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[Wides]

anyone any stats on wides/frees/kickouts won etc.

Wides Roscommon 9 Mayo 7
Frees awarded Roscommon 20 Mayo 23
Midfield clean/breaks won Roscommon 21 Mayo 14
Scoring chances Roscommon 11/24 Mayo 13/23

Where did you get those Stats?

Them stats are what TV3 had at end of match

Bit surprised at the midfield stat - I didn't think it was 60/40 in favour of Ros. I thought they won more clean ball than we did, but that we more than held our own on breaks.
They didn't give a stat for turnovers did they?

I'm not surprised by that midfield stat at all. We didn't do nearly as well at midfield as we did against Galway. But we did harry and hassle around there and I think you could be right about turnovers - we picked off a good few of them

Horrendous conditions throughout the match but we pulled through and showed enough grit, determination and calmness when required to win it.

Hennelly had a good game today. Kickouts were as good as you could expect. And that take over the crossbar could have been the winning of it.

I thought Higgins, Cunniffe, Mort and to a lesser extent Richie Feeney all had very good games. T Mort especially relished it and was delighted when his man dropped deep in the 2nd half, he powered us on in the 2nd half and gave his old all-action style a runout. A Feeney struggled a bit with Shine and Vaughan was fairly anonymous but is a better player than he showed yesterday. I loved the hunger in the last couple of minutes when they blocked down one shot and put unreal pressure one the follow up.

AOS done very well in midfield but thought SOS wasn't near as good as he was against Galway. McGarrity fully fit alongside side AOS should improve us there.

None of the half-forwards had great games but all dug deep. All of them scored from play - and Andy done well in the second part of the 1st half when he swapped with Freeman against the wind and scored one and won a free which was scored.

At FF O'Connor had a great game, both on the frees and in general play. Freeman mixed the good with the bad. Doherty is still feeling his way into it at this level. Varley will challenge him for that spot - so will C Mort when he's back. I think Doherty carries more of a goal threat than either of the two but can be out of a game for long periods - even when playing decent.

All in all bonus territory from here in. We should be able to give a good game to anyone bar Cork in the QF. It's hard to say how good we are after two games in terrible conditions. If we continue to improve a semi final is not out of the question.

O'Neills can only sell the 3 striped jersey on the island of Ireland, if you are buying a jersey outside of Ireland it will have 2 stripes. They are marketed as International jersies. O'Neills started using the 3 stripe design a few years before adidas did and it has already been in court, nothing available on line as it was the early 80s but someone at the law library may get something on Adidas Sportschuhfabriken Adi Dasler KA -v- Charles O'Neill & Co. Ltd. [1983] ILRM 112

This is what I have heard previously, basic patent/copyright law says if you have come up with and are using a design/idea before a patent is filed you will generally be either allowed to use it or will be awarded compensation not to use it. I think the main issue in the case was the use to the 3 stripes in the North.

i'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this game  .
The Mwr bucks are getting more confident as the days pass, our inadequacies are beginning to become more obvious, their quality is being highlighted daily so I'm cancelling all appointments for 23rd as I expect to be heading off to Breffni/Portlaoise/Croker for a 4th round game.
If the Rhus dominate possession as they did against Galway I fear they will have their feet straightened unlike the last day and can see the hoors raining over points from all angles ( as they always seem to do against us -- 99/02/09 e.g).
A chastening may await .... but even if it does I think we will have the mental strength to arise a better team from it...  but in 2012/13/14.

Surely ye don't believe this will be another '09? The Rossies are much stronger now. 3 years extra experience for a team which was extremely callow that day, along with a good young manager and a Connacht title. We may win, but I simply cannot see a repeat of '09.

I expect whoever wins midfield will win this as neither back line will handle an on-from set of forwards.

Yeah I agree with spuds the attack on C Mort is a bit ott. Fair enough if you say you don't have time for him personally but speaking for other people and some of the other comments aren't on.

