Mayo v Galway NFL Semi-Final

[DJGaliv]

I think ur wrong on BJP MAW, for my money he seems to be a good reader of the game and has that great knack every CHB needs of being in the right spot at the right time, Something i also think Howley happens to possess.
If you look at the best CHB for the last 10 years they all had this

I don't think Padden possesses the steel or the nastiness that is required to be a top class centre back. It reminds me of the Donnellan experiment at no.6 that we had a couple of years ago. Both great natural footballers, who read the game very well, but just not the answer at no.6. They might get on well playing there during the league, but as someon previously said, if they get a rampaging midfielder running straight at him, I can't see him sending them back on their arse. The likes of Whelan, Cavanagh, Clancy, will run straight through him. I have no doubt that a lot of intercounty managers would target this area if they come up against Mayo, and Padden at centre back.

Galway's defence has been the only thing stopping us getting a whipping in the last 3 years. I don't really know how they are supposed to set the world alight, as one Mayoman said. How exactly do defenders 'set the world alight'? It's not their fault that we've had no midfield, and barely a half forward line. Our defence now consists of six all-Ireland winners, and two all-stars. Not too shabby.

[Bomber2312]

I don't think Padden possesses the steel or the nastiness that is required to be a top class centre back.

I'm not sure i'd describe jimmy nallen as nasty and he seemed to get the job done. I think BJP is a solid an option as there is at the minute, out of 7 games he's been very good in them all.

[DJGaliv]

I don't think Padden possesses the steel or the nastiness that is required to be a top class centre back.

I'm not sure i'd describe jimmy nallen as nasty and he seemed to get the job done. I think BJP is a solid an option as there is at the minute, out of 7 games he's been very good in them all.

Perhaps nasty isn't the word, but you have to be a bit of a stubborn streak when playing centre back, and I don't think BJP has that.

[galwayman]

Should be a good game tomorrow.Tough one to call but Mayo's form has been more consistent than Galway's.
Even though we've won our last 5 games we haven't played really well in any of the games.
If we were playing in 1A we wouldn't have been allowed get away with this as the teams in 1A were far superior.
I have a few worries about Galway at the moment. Midfield is a huge worry. We've struggled in all our games in this sector this year.
Blake is a good player but as another contributor said, he doesn't have the height to win ball here at county level. He is a quality centre back though, although he lacks pace and can be in trouble if he's turned as he doesn't have the pace to recover.
I've never been a fan of Geraghty and he is just too limited as a footballer for me. Cullinane isn't great either but has more potential than Geraghty and can be very good on his day. Bergin isn't the greatest ballwinner in the world but is very mobile and is good at kicking scores (as Mayo could testify after the Connacht final in 2003 where he kicked 4 or 5 points from play from midfield). If we had a player like Kevin Walsh available now, he and Bergin would be the ideal pairing.

The sideline is another worry. Johnno is the best in the business IMHO. If anybody can bring Sam to Mayo it's Johnno.I don't have much faith in Ford or his sideline team to be honest and Mayo definitely have a big advantage here.

Also, our forwards haven't performed this year on a consistent basis. I think we are lightweight up front and would not win enough ball against a tough, hard-tackling backline. Even Joyce and Meehan can struggle to win ball against a tight marking defence. Mike Meehan has been poor so far since returning and hopefully he can play his way into form before the championship. The half forwards have been poor as well. Nicky Joyce has been scoring well but again is liable to lose the ball in contact against tough tackles.

To those who haven't seen much of Damien Burke I also would say that he is a fine defender. I've seen a lot of him since underage and he seems to have got better as he's got older. Although her's not particularly tall,he's very physically strong and is quite quick. He was mainly a half back at minor and under 21 level but has now developed into our main man marker in the full back line. He'll have his hands full with Conor Mort though who is on fire at the moment.
In the Westmeath game last year Burke cleaned Dessie Dolan and kept him scoreless from play.

Overall I think Mayo may win tomorrow but I would not be surprised at all if Galway came out on top as they are always capable of beating Mayo regardless of how they've playing and regardless of the supposed strengths of either side (the same is true of Mayo in this regard).

Anyway, here's hoping it's a good, hard, clean game regardless. May 20th is the one we want though. Gaillimh abu!!

[Redgreenery]

Really looking forward to heading up to Croker again tomorrow!! I reckon it'll be an exciting encounter and a tight one but would predict a Mayo win.
Best of luck to them!

[Redgreenery]

Well todays the day! Headin off to Croker in a few minutes, great to be headin up there again! CMON MAYO!

