Donegal v Mayo

[Redgreenery]

I guess McGarrity wont make the long trip up from Dublin if he isn't on the starting panel so.

[Redgreenery]

Mayo football boss John O'Mahony is expecting to his side to meet a confident and resilient Donegal side at Ballybofey on Sunday for their NFL clash.

"Away wins in the National League are very rare and it's seldom that a visiting side comes away from Cork with two points," said O'Mahony.

"Donegal had to travel from one end of the country to the other, and the way they battled back after conceding two goals was very impressive. So their confidence will be really up for Sunday.

"Compared to last year, Donegal have been strengthened by the return of Brendan Devenney, Kevin Cassidy and Colm McFadden, and along with Tyrone, I feel that Donegal could be the team to look out for in Ulster this year."

Interesting words there by JOM and I suppose Donegal would be fairly confident but then again so will Mayo!!

[J70]

Mayo football boss John O'Mahony is expecting to his side to meet a confident and resilient Donegal side at Ballybofey on Sunday for their NFL clash.

"Away wins in the National League are very rare and it's seldom that a visiting side comes away from Cork with two points," said O'Mahony.

"Donegal had to travel from one end of the country to the other, and the way they battled back after conceding two goals was very impressive. So their confidence will be really up for Sunday.

"Compared to last year, Donegal have been strengthened by the return of Brendan Devenney, Kevin Cassidy and Colm McFadden, and along with Tyrone, I feel that Donegal could be the team to look out for in Ulster this year."

Interesting words there by JOM and I suppose Donegal would be fairly confident but then again so will Mayo!!

I'd imagine its just typical building up the opposition from O'Mahoney. He knows it should be a tough game, but I'm sure he thinks Mayo are well capable of taking the points.

He's right about Cassidy. Whether Devenney and McFadden make a big difference remains to be seen. They certainly can't hurt, as the full forward line was far and away the weakest line on the Donegal team last year. Even the loss of Cassidy was somewhat nullified last year by the form of Barry Dunnion on the left wing, although his presence might have solved our other big problem last year i.e. a partner for Neil Gallagher.

[Farrandeelin]

Both counties will have to hurry on with installing the floodlights! The game could be over now instead of having to wait for tomorrow.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Both counties will have to hurry on with installing the floodlights! The game could be over now instead of having to wait for tomorrow.

Ahhh the joy is in the waiting and anticipation...! 

Come on Donegal

[anportmorforjfc]

Allianz NFL Division One A (1330) Donegal 0-06 0-07 Mayo

[anportmorforjfc]

Donegal 1-08 0-09 Mayo

[anportmorforjfc]

Donegal 1-10 0-09 Mayo

[mayo51]

donegal 1.13  mayo 1.10   f.t

[Redgreenery]

Congrats to Donegal.
Very disappointed with the final result. I made the long trip up to the game in Ballybofey. Mayo didn't play well at all. Trevor Mortimer had a very poor game as did Pat Harte. Mayo's best players were probably David Brady and BJ Padden. Peadar Gardiner had a very good second half and made a few good runs. Conor Mortimer played better than last week but still wasn't at his best. Andy Moran probably scored the point of the game and he played fairly well. Mayos goal was very lucky as none of the Mayo team had a big hand in scoring it, three Donegal lads fumbled with the ball and it ended up in the back of their own net after a bad free by Conor Mortimer. The referee was crap and made some stupid decisions (same old story) need I say anymore. Overall Mayo was very disappointing even though they got into the game late in the first half and scored four good points in a row. One more thing I'll say though was that it took Mayo a good while to get into the game and it looked like it was because of their little or no pre-match training, while Donegal were out doing hard training a good 10 minutes before the Mayo team even came out!!

[Tyrones own]

Great result for Donegal, Things seem to be shaping up nicely for them this year.
Did that look to be a near championship starting 15 that Mayo had out?

[Bod Mor]

One more thing I'll say though was that it took Mayo a good while to get into the game and it looked like it was because of their little or no pre-match training, while Donegal were out doing hard training a good 10 minutes before the Mayo team even came out!!

Now where did we see that happening before 

[J70]

I only caught the first few minutes of the second half on Highland as I was working, but in that time Martin McHugh was hoping that the Donegal players would hit some high balls in on top of the Mayo keeper, who he reckoned was looking a little vulnerable in the first half. Prophetic words!

Good win again. Five or six more points from the last five games and we should be staying in Division 1. I hope the lads don't get too cocky though (not unheard of in Donegal teams after a good win or two!): there's a lot of tough games left in this division.

[Redgreenery]

One more thing I'll say though was that it took Mayo a good while to get into the game and it looked like it was because of their little or no pre-match training, while Donegal were out doing hard training a good 10 minutes before the Mayo team even came out!!

Now where did we see that happening before 

The unmentionable day in September 2006!! Don't remind me. I just hope we are not gone back to our old ways!!

