Mayo v Fermanagh, Saturday July 09, 2016 McHale Park

[Farrandeelin]

So the verdict is despite our dominant second half spell where both regan and andy had goal chances they blew, we got the rub of the green with some vital decisions that won the game for us.

Look ye can keep telling yourselves that but im telling ya we were not going to lose that game yesterday no matter what happened. We killed ye in midfield and when BM came on it got even worse for ye. Whos the best midfielder in ireland ye were telling us about.

If mayo improve our forward play we will make croker. And i think we will. Its all about getting things to improve game by game now.

Donnelly ran riot in the first half Larry. Our forward play would need to improve significantly. Unlike you, I can't see it happening this late in the year

[BennyHarp]

So the verdict is despite our dominant second half spell where both regan and andy had goal chances they blew, we got the rub of the green with some vital decisions that won the game for us.

Look ye can keep telling yourselves that but im telling ya we were not going to lose that game yesterday no matter what happened. We killed ye in midfield and when BM came on it got even worse for ye. Whos the best midfielder in ireland ye were telling us about.

If mayo improve our forward play we will make croker. And i think we will. Its all about getting things to improve game by game now.

Ha ha! Nice one Larry. Sure you have been trying to do this for 20 years!

[Mac2]

McGrath will be there next year and will have the job as long as he wants it I would think.
After the way he was treated by Down he won't be back.

The lack of black card was the major referring error. It happened less than 10 yards from McQuillan.  He had no excuse

Donnelly had 2 blatant pull downs himself and no card.

[Il Bomber Destro]

I thought Mayo let themselves down yesterday with their antics.

The grouping around the referee trying to get him to make incorrect calls in his favour, none moreso than when they did it after O'Connor's dive, they were trying to put pressure on the referee into giving them decisions and it's nothing new.

Cillian O'Connor is a really dislikeable individual, diving, fouling and mouthing off at the referee seems to be what the's best at. The fact he was given MOTM was baffling, he is really poor from open play.

[Tubberman]

I thought Mayo let themselves down yesterday with their antics.

The grouping around the referee trying to get him to make incorrect calls in his favour, none moreso than when they did it after O'Connor's dive, they were trying to put pressure on the referee into giving them decisions and it's nothing new.

Cillian O'Connor is a really dislikeable individual, diving, fouling and mouthing off at the referee seems to be what the's best at. The fact he was given MOTM was baffling, he is really poor from open play.

What do you know about Cillian O'Connor as an individual?
He's best at taking pressure frees and penalties btw.

[Farrandeelin]

A few thoughts...

First half Mayo were awful. I honestly didn't see the second half performance coming at any stage, despite playing against the wind. Fermanagh were well on top in all sectors of the field and Freeman was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to get the goal. I thought he would have a stormer, but I don't know about him. Over on mayoblog before the game people wanted him to start etc. Sorry Alan, apart from the goal, what did he do? Saying that, it was a bloody important score in the overall context of the game. There was no way in he'll Mayo would have got back into it if he hadn't scored it. Enough on the first half. There wasn't much else to be positive from a Mayo point of view at least. Fermanagh totally ran riot at midfield. Their forwards were kicking some great scores too.

The second half, (apart from the penalty) was better from Mayo. For the majority of it, the play was in the Fermanagh half of the field. On came Barry Moran, while I thought we were beginning to get a foothold in the middle of the field, Barry just solidified it.

The penalty that was given shouldn't have been. I was sure that COC was fouled at the time before hand, but I'll have to watch it again to see if he was or not.

It is a bit worrying that Mayo have to go back to the 'oldies' such as Dillon, who proved me wrong by scoring 2 great points and A Moran to calm things down. Not sure if Durcan is living up to what he's supposed to be tbh. Two poor games in a row. He has time on his side, but the youngsters from Dublin, Kerry et al are capable of doing it. Vaughan did well when he came on.

I guess we'll never know if Fermanagh would have won if the penalty wasn't given. I honestly don't think they would. Yes, I might be biased I know 😉

Can't afford a half like the first half agsin. Against any team. A win is a win.

[tintin25]

Seriously though, does anyone think that Mayo team will be challenging for the all-Ireland?

[saffronandblue]

The Dubs on here do lol

[Lar Naparka]

Referee Mc Quillan had another one of his Tour de Farce performances today again, shocking -- A O'Shea should have been long gone by the time he did is dying swan act.

Do you not think its hard for refs when players are diving around? O Shea cheated the ref and was rewarded with a critical score. If the GAA is serious about ridding the game of this they should do retrospective 2 week bans for diving and feigning injury. The alternative is to allow it to grow more and more into the game and people like a poster earlier will justify it as OK because of this and that - like Aidan gets fouled so he should be allowed cheat. That is the future just like it's already happened in soccer.

I actually think the umpire told McQuillan about the "jersey pull" as you could see him indicating it to one of the players. McQuillan has to go on what he's told as the umpire was much better positioned.

