Roscommon v Mayo Connacht final 2011

[criostlinn]

Well who'd of thunk it. We had a free taker after all and a mighty fine one at that. The poor free taking shows in London and Castlebar were just to fool the rossies and by god they fell for it hook line and sinker.  They didnt seem bothered about fouling Mayo, obviously thinking they had no freetaker. By the time they copped on to scam that was after been pulled on them O Connor was pinging them over from everywhere. I met a lot of lads after the match who cleaned up on O Connor scoring more then one point witrh the bookies. Odds were 6/4 and they knew all week he was taking the frees.

Seriously though, I really enjoyed the game. The conditions were atrocious yet both teams gave it their all. I was totally confused with the rossie tactics in the first half. Despite the strong breeze they were very slow to get it inside and lot of messing around with the ball.  Mayo stayed calmer when it mattered and I never really was worried about them winning it. This, along with the ball winning mentality around the middle are the two biggest improvements on last year. The backs on boths side were excellent but in fairness to the forwards it was really a defenders day. Cunnife had a mighty game and really stepped up after the galway game. Higgins likewise. Im delighted Trevor Mortimer came back. Another mighty performance. The half back position suits him to a tee. Aiden O Shea had a good solid performance in midfield. I taught Mayo won the midfield battle. Aiden took some hit at the start of the second half, but the poor rossie that hit him looked really shook after the experience. The few minutes Aiden went of for, he was really missed.

I hate to be giving out about refs, but f..k me where do they get some of them from. He was just so inconsistent. I dont think he favoured either side, just lots of bad decisions. Cillian O'Connor was hardly wasting time when his team were 4 points down. Denying Roscommon a 45 when the whole ground could see it came of a Mayo man. Booking Dineen for feck all after he came on. Then not having the balls to follow it up with another yellow when he should be booked. It was just totally inconsistent reffing all day long. At some stages he was willing to let things go and maybe allow for the conditions, next thing he is pulling a lad up for frig all. The GAA are going to have to take a serious look at reffing. Its gone beyond a joke now.

[AbbeySider]

Great to win a Connacht title, I think that would have been the minimum target at the start of the year so from now on we could be in bonus territory.
The pressure is well and truly off now as we are entering the qualifiers under the radar and are probably not rated based on the performances against Galway and Roscommon, which suits us grand.

I was happy enough with the overall performance yesterday, but I think there was some poor individual performances for Mayo that need to be addressed.

For me Alan Feeney, Higgins and Vaughan were well below par yesterday. Feeney was miles away from Donie Shine at times especially when Shine was taking his scores from play.
Both Higgins and Vaughan were giving away stupid frees to Roscommon when they were playing with the wind in the first half. They should have had more discipline than that, and should have known not to give away scoreable frees, it was elementary stuff. Higgins especially did some needless fouling like that trip off the ball when one of the Feeneys was running onto a loose ball. That kind of stuff could have been the losing of the game if Shine converted a couple more frees in the first half.

Cunniffe did fine on Kilbride although sometimes he would stand off and shadow instead of getting in the tackle.

I was not exactly happy with Seamus O Shea either. He didnt work hard enough or get on enough ball. I am not sure was the pace catching him but at times it seemed like Aidan was carrying him.

Upfront Freeman and Doherty were very poor considering all the ball that was kicked in.
It seemed like they felt sorry for themselves and let the conditions beat them.
I know wet and slippery conditions favour the defender, but they were not bursting onto possession and winning it. Varley came off the bench and seemed to get on as much ball in 10 minutes that Doherty had in the while game, and he chipped in with an unreal score. He will be pushing him the next day.

I was thrilled for Cillian O Connor to announce his arrival on the big stage. He is a very smart player and we are only seeing the beginning of what he has to offer. The free taking argument is now over thankfully.

I think the management got the calls right yesterday too and got the best performance out of Mayo. Roll on the quarters...

[ross matt]

Well who'd of thunk it. We had a free taker after all and a mighty fine one at that. The poor free taking shows in London and Castlebar were just to fool the rossies and by god they fell for it hook line and sinker.  They didnt seem bothered about fouling Mayo, obviously thinking they had no freetaker. By the time they copped on to scam that was after been pulled on them O Connor was pinging them over from everywhere. I met a lot of lads after the match who cleaned up on O Connor scoring more then one point witrh the bookies. Odds were 6/4 and they knew all week he was taking the frees.

