Messages

d brady will be back flying by that stage

Yeah Yeah, the great Mayo excuse, "We were missing Brady". Ye are always missing him, here is a player who seems to have gained a great reputation just because he is nearly always injured.

Thought Galway did well yesterday but...

the backs did too much fouling, that has to be a worry if they are in a match where they will be under more pressure than they were yesterday. Damien Burke had a great great game, he really has turned into a top corner back and I recall a lot of Galway fans being very worried when he was moved to no. 4 a couple of years back.

Midfield was good, but bear in mind, they were up against Nallen & Harte, I thought Brady unsettled them a little the first few minutes after he came on.

Forwards were excellent, movement was superb. They have come a long way since the FBD final. Meehan was the only one who didnt really do well yesterday but even he had his moments.

O'Mahony made a mess of things though. Nallen should have been taken off for Brady instead of moving him wing back. Nicky Joyce was far too quick for him (remember Joyce's solo run in the sceond half, Nallen simply could not keep up). Nallen was a good player for Mayo but his performances last year proved that he cannot do it anymore at this level, (in the half back line anyways).

I have been a very harsh critic of Andy Moran but he has impressed me this year. The games he impresses me in is when he is playing in close to goal, he went roaming about the place yesterday. I could not believe O'Mahony was allowing this, he should know that this would suit Fitzgerald more than anybody (He won a coupld of breaks in midfield). Fitzgerald is less & less comfortable the closer he is to the Galway goal.

Doherty looked very dodgy on occassions, he needs to improve.

Once again it's experience versus youth. Hanley has come on an awful lot in the last year, but O'Neill is a superb footballer. Don't know which way this battle will go.

O'Neill is well past it, good footballer years ago but not anymore, Can see Hanley winning this one if hes on him.

In the league semi-final, mayo tried putting andy moran at 14 and roaming away from goal to upset hanley but it didnt work, itll be interesting to see if they do something similiar on Sunday.

At the moment, its Fitzgerald who will be marking Moran and from a Galway point of view, the further away from goal that he,  the better!

It said on the radio today that Blake will be a sub, he could make a big impact if fit enough to come on

Joe "I never had a bad game meself" Brolly

Dont know where u get that impression from.

I remember him talking about the all-ireland semi final in 98 and how tomas mannion cleaned him

1.Paul Doherty 

2.Kieran Fitzgerald(Capt)
3.Finian Hanley
4.Damien Burke

5.Declan Meehan
6.Diarmuid Blake
7.Niall Coyne

8.Barry Cullinane/Paul Geraghty (Nothing between them as I said before)
9.Joe Bergin

10.Niall Coleman
11.Derek Savage (Hopefully not Ja, not up to league pace never mind championship but you never know with Ford)
12.Cormac Bane

13.Mike Meehan
14.Padraic Joyce
15.Nicky Joyce

I hear Blake is out, so that'll mean Coyne at 6 and Comer at 7.

Is Fitzgerald confirmed as captain? I would have given it to D. Burke, seems more assured of his place.

I agree that Savage might ba better option than Ja. Ja could be useful as a sub as well.

I'd have Bane number 15, He has proven that he is a good scorer during the league, wouldnt see the point of moving him further away from goal. I thought Nicky Joyce played better at number 12 too during the league than he did at 15. Any chance of Armstrong making an appearance???

So Galway sham, are you implying that Michael Meehan isn't all he's made out to be?

yeah, if you wanna put that spin on it. I wouldnt put Meehan in the top bracket of forwards in the country.

Sounds very familiar, we give stick to Keith Higgins when he gets roasted by Brogan

Problem is Higgins nearly always gets roasted when he comes up against the really top players, yet Mayo Fans would call him one of the best corner backs in the country

Mayo Fans,

What did ye think of Nallen last sunday? I didnt think he played well at all but was talking to a few people who were very impressed with him

My Galway team would be:


1. Doherty
2. Fitzgerald
3. Hanley
4. D. Burke
5. D. Meehan
6. Blake
7. Coyne (although there is little between him & comer)
8. Bergin
9. Geraghty
10. Colemane (Geez I thought id never want to see him play for Galway again after the cork game a couple of years back but he has had a decent league and deserves a chance at 10.
11. Fallon
12. N. Joyce (His best performances during the league have been on the wing, Why move him into the corner?)
13. M. Meehan (although I agree with duine eiles assessment of him and a move to no. 11 would do him no harm)
14. P. Joyce
15. Bane (Bane never seems to play that well but always ends up as one of the top scorers so he is worth having in there. If Armstrong is back for the Mayo game, then he will push him hard for a spot)