[thejohnharanexperi]

A well deserved two points yesterday against a fairly full strength Mayo side.All 19 players used fought tigerishly and were the hungrier for victory especially in the last 10 minutes with the sides level after our fumbled own goal.Mc Iver's tactically astute substitutions clinched the game with all of our subs making an impact.Conditions were good with only light rain and very little wind.The large crowd (about 4000) saw a game of football largely destroyed by yet another poor performance by Joe Mc Quillan.This so called directive from HQ to refs to clamp down on fouls is causing stoppages for every single infringement with no allowance for letting the game flow much to the annoyance of players and supporters from both teams.
We started well with Devenney prominent from receiving quality early ball inside and one sweeping move the length of the pitch that saw Ryan Bradley narrowly miss.However we lost our way in the last 20 minutes and allowed Mayo to go in at the interval a point ahead helped in no small part by some soft frees.Paddy Mc Conagely replaced Mc Gee at half time and started to pose an attacking threat with some excellent passes into the FF line.We were beginning to dominate although our supremacy was negated by somewhat by our failure to pick up any breaking ball in midfield.After they equalised thru the own goal,Mayo should have had the upper hand but the lads rallied led thru big Neilly battling in midfield.The decisive moments were the introduction of Sweeney for Toye and Mc Fadden for Roper.Colm Anthony moved into the corner with Bradley switching to the right wing.Adie remained in midfield with Cass pushing on to the 40.A free was cooly dispatched by Wappa and along with Devenney thrived off the pinpoint accuracy of the passes delivered by Sweeney.The two closing points by Wappa and Colm Anthony were sheer class both receiving ball on the turn before swinging over left footed points with their backs to goal.

Positives:-  Tactical switches, Devenney's overall contribution, Neil Gallagher's full return, the ferocity of the marking and tackling as exemplified by a MOTM performance by Barry Dunnion, the impact from substitutions

Negatives:- conceding soft goal and failure to win any breaking ball

Paul Durcan 6.5 Had no saves to make but really should have reacted quicker to the incident with Neil Gallagher
Paddy Campbell 7.5 Best game yet in the corner with Mc Iver experimenting with Tommy D at full back.Closed out O Malley threat and made some great diving blocks in first half.
Tommy Donoghue 7.0 Stood up well to challenge of full back duties and can only assume was subbed due to knock.
Karl Lacey 7.0 May have been feeling effects of lot of games in last couple of weeks with county and college but still did enough to limit Mortimer's threat.
Barry Dunnion 8.0 Brilliant display yet again.Should have gone off midway thru second half after getting heavy knock in brave tackle.In fact recovered to score one of his trademark points.Never stopped.
Barry Monaghan 7.5 On hindsight I was overly critical of Barry last week but a player of his calibre is judged on very high standards.All of the half back line attacked when the opportunity arose and was unlucky with a point effort in second half.
Eamonn Mc Gee 6.0 Looked out of sorts from the start and was struggling badly to keep up.Replaced at half time by Mc Conagely.
Kevin Cassidy 7.5 Not to be found wanting with some fine fielding although can feel disappointed that little breaking ball was picked up around him.An absolute concrete horse of a young fella who is beginning to show a confidence and ease in his new midfield role.
Neil Gallagher 7.5 First full match and worried that he would'nt last the pace.Showed up more prominently in last 10 minutes when midfield possession was vital.
Brian Roper 7.0 Used all his experience and in attempting a point off the outside of the boot created the chance for Bradley to pounce for the goal.
Ciaran Bonner 7.5 Kicked fine point into the river end from an acute angle and chased bacxk constantly.Like Dunnion can always be counted on to give his all.
Christy Toye 7.0 Feel he was unlucky to be subbed midway thru second half but a change was required.
Kevin Mc Menamin 7.5 Wappa's stock continues to grow and if quality fast quick ball chest high can be delivered consistently then along with Devenney an effective partnership will develop.Kicked his final free with composure and and his last point from play was a gem.
Brendan Devenney 7.5 Showed greater team ethic than hitherto and was always available and first to every ball.Father time means he no longer always skins his man but is a vital part of Donegal 2007.
Ryan Bradley 7.0 Glad to see him start and followed in Roper's high ball instinctively resulting in his goal.
Subs:
Paddy Nc Conagely 7.5 Showed experience yesterday and firmly staked a claim for a starting berth with a commanding performance
Adrian Sweeney 7.5 Got a double Mayo welcome when introduced and took a while to recover.His kick passing from picking up midfield breaks was exquisite and worth the entry fee alone.This position between midfield and the 40 appeared in the Championship last year and could be a very effective way of utilising Adie's passing ability as the 'impact sub'.
Colm Mc Fadden 7.5 Missed a free with his first kick of the game but made up for it with a beautiful point to end the contest.