Messages

Very pleased with reaction of Mayo team in the final quarter when it looked as if we were going to throw away the possibility of a league final place. I still maintain as I did after the Galway game that Cafferkey needs to be given time to bed in at full back. Neither Conroy or Feeney are options and K. Keane didnt even make full back on the u-21 team. Cafferkey like K Cahill in 95, 96 is prone to error but this is technically the most difficult position to fill and it cant be done without experience. Centre-bck is imho a greater problem. Howley does not do the primary job well enough. He is poorly placed for breaking ball, a poor tackler in that bigger men have no problem rounding him, and lacking pace. He is totally committed and might be more suited to the corner.
I would like to see Conroy given a game at centre back. He is physically more imposing, a good ball player who doesnt give away possession and a great linkman.
Despite our good scoring in the final quarter our forward line is still unbalanced . If McGarrity is to return at midfield I would like to see a forward line of Moran, S O Shea, Trevor, Dillon/Ronnie A O Shea and Conor/Varley. We cant afford the luxury of 4 small forwards at the one time.
Finally I am once again disgusted by the antics of some of our so called supporters who hurl all sorts of abuse at our own players when thing are going wrong. A O Shea has been the target in recent weeks. He is still just a rookie learning the trade. He has been trying hard but no doubt anxiety has caused him to fumble etc at crucial stages. It might be no harm for supporters to remember that Donaghy was well into his 20s before he got a chance with Kerry and Tommy Walsh took 2 to three seasons to bed into a Kerry team which was well established.
All in all we are making progress. Patience is needed now more than ever.

Táim ag súil go mór leis an gcluiche seo. Táimid i bhfad nios láidre anois ná mar a bhí le blianta. Tá mé ceaptha go mbeidh S O Sé in ann job a dhéanamh ag leath-tosaigh lár mar a rinne Colm Mac sna 90s. Freisean le A O Sé taobh istigh tugann sé seans do na lads atá níos lú(Ronaldson, Varley, Conor agus Dillon). Tá an ceart agat Iolar faoi lár na páirce - le Parsons, McGarrity & S O Sé ba chóir go mbéas muid ar an cos tosaigh níos mo ná mar a raibh le cúpla blian anuas. Táim tugtha freisin le Alan Freeman. Is feidir leis imirt aon áit sna tosaithe. Ba chóir go mbéadh slua mór an Dé Domhnaigh.
Maith thú as ucht an snath seo.

I don't think that the team were pulled from Kehoe Cup because of costs. Management made the decision as they felt no value got from the comp. A lot of travelling.  Too many players with colleges teams. Opted to play challenges closer to home. Best of luck for season ahead

Mayo posters please avoid this thread. The last thing we need is overhyped young players in Feb. Ihave no doubt that we have the talent and that it is emerging but let's give them time.

[Barry Kelly]

Mayo subs.
Barry Kelly replaced a leaden footed A O Sé who had been moved onto half forward line. Nothing went right for O Sé. I Dont think soft conditions do him any favours. Kelly was very active, won good ball, moved and supported well but looked hesitant when in possession near Tyrone goal. Still 6 o.r 7 out of ten.
Conroy for  a tiring S O Sé who had worked hard if not as effectively as the previous. Again like brother is not suited to boggy conditions. Conroy went to wing back with McLoughlinn moving on to hf line. Conroy added strenght, height and fresh legs. McLoughlinn had shipped some heavy but fair belts. It was one of the more troubling aspects of Mayo play - half backs and midfielders carrying ball into tackles and getting isolated. Conroy provides options. 7/10
Sweeney replaced the tired McLoughlinn. Made no impression on me. Think he is too light. Douglas replaced Freeman too late on to make any contribution.

Varley did reasonably well but missed a vital free from wide right which would have given Mayo 5 point lead with 6 mins to go.Should have taken one in first half from right which Ronnie missed. Scored at least two more. Ran well. won good primary possession and will fight for a place. Was very worried when our final 6 forwards consisted of Varley, Ronnie, Sweeney, Douglas, very tired A Moran and Kelly. No strenght or ability to hold ball and run down the clock. Trevor badly missed and even with Conor and Dillon to return I think we need to find at least one more rangy forward to compliment the lighter lads. Still work in progress but O Mahony must be pleased.

With respect to Cafferkey at full back it is easy to see why contributors are anxious. But this is the hardest position to fill and players need time to bed in. We have never replaced Kevin Cahill and he took a year or more to become comfortable in the position. He had two All-Star corner backs with him for early stages and James Nallen in front. Cafferky is trying to learn the position with rookies around him. Higgins gave excellent cover but Howley for all his hard work espec with broken ball is still unsure at centre back. Vaughan and McLoughlinn played well but have a lot to learn too. I think the full back needs the assurance of regular starts. Having watched A Feeney in the FBD i think he is some way behind and has a bad habit of batting down the ball rather than catching. Conroy is the only other option but is more suited to half back.

