Mayo V Sligo - Connaught senior final - July 15th

[sligoman2]

Help im lost.
I know i opened a connAught final thread somewhere but i think i lost it somewhere between ballyhaunis and castlerea marts or it might have been on my way from castlebar to the hyde. The lAst time i saw it might have been in salthill come to think of it or was it at the bus shelter in roscommon town before i got drunk in the nightclub with the mayo boys.  I wonder if some of the mayo buckeens stole it when they were trying to steal the venue for the final.
Wait a second, is that my thread i see on the back of that pig running down the road?  No, my mistake that's the runaway pig that escaped death row at barcastle as a stowaway on the back of a builders truck who was building the great facities at mchale park.  Rumour has it the pig is now living under the concrete seats in Roscommon.
Well anyways if anyone finds it can you emali me at thismayoroscommonbullshitiskillingme@ye're all yahoos .com the last time this thread was seen alive was about 17 pages ago half way between kellys ankle and oharas knee.
A reward wll be offered for the safe return of this thread.  No questions asked.

Go raibh maith agat
Go raibh maith agat

[Syferus]

You snooze, you lose!

I can see Sligo winning plenty of good ball in the middle, their pairing looked good in the league and were good against against Galway. Mayo are obviously unsettled there with the O'Shea's only coming back from injury. Aidan seems to have improved from last year (where he was like a bull in a china shop), but how sharp would he be if he is starting or introduced? I know he played for Breaffy at the weekend but that was in a bit of a pasting for them.

[moysider]

I hear all is very quiet on the western people front, not much in the Mayo news either.
(see what I did there?)

No interviews, no build ups, no previews at all this week. Normally when the local scribes have nothing to write about we often see a look back at a previous historic encounter, but I dont think we even had that this week?

Is this media ban creating an air of anticipation or is it fanning the hype away? 

Not a peep out of either camp this week which is intriguing!

We could see a team named as early as Tuesday night could we? To get this thread off its knees ill give it a shot:

Clarke
Keane, Cafferkey, Higgins,
Boyle, Vaughan, Keegan
Moran, Gibbons,
McLoughlin, Moran, Dillon,
Mortimor, O Connor, Conroy

You could see Richie starter for Boyle if he is off form like the last day.
O Connor should start inside, and Andy needs to be centre forward.
Doherty and Freeman didnt cut it the last day, but I guess Freeman could be there instead of Conroy at 15, depending on form. Wouldnt say McGarity is in contention, by all accounts he was terrible in the club championships down in Mayo last weekend.

Ok. I promised myself I wouldn t do this but I m bored and tbh I don t have the heart to keep the other sparring with the Rossies going.

For debate sake. Why would you bring in Gibbons for Geraghty for this one? Thought Geraghty did 'exactly like it says on the tin' v Leitrim. Horan isn t selecting Geraghty and expecting a song and dance display.

Ditto Freeman and Doherty. What else would you expect them to do than what they did? In this team corner forwards are worker bees that close down and try and force turnovers with pressure. They are also expected to get on the end of things as finishers but the run of the ball wont always go their way. Horan might still consider his best approach is Doc and Freeman and keep Conroy and Conoreen until/if the game gets stretched and room appears inside and our runners legs are shot.

Moving out Andy and moving in O Connor should be a non runner unless Horan loses his nerve. He s hardly going to drop O Connor but moving him inside is a cop out - like moving Andy out would be a cop out. Andy needs to improve his hands since Leitrim but at 11 he would be just a spectator and decoy ( like O Connor was the last day) with runners running the lines from deep.

Fair play Tyrion for trying to start a proper debate but it will probably stall again. Paople will pick a preferred team etc and won t justify it.

A bit like you have. O Con inside and Andy at eleven.

Horan has 3 Ballintubber men from 8-15 and we can be sure he has well mulled over who can do what. He knows them better than most I d say. If Horan thought O Con would bag goals and run riot inside as a targetman or finisher he would have him in there. He s starting Geraghty instead of Gibbons for a reason as well. When I see a posters selection with O Con in ff line I kinda lose interest and prefer to rattle a Rossie's cage. Every Mayo forward line seems to have Dillon, O Con and Andy in some number but without much thought to what they re going to/capable of doing. Y'know the old ' 3 St Patricks and No God scenario'.