Seriously though, I really enjoyed the game. The conditions were atrocious yet both teams gave it their all. I was totally confused with the rossie tactics in the first half. Despite the strong breeze they were very slow to get it inside and lot of messing around with the ball.  Mayo stayed calmer when it mattered and I never really was worried about them winning it. This, along with the ball winning mentality around the middle are the two biggest improvements on last year. The backs on boths side were excellent but in fairness to the forwards it was really a defenders day. Cunnife had a mighty game and really stepped up after the galway game. Higgins likewise. Im delighted Trevor Mortimer came back. Another mighty performance. The half back position suits him to a tee. Aiden O Shea had a good solid performance in midfield. I taught Mayo won the midfield battle. Aiden took some hit at the start of the second half, but the poor rossie that hit him looked really shook after the experience. The few minutes Aiden went of for, he was really missed.

I hate to be giving out about refs, but f..k me where do they get some of them from. He was just so inconsistent. I dont think he favoured either side, just lots of bad decisions. Cillian O'Connor was hardly wasting time when his team were 4 points down. Denying Roscommon a 45 when the whole ground could see it came of a Mayo man. Booking Dineen for feck all after he came on. Then not having the balls to follow it up with another yellow when he should be booked. It was just totally inconsistent reffing all day long. At some stages he was willing to let things go and maybe allow for the conditions, next thing he is pulling a lad up for frig all. The GAA are going to have to take a serious look at reffing. Its gone beyond a joke now.

You abssolutely hit it on the nail there Criostlinn.

[Mayo4Sam]

Lads lots of positives but to be truthful I thought the rossies were terrible in the 2nd half, they kicked away a site of ball, where they should have been hand passing and the forwards seemed afraid to shoot and relied too much on Shine, who had a good game but not a great one, too much expected from him with no help.
I thought the ref, umpires and linesmen robbed the rossies blind, a stone wall 45, a couple of sideline balls that looked dodgy to me, awful soft frees, varley did a Ronaldo on the wing, I think the one free COC missed. However Dineen should have gone for the second yellow but as someone said the first one was v soft so justice served there.
Having said all that I think Mayo had enough to win, even if the goal went in I think it would have been the same result, however my heart was in my mouth with Hennelly but absolutely savage take.

The conditions made it hard, nearly impossible to play football but what I'd be worried about for both teams was the lack of intensity, no big hits, no real desire from either side with the exception of Mort and COC, and mcgarritys steal. Other teams will bring that intensity and I'm afraid both teams will be lacking. The open spaces and dry day though should suit mayo better.

I think Cork or Kildare and we're out, Tyrone or Wexford and we've a great shot at a semi final. Kildare and corks fitness levels seem to be way out in front of any other team, I think the o'sheas are lacking there and that could be the difference between us and them

[kevmy]

Horrendous conditions throughout the match but we pulled through and showed enough grit, determination and calmness when required to win it.

Hennelly had a good game today. Kickouts were as good as you could expect. And that take over the crossbar could have been the winning of it.

I thought Higgins, Cunniffe, Mort and to a lesser extent Richie Feeney all had very good games. T Mort especially relished it and was delighted when his man dropped deep in the 2nd half, he powered us on in the 2nd half and gave his old all-action style a runout. A Feeney struggled a bit with Shine and Vaughan was fairly anonymous but is a better player than he showed yesterday. I loved the hunger in the last couple of minutes when they blocked down one shot and put unreal pressure one the follow up.

AOS done very well in midfield but thought SOS wasn't near as good as he was against Galway. McGarrity fully fit alongside side AOS should improve us there.

None of the half-forwards had great games but all dug deep. All of them scored from play - and Andy done well in the second part of the 1st half when he swapped with Freeman against the wind and scored one and won a free which was scored.

At FF O'Connor had a great game, both on the frees and in general play. Freeman mixed the good with the bad. Doherty is still feeling his way into it at this level. Varley will challenge him for that spot - so will C Mort when he's back. I think Doherty carries more of a goal threat than either of the two but can be out of a game for long periods - even when playing decent.

