Messages

1

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo Millionaire backer withholds Money

« on: February 25, 2020, 07:46:24 PM »

Said something stupid when he was drunk, not a whole pile different from any amount of GAA followers.  He apologised and removed said tweet, christ Mayo County Board are they that stupid! Maybe trawling the corners of Mayo with raffle tickets will rise them from their stupidity.  You should never look a gift horse in the mouth,  O Leary is passionate and like us all says stupid things at times.  But the treatment he gets for funding Mayo is nothing short of farcical.  Mayo = give us your money and say SFA.  Leave the GAA to the lads who would be hard pressed to put a €5 in the pot.

You should look back over his list of 'demands' last December. What's clear is that he thought that his money could buy him a position of influence in Mayo GAA. Definite right call by the board.

2

GAA Discussion / Re: NFL Division 1 - 2020

« on: February 23, 2020, 10:09:04 PM »

Thank God the Tyrone sending off is the topic of the day because Mayo were awful, bloody awful today. I haven't seen a performance that bad in a long while. I expected us to lose. But to be outscored by 2-11 to 0-5 in the second half, well you know the rest. I hope James Horan learns at least this ONE THING: don't start Jordan Flynn against Kerry, Galway or Tyrone. Nothing really against him, but he literally cannot make any physical contact with any opposition player or there'll be some kind of card handed out. Unfortunately our lack of underage success is coming home to roost.

While the collapse in the final quarter was disappointing, you have to bear in mind the number of probable starters we were missing today, these include Brendan Harrison, Chris Barrett, Matthew Ruane, Cillian O Connor, Fionn McDonagh, Jason Doherty and James Carr. No other division one team has an injury list like this. We'll be a totally different team come championship and all analysis at the moment has to take account of this

3

GAA Discussion / Re: Gaelic Football - Rules & Regulations discussion/clarification

« on: February 13, 2020, 11:01:46 PM »

Heard David Gough explaining this. The new watches the refs have cater for this and it's all done correctly to the rules. Trouble here is lack of understanding of the rules and possibly the GAA doing a poor job of communicating the actual situation.

Quelle Surprise.

GAA insist time keeping is not a major issue in games
No plans for review despite accusations of inconsistency by Meath boss
Tue, Feb 11, 2020, 01:00
Seán Moran
 
The GAA have no plans to review time keeping procedures after criticism from Meath manager Andy McEntee of the lack of added time played in his team’s narrow defeat by Mayo in Navan.

Feargal McGill, the GAA’s Head of Games Administration, said that he was happy with the standard of time keeping, which was overhauled a few years ago in order to address time wasting. As a result, matches frequently run up to the 76th and 77th minutes.

“I have to say that I think there’s a high standard of consistency at the moment from our officials in how they apply the rules on time. We have minimum allowances for substitutions and regulations that were introduced at the start of 2016 to ensure that adequate additional time was being played.

“I don’t think you have the situation where people are walking away from matches every week complaining about the amount of time being played or not played.

“There have been high-profile incidents recently of referees playing way over the announced time – the Kilcoo game [All-Ireland club football final against Corofin] and the Dublin game [last Saturday] and if you look at both of those games you’d see that the referee got it right.”

McEntee’s unhappiness was made clear to print, digital and broadcast media after the match when he contrasted how his team had been granted no additional time beyond the announced four minutes with Dublin’s experience on Saturday night. Both he and his players seemed to anticipate a further opportunity to equalise after Thomas Reilly had cut the deficit to a point.

“I can’t believe – the amount of breaks that were there in those four minutes of extra-time and we don’t play two seconds of extra-time? Dublin got two minutes last night [Saturday] to get an equalising score. There’s a level of inconsistency all over the place. And they want referees to get respect. They’ve got to show a little bit too.

“It’s one rule for the Dublin’s and the bigger names in this world and it’s a different rule for everybody else.”

He referred to an incident in which Mayo replacement Bryan Walsh had been down injured during additional time.

