dillon takes the frees for Ballintubber so that's hardly why he was picked. Unless Horan has him for taking frees on the right side. Which would be bizarre. As I was saying earlier, I wouldn't worry about our midfield. But our half-back line is going to be the losing or winning of this game.

Zulu - you are a bit off if you think Liam McHale wasn't a top level midfielder. He was the real deal. Your point about us not producing top-class players of late isn't far wrong though. We don't ever seem capable of producing a blue-chip inside forward. Is there a quantifiable reason for this? I dunno. Not every county produces these players because of their tradition or set-up. Limerick is a good example with Galvin - couldn't quite agree about Quane though. So too Browne in Tipperary.

But then if you look at Cork, they don't have a real stand-out player but are strong all over. Sure, Goulding, Walsh, O'Neill, Kerrigan show up very well but if you were to pick a key player for them this year, you'd do well to distill it down to one or two names. Kerry would be fecked without Galvin and Gooch; Dubs without Bernard Brogan; Tyrone without S O'Neill and S Cavanagh. Cork could cope without four or five starters and still be real contenders. One singular gifted player isn't always vital.

[RedandGreenSniper]

On another note I'm sure rosnarun will be delighted, no Ballina player in the starting team. When's the last time that happened in championship? Three Castlebar, three Breaffy, two Ballintubber, one Burrishoole - nine from West Mayo. We're taking over!

[Farrandeelin]

On another note I'm sure rosnarun will be delighted, no Ballina player in the starting team. When's the last time that happened in championship? Three Castlebar, three Breaffy, two Ballintubber, one Burrishoole - nine from West Mayo. We're taking over!

Notice the depression from everyone though.

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=4009.0

[bucko]

Hi all, haven't posted here since before the Longford game last year, hadn't a whole lot different to add to what was posted at the time and since. Looking at the team for Sunday I'd have a worry over the mobility of our midfield and the fact that we still don't seem to have a settled, structured defence. Definitly a question mark over Vaughan at CHB, although it will only be his second competitve outing in the position. The placing of Trevor Mort at wing back is something I'm not to confident about either. The one and only time he's played in that position from the start in a game of note was v Derry in 07. Yes, he played well there that day, no guarantee though that he can consistantly play there, especially if the backline come under pressure for sustained periods. As for him playing CHB as has been suggested in some quarters, NO, NO, NO! I do not believe he has the temperment or the game reading ability to play there. I would have a fully fit, motivated and on form Trevor Mortimer in the team, just not in defence. On a positive note good to see Kevin McLoughlin starting, he seemed to have a very good league campaign, why he was dropped v London was beyond me. Cillian O'Connor probably has as much right to start at corner forward as anyone after the London game, he may offer a more consistant free taking option. If he does, he'll be worth his place for that alone. The rest of the forward line is pretty much as expected, it'll be interesting to see how that line plays on Sunday, as it would appear from this selection that the sweeper system won't be used. 

[IolarCoisCuain]

Hi all, haven't posted here since before the Longford game last year, hadn't a whole lot different to add to what was posted at the time and since. Looking at the team for Sunday I'd have a worry over the mobility of our midfield and the fact that we still don't seem to have a settled, structured defence. Definitly a question mark over Vaughan at CHB, although it will only be his second competitve outing in the position. The placing of Trevor Mort at wing back is something I'm not to confident about either. The one and only time he's played in that position from the start in a game of note was v Derry in 07. Yes, he played well there that day, no guarantee though that he can consistantly play there, especially if the backline come under pressure for sustained periods. As for him playing CHB as has been suggested in some quarters, NO, NO, NO! I do not believe he has the temperment or the game reading ability to play there. I would have a fully fit, motivated and on form Trevor Mortimer in the team, just not in defence. On a positive note good to see Kevin McLoughlin starting, he seemed to have a very good league campaign, why he was dropped v London was beyond me. Cillian O'Connor probably has as much right to start at corner forward as anyone after the London game, he may offer a more consistant free taking option. If he does, he'll be worth his place for that alone. The rest of the forward line is pretty much as expected, it'll be interesting to see how that line plays on Sunday, as it would appear from this selection that the sweeper system won't be used.

You ought to come on more often Bucko. I'd agree with most of what you said there.

[Blowitupref]

Don't be surprised if Kevin McLoughlin is given the sweeper role on Sunday.

[bucko]

Don't be surprised if Kevin McLoughlin is given the sweeper role on Sunday.

From how he played in the league, I would class him more as a roving player than a sweeper. He was back helping out defence and picking up breaks, but also frequently drove forward and and chipped in a few scores. (6 points throughout the league from wing back/wing forward, 2 v London coming on at wing forward)

[moysider]

On another note I'm sure rosnarun will be delighted, no Ballina player in the starting team. When's the last time that happened in championship? Three Castlebar, three Breaffy, two Ballintubber, one Burrishoole - nine from West Mayo. We're taking over!

