Roscommon v Mayo Connacht final 2011

[seafoid]

Now let's see if either of the teams is any use.
Will either win an all-ireland before Galway are back? 

[muppet]

Now let's see if either of the teams is any use.
Will either win an all-ireland before Galway are back?

Enda Kenny will be worshipped in Roscommon before Galway are back.

[mannix]

1/4 final against mayo...............................most qualifier teams will be licking their lips at the prospect of that

Last time you dubs licked your lips for mayo it ended in tears.  Mayo are poor , I will give you that but they are due a good game and a quarter final against anyone other than cork or Kerry would be seen by mayo as one they could win.
Don't be too sure of yourself, you are neither cork nor Kerry.

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

1/4 final against mayo...............................most qualifier teams will be licking their lips at the prospect of that

Last time you dubs licked your lips for mayo it ended in tears.  Mayo are poor , I will give you that but they are due a good game and a quarter final against anyone other than cork or Kerry would be seen by mayo as one they could win.
Don't be too sure of yourself, you are neither cork nor Kerry.

Another one lined and baited  ..................................... thank god we are not mayo, phewwwwwwwwwwwwww

[FL/MAYO]

We won the first three games playing shite, if we win the next three playing shite I'll be happy
Mayo playing badly and winning is a nice change. Feeny #5 had a great game and o'connor in the forwards...what free taking problems?

[Cosmo Kramer]

So I'm just in from the game, great to get the win up there.

Conditions were as bad as I have ever witnessed for a Connacht Final, worse than Tuam in 99. There was a gale blowing into the graveyard end from the first minute to the last, and I have no doubt it is still blowing now. It will certainly have made the game look terrible as a TV specticle but I would defy any team in the country to play entertaining football in those conditions. Today was a day to grind it out, and what is most pleasing is the way we did just that.

On first look Roscommon's unwillingness to launch in the high balls in the first half seems bizarre, but they were harried and hassled by the O'Shea's in midfield to the point that their task was almost made impossible. The Roscommon 7 must have been told to take out SOS at the start of the second half but all he managed to do was injure himself. The two boys are made of really tough stuff. Ther difference was noticable when Kilcullen got a run for a few minutes in the second half, he just wasn't of the same standard.

Keith Higgins played the free man to perfection in the first half and came out with a serious amount of ball. Trevor Mortimer looks like a new man this year in the backs and, but for his customary one major error per game (which almost cost us a goal), was excellent.

But it was our overall physicality and willingness to battle it out as a team that impressed me the most. They just had more fight in them than the Rossies and that was great to see. And young O'Connor is developing as a player quicker than I could have imagined. Only a year out of minor he would have been the last of our full forward line I would have expected to win us the game today. But that is exactly what he did and although it is early days, his potential in a Mayo jersey seems massive.

For Roscommon this seems like another game against Mayo where they were hyped up a bit too much both locally and nationally and couldn't live up to their billing. Cathal Cregg said in the match programme that last year's win meant nothing if they couldn't prove themselves by beating one of the 'big two' today. This will certainly take some of the gloss off that win. They had home advantage, all their key players available, half a dozen All Ireland minor winners that they are building the team around and a top manager in FOD, but it wasn't enough and when next they play us they will have to trek to Castlebar to seek revenge. That combined with the complete embarrassment that is Galway football these days would give you a lot of hope for the future as a Mayo supporter in terms of the Connacht Championship.

The quarters will be a whole different story of course but, in terms of Horan's first year, staying in Division 1 while experimenting and unearthing the new players that have won us the Connacht title represents mission pretty much accomplished for 2011. We know we are not good enough to beat the very best at this stage of our development, but we have a very young team, a manager who has shown he can make the right calls on the big day and a whole lot of potential for the future. I just hope, in terms of the remainder of this year, that we do ourselves justice in Croke Park and leave with our heads held high, regardless of the outcome of the next game.

Up Mayo!

[under the bar]

1/4 final against mayo...............................most qualifier teams will be licking their lips at the prospect of that

Typical Dub comment and sums up perfectly why they've come up short for most a generation.

Not only have the team fallen inot the trap of  'licking their lips' at potential quarter final opponents they view as inferior but have spent most of the year licking one anothers ring-peices and signing autographs for the fans from diaries with the heading "All Ireland Champions 2008".

