Maigh Eo Vs Corcaigh, 29ú Aibreáin 2012 @ 1600, Pairc an Chrocaigh

[From the Bunker]

Cork very impressive yesterday. They Bullied the game, Mayo and the Referee. Good teams can read the tempo of the conditions, the opposition and the Referee. Make no mistake they were up for yesterday. Last summers defeat to Mayo hurt and would have been seen as an embarrassing loss. As we all knew they are a Top three team and will be at the business side of things come August.

Mayo, well what can one say. They are upping the stakes physically and becoming more cynical. Some of the Mayo lads are not up to these physical stakes and their own form of protection is to exaggerate a foul. This is where the media kick in. If you play nice and get fouled you will not get the media attention, but if you play hard and fall soft (ala Drogba) then you huff people up.

[muppet]

The two O'Sés were the main reason we beat Cork last summer. We were lost without them yesterday. Barry Moran was lucky to stay on as long as he did but imho Gibbons deserved to be called ashore. How many times did he aim a high ball at Conor mort? Our inside forwards were making good runs particularly early on but we were woeful in delivering decent ball to them.

Am I right in saying Richie Feeney came on for Dillon? He came on at midfield against Kerry, due to circumstances, but the sideline need to look at themselves if they put a good inter-county back on at half-forward, ahead of their forward substitutes. Varley is another substitution that baffled me as I felt either Doherty should have come on or Freeman if fit. I would have even preferred Mark Ronaldson.

Looking at the positives our backs were good again, bearing in mind it was against a serious set of forwards who received loads of possession. Midfield was awful, Moran can pass and move but won deck all possession while Gibbons wins possession but gives it away. The solution here is ready made though, if they can stay fit. Our half forward line was a real mixed bag and needs to be looked at seriously. Trevor Mort's retirement removes an option I would have liked to have seen yesterday. The FF line was poor. I have already mentioned the poor supply but good players, in form, can make things happen from nothing. COC obviously has oodles of class but he doesn't look that fit to me. We need Freeman fit and in form at FF imho.

All in all though, there is no reason we shouldn't be targeting a Connacht title and a serious assault on Sam, if we get our first choice midfield back.

[eviemonkey]

Cork very impressive yesterday. They Bullied the game, Mayo and the Referee. Good teams can read the tempo of the conditions, the opposition and the Referee. Make no mistake they were up for yesterday. Last summers defeat to Mayo hurt and would have been seen as an embarrassing loss. As we all knew they are a Top three team and will be at the business side of things come August.

Mayo, well what can one say. They are upping the stakes physically and becoming more cynical. Some of the Mayo lads are not up to these physical stakes and their own form of protection is to exaggerate a foul. This is where the media kick in. If you play nice and get fouled you will not get the media attention, but if you play hard and fall soft (ala Drogba) then you huff people up.

I'd agree with that. There was a bit of a perception, rightly or wrongly, in Cork that Mayo bullied us in last year's Quarter-Final. Nothing malacious or untoward but rather that they dominated the physical exchanges and pushed us around a little. Cork may have felt they needed to lay down some form of a marker yesterday. That they did but I am sure Mayo will have a response of their own if and when the teams meet again later on in the summer which is very possible.

[Hardy]

Mayo don't have it in the physical stakes. The contrast between their preponderance of short and/or slightly built players and Cork's lumbering titans was remarkable. I don't know whether they have the tactical wherewithal to overcome this disadvantage with the right style of play, but it won't be overcome playing as they did yesterday. The number of times their smaller players carried the ball into tackles that you knew they would emerge from without the ball was amazing. It doesn't bode very well that this was allowed to continue by the management watching passively from the sideline.

[ludermor]

It was worrying how much Mayo were bullied in the 2nd half especailly after fronting up physically in the last few matches ( esp Dublin and Kerry).
I hate to see lads feiging injury but the amount of high tackles unpunished yesterday was crazy and it seemed to the only way to attract the refs attention was to play dead.

[Mac2]

It was worrying how much Mayo were bullied in the 2nd half especailly after fronting up physically in the last few matches ( esp Dublin and Kerry).
I hate to see lads feiging injury but the amount of high tackles unpunished yesterday was crazy and it seemed to the only way to attract the refs attention was to play dead.

O'Shea did an awful lot of the physical stuff against the dubs, even when the ball wasn't dropping on top of him he was putting in hits. We could badly do with McGarrity back and put SOS in half forwards, Freeman has a decent fetch but you need at least one physical player on the inside when the corners are light.

[Jinxy]

The two O'Sés were the main reason we beat Cork last summer. We were lost without them yesterday. Barry Moran was lucky to stay on as long as he did but imho Gibbons deserved to be called ashore. How many times did he aim a high ball at Conor mort? Our inside forwards were making good runs particularly early on but we were woeful in delivering decent ball to them.

Am I right in saying Richie Feeney came on for Dillon? He came on at midfield against Kerry, due to circumstances, but the sideline need to look at themselves if they put a good inter-county back on at half-forward, ahead of their forward substitutes. Varley is another substitution that baffled me as I felt either Doherty should have come on or Freeman if fit. I would have even preferred Mark Ronaldson.

Looking at the positives our backs were good again, bearing in mind it was against a serious set of forwards who received loads of possession. Midfield was awful, Moran can pass and move but won deck all possession while Gibbons wins possession but gives it away. The solution here is ready made though, if they can stay fit. Our half forward line was a real mixed bag and needs to be looked at seriously. Trevor Mort's retirement removes an option I would have liked to have seen yesterday. The FF line was poor. I have already mentioned the poor supply but good players, in form, can make things happen from nothing. COC obviously has oodles of class but he doesn't look that fit to me. We need Freeman fit and in form at FF imho.

