Maigh Eo Vs Corcaigh, 29ú Aibreáin 2012 @ 1600, Pairc an Chrocaigh

[ballinaman]

Good to see you rate a rossie in Andy Moran & Hanley wasn't a bad player either before he flew away. BTW i was looking forward to seeing the two Messis (Doherty,Freeman) last July in the flesh but i was left disappointed when they were marked out of game by (at the time) Div 4 defenders.

All the best vs Cork enjoy another day out in Croker.

Must have been a very disappointing day all round for you so 

[ross4life]

Good to see you rate a rossie in Andy Moran & Hanley wasn't a bad player either before he flew away. BTW i was looking forward to seeing the two Messis (Doherty,Freeman) last July in the flesh but i was left disappointed when they were marked out of game by (at the time) Div 4 defenders.

All the best vs Cork enjoy another day out in Croker.

Must have been a very disappointing day all round for you so 

No we won Minor & made progress from that awful showing in 2009.

[From the Bunker]

National League finals have a modern Provincial Final feel to them anymore, you like to win them, there's a Cup on offer and it improves confidence, but if you lose there's always another day!

Have to say i fancy Cork for this one! Cork don't rate Mayo really (just like Kerry don't). They would see last year defeat as an embarrassment (just like Kerry did last week).

Cork went into last year Quarter final complacent looking to the Semi-final with Kerry. This will not happen on Sunday.

There is always a good game in Mayo, and that Card was used up last week. The Element of Surprise is gone and Cork will be delighted not to be meeting Kerry (who they do fear). They are so sick of each other and a league final with both counties would show to much of their hand.

[muppet]

However, with a choice of Mort, Conroy, O'Connor, Doherty, Freeman and even perhaps the two Moran's up front we may well be able to put out the second best full forward line in Connacht, after Roscommon, for this one.

I get to see the three Messis in the flesh in Castlebar on July 15th.

Good to see you rate a rossie in Andy Moran & Hanley wasn't a bad player either before he flew away. BTW i was looking forward to seeing the two Messis (Doherty,Freeman) last July in the flesh but i was left disappointed when they were marked out of game by (at the time) Div 4 defenders.

All the best vs Cork enjoy another day out in Croker.

Ross no Mayo supporter claimed Doherty or Freeman were Connacht's greatest did they?

[ross4life]

However, with a choice of Mort, Conroy, O'Connor, Doherty, Freeman and even perhaps the two Moran's up front we may well be able to put out the second best full forward line in Connacht, after Roscommon, for this one.

I get to see the three Messis in the flesh in Castlebar on July 15th.

Good to see you rate a rossie in Andy Moran & Hanley wasn't a bad player either before he flew away. BTW i was looking forward to seeing the two Messis (Doherty,Freeman) last July in the flesh but i was left disappointed when they were marked out of game by (at the time) Div 4 defenders.

All the best vs Cork enjoy another day out in Croker.

Ross no Mayo supporter claimed Doherty or Freeman were Connacht's greatest did they?

Haven't got the time to read back but maybe Mayo Mick did.

[Crete Boom]

From the Bunker as you alluded to the cup on offer on Sunday isn't the be all and end all even for Mayo. The key for us is to match the work rate ,effort and intensity of our performance against Kerry. If we do this and get beaten then so be it, we'll have been beaten by a better team and made sure they worked for the victory. My two main concerns are our shortage of midfielders and the amount of cheap turnovers we have coughed up through the league in every game bar the Dublin game. The first concern is out of our hands but the second is easily fixable and I would be disappointed if this isn't addressed by Sunday. The reason this bugs me so much is in the context of the new high intensity pressure game Horan has tried to introduce , there is probably nothing more soul destroying than winning some dirty breaking ball or disposessing a player with good disciplined tackling than to see the ball coming straight back at you due to a loose pass or (my pet hate) a player running down a blind alley instead of keeping the ball moving. Our midfield problem is probably going to see us playing a running game which will be energy sapping and makes using and converting possession in to scores vital.

[moysider]

National League finals have a modern Provincial Final feel to them anymore, you like to win them, there's a Cup on offer and it improves confidence, but if you lose there's always another day!

Have to say i fancy Cork for this one! Cork don't rate Mayo really (just like Kerry don't). They would see last year defeat as an embarrassment (just like Kerry did last week).

Cork went into last year Quarter final complacent looking to the Semi-final with Kerry. This will not happen on Sunday.

There is always a good game in Mayo, and that Card was used up last week. The Element of Surprise is gone and Cork will be delighted not to be meeting Kerry (who they do fear). They are so sick of each other and a league final with both counties would show to much of their hand.

I can t agree with you there Bunker. Back door or not a Connacht title is light years ahead of a national league.

