Mayo V Dublin - The lets start losing the run of ourselves final

[Hound]

Mayo have totally played Dublin off the park but have managed to hit 15 wides in the first 50 minutes!

Still all to play for, but the questions are will Mayo find the target, and will Dublin bother with offence...

[Hound]

So Dublin win by a point.

The last two wins have been very little to do with playing well and a lot to do with poor opposition. I hate this 13 man defence shíte, and we deserved to get well beaten today. Ignoring shots that fell short (coz I don't have the stats), in terms of scoring chances today it was Mayo 29 Dublin 14.
Bizarre to win such a game. Off course, winning close games that you don't deserve is not a bad habit. Hope ta feck we can improve though.

[INDIANA]

So Dublin win by a point.

The last two wins have been very little to do with playing well and a lot to do with poor opposition. I hate this 13 man defence shíte, and we deserved to get well beaten today. Ignoring shots that fell short (coz I don't have the stats), in terms of scoring chances today it was Mayo 29 Dublin 14.
Bizarre to win such a game. Off course, winning close games that you don't deserve is not a bad habit. Hope ta feck we can improve though.

take the win hound. Sounded an awful game on the radio however. Still needed Berno yet again.

[Zulu]

Dublin have played plenty of classic matches already winning a few games where they dog it out by playing negative football will do them no harm. They haven't many of their big names playing at the moment and I'm sure they'll play a more open brand of football in the summer mixed with a steeler resolve when they don't have the ball, I'd be delighted if I was a Dub.

[INDIANA]

Dublin have played plenty of classic matches already winning a few games where they dog it out by playing negative football will do them no harm. They haven't many of their big names playing at the moment and I'm sure they'll play a more open brand of football in the summer mixed with a steeler resolve when they don't have the ball, I'd be delighted if I was a Dub.

They won't be playing open football in the summer Zulu. Put the house on it. Because we haven't the backs to do it. Hence the 13 men behind the ball. They have to use this way of playing. I'll take the win and reserve my judgment on the style till we play Cork. thats the acid test.
I didn't see the game so it would be remiss of me to criticise a game without actually seeing it. But 1992 since we last won there so i'll take it. Certainly better than losing like we usually do up there.

[Zulu]

I think they'll have to open up a bit Indiana, all the best teams get bodies behind the ball when they don't have it but I don't think Dublin will win an AI by playing an overly negative brand of football. In the league, tighter, heavier pitches and poor weather can reward teams that defend well but I don't think Dublin would be successful in CP if they were overly negative. I think they are simply focusing on getting this aspect of their game right at teh moment but I'd be shocked if they don't open up a bit in the summer when they'll have the Brogans etc. upfront to pull the trigger.

[ross4life]

how many points did mayo score from play without mark ronaldson today?

[INDIANA]

how many points did mayo score from play without mark ronaldson today?

Based on the radio.

Moran got one in the 2nd half from play and varley got one in the first half from play. thats it i think.

[Farrandeelin]

Yes, only 1-2 from play. Fair dues to the Dublin defence for getting their tactics right today, but Mayo's shooting when there was no real pressure on them was nothing short of appalling. I don't know what is been done at training, but it mustn't be ball work. Dublin won the midfield battle hands down I thought. Yes I know McGarrity went off injured but he wasn't impressive either. I thought Cafferkey and Howley were very good from a Mayo point of view. Andy Moran worked hard too but no other forward was able to. The substitutions after Mayo got the goal proved to be the turning point. This is also worrying from my own vantage point, Dublin didn't start their best available team and yet brought on subs to win, Mayo did and lost. I think that Galway game got to their heads a bit...

[moysider]

Frustrating game for Mayo people. Tactically we were not good. We didn't deal at all well with the packed defense and our free/45 taking was dreadful. The handling of many of our players was awful. Early jitters by a few quickly spread through the team The early ball is not sticking to the target man either. Then we end up relying on the running game and end up with runners repeatedly taking on 2 or more men and getting turned over. Even when we got frees they were no good to us. We re bare enough with impact from the bench too. The Mort cameo summed us up really. Plus ca change. Quite a few Mayo players played well though. Thought Chris Barrett did well when he replaced Gardiner.

[ballinaman]

Frustrating game for Mayo people. Tactically we were not good. We didn't deal at all well with the packed defense and our free/45 taking was dreadful. The handling of many of our players was awful. Early jitters by a few quickly spread through the team The early ball is not sticking to the target man either. Then we end up relying on the running game and end up with runners repeatedly taking on 2 or more men and getting turned over. Even when we got frees they were no good to us. We re bare enough with impact from the bench too. The Mort cameo summed us up really. Plus ca change. Quite a few Mayo players played well though. Thought Chris Barrett did well when he replaced Gardiner.

