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Hurling is developing very fast at underage level in mayo, and the county team never go out and not try their best even if they are not sucessful. They try a lot harder than thekilkenny footballers and thats the reason people are annoyed at Kilkenny.

I think you need to differentiate between how players treat the weaker sport in a county to the way a county board treats that sport.

AFAIK Kilkenny as a county hasn't got a football only area whereas a lot of football dominated counties would have a pocket of hurling clubs, like Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh, Down etc who keep the game going sometimes inspite of their county boards actions.

Kilkenny county board by their actions look to only pay lip service to football, but that can be said on the flip side for a good few other counties.

Doesn't make it right though.

Armagh county board have been putting a lot of resources into hurling and they're reaping a reward, their U-21's, minors etc are probably better than Down and Derry at the minute with Middletown getting to an AI intermediate final only last month.

Mayo hasn't got a hurling area per sé either johnney. True underage hurling is available in some places, and the towns have a nice underage hurling structure, i.e Westport, Ballina and Castlebar, but it's not confined to one particular area.

Not true, honestly. Toreen and Ballyhaunis are hurling strongholds and it's taken root relatively locally in Carracastle too.

[completely unspectacular presence from play]

I think Cillian O'Connor has a great head on his shoulders but he was no where near as impressive as people made out last year, he was able to accurately take frees and I suppose with Mayo's previous problems in that area it reflected very positively on him. He was a solid but completely unspectacular presence from play. It'll be another couple years yet before any team is particularly worried about facing Cillian O'Connor. I'd certainly rate Conor Mort higher than him at this moment.

v Kerry, in Croke Park, in an All-Ireland semi-final.


Not bad for a completely unspectacular presence from play.

We had Kevin Higgins, he of 'White Men Can't Jump' fame, hoof in a goal against ye a few weeks ago that was ten times more spectacular. One goal doesn't make a player great or even good from play. O'Connor is a great little prospect but he's not someone any team will be bothered about facing, apart from keeping backs honest from frees.

You called him a 'completely unspectacular presence from play'. Anyone that saw him in every Mayo game last year in each game would disagree. The pass to Dillon against Cork was exquisite, he only started taking frees after the fiasco against Galway in the Connacht semi and he immediately solved the problem. And of course there is the goal above in an All-Ireland Semi-Final. Ye have mighty high standards in Roscommon.

As for the bit in bold, I have a feeling I will be posting that many times in the next few years.

You're taking it all wrong - he could well develop into a very good player but right now he's over-hyped for what he is on the field. He's only 20, give the lad a chance before you bet the house on him.

[completely unspectacular presence from play]

I think Cillian O'Connor has a great head on his shoulders but he was no where near as impressive as people made out last year, he was able to accurately take frees and I suppose with Mayo's previous problems in that area it reflected very positively on him. He was a solid but completely unspectacular presence from play. It'll be another couple years yet before any team is particularly worried about facing Cillian O'Connor. I'd certainly rate Conor Mort higher than him at this moment.

v Kerry, in Croke Park, in an All-Ireland semi-final.


Not bad for a completely unspectacular presence from play.

I was there that day. We had Kevin Higgins, he of White Men Can't Jump fame, hoof in a goal against ye a few weeks ago that was ten times more spectacular. One goal doesn't make a player great or even good from play. O'Connor is a great little prospect but he's not someone any team will be bothered about facing, apart from keeping backs honest from frees.

Cillian O'Connor is better than Andy Moran? Gimme whatever you're smoking because it has to be some damn fine stuff.

Like you've said, it all depends on how sharp the players are, we certainly have the talent at hand to beat anyone in Connacht. The match in Kiltoom will be regarded as a defacto Connacht final but I'm hearing good things about the Sligo u-21's so I wouldn't be so sure of safe passage for the winner.

 

Ah jayus lads, the only fools are the ones falling for the painfully obvious baiting.

Domincan is taking a couple months out to be fresh for the championship, so he's out of the immediate equation. It's a wonder Senan isn't starting but perhaps management are just being careful not to over-work him, the last thing we need is a recurrence of a hamstring injury after he's found - mostly - fiitess over the last 18 months. I'd really hope they throw him on if the game is close with 15-20 minutes to go, this game is essential if we're to be promoted. I'd have preferred Mannion over Higgins too because Higgins have been very anonymous in the middle and routinely kicks Seamie O'Neil-style wild shots that are as likely to hit the corner flag as the goal. If someone could get him to play his team-mates into position better he'd be a good player as he's got all the physical attributes required.

[someone out there who offers more from open]

I cant understand everyones rush to get conor mortimer off the mayo team. hes been our most consistent forwrard for the last ten years and one of the best free takers in the country .  A legend surely Deserving of repect nbot peole looking for a quiet jalf from him in order to drop him..
can it really be  that some people Still cant get past the bleached hair?

Its Peter Stringer/Robbie Keane syndrome transferred into gaelic football I think. Fellas that have been around so long that you take all the positive things they do for granted and focus on their weaknesses too much. It's only when they're gone that it is realised what they did so well in the first place, and then they're missed. Until such time as there is someone out there who offers more from open play than Mort and can kick frees with as high a success rate on the right hand side as he can, he should be in the team.

For me, the one out of the older guard in the forwards who should be most at risk based on form is Dillon, but I just cannot see Horan dropping him. He is not a centre half forward and the likes of McLoughlin and Freeman are doing more than him in the wing half forward positions at the moment. I'm struggling to think when Dillon last had an outstanding game for Mayo - I'd say its been a year or two.

cillian o connor. I rest my case(also Cil's work rate is 300% higher....doesn't get pushed
off the ball at the first nudge .......shines in Croke Park.......'nough said)

I think Cillian O'Connor has a great head on his shoulders but he was no where near as impressive as people made out last year, he was able to accurately take frees and I suppose with Mayo's previous problems in that area it reflected very positively on him. He was a solid but completely unspectacular presence from play. It'll be another couple years yet before any team is particularly worried about facing Cillian O'Connor. I'd certainly rate Conor Mort higher than him at this moment.