Cant see Savage making it, He hasnt been playing well during the league. Either has Fallon but he brings a bit of presence to that half forward line.
Think Matt Clancy would be more effective as a sub too

Mayo's midfield may be weak but they are very mobile which would be a worry if Cullinane or Geraghty was to start

If I was a Mayo fan, Id be very concerned about this year, All of ye seem to be including David Brady, Trevor Mortimer & Kevin O'Neill in the lineout, that isnt promising from your prospective since they have rarely featured in the league this year. Andy Moran seems to be playing well this year though (a player I never had any time for in the past) but seen him a couple of times this year (for Mayo & Sligo IT) and ye'll need him to keep that up.

We had no Paul Clancy, Sean Armstrong, Paul Geraghty and Niall Coleman was only fit enough to come in near the end. Likely that two or three of those will be in the team come May.

Was Geraghty injred???

yeah, agree with that about Bane. He never seems to play particuarly well but always ends up with a couple of points from play at the end of a match so he's worth his place on the team. I wonder what he scored altogether in the league, He couldnt be far off being Galways top scorer, Would he?

Ok, got the result of the game wrong but I still think Galway will beat ye in May

Galway were all over Mayo at the beginning of the 2nd half, the penalty was a massive turning point.

The centre of that Mayo team will be found out in the championship, it is just too weak. Bergin, not renowned as being a particularly good ball winner, won kick-out after kick-out yesterday. Ja Fallon, who has been poor all year, gave Padden the run around in the first half but disappeared badly in the second half. Kilcullen doesnt look like a full back that would fill me with confidence either.

As for Galway, they have less questions to be answered about their team but there are still issues.

Michael Meehan hasnt played well this year (and has he ever had a good match against Mayo?)

Blake is not a midfielder, he is one of the best no.6's in the country. We are missing a good second midfielder but by playing Blake there, you are losing out at 2 positions, at no. 6 and at midfield. Blake should be no. 6. That requires management to make a tough decision and to drop either Comer, Coyne or Meehan, all who have played well in the championship but one of them need to be dropped.

Geragthy should have started yesterday, good game last week, what was the reason for dropping him?

I thought Nicky Joyce was doing well on the wing, constantly showing for the ball, was surpised when they switched himself & Bane.

Any word on Paul Clancy? He would be a huge addition to that Galway team, either in mdifield or at centre forward. Also, Sean Armstrong could be a big addition to.

I can see this Galway team improving a lot (where as I cant see Mayo improving much at all)

If anyones wondering what Damien Burke is capable of, they should have come to Tuam last Sunday. Benny Coulter scored 1-1 on him....the goal wouldnt have happened but for the keeper getting a rush of blood to the head and coming out where he shouldnt and the point came off a 45. Theres not too many that could match pure ox strength and speed with Coulter but Burke was comfortable.
One of the best man markers ive seen in a good while with Marc O'Se, Michael McCarthy, Paul Griffin. Hes seen off better than Mortimer.....hopefully he'll do the job on Sunday

And that wasnt even one of his better games!

1 Mayo back? can't agree with that. Could easily slot Liam O'Malley in for Fitzgerald and K Higgins will prove in time what a class footballer he is. Devenney falls into the "potential" category so you'd have to give Meehan the nod there.
Wouldn't have G Brady in there, not at half forward anyway but then again the Galway candidates aren't too strong. You guys don;t know much about Andy Moran but he's having a good year so he'd get the nod there. Possibly a bit harsh to only have 2 Galway forwards though??
Either way I'd make it Mayo 8, Galway 7

Higgins, Like Heaney is another blown up by the Mayo fans. Would have Burke miles ahead of him.

I know about Andy Moran, when ever I seen him play, with the exception of the match against Dublin last year, he has been pure shite.

If theres a Galway back to be dropped from that combined team, its not burke, its Fitzgerald.

However, in my original post, I was pointing out how Galway are better in the key positions on Sunday.

belleaqua's team reflects this also with all central positions having a Galway player in it except McGarrity, not playing on Sunday & McDonald, also not playing on Sunday

Loughnane has turned into a joke. I was delighted when he was appointed but my god, he likes to make changes. He hasnt given anyone a chance (except John Lee & look at well hes doing) to grow into their position.
Players must have being picked in the half-forward line now because they know they wont make it to the 2nd half!