I thought McQuillan did ok.

So did I.
I decided to wait until I had a look at a recording of the game before I'd comment on the penalty incident. Now that I have had a few looks
at the lead up to O'Shea's theatrics, I think Joe had already decided to give Mayo a penalty before O'Shea made contact with the ball.
I watched that segment of play in slo mo and while the images were a bit fuzzy at that resolution, O'Shea and his marker were jostling for position as Kevin Mc launched his kick and if there was a tug on O'Shea's jersey, that's where it happened. (About 61.50 or so on the RTE broadcast.)
I couldn't say for definite that his jersey was tugged but, crucially, the nearest umpire was within 10 metres of the incident and he didn't disagree with Joe Mac's decision.
Maurice Deegan is to be seen in the thick of things arguing with a group of Fermanagh players and it's clear that he agreed with the ref's decision.
It's not clear from the recording if there was a tug on O'Shea's m or not.
I couldn't say there was but Joe Mac, the umpire and Maurice Deegan had a better view of proceedings that I had and they all seem to have felt that there was.

[Mayo4Sam]

A few thoughts

I think yer very harsh on McQ for the penalty. I was down the far end so at the time I thought he was just clipped. On the replay it's hard to make that case but ur man did kinda run across him so there may have been some contact, I say fair play to him. Would Kerry or Dublin be calling for heads? I don't f**king think so. On McQ his angle from the tv replay it actually looked like the Fermanagh lad had BOTH hands on his back.

The No. 7 decided it would be a good idea to shoulder O'Shea as he was subbed, delighted to see Higgins give him a good dig back.

What is up with COC, he was very poor again yesterday, I've no idea how he got MOTM, he's almost trying too hard.
Evan Regan needs to find some end product, very good at winning the ball but not really dangerous.
DOC was excellent in the second half but seems to have been told not to do the direct running he did for the U-21s
Thought KMcL was excellent, my MOTM, him and Higgins should probably be swapped. Kevin is lost covering FB, he needs to be a bit further up the field when he gets the ball initially, that's when he's most effective.

Other than that, it was a game for winning and getting a bit of confidence back, job done. With Monaghan gone you wouldn't exactly be quaking in ur boots at the other three, although u couldn't trust Cork. Longford would be a nice opp to avenge 2010. If we lose to any of those we have bigger problems in the camp.

[maigheo]

Seriously though, does anyone think that Mayo team will be challenging for the all-Ireland?

I do not think anyone in Mayo has any illusions about winning Sam this year.All the talk was coming outside the county of winning the all ireland..Qualifer games are all about winning them and moving on and getting to Croker in August.

[SouthDublinBro]

Seriously though, does anyone think that Mayo team will be challenging for the all-Ireland?

I genuinely believe Galway will win another AI title before Mayo do.

[From the Bunker]

Looking at yesterday

1.   David Clarke was solid, a few dodgy kickouts at the begining, very important save near the end.
2.   Brendan Harrison - to be fair i did not notice him much, Our dominance in the second half meant he had nothing to do.
3.   Kevin Keane - He's done alright, he no Caff, Always looks for the ball.
4.   Keith Higgins - the experiment at half forward continues. Noticed that he looks unsure the nearer goal he gets.
5.   Lee Keegan  - Business As usual
6.   Colm Boyle  - Business As usual
7.   Patrick Durcan - Super sub looks to be his role. He has pace to burn and that looks his role i feel.
8.   Seamus O'Shea - No doubting workrate, improved on distribution yesterday.
9.   Stephen Coen - too young for Midfield yet - yesterday was a baptism of fire in that position. Was out of sorts. Young!
10. Kevin McLoughlin - very solid, very composed, Not sure he should be a sweeper?
11. Aidan O'Shea - Business As usual
12. Diarmuid O'Connor Man of the Match yesterday - what an engine?
13. Evan Regan - Unlucky to be taken off when the game was opening up.
22. Freeman - got us a badly needed goal - offered little more.
15. Cillian O'Connor (Ballintubber, captain). A more decent outing, getting his mojo back.
Barry moran - did all the simple things well (and made them look simple).
Alan Dillon - did all the simple things well (and made them look simple). Two great points.
Vaughan - No complaints
Andy Moran - too greedy, trying to hard - hard to see his effectiveness lately.

[From the Bunker]

Seriously though, does anyone think that Mayo team will be challenging for the all-Ireland?

I genuinely believe Galway will win another AI title before Mayo do.

When do you think Galway will achieve this feat?

[Mac2]

Andy Moran's a great servant but have to say I was furious at him yesterday constantly going for glory himself in a tight game like this with men better placed around him. McLoughlin was terrific yesterday, never hid once during the game but he's no sweeper, Higgins just has to go back and I think for all his flaws Vaughan's a better bet when the going gets tough than Durcan.