Mayo v Cork. McHale Park, Sunday 25 March. 2.30

[moysider]

We can expect a big improvement but Cork wont want to lose 2 on the bounce either. We looked very flat the last day and our confidence was shot long before the end so it s hard to know how we will respond to that drubbing. Physically we were dwarfed by Donegal and Cork are another big lot.

I hope Horan freshens the team up a bit. Limited if the u21s are still tied up but likes of Campbell and Conroy can hardly make things worse.

Size is a worry though. Half of Sunday s team were under 6'. Several of them well under. And it s not like they make up for it in bulk. A win and we could make the semis yet.

[From the Bunker]

Of the three games left, Cork at home looks the only one possable to keep us up. Like all Cork/Mayo (League) games it depends what sort of Cork team turns up. There's a part of me that wants us to stay in Division One, but not make the Semi-finals. Bad results in the League knock-out stages in the past have left us a shambles going into the Championship. And I believe a quiet entrance into the championship is what we need (like last year).

[ross4life]

Of the three games left, Cork at home looks the only one possable to keep us up. Like all Cork/Mayo (League) games it depends what sort of Cork team turns up. There's a part of me that wants us to stay in Division One, but not make the Semi-finals. Bad results in the League knock-out stages in the past have left us a shambles going into the Championship. And I believe a quiet entrance into the championship is what we need (like last year).

You don't play Leitrim until late June would it not important to reach the semi final at least? As for this game Cork will have a point to prove after that championship defeat good job Mayo have home  advantage.

[muppet]

I wasn't at the Donegal match but was at the Down game and the abandoned Dublin game.

I was struck by the fitness of 3 Mayo players in particular: Conor Mortimer, Andy Moran & Aidan O'Shea.

The first two are coming back from injury and obviously worked very hard at getting themselves into great shape. The latter played Sigerson, but so did some of the others. O'Shea must have wintered very, very well.

Donegal play their 1st Championship match against Cavan on the 20th May. That is less than 9 weeks away. If they are not right for that they could be in the back door round 1 with a long dangerous slog ahead of them. As I said I didn't see the game but they are obviously well ahead of us in preparation.

We play our 1st Championship game on the 24th June. Even if it were played in Carrick or London we would be expecting a win but in Castlebar it is hard to see any other result. Realistically our target is the 15th July and the Connacht Final. That is nearly 17 weeks away.

Logically you would expect us to be preparing for that and thus we would be many weeks behind Donegal in terms of preparation. However that would apply to the work done collectively. It is a credit to the two players that were injured, and in particular Aidan O'Shea, that they showed up for the season in such good shape.

[From the Bunker]

Of the three games left, Cork at home looks the only one possable to keep us up. Like all Cork/Mayo (League) games it depends what sort of Cork team turns up. There's a part of me that wants us to stay in Division One, but not make the Semi-finals. Bad results in the League knock-out stages in the past have left us a shambles going into the Championship. And I believe a quiet entrance into the championship is what we need (like last year).

You don't play Leitrim until late June would it not important to reach the semi final at least? As for this game Cork will have a point to prove after that championship defeat good job Mayo have home  advantage.

Like Muppet says, We are on a longer road to the Champonship than the rest of the country. The League would be (very) nice to win. But Mayo are never going to do that. Qualifying for the Knockouts i feel often (as in the past) Knocks the stuffing out of us. Since our recent success in 2001 we've had a few semi-final and final disasters in the league and have gone into the Championship punch drunk!

[moysider]

Of the three games left, Cork at home looks the only one possable to keep us up. Like all Cork/Mayo (League) games it depends what sort of Cork team turns up. There's a part of me that wants us to stay in Division One, but not make the Semi-finals. Bad results in the League knock-out stages in the past have left us a shambles going into the Championship. And I believe a quiet entrance into the championship is what we need (like last year).

You don't play Leitrim until late June would it not important to reach the semi final at least? As for this game Cork will have a point to prove after that championship defeat good job Mayo have home  advantage.

Like Muppet says, We are on a longer road to the Champonship than the rest of the country. The League would be (very) nice to win. But Mayo are never going to do that. Qualifying for the Knockouts i feel often (as in the past) Knocks the stuffing out of us. Since our recent success in 2001 we've had a few semi-final and final disasters in the league and have gone into the Championship punch drunk!

A reassuring take by Muppet on the events the other day. I sincerely hope he s right and I m not going to argue about it.

But I think we should be able to try and reach the knock-out stages of the league without being afraid of the shit being kicked out of us. There s two ways of looking at this.

You Bunker are suggesting a bad beating in the knockout stages would knock the stuffing out of us for the championship.