All in all bonus territory from here in. We should be able to give a good game to anyone bar Cork in the QF. It's hard to say how good we are after two games in terrible conditions. If we continue to improve a semi final is not out of the question.

[Tubberman]

Great to get the win in the Hyde. As others have said, it was a calm, confident performance from Mayo - something that hasn't always been seen from Mayo teams.
They don't panic when they go a few points behind, they have the belief in themselves that they can get themselves back in front - of course, the conditions in the last two games has played a huge part in that.
Having played the last two games in February-like conditions has us in a strange position. It's developed a hard-working, no-nonsense team ethic, but it means nobody really knows where we stand against the other teams left in the Championship. That's probably a good thing - we were written off by most pundits before the Connacht Final, and we'll be written off again for the 1/4 final. I'd be confident the team can put in a big performance, and depending on the draw, we have a decent chance of making a semi-final, which would be a great year for us IMO.

I just watched the highlights on The Sunday Game, and given the conditions, I thought there were excellent scores from both sides. It's very easy to rubbish it and say it was two poor teams, but it was impossible to have a high-quality game in those conditions - at least Kevin McStay made that point rather than letting Spillane away with his cheap Moody's jibe.

Finally, commiserations to Ros, but they have made huge progress over the last couple of years and their summer isn't over yet (not that there's been much of a summer). I would give them a very good chance of turning over Armagh or Tyrone - they are not the sides they were in the mid-noughties.

[Mayo4Sam]

It was mentioned to me at the weekend that London might be the only Connacht team to beat a team from outside Connacht! Scary

[muscles magoo]

I think Cork or Kildare and we're out, Tyrone or Wexford and we've a great shot at a semi final. Kildare and corks fitness levels seem to be way out in front of any other team, I think the o'sheas are lacking there and that could be the difference between us and them

Can Mayo actually get Tyrone? Assuming the Tyrone v Armagh game is next weekend along with the 3 final round qualifier games and the quarter final draw is made afterwards, surely we cannot be drawn against them as there would be a chance we'd end up playing Roscommon again in the quarter final...?

[Lar Naparka]

Little things mean a lot or so I'm told.
One little thing in particular that Aidan O'Shea did last year in Markievicz Park came to mind as I watched him yesterday. Late on in the game in Sligo as it began to slip away from the visitors, OShea was dispossessed rather easily.
Nothing noteworthy about that as colleagues all around him were allowing the same thing to happen to them. But what he did next perfectly summed up the Mayo attitude that day.
After the defender passed him by and passed the ball to a better placed colleague, young O'Shea made a token attempt to chase after him. After four or five strides he gave up the chase. Next, he turned his back on the action and stood facing the Sligo goal with his hands on his hips and began to dig each boot in turn into the ground. Maybe his ankles needed flexing but so did his brain.
We shared one thing I n common at that moment; both of us were hell bent on making an exit from the place ASAP.
I didn't blame him as there was not spirit whatever in any of the Mayo team or management that day.
Yesterday, he was a different man. He was putting his heft to good use and fought for every ball as if his life depended on getting it and on passing it on with purpose. He and his fellow players used the long kick inside in the first half and used the diagonal ground pass where possible when facing into the gale. Mayo were making every effort to adapt to the conditions; Roscommon were not.
IMO, this is where the battle was won and lost.
Throughout the game, the Rossies has enough possession around the middle third to win it if they used it effectively. Mayo probably have that little bit of extra coolness that only comes with experience.
I wouldn't dismiss the chances of either side in their games to come. Neither gave up the fight right up to the final whistle. I'd say that any side that faces either of them in gamers to come will have a fight on their hands. Both teams will have learned a lot from the encounter and if the weather conditions are anything like they were at the Hyde yesterday, anything is possible.

