Tyrone vs Mayo AISF Semi-Final - August 25th

[ross4life]

Next up, Roscommon. Ye just about managed to nose in front of them at the end even though the Rossies had just changed managers

They managed to hang on Lar

Tyrone were leading us by 6 points then we held them scoreless in the final 15 mins we scored 4 points to make it 2 point game & then we kicked our last four chances wide.

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.

Is this post a piss take?

[ballinaman]

I fell for it too ross, well written piss take it must be said

[ross4life]

I fell for it too ross, well written piss take it must be said

Indeed, feck me pink & followed by this

This years run has come out of no where and people are losing the run of themselves.

What was Bunker drinking this weekend?

[crossfire]

In fairness to James Horano he has built a bomb proof Mayo team.  They are driven by 63 years of failure culminating in todays power show versus Donegal. Not only do I see them beating Dublin in the final well, I think we would all love to see them hammering Kerry if the Kingdom can get there.  The next two months Mayo will be living the dream and as Tyrone supporters we wish them well.  Yes its a shame the way they treated Mortimer but just a few months on I dont think they are missing him, they are delivering some of the greatest performances ever seen in Croke Park.  Well done!

62!

61

[yellowcard]

Agree that Mayos biggest problem will be playing down hype.

From the outside, it'll definitely look like hype, no doubt about it. When in reality it's total belief in this team and what the management are doing. I don't think there will be any playing down of so called hype/belief this year.

I'm not privy to the hype inside the county and since its not a novelty for Mayo to be competing in semi finals I'm sure there isn't any sheep painting going on just yet. However it IS a new experience for Mayo to be almost odds on favourites for the AI with the semi final yet to play. It's how they manage the expectation that will be interesting and although Mayo people will like to play it down, there will always be a nagging doubt that the old mental frailties will resurface again at some stage. I hope that this isn't the case.

[Syferus]

In fairness to James Horano he has built a bomb proof Mayo team.  They are driven by 63 years of failure culminating in todays power show versus Donegal. Not only do I see them beating Dublin in the final well, I think we would all love to see them hammering Kerry if the Kingdom can get there.  The next two months Mayo will be living the dream and as Tyrone supporters we wish them well.  Yes its a shame the way they treated Mortimer but just a few months on I dont think they are missing him, they are delivering some of the greatest performances ever seen in Croke Park.  Well done!

62!

61

Soon to be zero?

[ballinaman]

There will always be a nagging doubt that the old mental frailties will resurface again at some stage. I hope that this isn't the case.

Knowing a fair few of the lads and what they are about, I have zero worries with regards that.

[ballinaman]

I'm not privy to the hype inside the county and since its not a novelty for Mayo to be competing in semi finals I'm sure there isn't any sheep painting going on just yet.

Oh and this was taken last Thursday by the way.....

[smelly fairy]

There will always be a nagging doubt that the old mental frailties will resurface again at some stage. I hope that this isn't the case.

Knowing a fair few of the lads and what they are about, I have zero worries with regards that.

+1.

[Captain Obvious]

If you lads think that Tyrone have been playing to their full potential in every game this year then you may be in for an awful shock come August 25th. There's hardly a man, bar big Sean, who has reached full tilt yet. There's nothing better than being complete underdogs against a cocky Mayo team!

Tyrone have a lot of huff this year but not much puff.

In 2008 Tyrone stumbled into an all ireland quarter final via the back door. In the first round they beat Louth relatively easily, then struggled to beat both Westmeath in round 2 and Mayo in round 3. The form was relatively poor with plenty of "huff but not much puff" and nobody gave them a chance against the Dubs who had just won the Leinster Final by 23 points............Just saying.

Tyrone 2013 don't have players of the quality of McMenamin,Dooher, McGuigan, Mulligan and Stephen O'Neill is well past his best. Tyrones last two championship exits were whoppings from Dublin,Kerry have they really improved to take out the current All Ireland favourites?

[BennyHarp]

If you lads think that Tyrone have been playing to their full potential in every game this year then you may be in for an awful shock come August 25th. There's hardly a man, bar big Sean, who has reached full tilt yet. There's nothing better than being complete underdogs against a cocky Mayo team!

Tyrone have a lot of huff this year but not much puff.

In 2008 Tyrone stumbled into an all ireland quarter final via the back door. In the first round they beat Louth relatively easily, then struggled to beat both Westmeath in round 2 and Mayo in round 3. The form was relatively poor with plenty of "huff but not much puff" and nobody gave them a chance against the Dubs who had just won the Leinster Final by 23 points............Just saying.

Tyrone 2013 don't have players of the quality of McMenamin,Dooher, McGuigan, Mulligan and Stephen O'Neill is well past his best. Tyrones last two championship exits were whoppings from Dublin,Kerry have they really improved to take out the current All Ireland favourites?

Mulligan wasn't getting on and Stephen O'Neill had "retired " at the time of the Dublin game. But i get your point and my post was mainly with tongue in cheek  - there's no way Tyrone can stop the Mayo juggernaut!

[moysider]

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.

+1

Top post Bunker.

[barelegs]

Time will tell how much Tyrone have improved. On current form Mayo should win and are good value at 2/7

What concerns me is that the two main areas of weakness 12 and 24 months ago are still the main areas of weakness today namely the full back line (corner backs) and the full forward line.

I'd read a line of argument somewhere that Mayo need to keep Stephen O'Neill quiet to win, but that doesn't stand up to scrutiny. He's kicked 2 points in 4 championship matches this summer and if I'm honest, I'm not sure he's done enough to be certain of a place on the team. On reputation maybe but not on his performances to date.

[rrhf]

What we must realise is that this mayo team are one year ahead of Tyrone in their redevelopment. Some of these guys simply don't know how to lose at semi final stage. In recent eras they have won an incredible number of all Ireland semifinals second only to Kerry. They are rightly all Ireland favourites and their big performance will need to come in the final.. Wouldn't it be nice if they could beat Kerry in Croke park. I watched their game again tonight and whilst o se was lucky to stay on the field as long as he did.. on the wrong day with his flailing elbows he wouldn't last 10 minutes, I still think their cynicism has been toned down and certainly less obvious than last year. Who can forget the way they took out Dublin last year.  I actually admire what these guys are prepared to do to weaken their opponents.  I have a thought or two of backing them, they also look like a team will be about for a couple.

[Lar Naparka]

I fell for it too ross, well written piss take it must be said

I did too.
When I started to read it, I thought it was Farr given us another dose of his, "We're all doomed, doomed I tell ye" stuff.




(No offence Farr, I honestly thought it was you. )