I would extremely doubt that he would be anywhere near starting on Connacht Final day but he'll have another county Championship game under the belt next wkend so he could be available for the panel. It would be handy to have his ability and confidence ready to kick a couple of crucial frees near the end.

As for the rest of the team I reckon there is only one or two other spots up for contention. In midfield we have 3 guys looking for 2 spots. If McG's not fully fit then don't start him, he can come on for one of the O'Shea's when they tire in the second half. If he is fully fit I think he should start - don't know which of the two lads should drop out though. The other spot which is in question for me would be corner forward. Cillian O'Connor didn't impose himself the last day and a case could be made for Varley to come in.

Apart from that I think we are playing the best lads we have, even if we are a bit shaky in defence I think they done alright the last day and deserve another shot.

C Mort got about 10 mins on Sunday as well I hear.

Looked ok apparently and scored a couple of frees after coming on.

I agree with the general point with regards not shooting from ridiculous angles but I have to disagree with the McGarrity example.

McGarrity as a right footed midfielder finds himself coming into that position of the field regularly enough when attacking and has developed a skill to kick points from there. I've a funny feeling that he'd get more from there than if he was charging through on goal, which would be a much more unfamiliar territory for him.

I think from play our forwards generally did alright in regards taking their scores and shot selection the last day. We had about 8 or 9 wides from frees and we had difficulty getting good ball into the forwards and holding it - in the 1st half anyway - but the shooting wasn't bad when we did that.

They have 4 Mayo lads on the panel - there was a bit about them in the local paper the week before the London game.

Tony Gaughan especially is playing good stuff for them at the moment

Can't see Galway coming near to winning this but from what I saw the last day and from the majority of the Galway posters are saying here an improved performance should be coming.

Was shocked Hanley was left at midfield, that Bane was taken off and that Blake came on at CHF. Bradshaw done alright but prob not in his best position.

A few positional switches and a couple of personnel changes along with a bit of passion and pride should be enough to restore some face for Galway. I don't see any more than that.

I think lads are a little harsh on Hennellys free-taking here. He nailed two and went very close with two more, one of which was near the sideline on his wrong side.

He slipped on two of them which won't happen on a dry day - or I'd say on a wet day again as he's probably learnt his lesson.

He only missed one badly. I would imagine even the best free takers would have missed two out of the 7 he had the last day.

Andy Moran was Mayo's main man/leader on Sunday. game is up on RTE real player watch it again guys & u'll see almost every chance went through him. Dillon wasn't at his best but was still better than most of Galway's forwards.

Most teams that are going places need at least 4 good scoring forwards & in Dillon,Moran,Freeman,Doherty Mayo have that.

Andy Moran is a leader but I think there's plenty of improvement in him. He did set up lots of scored but also wasted a good bit of ball - more so in the first half. Dropping him would be crazy - who do they think would replace him?

As for Dillon it was far from his best day on Sunday, missed frees and scoring chances and seems to be lacking a bit in confidence. But he kept working all day and showed for ball. We know he has class and he has the All-Star to prove it. We can not afford to drop a natural footballer like him even if he's not at his best right now.

I don't any Ross fan looking at the game y'day can say Mayo fans were overdoing the beal bocht. First half was atrocious but we improved and deserved to win. If we continue the improvement and the team beds in we're most certainly in with a shot on CF day.

As for this Div 1 v Div 4 thing, it can be slightly misleading. The Rossies are coming out of a bad few years as last years Connacht Champ win and this years promotion prove. Where there actual level is now is open for debate but personally on form I'd have them as a Div 2 team at least. In other words not much between the two teams and the Hyde isn't exactly a happy hunting ground for Mayo.

I reckon this is a 50-50 game, there is definitely room for improvement in Mayo but confidence is fragile. If the improvement comes and we knock over a couple of these frees we've been missing stupidly early on then I'd be fairly confident. If we stagnate or miss the chances like we did against London, that confidence could drain away fairly quickly.

