Tyrone vs Mayo AISF Semi-Final - August 25th

[Geoff Tipps]

Donegal were an absolute shambles - I'm not sure that Mayo have yet come up against a proper team in this years championship. In the first 20 minutes there was about 5 examples of Mayo mis-placing handpasses, and some shoddy build up work. This has all been masked by the ineptitude of Donegals performance.

I simply do not buy the line that Donegal weren't let play, they were that far off the pace it was astonishing

Against Tyrone Mayo will be up against the best manager of modern times - anyone thinking we'll get an easy ride to the final is kidding themselves

Yes agree with that. I think we were 6 points up, Vaughan misplaced a pass, kicked the ball out over the sideline and Donegal went up and got 2 points. Need to cut out these type of mistakes if we're going to win an AI.

[ballinaman]

Donegal were an absolute shambles - I'm not sure that Mayo have yet come up against a proper team in this years championship. In the first 20 minutes there was about 5 examples of Mayo mis-placing handpasses, and some shoddy build up work. This has all been masked by the ineptitude of Donegals performance.

I simply do not buy the line that Donegal weren't let play, they were that far off the pace it was astonishing

Against Tyrone Mayo will be up against the best manager of modern times - anyone thinking we'll get an easy ride to the final is kidding themselves

Exactly. I said Mayo by 6 minimum prior to the match, Donegal's legs were shot. I think it probably could have been worse for them had Cunniffe not gone off which forced Higgins back.

Mayo have had the 4 games won by half time so Tyrone will obviously do everything they can to shut the game down early on.

Looking forward to the game. Always good to hear the most cringy chant in GAA in person..."Come on Tyyyyrone...Come on Tyyyyrone....Come on!"

[AMayoFan]

Obstacles are beginning to come thick and fast for Tyrone. Penrose will be out? Possible?  Will the Brolly controversy make an impact to Tyrone style?  Mayo on the crest of a wave and on the back of probably one of there best performances every.

I really fancied Tyrone to beat Donegal earlier in the year and I based my opinion on the league final.  That day (against Dublin) Tyrone ruled centre field and their backs were magnificent.  They held on until there legs began to fail & ultimately I think not being able to get enough guys forward in the final quarter cost them scores.  Against Donegal as with Dublin, there attacking plan failed! Out muscled up front and unable to take advantage of turn over balls.  I've seen a marked improvement on this against Meath ... however, Tyrone far too reliant on Kavanagh brilliants to bring them through matches.

Tyrone will not rule centre field against the O'Shea brothers.  So I expect Tyrone to be pinned back (as what Dublin did) defending.  Have Mayo the real quality up front to break what I expect will be a great performance from Tyrone defence.  Here is hoping so

[EC Unique]

Obstacles are beginning to come thick and fast for Tyrone. Penrose will be out? Possible?  Will the Brolly controversy make an impact to Tyrone style?  Mayo on the crest of a wave and on the back of probably one of there best performances every.
I really fancied Tyrone to beat Donegal earlier in the year and I based my opinion on the league final.  That day (against Dublin) Tyrone ruled centre field and their backs were magnificent.  They held on until there legs began to fail & ultimately I think not being able to get enough guys forward in the final quarter cost them scores.  Against Donegal as with Dublin, there attacking plan failed! Out muscled up front and unable to take advantage of turn over balls.  I've seen a marked improvement on this against Meath ... however, Tyrone far too reliant on Kavanagh brilliants to bring them through matches.

Tyrone will not rule centre field against the O'Shea brothers.  So I expect Tyrone to be pinned back (as what Dublin did) defending.  Have Mayo the real quality up front to break what I expect will be a great performance from Tyrone defence.  Here is hoping so

IMO Penrose is not a big loss. He has not been up to his high standards of play this year and we have just as good to come in and replace him. Will Brollygate change Tyrone? absolutely not. All it will do is strengthen their determination in a 'world against us' mentality.

Mayo looked first class on Sunday as they have all Championship but how good are they really? Have they been tested by a good team yet? We will see...

[Farrandeelin]

Sure Tyrone have to be favourites. Mayo are in the semifinals and haven't been tested at all yet or anything......

[God14]

A big plus from Saturday night for Tyrone was the return of the two Ronan's. ONeill & McNabb. Two quality footballers, as Mayo will testify from underage days in the recent past. As EC unique says Penrose wont be that big a miss. Sure he gets through a mountain of work each day, but his shooting has been off key all season. He is not known for his passing or playmaking either. We have other players who can fill that void, and could actually end up inadvertently improving our team.

Also Kudo's to Barry Cassidy for sending Penrose off! He'd be a big Tyrone fan Barry Cassidy! 

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Sure Tyrone have to be favourites. Mayo are in the semifinals and haven't been tested at all yet or anything......

Yerra, not a chance! Mayo as favourites for this are so hot they're hotter than hottest heat-seeking hot thing in the history of the cosmos!

[nrico2006]

I posted yesterday that I hoped that Penroses sending off will open the door for O'Neill to come in.  McNabb will have 3 weeks more training too. 

[GalwayBayBoy]

Donegal were an absolute shambles - I'm not sure that Mayo have yet come up against a proper team in this years championship. In the first 20 minutes there was about 5 examples of Mayo mis-placing handpasses, and some shoddy build up work. This has all been masked by the ineptitude of Donegals performance.