How bad are the injuries to McGarrity and Gardiner?? Heard they are hamstring and Gardiners looked like a broken arm??Any truth in that?

[rosnarun]

gardiber looked very sore coming off and mcgarrity hamstring seemed to go  while kicking the ball how /why he played on after was just stupid. but stupidity was the main reason mayo lost today.
the stupidity of using 5 different free takers esp C mort's first kick of the game after 6 months doing what ever
the stupidity of leaving Cafferkey on the picth when he faile to catch a ball all day or mark his man. this is the worst mayo footballer since Austin o malley.
the stupidity of leaving a very out of sorts Aiden osé on
im not going to harp on it but this all poibbts back to MAnagement and the lack of leadership on the line.

On the plus side all the young forward look like good footbasllers even though if today was a measure of there accuracy they will not be worth aq tinkers curse . I am will ing to give alot of leeway to Varley Douglas Freeman as they only have a handful of starts between them.
Seamus Ose continues to greatly impress and should be a major player for mayo this summer hough half forward /midfield  places will be very scare come summer . with T mort andy SOS Mcgarrity the slgoman dillion Harte and kilcoyne all expecting a start there before looking any further into the newer names 

[Barney]

Very disappointing and frustrating. Could we have played any worse? It looks like we could face a struggle now in this Division with 3 away games in Derry, Kerry and Cork to come which is a pity after such a good start.

The shooting yesterday was abysmal and embarassing. The game itself was dire but I think Dublin will have to be delighted. As some of their posters have said they will have to open up later in the year and they did late in the game yesterday to a small extent but they will take great spirit from their hard work yesterday. Gilroy knew Mayo were there for the taking at the back when the forwards were not performing and left two men inside on their own which exposed our full-back line again.

The usual problem of too many attacking defenders caught us as well. If one man goes forward another should be staying back especially when we have such massive handling problems.

But most galling was the lack of work ethic at times yesterday. Dublin were far hungrier and when they won dirty ball they were not tracked as they should have been. Tom Parsons was very much a guilty party around the middle, the half-forward line didn't cover themselves in glory either.

It just shows that whatever peoples views of their talents the likes of Mortimer, Dillon, Kilcoyne, Harte, Barry Moran, Ronaldson and Cunniffe are the best that we have.

Varley has some potential I think. He has scored some good goals but yesterday when closed down he was in big bother. I would have question marks over what I have seen of Freeman. His kicking technique leaves a lot to be desired, however he is young and just learning the game at this level. AOS needs to pull up his socks - the u21 championship may reinvigorate him but you would guess a difficult second year will be his lot.

But in the same way that the first two games did not herald an exciting new dawn this game should not be seen as the end of the world. We will know by the end of the month exactly where we stand - good performances in Kerry and Derry with some points plundered would be a very encouraging start. The Monaghan game is a must win.

[Tubberman]

One of the most frustrating Mayo performances in years.
For some reason the handling (especially in the first half) was absolutely atrocious - nobody could hold onto the ball. Even when they seemed to have safely gathered it, they lost possession. Some of this may have been down to the pressure (or the anticipated pressure) that the Dub defenders were applying.
I think this, along with some early misses from frees may have affected the inexperienced forwards we had. The free/45 taking is a major problem. Dillon and maybe Mort are reliable from frees within 30m. What about 45s? Andy Moran shouldn't be let near them - he'll get maybe 1 in 8. Hopefully Aidan Kilcoyne gets back to full fitness soon and can take on this role.
But let's not be overly negative - we kicked 18 shocking wides, yet only lost by a point. So there had to be some decent play in there. I thought Howley, Vaughan, Keith Higgins, Barrett did well.
However, it must be said that Dublin were limitied enough footballing wise, we should have had enough to beat them.  Fennel and McConnell looked good in patches, yet they still lost the possession battle big time. They have a great work ethic though, and physically are a big, strong team. Brogan and Keaney made a big difference when they came on, so the Dubs can look forward with some optimism, although they're far from the finished article.
The next 3 matches in particular (away to Derry, Cork and Kerry) will tell us an awful lot about this Mayo team. Before yesterday, we were keeping the feet on the ground, despite the good start. Let's not get too down on ourselves after our first defeat. Hopefully it was a one off.....hopefully....

[Farrandeelin]

Sorry ros, I have to disagree with you regarding Cafferkey. He was out in front of his man for most of the match and I was impressed with him yesterday.