Also our defence is still relatively untested at this level so it isn't known if the likes of Donie Vaughan and Alan Feeney can handle Shine, Kilbride and co.

The game was there to be won and we won it is about the best thing that can be said. I think some of the first half performance can be put down to lack of confidence, hopefully this team will grow from the last couple of games.

Positives:
Midfield and half back line in particular played very well, as did McLoughlin at 10.
Work rate was good even from fellas who didn't have the best of games.
Freeman had a good 2nd half.
Doherty didn't get much ball but looked dangerous when he got it - I feel he's the type of player who'll be quite through a lot of the game but then end up with 2-1 or something like that.
McGarrity coming back, a perfect 10/15 mins for him and he looked fit and fired up.

Negatives:
Freetaking.
Decision making in the first half especially.
Not converting our chances.
The Keith Higgins incident - didn't see it myself but he seems like a lucky lad.
Dillon and Moran worked hard and handled a lot of ball but wasted a lot also (Dillon was especially guilty of this)
I though O'Connor was anonymous in the first half


On the freetaking I think it is false to say Horan didn't address this between London and y'day. In London I think we had 8 different free takers taking kicks from all over the place. Yesterday there was a plan of Dillon taking frees out to 35 on the left hand side, O'Shea from the right hand side and Hennelly taking the further out ones and overall we stuck with this plan. Unfortunately neither Dillon or O'Shea had good days but are capable of better (certainly we've seen better from Dillon previously). As for the keeper taking the 45's and such I think he's the best lad for the job - he won't slip as much as he did yesterday ever again I'd say. It just goes to show how much C Mort is missed in those situations if for nothing else.

Maurice Sheridan was the last man to hit them consistently.

I think Hennelly should hit them and any other kickable free from 35/40 metres out. Cluxton got 3 points the last day. Dillon should take the closer in ones on his side and O'Connor on the other.

It does show up that we do miss C Mort a bit in this regard, while he could never hit 45s he was very reliable within his range.

I would leave the ones on the right to a naturally left footed player like McGloughlin.

Hennelly shouldnt take anything inside 45 metres as inter county pitches are so large these days that it would take him all day to get up the pitch, and if it drops short or the ball does not go dead he would be on a mad scramble back and we could get punished.

Is O'Connor not able to kick off both feet? If not then I agree with you.

As regards Hennelly he would have to either point it or kick is dead. I don't think I've ever seen a goalie get caught out by this at intercounty level. It's much more of a possibility in hurling yet we've often see the likes of Damien Fitzhenry or Davy Fitzgerald take penalties never mind 45's

Its a pity that Bluett isnt around indeed or more the pity that the men he saw arent around to take the frees either. Joe Corcoran would point them still and him in his mid 60s. At present we have not ONE single player that can kick a 50. We have not ONE that can be relied on to point a 21 yard free that is not direct in front of the post.
Instead of Twittering and captains and vice captains giving boring interviews it might suit them better to take a bag of balls, find a telegraph pole and start aiming shots at that , then progress to goalposts.
I am mortified at the pathetic efforts at frees we see at the moment from Mayo players. Wexford, Donegal, Laois, Down, Kerry, Dublin,Cork, Carlow, London... ffng everbody has a free taker. We have eight, nine or ten, all equally useless. I am going to watch this one through my fingers and the backdoor match v Armagh through the curtains.
By the way , any body old enough to recall the last time a Mayo man pointed a 45/50 as we called them when I was a boy?

Maurice Sheridan was the last man to hit them consistently.

I think Hennelly should hit them and any other kickable free from 35/40 metres out. Cluxton got 3 points the last day. Dillon should take the closer in ones on his side and O'Connor on the other.

It does show up that we do miss C Mort a bit in this regard, while he could never hit 45s he was very reliable within his range.