No doubt Mayo were very good but Donegal were a shambles from quite early on. Just look at Mayo's 2nd goal. Two Donegal lads handpassing the ball to each other under no real pressure in midfield. One sends it a bit low to McHugh who miscontrols it and let's it hop off his foot and then he falls over. Mayo lad picks it up and himself and Vaughan are now in the clear bearing down on the Donegal goal. When that happened you could tell that Donegal were really not at the races. That said Mayo are playing well enough to really punish sides that are foostering about.

[lenny]

Donegal were an absolute shambles - I'm not sure that Mayo have yet come up against a proper team in this years championship. In the first 20 minutes there was about 5 examples of Mayo mis-placing handpasses, and some shoddy build up work. This has all been masked by the ineptitude of Donegals performance.

I simply do not buy the line that Donegal weren't let play, they were that far off the pace it was astonishing

Against Tyrone Mayo will be up against the best manager of modern times - anyone thinking we'll get an easy ride to the final is kidding themselves

I agree and thats why I worry a bit for Mayo. I would love to see them do it after all their heartbreak in the last few years. They were allowed to break the tackles far too easily by donegal though and i cant see tyrone allowing that to happen. Also tyrone will push the rules to the limit to put cillian oconnor and aidan o shea off their game. Mayos discipline needs to be top notch and also they need to have planned for not breaking the tackles as easily as they have been allowed to this year so far.

[CitySlicker11]

Was it Mayo's first or second goal that came from a very lucky bounce off Mark McHugh's foot when he was unchallenged?

[AMayoFan]

IMO Penrose is not a big loss. He has not been up to his high standards of play this year and we have just as good to come in and replace him. Will Brollygate change Tyrone? absolutely not. All it will do is strengthen their determination in a 'world against us' mentality.

Mayo looked first class on Sunday as they have all Championship but how good are they really? Have they been tested by a good team yet? We will see...

Yeah I expect you're right on Brollygate and I hope so (as I thought he tarnish Mayo wrongly last year).  As for Mayo, I thought Donegal was the hardest team to be drawn against in the quarter final.  As for the earlier teams Mayo played, both Roscommon and Galway gave a good account of themselves through the backdoor.  So I think they're good teams.  Roscommon for me are the better team of those two & actually held Mayo back for the first part of the game when we played them.  By the by - if Roscommon had more composure in taking there scores early on they would have pushed Mayo very close.  I also believe the lack of that composure is what undone them against Tyrone!  How much better are Tyrone than Roscommon? Tyrone are more experience and crafter yes, but there isn't allot if compared with footballing ability.  If Evans develops the scoring ability of Roscommon they will go far next year.

So back to your question, have Mayo been tested? Absolutely, they have ... are they 16 points better than the teams they have being playing against? Probably not!!! You're seeing Mayo put up such a big score against opponents because they've a ruthless edge and will exploit any / all advantages all day long.  But I'll grant you this ... nothing but there best performance will get them by Tyrone on 25th August!!!!

[muppet]

Was it Mayo's first or second goal that came from a very lucky bounce off Mark McHugh's foot when he was unchallenged?

2nd I think.

The first came when O'Connor robbed Magee on the endline and exchanged passes with McLoughlin.

[From the Bunker]

Very off form Donegal team this year alright who really beat no team of substance on their way to the Quarter Final. Mayo have had things easy as well with victories against Roscommon who Tyrone easily defeated by two points and Galway who were in turn were easily beaten by Cork by a point. Mayo's league form going into the Championship was poor. League form is the most important part of the championship year, poor league form will come back to haunt you come championship. Mayo only survived relegation by beating Cork in Cork. They were fortunate to make the semi finals where they lost to eventual winners Dublin.

Mayo have problems playing in Croke Park. Their recent record speaks for itself bar recent victories against Donegal, Down, Cork and Dublin. Similar to this year, Last year Mayo went into the AI semi finals stage without a test after hammering Down. They then struggled to beat an out of form Dublin team in the semi's.

The Hype in Mayo will have kicked in since the Donegal game. Players and management will be greatly affected by this hype as many have not encountered this before in their football career. Mayo do not deal with being favourites going into a match, being favourites in every game in Connacht and the quarter final greatly affected the teams performance.

After nearly 3 years under Horan, Mayo still have no marquee forward.  Mayo's scores so far have been spread all over the team (squad). So when the going gets tough we don't have that one forward you go to who will pull the game out of the bag.

[omagh_gael]

Mayo are, quite rightly, huge favourites for this game. However, I can't see us taking a triming like Donegal. Donegal's focus all year was our game in Ballybofey in May. This appears to have backfired in that Donegal's focus was completely out of sorts after this. Simple things like forming their defensive wall around the 'hot-zone' fell to bits and they mentally threw in the towel as soon as Vaughan bagged your second goal.

In today's Irish News Peter Canavan was chatting about Brolly's rant being a God-send for Mickey Harte and he is correct. Our footballers aren't the same quality as Mayo, we aren't as physically quick or strong as Mayo but our hunger and drive for the win will, no doubt, be just as strong.

I still think Mayo will win this game but I am certain it will be a close run thing. Should be some game!