I'd say "Oh how the mighty fall but unfortunately the mights has not applied to Dublin footballers for most of half a century!

[ross4life]

Just back from the November like conditions in Hyde park the worst weather i have experienced for a Championship game

First off congrats to Mayo on regaining Nestor.

Disappointing but not overly disappointed we have improved a lot from 09 we got the competitive performance we where looking for unfortunately we just came up short however TBH that's was the worst Mayo side i've seen winning Connacht since 1993 so on today's evidence we'll have to improve a hell of a lot ourselves in the next few years.

We won midfield i felt but Mayo won more breaks & our full back line held Mayo's full forward line scoreless from play. losing Ward to injury early in the 2nd half was a bad blow & his replacement Dineen well....the less said about him the better.

Poor wides in the 1st half probably cost us the game but your not going to win many games only scoring 2pts in 35mins & only one of your forwards turning up. Kilbride took a bang to the leg early on & didn't look fit after that i was surprised he stayed on so long & for some reason Cregg played the sweeper role in the 2nd half when he needed him in the forwards.

Anyway the lads needs to keep their chins up as there is another Connacht title or maybe two in this team.

P.S Collins the ref as expected was awful i really don't know why he was given provincial final when everyone knows he's shite.

[ross matt]

First of all heartiest congratulations to Mayo. The best team won. Yes we could have won but had we done we would have stolen it. The condistions were horrendous. Driving wind... constant rain..... pitch like an ice rink and little or no light. That weather has to be a factor when judging the quality of the match on TV. You simply had to be there to appreciate how difficult it was for both sets of players. The ref didnt help in the sense he was completely inconsisten in awarding frees leaving players not knowing how much or how little they could get away with when tackling.

Mayo adapted best to the conditions I felt. Like I feared they improved from the Galway match in the sense they were much more economical with possession. They showed once again a great willingness to win dirty ball and they were definitely physically stronger than us in most positions. James Horan will be a happy man tonight and they will improve again before the quarterfinals where they may surprise alot of people. Midfield is possibly their weak area in terms of winning primary possession. Finneran cleanly caught or knocked down alot of kickouts today.

For us it was a really bad day at the office. We had more than enough possession to win the match but bizarrely in the first half our half backs and midfield refused to kick long and constantly carried ball in to the tackle. Totally disagree with Cosmo that it was down to Mayo pressure. There was pllenty opportunity to let the ball do the work with that wind. Devenney was a liability in the manner in which he swept back and constanstly went on solo runs that were not suited to the conditions. Shine missed 2 easy frees but hit some really long difficult ones and in general won his share of ball in play. Kilbride was either carrying a knock or just didnt want to know on the day. I felt O'Grady was in trouble on his marker and he and devenney could have been subsitiuted earlier. Dineen was a bizarre move by Fergie and co. He was always going to give away frees and lucky to stay on the field. O'Connor, Domnican and Ward + the backs in general did well as regards their basic duties.

That being said we were still in contention until the very end. Had Donie kept the ball down we could have had a goal not a point and the mayo keeper made a superb save of what looked a definite point. But in general our shot selection and general decision making let us down. Mayo were just more mature and experienced. We measured ourselves against them and are just not there yet. No excuses.

However I think we can regroup for the qualifiers. This management and young side are too dedicacted to throw the towel in now and a run in the back door would be very beneficial in terms of playing top opposition. It was heartening for the future to see the minors hammer a well regarded Galway side today. Better times ahead.

[Blowitupref]

As expected the favourites Mayo came out on top, Roscommon had Mayo on the ropes in the 1st half & if they where leading by 6-8pts at the break they probably would have won it. Mayo's experience was a telling factor in the 2nd half & all this talk of no free taker?? turned out a free taker won the game just like last year.

I like many said pre-match it was Div 1 v Div 4 but on today's evidence it looked more like two Div 3 teams. Roscommon have improved but still need someone to support Shine while i don't really know where this Mayo team are going & judging by the lack of celebrations today i don't think that provincial title will satisfied their expectations.

[macdanger2]

Just home from the game, great to win today, congrats to Horan and the lads. Retaining div 1 status and winning Connacht makes this year a success for his first year.