“He’s supposed to play on . . .” he said of Tyrone referee Seán Hurson. “I mean if that guy is lying down on the ground for 30 seconds holding his head – 30 seconds, you get two scores in 30 seconds”

The Meath manager had grounds for grievance in that instance. Four minutes were announced as injury-time but whereas the injury stopped play for 35 seconds, the clock stopped at four minutes 10 seconds after O’Reilly’s score.

Down referee Ciarán Branagan added three minutes to the announced six at Croke Park on Saturday, enabling Dublin to close a six-point deficit by the 79th minute. Most observers accept that the match had been held up for that amount of time, as the referee administered some cards, injuries were treated and replacements took to the field.

McGill contends however that referees are far more aware of the need to address deliberate time wasting.

“When the board goes up for five minutes’ additional time and teams are trying to run down the clock and as a reaction to that, referees are now way more conscious of the fact that there needs to be at least five minutes of injury-time. People at matches know the phrase, ‘there’ll be at least five minutes additional time’.”

Seven years ago, a motion to congress was successful in introducing the countdown clock familiar from women’s football. But after trialling the idea in third-level college’s fixtures, the GAA decided not to proceed after identifying what were seen as shortcomings in the system.

As a result, the 2013 amendment was deleted at a subsequent Congress.

The misgivings about the time-keeping system that has proved successful in the women’s game were based on reputational damage to the association, according to the report presented to Central Council:

“As part of the two trials of the clock/hooter system conducted, a number of concerns were raised by those who witnessed the trials in action with regard to the impact the introduction of the clock and hooter might have on the playing of our games.

“These included operating officials, referees, players, mentors and spectators. These concerns – along with the suggested protocol for implementation – were also presented to Central Council delegates. In the main, the concerns centred on potential damage to the reputation of association:

These included human error or failure to operate it properly, system failure, prevalence of ‘fouling down’ the clock, the playing of ‘keep ball’ when the clock was in view and deliberate concession of possession in order to make the ball go dead.”


There are no plans to revisit the idea.

Article from the Irish Times a few days back.

Regarding the first bit in bold I don't think I've been at any tight game in the last few years at every level where timekeeping wasn't raised as an issue afterwards.
It's a consistent theme be in club, school or intercounty where the score is tight.

The second bit in bold shows the flimsiness of the case against a hooter system given all the arguements listed here against it already occur.
I argue that more reputational damage is being done by continuing on with the current system.
It's as certain as rain is wet there will be countless more tight games where the ref's timekeeping comes up as an issue until eventually a hooter system is adopted.

The key argument in favour of a hooter system is the blatant evidence of the women's game where the hooter system works so well in literally thousands of games.

I'd love to hear those who have adopted the "yerra things are grand" approach like Feargal here make the case as to why things would not be better with a hooter system like the women's game.

Well said.

This just further highlights the absolute disconnect between the top brass of the GAA and the grassroots. I mean is this fella watching games at all? It's an issue that crops up on most weekends!

I walk away from a match with few thoughts, we could have played better, we were brilliant, can’t remember last time I walked away from a game as a supporter going, flip sake, we should have had 2 more minutes there at the end!

The thoughts you refer to are not mutually exclusive.

4

GAA Discussion / Re: Gaelic Football - Rules & Regulations discussion/clarification

« on: February 13, 2020, 10:44:32 PM »

Heard David Gough explaining this. The new watches the refs have cater for this and it's all done correctly to the rules. Trouble here is lack of understanding of the rules and possibly the GAA doing a poor job of communicating the actual situation.

Quelle Surprise.

GAA insist time keeping is not a major issue in games
No plans for review despite accusations of inconsistency by Meath boss
Tue, Feb 11, 2020, 01:00
Seán Moran
 
The GAA have no plans to review time keeping procedures after criticism from Meath manager Andy McEntee of the lack of added time played in his team’s narrow defeat by Mayo in Navan.