[Lar Naparka]

Help im lost.
I know i opened a connAught final thread somewhere but i think i lost it somewhere between ballyhaunis and castlerea marts or it might have been on my way from castlebar to the hyde. The lAst time i saw it might have been in salthill come to think of it or was it at the bus shelter in roscommon town before i got drunk in the nightclub with the mayo boys.  I wonder if some of the mayo buckeens stole it when they were trying to steal the venue for the final.
Wait a second, is that my thread i see on the back of that pig running down the road?  No, my mistake that's the runaway pig that escaped death row at barcastle as a stowaway on the back of a builders truck who was building the great facities at mchale park.  Rumour has it the pig is now living under the concrete seats in Roscommon.
Well anyways if anyone finds it can you emali me at thismayoroscommonbullshitiskillingme@ye're all yahoos .com the last time this thread was seen alive was about 17 pages ago half way between kellys ankle and oharas knee.
A reward wll be offered for the safe return of this thread.  No questions asked.

Go raibh maith agat
Go raibh maith agat

You're right, y'know.
There has been sweet damn all discussion about the game- so far at any rate.
Maybe the main reason for this is the fact that both camps are keeping very quite as they go about their preparations.
There's very little to comment on and them jealous Rossies keep looking for a slice of the action but it's time to get back on-topic.
Even when both lineups are made public, there is no form guide of any sort to  go by so it's going to be hard to make credible predictions on the outcome.
This is the most low-key final I can remember.
Sligo look a fairly handy side to me but that's because of the manner in which they flattened Galway. Their league form was unimpressive.
Galway had been red hot favourites going into that game because of their display against Roscommon. The Rossies then had a good, hard-fought win over Armagh so it's hard to predict just how good Sligo are.
Did Galway catch the Rossies on an off-day and were Sligo really as superior to Galway as the scoreline suggested?
Besides all that, Sligo don't have a reputation of putting a string of good performances together. If they can repeat their form against Galway, Mayo will be in trouble but that's a big if.
Mayo on the other hand haven't been tested in the championship so far. They did what they had to do against Leitrim and we'll have to wait until the final to assess their worth.
I'm predicting a Mayo win but I won't be putting my shirt (jersey?) on them.

[TyrionLannister]

You had a lot in that last one so I had to break it down. (never again, took forever  )

Ok. I promised myself I wouldn t do this but I m bored and tbh I don t have the heart to keep the other sparring with the Rossies going.

What exactly did you promise yourself you wouldn't do!? Surely some healthy theorising on football, tactics and line outs is better craic than entertaining some sheep stealers lost on this forum ?   

For debate sake. Why would you bring in Gibbons for Geraghty for this one? Thought Geraghty did 'exactly like it says on the tin' v Leitrim. Horan isn t selecting Geraghty and expecting a song and dance display.

Ok, firstly, as I started to name the team, I got distracted, so initially in my head I had put Geraghty at centre back instead of Vaughan. I felt that Vaughan got too much of a run around from Mulligan (an average player) and Costello could trouble him even more. I would like to see Geraghty get a shot at centre back as he is not the tallest for an intercounty midfielder, but he still deserves a shot for the hunger he shows. Sligo seem to be high fielders so I think Gibbons would suit that game a bit better too. Don't think McG would be in contention as he didnt look too interested when he got his chance. Maybe Aidan O Se would be fit so he would also be an option, if he has his match fitness up.

Ditto Freeman and Doherty. What else would you expect them to do than what they did? In this team corner forwards are worker bees that close down and try and force turnovers with pressure. They are also expected to get on the end of things as finishers but the run of the ball wont always go their way. Horan might still consider his best approach is Doc and Freeman and keep Conroy and Conoreen until/if the game gets stretched and room appears inside and our runners legs are shot.

Are you serious?
Was one point enough from two corner forwards that started against Leitrim?
Conroy and Mort did more in the few minutes they had action than Doc and Freeman managed nearly the whole game. By all means keep the corners a revolving door and if one corner forward is being beaten by his opposite number, swap him out straight away. I think all four players play better being sprung from the bench anyway.

Moving out Andy and moving in O Connor should be a non runner unless Horan loses his nerve. He s hardly going to drop O Connor but moving him inside is a cop out - like moving Andy out would be a cop out. Andy needs to improve his hands since Leitrim but at 11 he would be just a spectator and decoy ( like O Connor was the last day) with runners running the lines from deep.

I think we are going to clash on this one for the rest of the year. Neither player played well against Leitrim as both were out of position but you can't admit you were wrong ;-)
Andy is a better break winner, O Connor is a better finisher. Go back over the video and have a look at how many breaks the Leitrim half back and half backline won without Andy out there. Talking of Horan losing nerve and of cop outs is rubbish.
The definition of insanity is is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. This didn't work against a poor team like Leitrim, so change it back and move on.
What games has Andy been a spectator or decoy at 11? I think that's an unfair comment. He had some outstanding games from centre forward. Also enlighten me about having any quality player being spectator from the centre point of an attack, just to let runners run the lines from deep or whatever? That's a new one to me.