[Mayo4Sam]

I'm not sure how it's going to work, if Tyrone win that will mean they or rossies can only get Kerry or Dublin and we're down to a 1 in 3 of avoiding cork & kildare

[criostlinn]

Little things mean a lot or so I'm told.
One little thing in particular that Aidan O'Shea did last year in Markievicz Park came to mind as I watched him yesterday. Late on in the game in Sligo as it began to slip away from the visitors, OShea was dispossessed rather easily.
Nothing noteworthy about that as colleagues all around him were allowing the same thing to happen to them. But what he did next perfectly summed up the Mayo attitude that day.
After the defender passed him by and passed the ball to a better placed colleague, young O'Shea made a token attempt to chase after him. After four or five strides he gave up the chase. Next, he turned his back on the action and stood facing the Sligo goal with his hands on his hips and began to dig each boot in turn into the ground. Maybe his ankles needed flexing but so did his brain.
We shared one thing I n common at that moment; both of us were hell bent on making an exit from the place ASAP.
I didn't blame him as there was not spirit whatever in any of the Mayo team or management that day.
Yesterday, he was a different man. He was putting his heft to good use and fought for every ball as if his life depended on getting it and on passing it on with purpose. He and his fellow players used the long kick inside in the first half and used the diagonal ground pass where possible when facing into the gale. Mayo were making every effort to adapt to the conditions; Roscommon were not.
IMO, this is where the battle was won and lost.
Throughout the game, the Rossies has enough possession around the middle third to win it if they used it effectively. Mayo probably have that little bit of extra coolness that only comes with experience.
I wouldn't dismiss the chances of either side in their games to come. Neither gave up the fight right up to the final whistle. I'd say that any side that faces either of them in gamers to come will have a fight on their hands. Both teams will have learned a lot from the encounter and if the weather conditions are anything like they were at the Hyde yesterday, anything is possible.

In fairness to Aiden he really looks like he wants to play with Mayo. His attitude is all different to last year. He came back after the winter a lot fitter and this really signified his intentions for the summer. After the collision yesterday the pysio was calling for a change straight away but Aiden insisted on staying on. Thank good he did because he would have been a huge lose

[Farrandeelin]

That was a good win in those dreadful conditiions. However a lot of players didn't play well and they will have to improve considerably for the next game. Saying that the conditions probably didn't help either. Just happy to have gotten the win. Hennelly will keep Clarke out of the goal spot for another while it seems. My own men of the match would be Richie Feeney and Tom Cunniffe. Honestly, he did a mighty job on Senan Kilbride (who I thought couldn't be kept quiet). Cillian O'Connor probably deserved it however as he scored 0-8 from frees and he is so young.

[Chéad rogha]

As others have said its great to win a connacht title...Conditions were as poor as ive ever witnessed for a connacht championship match. Again the workrate from mayo was very impressive. JH has them fighting for every ball and when that happens from 1-15 youll never be far away. Solid performances from hennelly, cunniffe, richie, mort, aos, andy and coc. Theres more to come from the other 8 as well. Doherty and Freeman can offer much more and open spaces with a dry pitch will suit these two. Jez i can see doherty exploding into life some day soon if he gets the right ball. In the  first half yday both doherty and coc were constantly having their shirts held and couldnt get that half yard of space that they crave.
Both caff and mcgarrity will be pushing hard for inclusion the next day as will enda varley - a good position for the management to be in. For me theres still question marks over the CHB spot - Not sure if vaughan has the awareness or vision to play there, though he certainly has the fitness and the physique. In fairness its probably the most pivotal postion on the field and alot of counties have trouble filling it. You had both Donegal and Meath playing corner backs there at the weekend, kerry still experimenting with brosnan there.

Think im right in saying we're at a slight disadvantage with the QF draw as we've a 1 in 3 chance of getting cork (presuming they win) as opposed to a 1 in 4 chance if the result of armagh\tyrone v roscommon game was known pre the QF draw. But anyway we cant change who we get, only put our own house in order. We'll more than likely be underdogs (unless we draw the limerick\wexford tie), a position that suits most teams.

[ross4life]

Back in 1991 a 19 year old Derek Duggan nerves of steel on frees was a enough to beat Mayo & win a Connacht title, strange 20 years on it was roles reversed.

[Lar Naparka]

Back in 1991 a 19 year old Derek Duggan nerves of steel on frees was a enough to beat Mayo & win a Connacht title, strange 20 years on it was roles reversed.

If my memory is right, he struck the winner from a placed ball out close to the halfway line in the dying seconds.