I on the other hand would like to sort out the grain from the chaff early. If we re brittle enough to get a beating now we may as well get it and identify where the weaknesses are. You can t hide in this game and we would be only be putting off the inevitable until the championship gets serious and we ve had enough lessons there as well. Horan s team has got a trimming the last day anyway and their heads were down long before the end. And it s not like that there was a Mayo crowd getting on their back - only a few home fans having a laugh. Horan will have learned a lot about his players from that beating, and now is the time to be getting it - not when the days are getting short. He has 3 league games left to repair damaged confidence by getting a few good performances and sorting out the selection and tactics. He s saying a lot of the right things except there seems to be an emphasis on workrate in his interviews that bothers me a bit. Workrate is a gimmie and there is a lot of other things wrong besides workrate. In fact workrate was one thing that couldn t be faulted the last day.

On a more positive note McGarrity is getting fit enough to train again, if he is wanted. He probably is needed, although he is probably a long way from playing at this stage. He was in good form 12 months ago before his injuries and it will take time and a clear run from injuries to get back there at all. I also expect Trevor to return. I know some have written him off but imo he s a must-have for another few years. We wouldn t have got out of London last year without him. I always think likes of Dillon and Andy play better when Trevor is around.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Good old Muppet. And last night's events in Kiltoom mean the Cillian O'Connor conflict is now resolved (at a price).  Tremble, Rebels, tremble!

[Sam2011]

Cork team for Sunday:
1)Alan Quirke
2)Ray Carey
3)Micheal Shields
4)Eoin Cotter
5)Noel O'Leary
6)Graham Canty
7)Paudie Kissane
8 )Pearse O'Neil
9)Alan O'Connor
10)Fintan Goold
11)Mark Collins
12)Patrick Kelly
13)Colm O'Neil
14)Aidan Walsh
15)Donnacha O'Connor

[Benny Sweeney]

looking forward to this LOL ;DLOL

[Jinxy]

I wasn't at the Donegal match but was at the Down game and the abandoned Dublin game.

I was struck by the fitness of 3 Mayo players in particular: Conor Mortimer, Andy Moran & Aidan O'Shea.

The first two are coming back from injury and obviously worked very hard at getting themselves into great shape. The latter played Sigerson, but so did some of the others. O'Shea must have wintered very, very well.

Donegal play their 1st Championship match against Cavan on the 20th May. That is less than 9 weeks away. If they are not right for that they could be in the back door round 1 with a long dangerous slog ahead of them. As I said I didn't see the game but they are obviously well ahead of us in preparation.

We play our 1st Championship game on the 24th June. Even if it were played in Carrick or London we would be expecting a win but in Castlebar it is hard to see any other result. Realistically our target is the 15th July and the Connacht Final. That is nearly 17 weeks away.

Logically you would expect us to be preparing for that and thus we would be many weeks behind Donegal in terms of preparation. However that would apply to the work done collectively. It is a credit to the two players that were injured, and in particular Aidan O'Shea, that they showed up for the season in such good shape.

I don't get this, are you saying he's overweight?

[muppet]

I wasn't at the Donegal match but was at the Down game and the abandoned Dublin game.

I was struck by the fitness of 3 Mayo players in particular: Conor Mortimer, Andy Moran & Aidan O'Shea.

The first two are coming back from injury and obviously worked very hard at getting themselves into great shape. The latter played Sigerson, but so did some of the others. O'Shea must have wintered very, very well.
Donegal play their 1st Championship match against Cavan on the 20th May. That is less than 9 weeks away. If they are not right for that they could be in the back door round 1 with a long dangerous slog ahead of them. As I said I didn't see the game but they are obviously well ahead of us in preparation.

We play our 1st Championship game on the 24th June. Even if it were played in Carrick or London we would be expecting a win but in Castlebar it is hard to see any other result. Realistically our target is the 15th July and the Connacht Final. That is nearly 17 weeks away.

Logically you would expect us to be preparing for that and thus we would be many weeks behind Donegal in terms of preparation. However that would apply to the work done collectively. It is a credit to the two players that were injured, and in particular Aidan O'Shea, that they showed up for the season in such good shape.

I don't get this, are you saying he's overweight?

[moysider]

I must admit I was a bit confused with the 'wintered well' bit. I always tok the expression to mean that somebody enjoyed the dark months and festive season a bit too much and put on the condition.

However, clearly Aidan put in the effort and looks in the best shape ever.

[muppet]

I must admit I was a bit confused with the 'wintered well' bit. I always tok the expression to mean that somebody enjoyed the dark months and festive season a bit too much and put on the condition.

However, clearly Aidan put in the effort and looks in the best shape ever.

Didn't realise it was a metaphor for showing up overweight. I meant the literal meaning, i.e. he did a lot of work over the winter.

[Farrandeelin]

I wasn't confused at all muppet

[muppet]

I wasn't confused at all muppet

If you are not confused about Mayo football, you don't understand the problem.