All in all though, there is no reason we shouldn't be targeting a Connacht title and a serious assault on Sam, if we get our first choice midfield back.

I noticed a couple of times in the first 10 minutes his man beat him to the ball after starting well behind him.
If he had pace he'd be some player.

[moysider]

The two O'Sés were the main reason we beat Cork last summer. We were lost without them yesterday. Barry Moran was lucky to stay on as long as he did but imho Gibbons deserved to be called ashore. How many times did he aim a high ball at Conor mort? Our inside forwards were making good runs particularly early on but we were woeful in delivering decent ball to them.

Am I right in saying Richie Feeney came on for Dillon? He came on at midfield against Kerry, due to circumstances, but the sideline need to look at themselves if they put a good inter-county back on at half-forward, ahead of their forward substitutes. Varley is another substitution that baffled me as I felt either Doherty should have come on or Freeman if fit. I would have even preferred Mark Ronaldson.

Looking at the positives our backs were good again, bearing in mind it was against a serious set of forwards who received loads of possession. Midfield was awful, Moran can pass and move but won deck all possession while Gibbons wins possession but gives it away. The solution here is ready made though, if they can stay fit. Our half forward line was a real mixed bag and needs to be looked at seriously. Trevor Mort's retirement removes an option I would have liked to have seen yesterday. The FF line was poor. I have already mentioned the poor supply but good players, in form, can make things happen from nothing. COC obviously has oodles of class but he doesn't look that fit to me. We need Freeman fit and in form at FF imho.

All in all though, there is no reason we shouldn't be targeting a Connacht title and a serious assault on Sam, if we get our first choice midfield back.

I d agree with all that Muppet.

We ve time now to regroup and work on things before championship. Things will change for everybody over the summer and it might not pan out simply as most experts think. I also think we ve kept a bit of powder dry for later.

My big concern is our lack of size. We have to accept that a lot of our best players are small men. Now if we had the O Sés, Harte and McGar around  fit and in their best form it would change the dynamic a lot. If, if, if we were to play Cork again later I would like to be in a position to consider a team from 8 -12 up looking like this.

8. Aidan O Sé, 9. McGarrity, 10.Harte, Seamus O Sé, 12. Kevin McLoughlin.

It still leaves us with a problem getting an inside forward line though.

[moysider]

It was worrying how much Mayo were bullied in the 2nd half especailly after fronting up physically in the last few matches ( esp Dublin and Kerry).
I hate to see lads feiging injury but the amount of high tackles unpunished yesterday was crazy and it seemed to the only way to attract the refs attention was to play dead.

You have point there.

Feigning injury is a no-no and now Vaughan and by association us all will take some time to shake off this.

What should he have done? After getting the first open hand to the throat he looked at the ref and seeing no action from there he did the silly thing when Shields, realising he had licence to do as he wished, repeated the dose. Without any doubt, Vaughan should have upped with the shot and taken the card rather than be bullied or do what he did. Not long later Cadogan bitchslapped Varley who turned pleading with outstretched arms ( reminiscind of Goya's 3rd May 1808) to the ref looking something to be done. It looked rather pathetic.
The referee's inaction yesterday empowered likes of Shields and Cadogan to behave like school boy bullies. I would have prefered if we had responded with slaps. This is the time of year to take a card rather than be messed with. Likes of Galvin. Tomás O Sé and a few others would rather take a card than be treated like a bitch.

[mannix]

dissapointing to see cork using thug tactics on lads that like to play the game, still, its a great lesson for Mayo and cork are more than welcome to their league title if thats what it takes.

[Syferus]

dissapointing to see cork using thug tactics on lads that like to play the game, still, its a great lesson for Mayo and cork are more than welcome to their league title if thats what it takes.

Lesson? It's not like Cork or the rest of the top three suddenly decided physically imposing themselves in big games was a good tactic. Has Mayo not been playing these teams year in, year out for the last decade? Any team worth the jerseys they wear know you need to not be bullied around if you're going to win but clearly it's not something that's readily fixable.

[Chris agus Snoop]

Sad to read how deluded mayo people are on here, last summer mayo bullied cork with every nasty trick in the book the ref was one of those "let it flow" types, cork did not expect  such a battle and were unprepared and wilted as the game went on, this time cork played in the mayo stlye and how did mayo respond? By diving in such a numerous and pathetic manner that I have never before seen at a GAA match and never hope to see again. This "physical toughness" is all we are hearing from Mayo for the last year but it only works if the opposition are willing to lie down and allow themselves to walked over, when they stand up to Mayo they have nothing, and that diving lark won't con anyone anymore after the dreadful show ye made of yourslves last sunday.
Phony tough guys.

[muppet]

Jaysus wept. Between the Mayo whinging on one hand and the "pathetic manner that I have never before seen at a GAA match" on the other, I don't know which is worse.

Evidently some of ye saw your first Gaa match last sunday.

[From the Bunker]

Sad to read how deluded mayo people are on here, last summer mayo bullied cork with every nasty trick in the book the ref was one of those "let it flow" types, cork did not expect  such a battle and were unprepared and wilted as the game went on, this time cork played in the mayo stlye and how did mayo respond? By diving in such a numerous and pathetic manner that I have never before seen at a GAA match and never hope to see again. This "physical toughness" is all we are hearing from Mayo for the last year but it only works if the opposition are willing to lie down and allow themselves to walked over, when they stand up to Mayo they have nothing, and that diving lark won't con anyone anymore after the dreadful show ye made of yourslves last sunday.
Phony tough guys.

Cork won, they learned their lessons from last year and upped the anti. Now can we move on. Jez, most of the Mayo people here condemned the Mayo diving. We (Mayo) were not the only ones being cynical (as i'd expect in any game).

[Jinxy]

If Mayo meet Cork in the championship they need to lay down a marker from the start.
One in all in.