Div 1 - Mayo v Kerry, McHale Park, 20/02/2011 @ 2.30 pm

[saffronandblue]

Looking forward to the game on Sunday. The lack of strength in our black line is a concern and I for one would like to see a few more big gossurs in the back line.  The ever present one will surely play in goal and in the full back line before the league is over

Against Down our half back line were far too loose on their men, I would like to see them man marking rather than watching space......too much like Liverpools zone defence for my liking.....didn't do them much good

I am not sure what Howleys best position is, but under O'Mahony he seemed to be terrified to leave the 45 line and as a result he ended up marking no one and the man he was supposed to be marking ran riot.  Hes a great player going forward so I would like to see him attacking much more with other covering off when he does go forward.  That said, I believe that James H is fairly conservative so I expect to see him stuck inside his own 45 for the game.

The entry fee is worth it, if only to see the Gooch.........the Messi of Gaelic football.

[Kerry Mike]

Eoin Brosnan at Number 6  , not many saw that coming but heard he was back in training so its worth a try , has always been a fine footballer, plenty of speed, skill and a good fielder too but I always had a bit of a problem with his workrate but hopefully he will prove me wrong, he opted out in 2009 after making a brief comebeck for the championship, but good to see he has the hunger back to give it possibly one last fling in the Kerry geansai, and with all the missing backs we have its a brave and hopefully worthwhile move by Jack O'C.

Great to see the Gooch back too , thankfully his eye injury is not as serious as first thought, and he leads the ranks for the first time too.

David Geaney gets another chance after some great scoring bursts to date, will be good to see how himself and Master Gooch work out together for the first time.

And there is a great sprinkling of youth in there too with lads given a chance after the McGrath Cup  and the recent good performance against Cork.

Killian Young and Brian Sheehan return to the panel too, Young from injury nad Sheehan from a successfull club stint so good news all round.

A must win game all the same for us after 1 loss so it will make for an interesting game this weekend.

[moysider]

Looking forward to the game on Sunday. The lack of strength in our black line is a concern and I for one would like to see a few more big gossurs in the back line.  The ever present one will surely play in goal and in the full back line before the league is over

Against Down our half back line were far too loose on their men, I would like to see them man marking rather than watching space......too much like Liverpools zone defence for my liking.....didn't do them much good

I am not sure what Howleys best position is, but under O'Mahony he seemed to be terrified to leave the 45 line and as a result he ended up marking no one and the man he was supposed to be marking ran riot.  Hes a great player going forward so I would like to see him attacking much more with other covering off when he does go forward.  That said, I believe that James H is fairly conservative so I expect to see him stuck inside his own 45 for the game.

The entry fee is worth it, if only to see the Gooch.........the Messi of Gaelic football.

Exactly. He was terrified because his 2 wing men had already disappeared over the horizon and we weren't exactly playin cover or anything. It ll be interesting to see what is put in place for Sunday. Three half backs that are best going forward, although in fairness McLoughlin is a top marker if he is asked to do that. Horan has not been conservative so far. He is not likely to show his hand too early either and at this stage he is right to play a flat 15 I think. So in the unlikely event that he will play a forward deep, Howley will have to play behind the ball for the most part. I expect us to do well in midfield against that pairing from Kerry. But I m not sure how we are set up to exploit that possibility. I m not sure that forward line inside will hold onto ball. If we run the ball from the back we could get murdered on the counter. A lot of concern about the backs but it is at the other end we need to be concerned about more imo.

[RedandGreenSniper]

I wonder will this time actually line out like this? I'd have my doubts. I reckon we could see late changes. Also, in a horses for courses approach, we should put Dillon into chf to expose Brosnan playing in a new position and leave Andy on the wing. Kerry seem to have a small full-back line so maybe AOS can make hay off them - maybe that's why he's selected in there.

I can see what guys mean about Trevor Howley being left exposed at six before but the reality is that when he is not able to keep quiet an inmobile player like Joe Sheridan in check, he's gonna be in trouble against most centre-half forwards. I agree with Moysider, Ger Caff was definitely worth persisting with for the short-term at 6 to see how he did. Hopefully it is just a short term measure to get through the Kerry game without them destroying all progress. Hopefully.

[Farrandeelin]

Great, we have a number three who is better at number 6 according to moysider who is a Ballina man himself and a number 6 who rummages far better when he's out the field. Donaghy and Darran O'Sullivan could have a field day. However, I'm willing to give Horan the benefit of the doubt here as we are starting a clean slate. I'm happy that Aiden Campbell is starting, he had massive potential, lets see has he still got what it takes to be a star at inter-county level after the fall out with JOM. Have to say I'm happy enough with the midfield up, but the defence is worrying looking, but it's still only February yet.