Feargal McGill, the GAA’s Head of Games Administration, said that he was happy with the standard of time keeping, which was overhauled a few years ago in order to address time wasting. As a result, matches frequently run up to the 76th and 77th minutes.

“I have to say that I think there’s a high standard of consistency at the moment from our officials in how they apply the rules on time. We have minimum allowances for substitutions and regulations that were introduced at the start of 2016 to ensure that adequate additional time was being played.

“I don’t think you have the situation where people are walking away from matches every week complaining about the amount of time being played or not played.

“There have been high-profile incidents recently of referees playing way over the announced time – the Kilcoo game [All-Ireland club football final against Corofin] and the Dublin game [last Saturday] and if you look at both of those games you’d see that the referee got it right.”

McEntee’s unhappiness was made clear to print, digital and broadcast media after the match when he contrasted how his team had been granted no additional time beyond the announced four minutes with Dublin’s experience on Saturday night. Both he and his players seemed to anticipate a further opportunity to equalise after Thomas Reilly had cut the deficit to a point.

“I can’t believe – the amount of breaks that were there in those four minutes of extra-time and we don’t play two seconds of extra-time? Dublin got two minutes last night [Saturday] to get an equalising score. There’s a level of inconsistency all over the place. And they want referees to get respect. They’ve got to show a little bit too.

“It’s one rule for the Dublin’s and the bigger names in this world and it’s a different rule for everybody else.”

He referred to an incident in which Mayo replacement Bryan Walsh had been down injured during additional time.

“He’s supposed to play on . . .” he said of Tyrone referee Seán Hurson. “I mean if that guy is lying down on the ground for 30 seconds holding his head – 30 seconds, you get two scores in 30 seconds”

The Meath manager had grounds for grievance in that instance. Four minutes were announced as injury-time but whereas the injury stopped play for 35 seconds, the clock stopped at four minutes 10 seconds after O’Reilly’s score.

Down referee Ciarán Branagan added three minutes to the announced six at Croke Park on Saturday, enabling Dublin to close a six-point deficit by the 79th minute. Most observers accept that the match had been held up for that amount of time, as the referee administered some cards, injuries were treated and replacements took to the field.

McGill contends however that referees are far more aware of the need to address deliberate time wasting.

“When the board goes up for five minutes’ additional time and teams are trying to run down the clock and as a reaction to that, referees are now way more conscious of the fact that there needs to be at least five minutes of injury-time. People at matches know the phrase, ‘there’ll be at least five minutes additional time’.”

Seven years ago, a motion to congress was successful in introducing the countdown clock familiar from women’s football. But after trialling the idea in third-level college’s fixtures, the GAA decided not to proceed after identifying what were seen as shortcomings in the system.

As a result, the 2013 amendment was deleted at a subsequent Congress.

The misgivings about the time-keeping system that has proved successful in the women’s game were based on reputational damage to the association, according to the report presented to Central Council:

“As part of the two trials of the clock/hooter system conducted, a number of concerns were raised by those who witnessed the trials in action with regard to the impact the introduction of the clock and hooter might have on the playing of our games.

“These included operating officials, referees, players, mentors and spectators. These concerns – along with the suggested protocol for implementation – were also presented to Central Council delegates. In the main, the concerns centred on potential damage to the reputation of association:

These included human error or failure to operate it properly, system failure, prevalence of ‘fouling down’ the clock, the playing of ‘keep ball’ when the clock was in view and deliberate concession of possession in order to make the ball go dead.”


There are no plans to revisit the idea.

Article from the Irish Times a few days back.

Regarding the first bit in bold I don't think I've been at any tight game in the last few years at every level where timekeeping wasn't raised as an issue afterwards.
It's a consistent theme be in club, school or intercounty where the score is tight.

The second bit in bold shows the flimsiness of the case against a hooter system given all the arguements listed here against it already occur.
I argue that more reputational damage is being done by continuing on with the current system.
It's as certain as rain is wet there will be countless more tight games where the ref's timekeeping comes up as an issue until eventually a hooter system is adopted.

