Mayo v Galway 26.6.11

[Blowitupref]

It's a tough enough job predicting the Galway lineout. We have played a few challenges recently but I have no idea what teams lined out. Playing without 3 of our 4 best forwards (Armstrong, Meehan & Nicky Joyce) makes the task a bridge too far for us in my opinion.We just don't have enough scoring forwards in reserve to compensate.PJ and Cormac Bane are about the only consistent scorers left in the team now.I think they may go for a team along the lines of this.
Faherty
Burke
Hanley
Forde
Bradshaw
Duane
Sice
Bergin
O Curraoin
Conroy
Hehir
Bane
Concannon
Joyce
Cummins

If Hanley plays midfield, then Duane will probably be in the corner with Greg Higgins or Diarmaid Blake at number 6.
That forwardline would not exactly inspire confidence to be honest.

I really doubt either Galway or Mayo will do much this year. The winner of this game will probably lose the Connacht final in the Hyde

What type of injury has Nicky Joyce & what's the story with Matthew Clancy on form he's one of Galway best forwards.

[GalwayBayBoy]

It's a tough enough job predicting the Galway lineout. We have played a few challenges recently but I have no idea what teams lined out. Playing without 3 of our 4 best forwards (Armstrong, Meehan & Nicky Joyce) makes the task a bridge too far for us in my opinion.We just don't have enough scoring forwards in reserve to compensate.PJ and Cormac Bane are about the only consistent scorers left in the team now.I think they may go for a team along the lines of this.
Faherty
Burke
Hanley
Forde
Bradshaw
Duane
Sice
Bergin
O Curraoin
Conroy
Hehir
Bane
Concannon
Joyce
Cummins

If Hanley plays midfield, then Duane will probably be in the corner with Greg Higgins or Diarmaid Blake at number 6.
That forwardline would not exactly inspire confidence to be honest.

I really doubt either Galway or Mayo will do much this year. The winner of this game will probably lose the Connacht final in the Hyde

What type of injury has Nicky Joyce & what's the story with Matthew Clancy on form he's one of Galway best forwards.

Don't think Nicky has an injury. He just didn't make himself available this year. A pity as he was the best forward in the county championship last season by a distance. Plus with no Meehan and Armstrong we could do with him on board. Mattie Clancy is a good honest worker who pops up with the odd imporant goal every now and then but he's not really a consistent enough scorer.

[moysider]

Funny how different people have a different view of players. There never appeared to be much regard for Matthew Clancy in Galway but he usually caused us more problems than likes of Meehan or Armstrong. The latter 2 we usually coped better with than teams outside the province could ever but likes of Clancy or Bane would do us. The same was true of the 90 s. Savage was the man and the other Clancy was a gem of a player. Maybe I should do a George Hamilton on it and call them the Clancy Brothers - remember GH lazily caled Dino and Roberto the 'Baggio brothers' and has had no cred ever since.

Am I goin off track here?

Bottom line though is that we re just goin to have to wait and see what is goin to happen weekend after next. It s up in the air. That' s the way it goes. This is not like 98 at all. Hard to believe that both teams have slipped back so bad but that is where we are and one or both of us have to get about making us serious, competitive counties again. How both counties were allowed waste away so badly after working so hard to get to the top of the pile 96-01 is unfortunate? Thing is though, 10 years in a successful county like Galway or Meath and 5 or less in a county like Mayo is a generation. The reality is both Mayo and Galway are starting from scratch.  We ll have to wait and see if there is any signs of recovery.

In fairness to Ros they have endured and worked hard and appear to have turned a corner.

[galwayman]

Hard to believe that both teams have slipped back so bad but that is where we are and one or both of us have to get about making us serious, competitive counties again.

Very true moysider. The thing is - if either of us truly got our act together then the other would probably follow suit. This is what happened around 95,96,97,98 where previously neither team was anywhere near All Ireland level.
Was certainly difficult for me as someone from very close to the South Mayo border to watch Mayo almost win Sam in 96 

The Galway team that lined up against Cork last week was...
Lally
Duane Coyne McGrath
O Donnell Higgins Sice
Bergin Hanley
Concannon Hehir Bradshaw
Joyce Conroy Armstrong

[Duine Eile]

And one P Joyce scored 1-04. Don't know what we're going to do when this man retires lads, it's high time the rest of them stepped up to the mark now. If he's the only one performing in challenges we're goosed when the real thing starts. Also Bradshaw at wing forward, where did that come from! 

[western exile]

And one P Joyce scored 1-04. Don't know what we're going to do when this man retires lads, it's high time the rest of them stepped up to the mark now. If he's the only one performing in challenges we're goosed when the real thing starts. Also Bradshaw at wing forward, where did that come from!

Did he actually play there? Or was he used in a defensive "sweeping" role?