i thought this was a reasonably good game when the dreadful conditions were taken into account. persistent rain for well over an hour before the game and pitch was heavy. Ref was poor, inconsistent, picky and not helped by the handpass rule. game was played in a good manner. Sending off was unfortunate. Ronaldson could be up for review for elbow to Ricey.  Ricey should get academy award nomination for his subsequent collapse. For a reputed hard man he went down easier than Sonny Liston did. Either team could have won. Mayo half backs were opened up. Thought Cavanagh did well. Tyrone were no threat close to goal. Mayo on other hand were slow to put ball into a full-forward line that scored well. Very pleased with Alan Freeman, Ronaldson, Mcgarrity and Parsons. Higgins and Vaughan were excellent. Conroy and Kelly added to the mix. We finished with possibly the smallest full forward line ever - Varley, Sweeney and Ronaldson and Douglas was there too. Its only Feb but so far so good. And i doubt if Mickey Harte is losing sleep yet. A good day out. Tyrone crowd always most hospitable even if like Rosnarun I was wished a speedy trip home once or twice. Galway again next week and then bring on the Dubs.

if either Mayo or Galway are to be involved in the final stages of championship then a run to the semi-finals of the league is a preresquisite. No team that hasn't performemed well in the league has qualified for an All-Ireland final in years.

Is Billy Fitz managing Garry this year. Great move if he is.

Time for this bullsh#t to be put to bed. Mayo didn't lose because of an inferiority complex but because they met a better team on the day. The tremendous workrate of the Mayo players all over the field kept the game alive until late on. Yes, we had chances, that if converted, might  have changed the course of the game but so too did Armagh. Armagh's  forward line took great scores from play to win the game. We didnt have anything to match them.
Away with all this inferiority nonsense. Redouble our efforts. Improve our structures and preparation of teams through proper Academy system as employed by the Northern teams. Learn from our mistakes and move on. As Maughan proved with the team that broke the "Tuam hoodoo" no player is responsible for the failure of teams they were not part of. We have the tradition and the talent. This defeatist nonsense al la "House of Pain" isnt doing anyone any favours. Well done Armagh. A long gap closed. Now move over. We will be back.

Good to see an outside manager get the job. We in Mayo have taught them all they know for the past dozen years or so ------and no thanks received.

I wouldnt be too hung up on the make up of the amalgamations but 4 teams made up of the current junior clubs added to the 16 senior clubs would allow for 4 groups of 5 with two home and two away games. It would have the additional bonus of allowing each club one free championship weekend.
All possibilities should be discussed. Maintaining the status quo is not enough

One of the problems we have in Mayo is that there are too many senior clubs who are not of a sufficiently high standard. In the 1960s and 1970s we had no more than eight senior clubs. The present contingent of 16 allows for a good championship on paper but the quality teams are few. It is a tribute to the work done in these few clubs that we have contested so many All Ire club finals.
Someone commented on junior and intermediate players being overlooked on the county team and contrasted it with the number of non senior club players on the Cork team. The comparison is not valid. In Cork (as in Kerry) all junior and intermediate club players are free to play with their divisional teams in the senior championship and with their own club at the lower level. In this way players are constantly playing at the highest level and against the strongest opposition and their worth can be better appraised.
In Mayo the better players in smaller clubs are constantly being played out of position and outside of their age groups because they are the most gifted. Because of this, most dont get to specialise as e.g. a cnr fwd as they will be wanted in midfield. Also we allow too many large clubs play at underage football at B and C levels when they have the numbers to play at higher levels, In this way we see outstanding performances against weak opposition leading to young fellows getting reputations they havent earned. When they play against better opposition at colleges level they are shown up as the big fish in small ponds who struggle in the sea.

Eight senior clubs and eight divisional side would give a stronger championshipat senior level and allow more players from smaller clubs to promote themselves.
Underage competition needs a major overhaul. That we get games played within time and according to a fixtures programme should not be the sole determinant of how well our underage programme is organised.
Rant over. Spleen vented. Feling much better

Level of vitriol towards Tyrone is shameful. Surely one of the greatest teams of all time. May need to freshen team up but there must be tremendous talent waiting in the wings. I was hoping for a Cork win if only for a change. Hope Meath manage to make it an unpredicted final paring.

IMO people are far too quick to criticise "usual suspects". Conor for example. Scored 1-02, tracked his man (and others) around the field, didn't start the "keep ball" on either occasion. Volunteered to take final kick. Not a bad display for 35 mins. And how about Barry Moran? Scored a goal, knocked down ball for at least one pt., neutralised one of Galways top players ( Hanley) and allows Mayo the chance to deploy 19 yr old O Shea in the less pressurised corner forward berth while still maintaining a threat at full-forward. Liam O Malley hadn't his greatest hour but was preferrable as a starter than the "rookie" Vaughan - especially when Joyce was on song. Suited Vaughan to be introduced rather than started.
Overall - the sweetest victory over Galway that I can remember - and I can go back to 1967. Just when Galway (and most of Mayo) thought we'd let it slip. Time to win is when there's no time to come back. Killer blow that will take Galway longer than this week-end to shake off. I can do recessions like this every year.
 

[and adhered to. The only exception is in the case of a draw after extra time holding up a round.]

Rules are the same for everyone. Dates for qualifiers were set months ago so as to allow club fixtures programme to be drawn up in counties and adhered to. The only exception is in the case of a draw after extra time holding up a round.