I remember back around 2000 Roscommon and Donegal played a challenge match to celebrate the opening of the new stand at Michael Glavey's in Ballinlough and after losing the game Big Jim stormed off immediately and wouldn't accept some sort of medal or award they were giving all the players, the only one to do so.

Rationality and perspective aren't his strong suits.

Relegation odds for Div 1,2 but not Div 3 are the leagues getting reshaped next year or what?

the only change like that that'd make sense would be 1 and 2 becoming 1A and 1b again, which was the recommendation late last year before they came to a retarded compromise of semi-finals in a seven team top division. I hope they follow through this off-season though, it'd really liven up the league.

So how does one go about getting a Donegal man a Roscommon address? Ahem.

Syferus you must have been at a different game than me so. As i said already the two goals in as many minutes (against the run of play) gave the scoreline a false look, yes we had the opportunity to grab a draw at the end but in truth Longford could/should have won by more. .

I'll mark today's display down as bad day at the office & move onto the next game hoping for improvement.

It wasn't a good day for us anyway.
While the result of a League game in March might not be too important in the greater scheme of things our performance yesterday left a lot to be desired.
Looking at unchallenged Larries running all round the place brought back some nightmare memories of Clones/Crossmaglen/Parnell Park in 2008 or the awful hammering by Cavan in 2010.
Longford have a lot of nice forwards and if you let them play by God they will play. Against a team like that defenders have to be in their faces all the time.
Midfield was a virtual wipe out and it was galling to see the big Larry - McElvany - score 2 or three long range points without a yellow jersey in sight. Kavanagh and McCormack got an awful lot of space too and we could have conceded a few goals in that second half.
We have to hope it was just a one off bad day yesterday which they might get out of their system next Sunday.
One thing for sure  a repeat will see us drop 2 more points and have us praying Offaly and Tipp continue to lose games.

Sweet Jesus! Some of us are a little too scarred by the past. Plenty to build on in our performance yesterday, very good half-back play, including a lot of turnovers, Cregg looking electric and a great spread of scorers. Mannion will start next week and maybe Donie in a sort of crossbreed of a midfielder and half-forward, he ended the game there and although his kicking was terrible he fielded balls he was dropping in previous games and was hand-passing well. Parity in the middle is enough for us to beat any team in the division, I have a lot of faith in our backs and forwards.

Syferus you must have been at a different game than me so. As i said already the two goals in as many minutes (against the run of play) gave the scoreline a false look, yes we had the opportunity to grab a draw at the end but in truth Longford could/should have won by more. BTW in the Div 4 final we missed loads of frees a penalty & the Longford keeper pulled off incredible save from Cregg so you could use the ifs,buts, & maybes on that game aswell.

I'll mark today's display down as bad day at the office & move onto the next game hoping for improvement.

Longford were just about worth a two point win, if that. Their backs had alot of trouble with our forwards all day and if Donie was half on form he'd have had enough points to swing the score-line our way, it wasn't Longford that were making him screw the ball like a Christmas balloon. It was a hard fought game where, apart from a 5 minute stretch by us at the beginning of the game and a 15 minute stretch in the second half by Longford, there was almost nothing between the teams. A very entertaining game, 16 points for Longford and we tallied 14 against a team who'd conceded no goals and only 15 points in their previous two games.

More midfield woes today, so many times Higgins didn't even jump for the ball or Finneran grabbed it and then spilled it. Mannion brought us back into contention in the middle after Newton re-jigged the midfield late on.

The ref pinged us too much in the second half and probably cost us a few points but we made plenty of mistakes going forward - Donie had a terrible afternoon, starting it off by kicking from the hand on frees (wtf?), missing sitters and the ball screwing off his boot anywhere but towards the target and ending it by kicking three garryowens in between the two Longford back-lines to his undersized full-forward, he seemed to be playing the ball as if he had Senan Kilbride on the inside. Someone needs to put an arm around Donie and help him get his head straight, he's ten times the player he's of the level he's been performing to so far in the league.

The backs dealt pretty well with the flood of pressure they got in the second half, once or twice the Longford full-forward got inside his marker, but it was hard to do much when every kick-out was coming straight back at them. The half-backs in particular were excellent, Niall Daly is continuing to grow and looked assured on and off the ball and Ian Kilbride was the best player on the pitch today, his vision, strength and intelligence was causing mayhem for Longford. Longford obviously got the message to try and nix him at half time - they trying to muscle him out of the game in the second half, but to little avail.

Cathal Cregg made a great return to the county, he probably shouldn't have been took off as we lost our shape a bit after he left. Darren McDermott scored an inspirational point late on and looked, as usual, skilled and assured on the ball. He should be challenging for a start the next day.

No need to over-react, we could have won this one but with Antrim coming next week we have the perfect opportunity to re-establish ourselves at the top of the league. Mannion should start and, barring injury, Senan Kilbride can do as much damage as his brother did today the next day and Cregg should be ready for a full game next week. Someone give Donie a hug, though!

And ross4life, this says nothing about the D4 final! This game was as tight as they come and could have easily been at least draw even with a minute and a half to go if Shine had his shooting boots on and scored his late free. Longford were good, but they're about the best in the division and we could have beat them with a bit of luck or a better refereeing display. We just need to focus on winning cleaner ball in the middle and we're very capable of beating any of the remaining teams.