The key argument in favour of a hooter system is the blatant evidence of the women's game where the hooter system works so well in literally thousands of games.

I'd love to hear those who have adopted the "yerra things are grand" approach like Feargal here make the case as to why things would not be better with a hooter system like the women's game.

Well said.

This just further highlights the absolute disconnect between the top brass of the GAA and the grassroots. I mean is this fella watching games at all? It's an issue that crops up on most weekends!

Here's another quote from Feargal McGill '“The game (Kildare v Mayo) has been fixed for 7pm in Croke Park, and that is not going to change under any circumstances”. A common theme is digging the heels in despite all of the evidence telling you that you're wrong. Like the Newbridge episode, they'll eventually buckle on the stopclock but only after pressure is put on. Always reactive and never proactive.

5

GAA Discussion / Re: NFL Division 1 - 2020

« on: February 02, 2020, 08:04:07 PM »

15 thousand people travelled to MacHale Park last night and all of them may as well have gone home again after 15 minutes due to the rash decision by Barry Cassidy. Everyone makes mistakes but the fact that he didn't even consult with his linesman was particularly poor. It's pointless analysing the game after that because the contest was as good as over.

From a Mayo point of view, one thing that has to be mentioned is the goal keeping issue. Rob Hennelly had a decent game last night and it's clear he's great kicker of a ball (when the squeeze isn't on him). He wasn't really at fault for the goal yesterday but at the same time, it was the type of goal that Clarke rarely concedes as Clarke usually takes man and ball out of it. I was looking at some stats recently and they don't lie. Excluding games against New York and London, Rob hasn't kept a clean sheet in championship since the Connacht Final in 2014. Last year, out of 71 matches across the championship, only on 5 occasions did the team that conceded more goals win. Conceding goals has been killing Mayo for the last decade and while the blame can't be fully placed with Rob, it's clear that a big mistake is never too far away with him. Last night he dropped another high ball that on another day could easily have gone in. I don't want to slate the lad because I'm sure he puts in hours every week but if we play him again come championship, it is going to end in tears...and the blame is going to rest with James Horan.

6

GAA Discussion / Re: NFL Division 1 - 2020

« on: January 26, 2020, 05:04:08 PM »

No surprise to see refereeing issues coming up again after the weekend. Both referees last night Coldrick and Hurson are very much 'soft free' refs. Players are well aware of this and will go down when there is the slightest bit of contact. It ruins the game and forces managers to go with defensive systems because they can't allow their defenders go one on one when it's a guaranteed free in to the forward. While the likes of David Gough and Conor Lane have their flaws, at least they allow some form of a 'tackle'. Deegan is another 'soft free' merchant though I didn't see the Galway game today.

3 out of 4 of the Division one games this weekend ended with controversy over the amount of injury time allowed. This comes a week after the Corofin injury time shitshow. I'd argue that refs are often correct to keep adding on time due to rampant time wasting in the game however the whole thing could be fixed so easily, it's ridiculous at this stage. When will the clowns in the GAA just introduce the clock system that operates so well in Rugby? Players, management and spectators could then easily see exactly when the clock is stopped, how much time is left etc. and it would cut out a lot of the bullshit.

7

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo Millionaire backer withholds Money

« on: December 03, 2019, 06:55:17 PM »

The latest in the saga:
https://www.offtheball.com/sport/mayo-gaa-receive-e1-million-funding-pending-agreement-terms-932039

While the county board should be making every effort to secure the funding in question, these latest demands from the foundation are a step too far IMO.

There should be scope for agreement on most of the conditions however I see there being a major issue with point number 4 which states:

'The bid process for all sponsorship deals to be managed by a Committee with its members to be agreed in advance with the Foundation and to include independent oversight by a representative from the Foundation'.

The idea of an independent body, not elected by the clubs, having oversight on funding that it provides itself is one thing. Having oversight on 'all sponsorship deals' is a very different matter and runs totally contrary to the democratic ethos of the GAA.

So the current sponsorship deals are democratically chosen? Voted on by clubs?