The weather was unreal, probably didn't look as bad on TV as it actually was. The wind was so strong that on a few occasions the kickouts held up and started moving backwards!!!

Overall, I thought we at least broke even in midfield in the first half but lost it it for large parts of the second half when it looked like we might pull away at the start of the half. As it was, some of the frees we got to win it were soft enough (although I don't know what the ref was at pulling O'Connor for time-wasting when we were 4 points down!!!).

My player ratings would be:

Hennelley - 8, unreal catch at the end when it would have been easier to pop it over the bar and two Rossies waiting for it if he dropped it.
Higgins - 8, Excellent in the first half when playing as the extra man and rarely lost the ball
A Feeney - 7, decent game without being outstanding, not sure why he was taken off
Cunniffe - 7.5, played well and other than losing the ball in a bad position in the first half by the sideline, I thought he did well
R Feeney - 7.5, caught out a couple of times in the 2nd half when he should have gone down on the ball but he hoovered up some very important balls towards the end
Vaughan - 5, struggled badly in the first half and was responsible for two scores where he gave away the ball. Settled down well in the 2nd half.
Mort - 8.5, showed great willingness to get on the ball and drove through to create a point in the first half
S O'Se - 7, worked hard but probably not on the ball enough
A O'Se - 7.5, excellent in the first half but I think the challenge from the wing back left him very shook
McLoughlin - 6.5, great point in the first half but didn't win as many breaks as he should have
Dillon - 5.5, perhaps a bit harsh on him but as captain and our best player the bar is set high and he didn't reach it. Might have went for goal instead of cutting back and taking his point.
Moran - 6.5, got a v good point in the 1st half (although I was sure it was CO'C at the time!) and showed well for the ball but seemed to continuously cut back inside when the conditions didn't suit
O'Connor - 8.5, excellent Connacht final debut for a 19 year old, the handy early frees really settled him down. Showed a lot of cuteness to win some soft frees in the 2nd half.
Freeman - 6, showed well but couldn't seem to hold the ball at all. Came very far out the pitch when he might have been better closer to goal. Should have held the ball and buried it instead instead of flicking it on to Mort
Doherty - 5.5, very quiet but will have better days when the ball in drier and the open spaces of Croker will suit him and Freeman.

Varley - 7.5, great point at the end and won a good free as well. Could be in contention to start instead of Doc
Gardiner - 6.5, his effort for a point looked doomed until the wind caught it and just sneaked it over but they all count. Also ballooned a pass at the very end when you might have expected a cooler head from him.
McGarrity - 5.5, never got into it at all but crucially robbed the ball in the middle of the pitch in the lead up to the last point. Will be better with a few more training sessions
Caff - 5.5, like McG, never got into it. Would have put him on intsead of Vaughan rather than Feeney.
Kilcullen - not really on long enough to be rated. Thought it strange that he was brought on as blood sub and McG as the proper sub.

In general the forwards were poor (CO'C excepted) but they will surely be better on a drier day. JH kept his best form for Croker and hopefully it will be the same with this team.

I wouldn't fear meeting any of the teams left in the qualifiers except Cork who could do serious damage to us.

Ross will be disappointed tonight as they could easily have won this one with a little luck and more composure. They should travel to play Tyrone / Armagh (Tyrone IMO) with confidence though and hopefully we'll see ye in Croker later this year.

One last thing - the behaviour of the Rossie supporters behind the goal was disgraceful - booing and jeering O'Connor as he took frees at that end. That kind of sh*te has no place in the GAA, let them head away up to watch Sligo Rovers or something if that's what they want.

[IolarCoisCuain]

First of all heartiest congratulations to Mayo. The best team won. Yes we could have won but had we done we would have stolen it. The condistions were horrendous. Driving wind... constant rain..... pitch like an ice rink and little or no light. That weather has to be a factor when judging the quality of the match on TV. You simply had to be there to appreciate how difficult it was for both sets of players. The ref didnt help in the sense he was completely inconsisten in awarding frees leaving players not knowing how much or how little they could get away with when tackling.