Fair play Tyrion for trying to start a proper debate but it will probably stall again. Paople will pick a preferred team etc and won t justify it.

A bit like you have. O Con inside and Andy at eleven.

I think everyone knew that that didn't work, so I didn't feel the need to explain it.

Horan has 3 Ballintubber men from 8-15 and we can be sure he has well mulled over who can do what. He knows them better than most I d say. If Horan thought O Con would bag goals and run riot inside as a targetman or finisher he would have him in there. He s starting Geraghty instead of Gibbons for a reason as well. When I see a posters selection with O Con in ff line I kinda lose interest and prefer to rattle a Rossie's cage. Every Mayo forward line seems to have Dillon, O Con and Andy in some number but without much thought to what they re going to/capable of doing. Y'know the old ' 3 St Patricks and No God scenario'.

Ah, there is plenty of thought a mhac rest assured. Dillon is flourishing at wing forward, Andy and O Connor have gone backwards as I maintain they are out of position. Geraghty is improving, and may be even better from centre back. Keane continues to establish himself and Barry Moran is showing potiential. Boyle and Vaughan might need a shakeup. Richie, Mort and Conroy looked good off the bench and might get their shot. Aido has hardly even featured yet. Lots to look forward to.

[Blowitupref]

Emlyn Mulligan on this day is one of the finest forwards in Connacht giving Vaughan (one of Mayo better defenders) the run around is no shame and he's better all round footballer than Alan Costello.

[TyrionLannister]

Emlyn Mulligan on this day is one of the finest forwards in Connacht giving Vaughan (one of Mayo better defenders) the run around is no shame and he's better all round footballer than Alan Costello.

Arah yeah, just teasing that one out. He is a bit more than an average footballer indeed.

[moysider]

You had a lot in that last one so I had to break it down. (never again, took forever  )

Ok. I promised myself I wouldn t do this but I m bored and tbh I don t have the heart to keep the other sparring with the Rossies going.

What exactly did you promise yourself you wouldn't do!? Surely some healthy theorising on football, tactics and line outs is better craic than entertaining some sheep stealers lost on this forum ?   

For debate sake. Why would you bring in Gibbons for Geraghty for this one? Thought Geraghty did 'exactly like it says on the tin' v Leitrim. Horan isn t selecting Geraghty and expecting a song and dance display.

Ok, firstly, as I started to name the team, I got distracted, so initially in my head I had put Geraghty at centre back instead of Vaughan. I felt that Vaughan got too much of a run around from Mulligan (an average player) and Costello could trouble him even more. I would like to see Geraghty get a shot at centre back as he is not the tallest for an intercounty midfielder, but he still deserves a shot for the hunger he shows. Sligo seem to be high fielders so I think Gibbons would suit that game a bit better too. Don't think McG would be in contention as he didnt look too interested when he got his chance. Maybe Aidan O Se would be fit so he would also be an option, if he has his match fitness up.

Ditto Freeman and Doherty. What else would you expect them to do than what they did? In this team corner forwards are worker bees that close down and try and force turnovers with pressure. They are also expected to get on the end of things as finishers but the run of the ball wont always go their way. Horan might still consider his best approach is Doc and Freeman and keep Conroy and Conoreen until/if the game gets stretched and room appears inside and our runners legs are shot.

Are you serious?
Was one point enough from two corner forwards that started against Leitrim?
Conroy and Mort did more in the few minutes they had action than Doc and Freeman managed nearly the whole game. By all means keep the corners a revolving door and if one corner forward is being beaten by his opposite number, swap him out straight away. I think all four players play better being sprung from the bench anyway.

Moving out Andy and moving in O Connor should be a non runner unless Horan loses his nerve. He s hardly going to drop O Connor but moving him inside is a cop out - like moving Andy out would be a cop out. Andy needs to improve his hands since Leitrim but at 11 he would be just a spectator and decoy ( like O Connor was the last day) with runners running the lines from deep.