I dunno. I can t get my head around Mayo and underdog stuff and why we have to surprise teams. I believe it is a scenario we ve created down the years to mask more unpalatable flaws. I  believe a team that cannot perform 2 days in a row or when favourites is not a good team. We ve bombed often enough in the past when fancied but most people looked in the wrong places for the reasons. The national media liked the Cradbury s Créme Egg angle and it has stuck for well over 20 yrs now and locally we ve gone along with that to a fair extent.

Our main problems down the years has been poor management and all that goes with it, training-preparation/ tactics/SELECTION and maybe more.

Ok, we're 2/1 the next day so we re not exactly expected to win. If we do it won t be any shock either. The important thing is that we don t get levelled and have a 'Ballyshannon' due to poor selection again and poor tactics. If I was the Mayo management I wouldn t be even thinking of winning this. With the injuries we have management needs to send out a selection that can absorb pressure, win as many breaks as possible, turn their ball over, keep the ball for long spells etc. If we select for that then we might have a chance to nick it. On the other hand if we choose to kick high ball into a rooted ff like we did for a spell in the semi.... then we might as well all go home early for our tae.

  We ll learn a bit more about this management the next day. If they have any sense they ll set up to protect the progress that has been made this spring. I d be surprised if they don t go down that route. But I know it won t be popular route locally. You cant win really. If you play a practical game you get criticised - win or lose. If you play oldgame and get killed well ....... This is where this management has to be different and the signs are encouraging.
  Yeah, it would be nice to win this, but I would choose to be practical first under the circumstances and keep it tight.
If we can t afford to play Andy full than we dont have a full so no point just giving the ball back to Cork - they ll have enough anyway. Saying that I understand that there is a huge expectation out there to play it fast and loose. Even though we ve seen it often enough there is a considerable Mayo support out their that expect us to lose/win that way.

[Cosmo Kramer]

No doubting that a Connacht title is more important but in my lifetime we've won a dozen Connachts and only one NFL so it has a rarity value and is harder to win tbh. But if you had to pick between the two you would take the Connacht obviously.

Further to our earlier suggestions about T Mort it appears his retirement announcement from the Mayo team is in tomorrow's papers (or today's at this stage). It's a shame to see him go, great servant to the county for 12 seasons and probably only found his best position in his 12th and final year. He would have been a genuine option off the bench this year but he owes us nothing, all the best Trevor.

[Crete Boom]

Sad to hear about Trevor will always remember those late lung busting couple of points he got against Fermanagh in the semi final replay in 2004 , they summed up the character of the man. I think I read somewhere that his retirement was forced a bit on him due to work commitments overseas although I'm not sure.
Agree with you 100% on the tactics for Sunday Moysider.We just don't have the players available to us to play fast and loose but if we plug up the middle and break fast through a combination of our running game and or smart quick low balls into Mort Jr and Conroy we could profit with the space left inside. Also we'll need our wing forwards and wing backs to support what should be a two man full forward line. Again I think Andy and Kevin Mac played correctly could do serious damage, Kevin Mac with his pace running from deep and Andy with his ability to win breaks , pick out a pass and take a long range score. Also I'd like to see Dillion let the ball in quick and support from deep as he got a great score in the Kerry game after backing up a play he instigated from halfway (also a good man to pick off long range points). This is the kind of smart slick football I think we are capable of when we concentrate and if  sustained for long periods I think it would keep us in the match while not necessarily winning clean primary possession at midfield.

[Syferus]

National League finals have a modern Provincial Final feel to them anymore, you like to win them, there's a Cup on offer and it improves confidence, but if you lose there's always another day!

Have to say i fancy Cork for this one! Cork don't rate Mayo really (just like Kerry don't). They would see last year defeat as an embarrassment (just like Kerry did last week).

Cork went into last year Quarter final complacent looking to the Semi-final with Kerry. This will not happen on Sunday.

There is always a good game in Mayo, and that Card was used up last week. The Element of Surprise is gone and Cork will be delighted not to be meeting Kerry (who they do fear). They are so sick of each other and a league final with both counties would show to much of their hand.

Arra yahoo, yerra boyo!

Less so the prestige of winning the title for Galway and Mayo, but the bragging rights remain very important attractive to both and the sheer numbers that turn out for the matches show how much more the Connacht championship means to supporters and, I'm sure, players.

Though that attitude explains the flood out of the Hyde by Mayo supporters after ye edged out a very hard fought Connacht final last year. Even if it had been the Apocalypse the Rossies would have stayed out in the elements to watch the Nestor Cup slung high.

[IolarCoisCuain]

National League finals have a modern Provincial Final feel to them anymore, you like to win them, there's a Cup on offer and it improves confidence, but if you lose there's always another day!