[Dubh driocht]

Good game and a fair result- I think the result will be reversed next month however.Thought the pigeon was outstanding at corner back.That reminds me that the Millennium stadium has a hawk which keeps birds away - the hawk is brought in twice a day and the birds know to keep well clear.However, as Peter Quinn says, there are too many employed at croke Park as it is, so the pigeon should be OK for the championship.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Would have been nice to make the final but not too disappointed. There doesn't look to be very much between the sides which gives me hope that we can have a right cut at Mayo again in Salthill.

Turning point of the game was defintely the penalty. We were completely on top at that stage and leading by 3 points (should have been further ahead really) but the penalty got Mayo back level and they kicked on from it. The two goals we conceded were very disappointing. Two soft goals. First one two Galway defenders went for the same ball and Hanley palmed the ball down to where his corner-back should have been. Only he wasn't there as he had come in to jump for the ball too. Sloppy play. Crazy penalty to concede too considering Fitzy had got hold of the ball but threw a dodgy pass near his own goal. Criminal that no Galway backs reacted to Doherty's save from the penalty. There was about 3 Mayo players rushing in. All in all two poor goals we conceded and 6 point gifted away.

Midfield went better than could be expected and we were on top there to such a degree that Mayo had to resort to short kick-outs in the second half (which to be fair actually worked well for them). Can't believe that nobody reacted to the short kick-outs as the Mayo keeper kept putting them in the exact same spot.

Padraig Joyce had a great game up front. Bane kicked a few nice scores but faded in the second half. Michael Meehan had a day to forget but you have to cut him some slack after his recent bereavement. He'll have to improve though. Nicky Joyce and Savo were in and out. Ja pretty quiet. We'll definitely need Michael Meehan back in form to make any impact come the championship. Can't be relying on Padraig Joyce as much up front. If fit in time Paul Clancy will have to get a place in the half-forward line too.

Congrats to Mayo. Should be a good game come May in Pearse.

[Farrandeelin]

Agree pretty much with GBB's assessment of the game. It will be some humdinger oif a game on May 20th, that's for sure. At least the negative streak which was shown in the last two Connacht final meetings wasn't evidenced today and it was an enjoyable game of football. I'd give man of the match to Heaney who had a great game in doing the work around the middle. I was surprised that Galway weren't more ahead when we got the penalty. Mayo's forwards did a lot of dithering with the ball all through the game and only really kicked off when the rebound of the penalty was converted. I suppose to have won with the midfield playing as poorly as they did in winning primary possession will give Johnno some comfort as he thinks ahead to May 20th.

[Redgreenery]

It was an alright game. I was very impressed by L O Malley and (again) Heaney. I wonder why Ger Brady wasnt played at full forward though, he came in and out of the game a bit (at centre half forward) but he scored a great goal and a great point in the game. Overall I wasnt impressed with Mayo in periods of the game, at the start they were pretty bad but then made a great comeback with the goal. The start of the second half wasnt great either but they came on a bit. When A Campbell came on I thought he and mabye M Conroy gave a boost to the Mayo team or lifted them a bit. Galway could have won that game, I heard that they shot 17 wides!
So thats 3 games now that Mayo have won by the tightest of margins, a point, but mabye this is not the worst thing.
The main thing is that we are in the final now and have a tough game against Donegal to look forward to!
Congrats Mayo!!

[Redgreenery]

From gaa.ie:

Sunday, April 15

Mayo held on in a competitive Allianz National League semi-final against arch-rivals Galway on Sunday to secure a place in the ultimate round.

NFL DIV 1 SEMI-FINAL
Mayo 1-12 Galway 2-10

There was little to choose between the sides but there was evident steel in this Mayo side, something that was markedly absent during their All-Ireland final capitulation against Kerry last autumn.

In the end it was a combination of the Westerners' ability to take scores and Galway's ill-use of the ball at the other end of the HQ pitch that decided the tie.

Padraic Joyce did point a difficult free four minutes from time to put just one between the sides, but the talismanic full forward afterwards hit two wides when working the ball into a more scoreable position may have had a radical affect on the result.

The opening half swung in Galway's favour before Mayo matched their intensity to draw matters level by the interval.

Nicky Joyce opened the scoring for the Tribesmen when he worked a free way out on the left under the Cusack Stand into a better position before popping the ball over the bar at the Davin Stand.

That was seven minutes in, and within 60 seconds of the Killererin man's score Cormac Bane had hit the back of the Mayo net.

Padraic Joyce, cousin of Nicky, was left in hectares of space by the Western County's defence and after drawing goalkeeper David Clarke out, he offloaded to Bane, who blasted home.

At 1-1 to no score it was a critical period for John O'Mahony's Mayo, and last year's beaten Sam Maguire Cup finalists responded brilliantly. The sides traded points and then Mayo blitzed their opponents in a 60-second whirlwind of their own.

A High ball in on top of the Galway full-back line spilled into the path of the unmarked Ger Brady. The powerful number 14 danced a jig on front of Paul Doherty before rifling a shot to the net, and then All-Star Alan Dillon gained parity with a quick point from play.