All ye have to do now is go and win the match

[moysider]

Hi all, haven't posted here since before the Longford game last year, hadn't a whole lot different to add to what was posted at the time and since. Looking at the team for Sunday I'd have a worry over the mobility of our midfield and the fact that we still don't seem to have a settled, structured defence. Definitly a question mark over Vaughan at CHB, although it will only be his second competitve outing in the position. The placing of Trevor Mort at wing back is something I'm not to confident about either. The one and only time he's played in that position from the start in a game of note was v Derry in 07. Yes, he played well there that day, no guarantee though that he can consistantly play there, especially if the backline come under pressure for sustained periods. As for him playing CHB as has been suggested in some quarters, NO, NO, NO! I do not believe he has the temperment or the game reading ability to play there. I would have a fully fit, motivated and on form Trevor Mortimer in the team, just not in defence. On a positive note good to see Kevin McLoughlin starting, he seemed to have a very good league campaign, why he was dropped v London was beyond me. Cillian O'Connor probably has as much right to start at corner forward as anyone after the London game, he may offer a more consistant free taking option. If he does, he'll be worth his place for that alone. The rest of the forward line is pretty much as expected, it'll be interesting to see how that line plays on Sunday, as it would appear from this selection that the sweeper system won't be used.

Just that the last few years showed that Trevor wasn t able to play in attack - especially 11.

The team is still set up to play sweeper if they wan t to go that way. McLoughlin will sweep or whatever and Freeman or O Connor will drop off into a more playmaker role.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Hi all, haven't posted here since before the Longford game last year, hadn't a whole lot different to add to what was posted at the time and since. Looking at the team for Sunday I'd have a worry over the mobility of our midfield and the fact that we still don't seem to have a settled, structured defence. Definitly a question mark over Vaughan at CHB, although it will only be his second competitve outing in the position. The placing of Trevor Mort at wing back is something I'm not to confident about either. The one and only time he's played in that position from the start in a game of note was v Derry in 07. Yes, he played well there that day, no guarantee though that he can consistantly play there, especially if the backline come under pressure for sustained periods. As for him playing CHB as has been suggested in some quarters, NO, NO, NO! I do not believe he has the temperment or the game reading ability to play there. I would have a fully fit, motivated and on form Trevor Mortimer in the team, just not in defence. On a positive note good to see Kevin McLoughlin starting, he seemed to have a very good league campaign, why he was dropped v London was beyond me. Cillian O'Connor probably has as much right to start at corner forward as anyone after the London game, he may offer a more consistant free taking option. If he does, he'll be worth his place for that alone. The rest of the forward line is pretty much as expected, it'll be interesting to see how that line plays on Sunday, as it would appear from this selection that the sweeper system won't be used.

Just that the last few years showed that Trevor wasn t able to play in attack - especially 11.

The team is still set up to play sweeper if they wan t to go that way. McLoughlin will sweep or whatever and Freeman or O Connor will drop off into a more playmaker role.

I wonder is there a plan B, if this sweeper game doesn't work, or we are not generating enough scores from our possession or if Galway suss us out, do we have the leaders or the ability within the team to plot a different course mid-game? Following the London debacle, i doubt it. We have never got anything soft from Galway for the last thirty years i ahve been watching Mayo and i dont see that changing on Sunday. If the game doesn't work out in our favour, we could end up like the Galway hurlers quite quickly. Not feeling too confident in this, but Horan is a good man and i'm sure he has thought of this.

[seafoid]

It's hard to believe the 2 teams are still in the championship.

[AbbeySider]

1)  Robert Hennelly - Breaffy
2)  Tom Cunniffe - Castlebar Mitchels
3)  Alan Feeney - Castlebar Mitchels
4)  Keith Higgins - Ballyhaunis
5)  Richie Feeney - Castlebar Mitchels
6)  Donal Vaughan - Ballinrobe
7)  Trevor Mortimer - Shrule-Glencorrib
  Seamus O'Shea - Breaffy
9)  Aidan O'Shea - Breaffy
10) Kevin McLoughlin - Knockmore
11) Alan Dillon - Ballintubber
12) Andy Moran - Ballaghaderreen
13) Cillian O'Connor - Ballintubber
14) Alan Freeman - Aghamore
15) Jason Doherty - Burrishoole

16) David Clarke - Ballina Stephenites
17) Ger Cafferkey - Ballina Stephenites
18) Chris Barrett - Belmullet
19) Lee Keegan - Westport
20) James Kilcullen - Ballaghaderreen
21) Ronan McGarrity - Ballina Stephenites
22) Peadar Gardiner - Crossmolina
23) Aidan Campbell - Swinford
24) Enda Varley - Garrymore
25) Neil Douglas - Castlebar Mitchels
26) Mark Ronaldson - Shrule-Glencorrib

Interesting team, its as expected really and I guess its the best foot forward considering injuries and what not.

I am a bit disappointed that Jason Gibbons didnt make the cut ahead of McGarity but maybe his confidence or form has dropped since London. One thing is for sure, he was no worse than anyone around him and I dont blame him or Kilcullen for not wining the breaks that day.

Just trying to figure out who was left out of the 26 named; I think Gibbons, Howley, Eoin O Reilly, Geraghty, Burke, Cathal Freeman are in that bracket for various reasons I am sure.

All in all I have confidence in all the forwards, as I dont think we are weak upfront at all so we should trouble the Galway defence. Obviously we need a big game from the O Sheas and maybe we will get it. In defence, I am not convinced by Vaughan as a centre back and I am sticking to my guns regarding the idea of Trev playing there, if he is commanding there at club level (more so than Vaughan even) then it might be worth a try. But we should be willing to give Vaughan another chance at it.

[Farrandeelin]

Looking at Abbeysider's last paragraph, he seems to be speaking like a man that has just picked the team!