Have to say i fancy Cork for this one! Cork don't rate Mayo really (just like Kerry don't). They would see last year defeat as an embarrassment (just like Kerry did last week).

Cork went into last year Quarter final complacent looking to the Semi-final with Kerry. This will not happen on Sunday.

There is always a good game in Mayo, and that Card was used up last week. The Element of Surprise is gone and Cork will be delighted not to be meeting Kerry (who they do fear). They are so sick of each other and a league final with both counties would show to much of their hand.

Arra yahoo, yerra boyo!

Less so the prestige of winning the title for Galway and Mayo, but the bragging rights remain very important attractive to both and the sheer numbers that turn out for the matches show how much more the Connacht championship means to supporters and, I'm sure, players.

Though that attitude explains the flood out of the Hyde by Mayo supporters after ye edged out a very hard fought Connacht final last year. Even if it had been the Apocalypse the Rossies would have stayed out in the elements to watch the Nestor Cup slung high.

What's rare is beautiful old stock.

[Tubberman]

I see Andy Moran is captain for 2012. A good choice, he deserves to chance to captain his county, he's been a real leader on the pitch for the past couple of years. Hopefully he'll get the opportunity to lift at least one cup. 
Best of luck to Trevor Mort in his retirement as well - imo played his best football in the half backs in 2007 and again last year.

[Syferus]

Double the chance for a Rossie to lift Sam, fantastic news!

[timmykelleher]

...cause we're going to struggle physically in the middle third for periods next Sunday as most teams have this year against Cork. .... cause Cork like to bully teams into submission using their strength through the spine of their team

Where the heck is this idea coming from?
Is this from the lazy analysis that the media did a few years ago of how the Cork team are tall?
Or is it from James McCartan's excuse for his team that they couldn't compete with Cork were so big?

I defy anyone to produce specific instances of Cork using their strength more than other teams to "bully" teams?
If anything Cork have one of the most tippy tappy football teams in the country. Where other teams drop men back and gang tackle the ball carrier, Cork to me overly stick to one to one marking and shadowing the player with the ball.

Cork end up dominating some teams by monopolising possession. Their favourite kick-out is the short one to one of their full back line. They'll hand pass the ball more than any other team (check the stats!). They'll use this to get one of their backs (half backs or even full backs) to carry the ball up the field hopefully creating an overlap.

Mayo discovered the way to counteract them last year. Tackle aggressively (/foul) from the front. Don't let them break from deep and the Cork attack will become bogged down quickly.

[Crete Boom]

Where the heck is this idea coming from?
Is this from the lazy analysis that the media did a few years ago of how the Cork team are tall?
Or is it from James McCartan's excuse for his team that they couldn't compete with Cork were so big?

I defy anyone to produce specific instances of Cork using their strength more than other teams to "bully" teams?
If anything Cork have one of the most tippy tappy football teams in the country. Where other teams drop men back and gang tackle the ball carrier, Cork to me overly stick to one to one marking and shadowing the player with the ball.

Cork end up dominating some teams by monopolising possession. Their favourite kick-out is the short one to one of their full back line. They'll hand pass the ball more than any other team (check the stats!). They'll use this to get one of their backs (half backs or even full backs) to carry the ball up the field hopefully creating an overlap.

Mayo discovered the way to counteract them last year. Tackle aggressively (/foul) from the front. Don't let them break from deep and the Cork attack will become bogged down quickly.

Timmy what i was trying to say albeit very badly was not that Cork are a team full of huge tall ape-men from the mountains cutting down teams by any crude means but that they have a very powerful athletic spine to their team i.e Shields, Canty , O'Connor , O' Neill, Kelly , Walsh and use this core strength/athleticism to overpower the opposing team ( at least this is what I saw against us , Down and Dublin). I'd compare this to way New Zealand over powered teams rather than the way South Africa bulldoze teams in their respective World cup wins.
I wasn't trying to perpetuate the myth pre the 2009 final that Cork were going to pummel Kerry in to submission cause of there size when in fact the average height and weight of the teams leaned slightly in favor of Kerry.The reason I said we would struggle in midfield physically is because we are missing the O'Shea brothers, Ronan McGarrity and Barry Moran as always carrying an injury it seems so this leaves us with Jason Gibbons and one of Geraghty and Harte neither who are out and out midfielders. I realise Cork play a possession game but this is facilitated by dominating the middle third which is where I expect us to struggle. Interestingly in the Kerry Cork league game I thought Byran Sheehan and Paul Galvin with help form Donaghy came out on top in the midfield battle then. I just feel  when Cork break even at midfield their abundance of strength and athleticism sees them overpower and dominate most teams apart from maybe Dublin in 2010 and Kerry.