[Blowitupref]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

[Tubberman]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

That's the second time I've seen Sean Óg De Paor saying beating Mayo in 98 was the greatest he felt after any match, including the All-Ireland wins in 98 and 01. Tells you how much those games mean to the players.
You could see how much Maughan relished the 99 win as well.
That atmosphere during the match and after that win in Tuam in 99 was second only to the semi v the Dubs in 06 for me.
Unreal to see the throngs of people stuck outside and up on top of the toilets in Tuam trying to get a view of the pitch!
Doubt we'll have that problem in Castlebar on Sunday week 

[ross4life]

Have to say i miss Connacht championship games been played in Tuam stadium it's replacement is crap compared to that old stadium.

[Rossfan]

Have to say i miss Connacht championship games been played in Tuam stadium it's replacement is crap compared to that old stadium.

+1 . And we hadn't a bad oul record there either .

[seafoid]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

95 -96- 97 were great matches . It was all or nothing and there were 2 very good teams with lots of respect for each other.
You could be out of luck by mid June and the match defined the summer .  I thought Galway would win in 96 but never imagined Mayo getting to the final.
Neither did they.  Maybe

What a wonderful Mayo team.

[Farrandeelin]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

95 -96- 97 were great matches . It was all or nothing and there were 2 very good teams with lots of respect for each other.
You could be out of luck by mid June and the match defined the summer .  I thought Galway would win in 96 but never imagined Mayo getting to the final.
Neither did they.  Maybe

What a wonderful Mayo team.

Yes seafoid, and I honestly think we probably missed the boat to win the Sam then. However, what's done is done...

Hopefully Horan can conjure up some style of good football Sunday week and we can win. I stated previously on this thread that it depends what Mayo and what Galway teams turn up on the day. Hopefully Galway and Mayo will both perform to their potential and Mayo winning would give us Mayo supporters a bit of confidence against Roscommon, the reigning Connacht champions in Hyde Park. There's that other side of me that's telling me that we will see London-esque performance again and that the class of Galway will punish the Mayo boys. I hope it's the former scenario obviously!!

[GalwayBayBoy]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

95 -96- 97 were great matches . It was all or nothing and there were 2 very good teams with lots of respect for each other.
You could be out of luck by mid June and the match defined the summer .  I thought Galway would win in 96 but never imagined Mayo getting to the final.
Neither did they.  Maybe

What a wonderful Mayo team.

There's that other side of me that's telling me that we will see London-esque performance again and that the class of Galway will punish the Mayo boys.

I wish but considering it looks like Galway will be missing their entire first-choice full-forward line I think the odds on that happening are fairly slim unless some of the U-21's prove to be as good as they seem to be. And at 19 and 20 years of age that is too much to ask of them this early on.

[seafoid]

Mayo v Galway 95-99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUGoBTWFegQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXBwC7REKo

95 -96- 97 were great matches . It was all or nothing and there were 2 very good teams with lots of respect for each other.
You could be out of luck by mid June and the match defined the summer .  I thought Galway would win in 96 but never imagined Mayo getting to the final.
Neither did they.  Maybe

What a wonderful Mayo team.

Yes seafoid, and I honestly think we probably missed the boat to win the Sam then. However, what's done is done...

Hopefully Horan can conjure up some style of good football Sunday week and we can win. I stated previously on this thread that it depends what Mayo and what Galway teams turn up on the day. Hopefully Galway and Mayo will both perform to their potential and Mayo winning would give us Mayo supporters a bit of confidence against Roscommon, the reigning Connacht champions in Hyde Park. There's that other side of me that's telling me that we will see London-esque performance again and that the class of Galway will punish the Mayo boys. I hope it's the former scenario obviously!!

The thing about that time was the progression in the province after 95. Nobody gave Galway any chance against Tyrone but they could have won it and that spurred Mayo on the next year and they got to the final and that drove Galway on in 98 .  Between 1996 and 2001 connacht teams got to the final 5 times out of 6.  So if whoever wins it this year could get into the all-Ireland semifinal and put on a decent show it could set the scene nicely for the next while.

What you don't want is the team that wins  then getting pasted in Croke Park. Even if it is Ros this sort of thing creates a very bad feedback loop that damages Mayo and Galway as well  . Connacht teams had a shocking 20 years pre 95 and a lot of it had to do with momentum.  If Ros can keep building and Mayo and Galway move off the floor with the young players coming through  and the three feed off each other for confidence you never know what might happen. 

[Tatler Jack]

Connacht teams had a shocking 20 years pre 95 and a lot of it had to do with momentum

Ros drew the 77 AI semi-fnal and lost replay by 1 point, lost the 79 semi to Dublin by a point and lost 80 AI by three points to Kerry - so hardly shocking results. We also lost to Meath in 91 by a point in the AI semi. With limited  enough resources we have preformed reasonably well when we got out of Connacht.

As regards the upsurge in Connacht footbal in the 90's I think the revivial of the FBD had soemthing to do with it - since the introduction of colleges into the FBD then the value of it disappeared.