Mayo v Fingal is on at 1pm for those who want to get in early on Sunday.

[muppet]

Great, we have a number three who is better at number 6 according to moysider who is a Ballina man himself and a number 6 who rummages far better when he's out the field. Donaghy and Darran O'Sullivan could have a field day. However, I'm willing to give Horan the benefit of the doubt here as we are starting a clean slate. I'm happy that Aiden Campbell is starting, he had massive potential, lets see has he still got what it takes to be a star at inter-county level after the fall out with JOM. Have to say I'm happy enough with the midfield up, but the defence is worrying looking, but it's still only February yet.

Mayo v Fingal is on at 1pm for those who want to get in early on Sunday.

You're not thinking of Declan? Darren is fast and a good ball carrier but he is not the match- the brother is.

[Farrandeelin]

Great, we have a number three who is better at number 6 according to moysider who is a Ballina man himself and a number 6 who rummages far better when he's out the field. Donaghy and Darran O'Sullivan could have a field day. However, I'm willing to give Horan the benefit of the doubt here as we are starting a clean slate. I'm happy that Aiden Campbell is starting, he had massive potential, lets see has he still got what it takes to be a star at inter-county level after the fall out with JOM. Have to say I'm happy enough with the midfield up, but the defence is worrying looking, but it's still only February yet.

Mayo v Fingal is on at 1pm for those who want to get in early on Sunday.

You're not thinking of Declan? Darren is fast and a good ball carrier but he is not the match- the brother is.

I know he's fast and I hope Howley can keep with him. If not there could be trouble ahead. But let's face the music and dance (see how things go) first of all...

[Kerry Mike]

You're not thinking of Declan? Darren is fast and a good ball carrier but he is not the match- the brother is.

Not Brothers not even from the same Parish or division

[muppet]

You're not thinking of Declan? Darren is fast and a good ball carrier but he is not the match- the brother is.

Not Brothers not even from the same Parish or division

Apologies, don't know where I got that.

Must say fair play to the Kerry boys for putting up comprehensive details of their players on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declan_O'Sullivan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darran_O'Sullivan

Compared with probably our best known of recent times:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciarán_McDonald

[maguire 4 mayo]

don't think it will... as a solid performance should be given by the lads but i hope tomorrow doesn't end in disaster for us. Kerry tails will be up big time after losing to Cork the first day out

[RedandGreenSniper]

I'm hearing of changes to the Mayo team. Howley injured and an all Mitchels full-back line - Feeney x 2 and Cunniffe. Could be more changes too.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Howley and Barrett out for Mayo, both Feeneys in. So we will probably line up as

1) Robert Hennelly,
2) Tom Cunniffe, 3) Alan Feeney, 4) Richie Feeney,
5) Peadar Gardiner, 6) Ger Cafferkey, 7) Kevin McLoughlin,
8 ) Jason Gibbins, 9) Ronan McGarrity,
10) Aidan Campbell, 11) Andy Moran, 12) Alan Dillon,
13) Aidan O'Shea, 14) Aidan Kilcoyne, 15) Mark Ronaldson

[Tubberman]

Howley and Barrett out for Mayo, both Feeneys in. So we will probably line up as

1) Robert Hennelly,
2) Tom Cunniffe, 3) Alan Feeney, 4) Richie Feeney,
5) Peadar Gardiner, 6) Ger Cafferkey, 7) Kevin McLoughlin,
8 ) Jason Gibbins, 9) Ronan McGarrity,
10) Aidan Campbell, 11) Andy Moran, 12) Alan Dillon,
13) Aidan O'Shea, 14) Aidan Kilcoyne, 15) Mark Ronaldson

Good, I'd much prefer to see how that defence gets on, rather than the defence named earlier in the week - we know what that group can and can't do.

[muppet]

Howley and Barrett out for Mayo, both Feeneys in. So we will probably line up as

1) Robert Hennelly,
2) Tom Cunniffe, 3) Alan Feeney, 4) Richie Feeney,
5) Peadar Gardiner, 6) Ger Cafferkey, 7) Kevin McLoughlin,
8 ) Jason Gibbins, 9) Ronan McGarrity,
10) Aidan Campbell, 11) Andy Moran, 12) Alan Dillon,
13) Aidan O'Shea, 14) Aidan Kilcoyne, 15) Mark Ronaldson

Good, I'd much prefer to see how that defence gets on, rather than the defence named earlier in the week - we know what that group can and can't do.

Donaghy and co will be some test for the Feeneys and Cunniffe.

[Tubberman]

Mayo 0-0 Kerry 0-1

Kerry seem to have most of the possession but Mayo defence coping ok with them so far.
Cunniffe on Gooch. Think it's Richie Feeney on Donaghy.