I think we are going to clash on this one for the rest of the year. Neither player played well against Leitrim as both were out of position but you can't admit you were wrong ;-)
Andy is a better break winner, O Connor is a better finisher. Go back over the video and have a look at how many breaks the Leitrim half back and half backline won without Andy out there. Talking of Horan losing nerve and of cop outs is rubbish.
The definition of insanity is is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. This didn't work against a poor team like Leitrim, so change it back and move on.
What games has Andy been a spectator or decoy at 11? I think that's an unfair comment. He had some outstanding games from centre forward. Also enlighten me about having any quality player being spectator from the centre point of an attack, just to let runners run the lines from deep or whatever? That's a new one to me.

Fair play Tyrion for trying to start a proper debate but it will probably stall again. Paople will pick a preferred team etc and won t justify it.

A bit like you have. O Con inside and Andy at eleven.

I think everyone knew that that didn't work, so I didn't feel the need to explain it.

Horan has 3 Ballintubber men from 8-15 and we can be sure he has well mulled over who can do what. He knows them better than most I d say. If Horan thought O Con would bag goals and run riot inside as a targetman or finisher he would have him in there. He s starting Geraghty instead of Gibbons for a reason as well. When I see a posters selection with O Con in ff line I kinda lose interest and prefer to rattle a Rossie's cage. Every Mayo forward line seems to have Dillon, O Con and Andy in some number but without much thought to what they re going to/capable of doing. Y'know the old ' 3 St Patricks and No God scenario'.

Ah, there is plenty of thought a mhac rest assured. Dillon is flourishing at wing forward, Andy and O Connor have gone backwards as I maintain they are out of position. Geraghty is improving, and may be even better from centre back. Keane continues to establish himself and Barry Moran is showing potiential. Boyle and Vaughan might need a shakeup. Richie, Mort and Conroy looked good off the bench and might get their shot. Aido has hardly even featured yet. Lots to look forward to.

I promised myself  I wouldn t get involved in a debate involving a few Mayo men between themselves.

A few things about you re replies above.

As somebody else has already pointed out Mulligan is a much better player than Costello or Brehony or anybody else I can think of that Sligo might play 11. My views on where Vaughan should be played have been well aired already.

McGarrity looked interested to me the last day but there might be questionmarks about his legs being shot. I d have no great preferance for Geraghty myself but I suspect he ll be chosen ahead of Gibbons again. I can t see how Leitrim changed anything. As regards fielding I m not sure Gibbons would give advantage there.

The Andy and O Connor placement is another thing. Clearly Horan wants Andy s ability to win hard ball inside and obviously doesn t think O Connor can do that job. The way we play Andy might be able to do a better job at 11 too but he cant play in both places. As for 11 being the point of attack that does not apply to Mayo - hasn t since McD wore 11 back in 06 (I d prefer not to delve into what Johnno was trying to achieve with Trevor or whover at 11 ). So it shouldn t be new to you. It s been happening for some time. So what did or didn t work against Leitrim is debatable so you can t just assume that everybody wants Andy at 11. 11 doesn t matter that much in the way Mayo are trying to play. It s no more special than 10 or 12. . At least that is what I m seeing in games. I think it is more important to Horan that Andy can win ball inside and keep defences honest. O Connor s finishing ability is beyond question but his ability to win ball is an issue. At least I think Mayo management sees it that way.

And I was serious about the corner forwards and it s getting tiresome repeating stuff. Directly after the Leitrim game I wrote that Conroy created more with his first few touches than Doc had done in 50 mins. You must have missed that. Anybody that has read my posts knows that I would have Conroy as my no1 corner forward. But Horan sees it differently.
As you say they all seem to do better coming on. When Conroy came on the last day the game was over and the backs were out on their feet so it was a lot easier than for Doherty. Unfair to judge in those circumstances. But they all have different natural attributes and I think Horan is looking to get a balance that compliments his tactical opproach. I don t think we re playing a game that will see our full forward line score points heavily from play. They will get goal chances though by getting on the end of running moves.

Conor is Conoreen. I suspect he ll be continued to be used as impact.

Conroy. Most typical of the lot what we expect from a corner forward. Shows well, good hands, tricky and pacel and can score on his own.

Doherty. Fast. A bit of an assassin. Not great hands. Works very hard at closing down.

Freeman. Also very quick. Threat in the air if his eye is in. Can also be a lethal finisher. Can be brought further out and works hard to close down defenders.

O Connor. Could end up competing for a corner spot. Lethal finisher and consistently good for close and medium range frees.


At the minute I think Horan prefers to start with pace and workrate, combined with a flair for goal taking.

Spare me the old one about the main job of a corner forward and scoring and stuff. First of all it is not my team . I m just trying to see it from Horan s point of view. He can point to score board v Leitrim and I m sure he s happy enough with the spread of scores. As things stand opposition won t be able to concentrate on a few scoring threats. And they can hardly underestimate likes of Freeman either.