The current sponsorship deals are organised by the county committee which is voted in by the clubs, the same as in every other county.

8

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo Millionaire backer withholds Money

« on: December 02, 2019, 09:35:40 PM »

The latest in the saga:
https://www.offtheball.com/sport/mayo-gaa-receive-e1-million-funding-pending-agreement-terms-932039

While the county board should be making every effort to secure the funding in question, these latest demands from the foundation are a step too far IMO.

There should be scope for agreement on most of the conditions however I see there being a major issue with point number 4 which states:

'The bid process for all sponsorship deals to be managed by a Committee with its members to be agreed in advance with the Foundation and to include independent oversight by a representative from the Foundation'.

The idea of an independent body, not elected by the clubs, having oversight on funding that it provides itself is one thing. Having oversight on 'all sponsorship deals' is a very different matter and runs totally contrary to the democratic ethos of the GAA.

9

GAA Discussion / Re: Jim Gavin

« on: December 01, 2019, 02:34:17 PM »

The context is all wrong. He got a lot out of his panel. 5 in a row. 36 match unbeaten streak. But we are not in football as usual.

The Dubs won their first Sam of the decade in 2011 after a long period of mediocrity.  Mayo reached their first final in 2012.
That Mayo team is past it now. The Dubs aren’t

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/jim-gavin-leaves-dublin-with-history-made-and-gaelic-football-transformed-1.4100789?mode=amp

« Paul Flynn, Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly were pillars of his teams over the first three or four years. Didn’t matter. Over time, they were replaced by Niall Scully, Con O’Callaghan and Brian Howard. Philly McMahon was the only Dublin defender to play every minute of every final under Gavin between 2013 and 2018. Didn’t matter. This year he didn’t feature in the drawn game at all and only saw the last 15 minutes of the replay. Davy Byrne and Eoin Murchan have both passed him. »

They can do this because they have the biggest production line in the sport. They can prime players to replace superstars without changing the performance levels of the team. That is what the funding allowed. This can go on indefinitely

Mayo were mortal
The Dubs have a perpetual football motion machine

The GAA have no idea what to do now.

If that Mayo team are past it now, then surely 'that' Dublin team are also past it. The reality is both counties have 2 totally different teams playing at the moment.

10

GAA Discussion / Re: Jim Gavin

« on: December 01, 2019, 11:55:47 AM »

 There is no way that the co-ordinated pull down of several Mayo defenders at the exact same time at the end of that final was a spur the moment decision by the Dublin players. I don't blame the Dublin management for organising it (I would have gladly taken an All-Ireland win had the Mayo management done the same)

Gas how bitterness can make people lose their memory/sense.

The pull down played no part in Dublin winning the All Ireland. Touch tight was what the plan was, not wrestling Keegan to the ground, regardless of GPS throwing. Gavin was annoyed at that. Meant the ref added on an extra minute and Mayo had an extra man to get the equalizer. Thankfully Clarke sailed his kick out right over the sideline!!

Gas how victory can make people lose their memory/sense.

Maybe Clarke might have got his kickout to a mayo player if Keegan, Durcan, Harrison and Stephen Coen hadn't all been wrestled as soon as soon as Rock's free went over? Mayo were always going to get one last chance regardless of the stoppage, that's how referees work it and it will stay the same until a stopclock is brought in and this timing farce is ended.

Look, Dublin deserved the win, they took more of their scoring opportunities. I was merely using the above example to highlight Gavin's two-faced shite about Dublin playing 'honest' football. It is possible to highlight things like this while also acknowledging his obvious talents as a manager.   

 

11

GAA Discussion / Re: Jim Gavin

« on: December 01, 2019, 01:54:17 AM »

His record speaks for itself and he will deservedly go down as one of the all time greats. For all the praise he gets, I think his greatest quality often got overlooked, which was his on-field decision making/team selection. While he obviously had a talented management team around him, he had the final say and he almost always seemed to get it right...2016-throwing in a relatively unknown Cormac Costello who proceeded to single-handedly win it for them, 2017-Not starting Connolly and then unleashing him when the game was in the melting pot, deciding to start Eoin Murchan in the replay this year, the list goes on.