Mayo adapted best to the conditions I felt. Like I feared they improved from the Galway match in the sense they were much more economical with possession. They showed once again a great willingness to win dirty ball and they were definitely physically stronger than us in most positions. James Horan will be a happy man tonight and they will improve again before the quarterfinals where they may surprise alot of people. Midfield is possibly their weak area in terms of winning primary possession. Finneran cleanly caught or knocked down alot of kickouts today.

For us it was a really bad day at the office. We had more than enough possession to win the match but bizarrely in the first half our half backs and midfield refused to kick long and constantly carried ball in to the tackle. Totally disagree with Cosmo that it was down to Mayo pressure. There was pllenty opportunity to let the ball do the work with that wind. Devenney was a liability in the manner in which he swept back and constanstly went on solo runs that were not suited to the conditions. Shine missed 2 easy frees but hit some really long difficult ones and in general won his share of ball in play. Kilbride was either carrying a knock or just didnt want to know on the day. I felt O'Grady was in trouble on his marker and he and devenney could have been subsitiuted earlier. Dineen was a bizarre move by Fergie and co. He was always going to give away frees and lucky to stay on the field. O'Connor, Domnican and Ward + the backs in general did well as regards their basic duties.

That being said we were still in contention until the very end. Had Donie kept the ball down we could have had a goal not a point and the mayo keeper made a superb save of what looked a definite point. But in general our shot selection and general decision making let us down. Mayo were just more mature and experienced. We measured ourselves against them and are just not there yet. No excuses.

However I think we can regroup for the qualifiers. This management and young side are too dedicacted to throw the towel in now and a run in the back door would be very beneficial in terms of playing top opposition. It was heartening for the future to see the minors hammer a well regarded Galway side today. Better times ahead.

That's as fine an analysis of the game as we'll read in any paper tomorrow, and better than you'll read in most of them. Hard luck Matt. No Rossie will cheer for you as hard as I shall in a fortnight (with the greatest of respect to Ard M(h)aca and Tír Eoghain, of course).

[An Gaeilgoir]

1/4 final against mayo...............................most qualifier teams will be licking their lips at the prospect of that

Typical Dub comment and sums up perfectly why they've come up short for most a generation.

Not only have the team fallen inot the trap of  'licking their lips' at potential quarter final opponents they view as inferior but have spent most of the year licking one anothers ring-peices and signing autographs for the fans from diaries with the heading "All Ireland Champions 2008".

I'd say "Oh how the mighty fall but unfortunately the mights has not applied to Dublin footballers for most of half a century!

Don't we all remember that was Tyrone's reaction back a few years ago and we know what happened there!! I would love to get the Dubs, but enough of this nonsence. After getting out of a bath of WD40 (i was that damp coming home, i thought i was getting rusty!). Well done to this team and the management, without saying all that has been said before, this team has put the pride back in the jersey and the old guard seem to be back with the hunger again. To go to Roscommon on a shitty wet windy sunday. go behind and stay behind for most of the game, no panic, no headlessness and the team ethic still there. To kick on and win it as a team says a lot about this mix of players. Credit to James Horan on all of the above. Targets for 2011 achieved. Hopefully Croke park wil be enjoyed by the players and the when the shackles and pressure off, who knows? UP MAYO!

[moysider]

As expected the weather made a mess of the match. The worst conditions I ve ever seen at a Connacht championship match. A win is a win I suppose is the best way to look at it. If we had lost an error ridden game like that then it would have been very difficult to take any positives from it.

Roscommon I thought probably left it behind. While Mayo worked hard to keep the score down Roscommon should have been further ahead at half time. I never imagined that Finneran could have improved so much and Mannion won a sight of ball in the second half. There can t be many better ball winning midfields around but at the same time we ll have to get Mcgarrity on the field for the whole game in a few weeks.

No point being too critical of either team under the circumstances. From a Mayo point of view we ve got to the 1/4s without looking good. Judging by some of the misinformed ramblings by the usual pundits on tv etc nobody knows what we re about and anytime we ve played it has been in a monsoon. How good we could be if we fire on a good day is difficult to say.  Certainly there is no pressure or expectation - and neither will there be any until we win in Croke Park. Today was the most poorly attended final from a Mayo point of view. Mayo will be the lowest ranked of the last eight and will have nothing to lose. I would expect Caff to start ( not going to say instead of whom), and McGarrity. That will mean a reshuffle because I think we ll need the two lads in there as well. Even in shitty conditions today I would have expected Doc and Freeman to win more ball so we will have to hope they ll be better on a drier day. They should improve. Hopefully Howley, Mort and even Harte will be able to take some part in the next match.