Galway pressed ahead again with two scores but instantly Mayo hit back with consecutive points to square things up.

The battle between Galway corner back Damien Burke and Mayo number 13 Conor Mortimer earned the latter two frees, which he scored, as well as a yellow card.

The initial exchanges saw Galway hassle the Mayo forwards to good effect before an element of jersey tugging from both parties became a theme.

Joe Bergin's dominance of the aerial exchanges in midfield was countermanded by the unnecessary frees being conceded by his defence.

The sides were tied on 1-5 apiece at the interval, but if Galway were guilty of conceding bad frees towards the end of the first half, a similar problem afflicted Mayo after the restart.

By the 41st minute the Tribesmen had notched three unanswered scores, two of which were the result silly indiscretions.

It looked as though Galway would pull out of sight but Mortimer was clotheslined in the area by Burke 15 minutes into the half and Meath referee David Coldrick immediately awarded a penalty.

The diminutive DCU star placed his kick for Paul Doherty's right corner but the keeper stretched to save well. The quickest player to react as the ball arrowed back out was All-Star Alan Dillon, who sidefooted to the net to regain parity.

In the remainder of the game Mayo outscored their neighbours and fierce rivals just five points to four, and Galway will rue most the point they conceded in the 57th-minute, when half-back Enda Devenney strolled through a hole in their defence before his blasted shot at goal drifted over the bar.

In the equivalent fixture last year Galway were the victors by five points but Peter Ford's charges went on to lose the provincial meeting of the sides by the minimum. Mayo's story is better known.

The sides meet again in the Connacht Senior Football Championship next month but much will have been garnered at Croke Park this weekend.

It's six years since Mayo last claimed a league title (2001), but incidentally they knocked out the Tribesmen along the way.

MAYO: D Clarke; K Higgins, J Kilcullen, L O'Malley; E Devenney (0-1), BJ Padden, P Gardiner; P Harte (0-1), D Heaney; A Dillon (1-2, 1f), A Moran (0-1), A Kilcoyne (0-1); C Mortimer (0-3, 3f), G Brady (1-1), K O'Neill (capt).

Subs: A Campbell for A Kilcoyne (45th min) and M Conroy for K O'Neill (45th min).

Yellow Cards: BJ Padden and C Mortimer.

Frees: 19.

Wides: 5.

GALWAY: P Doherty; K Fitzgerald, F Hanley (capt), D Burke; D Meehan, N Coyne, M Comer; J Bergin, D Blake; D Savage (0-1), J Fallon, N Joyce (0-4, 3f); M Meehan, P Joyce (0-5, 3f), C Bane (1-2).

Subs: N Coleman for M Meehan (63rd min) and B Cullinane for N Joyce (68th min).

Yellow Cards: D Blake and D Savage.

Frees: 15.

Wides: 12.

REFEREE: D. Coldrick (Meath).

Attendance: 23,209.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Lads,a couple of points from todays game Having watched Mayo plenty of times this year and i think we have one or two lads who started today that are not of county football standard. These men are Ger Brady and Enda Devenney....Brady can not tackle if his life depended on it and he loses possesion too easily,THIS MAN USED TO PLAY RUGBY!!! For christs sake he should be like the bomber Liston in the forward line,he has loads of size and power to dominate up front. I have read on this board how talented Enda Devenney is from lads in north Mayo for the past while. But in his last three games for Mayo he has not played at all...how many times did he kick the balll into a Galways man hand today...now he wasnt the only one who did this today, by a long shot..but he doesnt inspire confidence at all,In Castlebar against Dublin he got roasted as well. As for my man of the match i thought, Keith Higgins,Liam O Malley and Andy Moran were super today, Meehan didnt get a look in to day.For Galway,Joe Bergin, Dereck Savage and a mister P. Joyce played well today. We were very lucky to get away with the win,and after watching the display of Donegal today,we have a lot of improving to do to. But you have to be at the table in order to eat the dinner so we will have to wait and see.(will have to blame the A.Higgins mistake on a couple of beers after the game!!!)

[Redgreenery]

I'd agree with you about E Deveeney, I wouldnt have been impressed with him at all, he gave away too much of the ball and done some awful shots and managed to send one wide which would have been easier to send over the bar as he was right in front of the posts. He done some awful passing. In his first 2 games he looked fairly promising but since then hasnt had any really great games at all.

[muppet]

 An Gaeilgóir I usually ignore your nonsense but just seeing as we won a National League semi final and you still see fit to attack our players why don't you f**k off to the Pemiership or somewhere? By the way Aidan Higgins your first named super player of the day didn't even play today.

Piss off back to your Shell job.

[muppet]

 Nice edit.