For me though, I'll remember him as the man who sucked the life out of Gaelic football. The endless platitude infested interviews, the lack of even a smile after wining the three in a row in 2017, the way his ruthlessly efficient, yet robotic team tore away any element of surprise or competitiveness from the Leinster championship before essentially doing the same thing to the AI Championship (bar 1 game a year against Kerry or Mayo).
His two faced utterances about playing 'honest open' football while his team brought cynicism to new levels. There is no way that the co-ordinated pull down of several Mayo defenders at the exact same time at the end of that final was a spur the moment decision by the Dublin players. I don't blame the Dublin management for organising it (I would have gladly taken an All-Ireland win had the Mayo management done the same) however I do think Gavin's deceitful shite in the media needed to be called out a lot more.

So despite his great qualities as a manger, I can't help but think that his departure will be a positive thing for Gaelic football as a whole.

12

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo Millionaire backer withholds Money

« on: October 01, 2019, 11:31:33 PM »

A bit of a Roman Abramovich scenario going on here, lots of double standard posters.

Its not pleasant having your laundry aired in public is it... especially for everyones favourite county, the arent we great brigade.

You see it across the country where individuals put money into their county. Declan Kelly Tipperary, JP McManus Limerick, Bertie Ahern and the €5m to Dublin.

As i said Double standards, At least other counties can put it to use, not a hope in Mayo. Dont even have the competence to accept free financial gifts.

I suppose it's difficult when you have actual volunteers trying to run the county board. There are several full time administrators in your own county for example.

Then take money from donors and hire some people.

Unfortunately money from donors is not a fixed income that can be budgeted to pay the annual salary or salaries for full time administrators let alone a CEO position. The only fixed income outside of gate receipts for a county like Mayo is sponsorship and most of this money is sucked up by day to day stuff like insurance, debt repayments, team expenses and coaching. Team expenses are the most frustrating since stuff like travel expenses and backroom teams to stay relevant or just compete are spiraling out of control but sponsorship and gate receipts depend on the level of success of a county team so it is a catch 22 situation!!

And they are out of control because you don't have the people in place to control it... Structures first, sun holidays second.

Talk about ignorance!  Ya, maybe it's the sun holidays.

Or..... maybe it might have something to do with the fact that the Mayo county board have to pay 33 grand every month to pay for the debt on our county ground, something the Dubs will never have to worry about as neutral Croke Park is handed over to them.

Also, unlike the dubs, a large section of our players and backroom team have to travel the breadth of the country a couple of times a week which could have something to do with the large expenses bill.

Or maybe it's just that Dublin have better people in place

13

GAA Discussion / Re: The definitive list of disgraceful refereeing performances favouring Kerry

« on: September 15, 2019, 08:56:02 PM »

Lane toned it down in the second half bit the first half yesterday was a scandal.

Dublin didn't get one free from scoring range yesterday despite all the fouling that was going on, particularly off the ball. The only point Rock got from a placed ball was a 45. When has that ever happened with Dublin before?

It baffles me how it took Stephen O'Brien until near the end of the game to get a yellow card. He must have committed 15 fouls by that stage.

A lot is made about Donor Buckley being a great coach and how he teaches his teams how to tackle. What he teaches his teams is how to tactically foul teams on a consistent basis. It was the same with Mayo when he was there but it's ramped up another level with Kerry. Fair enough if you can get away with it but it's not even subtle at this stage. O'Shea, O'Sullivan and O'Brien have spent over 200 minutes hanging off opponents for the past threegames in full view of the referee and it's been by and large ignored.

The favouritism Kerry receive from referees is beyond a joke at this point, it's being going on for years.