If Roscommon can win that type of possession again on a drier day the ll have a great chance against either Armagh or Tyrone. Crucially neither the players or fans looked too devestated after the match.

[SLIGONIAN]

Just home from the game, great to win today, congrats to Horan and the lads. Retaining div 1 status and winning Connacht makes this year a success for his first year.

The weather was unreal, probably didn't look as bad on TV as it actually was. The wind was so strong that on a few occasions the kickouts held up and started moving backwards!!!

Overall, I thought we at least broke even in midfield in the first half but lost it it for large parts of the second half when it looked like we might pull away at the start of the half. As it was, some of the frees we got to win it were soft enough (although I don't know what the ref was at pulling O'Connor for time-wasting when we were 4 points down!!!).

My player ratings would be:

Hennelley - 8, unreal catch at the end when it would have been easier to pop it over the bar and two Rossies waiting for it if he dropped it.
Higgins - 8, Excellent in the first half when playing as the extra man and rarely lost the ball
A Feeney - 7, decent game without being outstanding, not sure why he was taken off
Cunniffe - 7.5, played well and other than losing the ball in a bad position in the first half by the sideline, I thought he did well
R Feeney - 7.5, caught out a couple of times in the 2nd half when he should have gone down on the ball but he hoovered up some very important balls towards the end
Vaughan - 5, struggled badly in the first half and was responsible for two scores where he gave away the ball. Settled down well in the 2nd half.
Mort - 8.5, showed great willingness to get on the ball and drove through to create a point in the first half
S O'Se - 7, worked hard but probably not on the ball enough
A O'Se - 7.5, excellent in the first half but I think the challenge from the wing back left him very shook
McLoughlin - 6.5, great point in the first half but didn't win as many breaks as he should have
Dillon - 5.5, perhaps a bit harsh on him but as captain and our best player the bar is set high and he didn't reach it. Might have went for goal instead of cutting back and taking his point.
Moran - 6.5, got a v good point in the 1st half (although I was sure it was CO'C at the time!) and showed well for the ball but seemed to continuously cut back inside when the conditions didn't suit
O'Connor - 8.5, excellent Connacht final debut for a 19 year old, the handy early frees really settled him down. Showed a lot of cuteness to win some soft frees in the 2nd half.
Freeman - 6, showed well but couldn't seem to hold the ball at all. Came very far out the pitch when he might have been better closer to goal. Should have held the ball and buried it instead instead of flicking it on to Mort
Doherty - 5.5, very quiet but will have better days when the ball in drier and the open spaces of Croker will suit him and Freeman.

Varley - 7.5, great point at the end and won a good free as well. Could be in contention to start instead of Doc
Gardiner - 6.5, his effort for a point looked doomed until the wind caught it and just sneaked it over but they all count. Also ballooned a pass at the very end when you might have expected a cooler head from him.
McGarrity - 5.5, never got into it at all but crucially robbed the ball in the middle of the pitch in the lead up to the last point. Will be better with a few more training sessions
Caff - 5.5, like McG, never got into it. Would have put him on intsead of Vaughan rather than Feeney.
Kilcullen - not really on long enough to be rated. Thought it strange that he was brought on as blood sub and McG as the proper sub.

In general the forwards were poor (CO'C excepted) but they will surely be better on a drier day. JH kept his best form for Croker and hopefully it will be the same with this team.

I wouldn't fear meeting any of the teams left in the qualifiers except Cork who could do serious damage to us.

Ross will be disappointed tonight as they could easily have won this one with a little luck and more composure. They should travel to play Tyrone / Armagh (Tyrone IMO) with confidence though and hopefully we'll see ye in Croker later this year.

One last thing - the behaviour of the Rossie supporters behind the goal was disgraceful - booing and jeering O'Connor as he took frees at that end. That kind of sh*te has no place in the GAA, let them head away up to watch Sligo Rovers or something if that's what they want.

Plenty of mayomen support sligo rovers too so kindly leave us out of it, Congrats to Mayo on a deserved victory although prematch i did think roscommon would win.