[rosnarun]

at the moment O connor is the kinda corner forward you carry foir free taking ability. he didnot look up to CHF at u 21 and is Definetly not yet up tp the role at Senior level. we  have i believe the best nuber 11 in the country in Aidan o se but wheter we can release him from midfield is another story.
at least we should be able to experiment against the likes of sligo and maybe get a soft Quarter final in order to have our right best 15 and give the big boys a right good crack.
cork looked very vunerable when clare ran at them today and dublin are showing nothing.

[Syferus]

at the moment O connor is the kinda corner forward you carry foir free taking ability. he didnot look up to CHF at u 21 and is Definetly not yet up tp the role at Senior level. we  have i believe the best nuber 11 in the country in Aidan o se but wheter we can release him from midfield is another story.
at least we should be able to experiment against the likes of sligo and maybe get a soft Quarter final in order to have our right best 15 and give the big boys a right good crack.
cork looked very vunerable when clare ran at them today and dublin are showing nothing.

Aidan O'Shea is good but far from great. Cathal Cregg is many leagues a better 11 than O'Shea and we're not even going out of the province. In fact it's impossible to make the case he'd even make the best 11 on the Mayo team, with Andy being absolutely magnificent when playing the central play-making position. O'Shea kicks way too much wayward ball for a midfielder, let alone the position where precision passing is most essential.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Moysider, Conroy is definitely worth a starting spot when he is on his game, although you can probably say that about all our potential corner forward options to be honest. The problem is that none of them are doing it with any great consistency. The concern I have over Conroy is that he seems to go off the edge of a cliff completely if he misses a couple. Once his head is gone, you'd be as well playing with 14. If he could get that aspect out of his game I'd want him in there but for now I'm not convinced. I'd probably start the same two as last time against Sligo and keep Conroy and Conor as impact subs if needed (which they may well be).

Syferus, you're still banging on about Cathal Cregg. From what I've seen of the lad he's a hard working but limited player. Perhaps you'd be better eulogising about him on the Ros Tyrone thread. As regards the Connacht Final, my take on it is - if ye were any good ye'd be playing in it.

[sligoman2]

at least we should be able to experiment against the likes of sligo and maybe get a soft Quarter final in order to have our right best 15 and give the big boys a right good crack.


Thats the kind of talk that will motivate nobody but the opposition.
We should check the mayo boys for test tubes before the game.

Take note sligo we are obviously just considered a warm up for the AI quarter final.

[Lar Naparka]

Moysider, Conroy is definitely worth a starting spot when he is on his game, although you can probably say that about all our potential corner forward options to be honest. The problem is that none of them are doing it with any great consistency. The concern I have over Conroy is that he seems to go off the edge of a cliff completely if he misses a couple. Once his head is gone, you'd be as well playing with 14. If he could get that aspect out of his game I'd want him in there but for now I'm not convinced. I'd probably start the same two as last time against Sligo and keep Conroy and Conor as impact subs if needed (which they may well be).

Syferus, you're still banging on about Cathal Cregg. From what I've seen of the lad he's a hard working but limited player. Perhaps you'd be better eulogising about him on the Ros Tyrone thread. As regards the Connacht Final, my take on it is - if ye were any good ye'd be playing in it.

I'd agree with all of that.
Horan seems to have more or less settled on his defence. I think our backs and goalie as good as you'll find anywhere. He has a number of options for some positions and could well put Vaughan out to midfield without unsettling the balance of his back division.
However, from there on he still got a lot of sorting out to do.
I am fairly confident that there will be no change in either personnel or position from the Leitrim game from number one to seven unless injury  gets in the way. I wouldn't bet on who is going to wear a given number from there on.
Conroy is a gifted player but he does lack consistency. If the going gets tough, I can't see him digging in and keeping his cool. But I think the same could be said about everyone else bar Andy.
If Mayo gets off to a flying start, we'll see some fine forward play alight but if we are up against it and the game is slipping away, I can't see our forwards doing what Dublin did against Wexford and keep plugging away until the opposition finally cracks.

[SLIGONIAN]

Looking forward to the game, best of luck to our lads,

Sidenote, i presuming the Rossies will be shouting for us aswell? Should be a big Sligo support... What the capacity of the Hyde for Sunday?

[Rossfan]

i presuming the Rossies will be shouting for us aswell?

I'd say we won't be shouting for the rhus anyway  , Andy Moran or no Andy Moran.