Maybe that doesn't happen Dublin too often because they are used to having having shite referees who always give the free to the man in possession (most intercounty referees fall into this bracket), the Dubs tend to get frustrated when they get decent referees like Gough and Lane who actually allow defenders to tackle. You can't have Smiley Deegan or Dublin Joe every day I suppose!

Lane had a decent game overall although he possibly should have given a black card to O Callaghan for the pull down that prevented a clear Kerry goal scoring opportunity.

And spare us the 'holier than thou' shite about Kerry holding/fouling off the ball as if the Dubs weren't masters at that themselves!

14

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo v Dublin - AISF - Saturday 5pm

« on: August 26, 2019, 08:40:14 PM »

That's fair enough and I accept that a lot of Dublin's success is down to hard graft and volunteer work.
I have said it any times her that I don't blame Dublin for taking all the money they can get and I don't begrudge them any amount of ALL Irelands either. They are playing the same system as every other county. That's human nature and Mayo/ Kerry/Donegal or whoever would do the very same if they got half a chance.
but it is up to the other county boards to make their feelings known as bitching on forums like this won't do anyone any good.
However, II have yet to hear a credible reason as to why Dublin gets c. €254 per registered player and, say, Kerry gets only €19. I don't blame Dublin for this but I do blame Kerry.
BTW, I will be rooting for Dublin in the final and so will most Mayo people I know.

Lar, I know you didn't come up with those figures, but they are just irrelevant. Again, I know it wasn't you, but whoever came up with that showed a complete ignorance of what games development funding is. Might as well divide by the number of buses in each county and see how that compares.

You need to divide by the number of primary school children, that's were the development funds are focused. Increasing participation.

If you want to go down that road.....County Dublin has the primary school population of a province. It's totally unsustainable for a population of that size to have only one team competing in the All Ireland Chamionship. The logical thing would be for Dublin to have 4 teams split on along the 4 County council areas Fingal, City, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and South Dublin.

15

GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo v Dublin - AISF - Saturday 5pm

« on: August 11, 2019, 06:48:10 PM »

Fenton, Mannion and Con O Callaghan are absolutely awesome in full flight and are virtually unmarkable when given a good supply of ball. You are far more likely to unearth freaks like those boys when you're dealing with a population of 1.4 million as opposed to Mayo who have a population of 130 thousand. For me, that is still the biggest advantage they have, bigger than money, Croke Park etc.

For Mayo, yesterday's game had some similarities to the 2015 Semi Final replay, a good first half performance totally undone by a 5 minute shitshow where we were destroyed on our own kickouts. The reality is that the game was over after 42 minutes. Dublin always win their own kickout after conceding a goal, they rarely lose 2 kickouts in a row and they NEVER lose more than 2 in a row. The reason for this is that winning opposition kickouts gives a team a massive momentum boost and the Dubs are well aware of this. When the Dubs win a few opposition kickouts, one after another, it creates an unstoppable blue wave aided by the hill.

After Dublin got their first goal yesterday Dublin won a barely believable 5 Mayo kickouts in a row (Durcan initially won 1 of these but lost it a second later). This is totally unacceptable form a Mayo point of view, all the more frustrating considering the lesson was not learned 4 years ago. While Hennelly has to take some of the blame for this, the fact that the same thing happened to Clarke down in Killarney shows that this is a total systems failure on behalf of management, outfield players and goalkeepers. This is not happening to any of the other 3 teams that made the semi finals (Kerry secured their last 4 kickouts today despite immense pressure from the Tyrone forwards) so there is no reason why the problem can't be fixed. James Horan needs to spend the first few months of next year specifically working on this area because the problem continuously rears it's head. Groundhog day.

I see the usual obituaries are being written for 'this great team'. It might interest some of them that of the team that started Horan's first All Ireland final in 2012, 5 of them, Keegan, Boyle, Vaughan, Aidan and Cillian started yesterday. While that's still a large number to carry across 7 years, it's far from the same team. Lads like Ruane, Carr, Stephen Coen, McDonagh and Boland will have learned a lot from yesterday and will come back stronger next year.