Maigh Eo v Ciarrai, 1700, 30ú Lúnasa, Gaelic Grounds

[J70]

Last week was the time to win this one but we lacked the guile on the sideline to see it out. I don't know what it would have taken to win today, that was as shameful a refereeing performance as I ever seen at a match.

Shameful?

What a load of bollocks!

[Tubberman]

Last week was the time to win this one but we lacked the guile on the sideline to see it out. I don't know what it would have taken to win today, that was as shameful a refereeing performance as I ever seen at a match.

Shameful?

What a load of bollocks!

It was an absolute disgrace.

[Jinxy]

Christ that was nerve wracking. Commiserations to Mayo, they were heroic. That Higgins v O'Donoghue duel encapsulated everything that is good about Gaelic football.

+1

Higgins is superb.

He is. It was an epic battle between them. Everytime the ball went in you knew you were going to see class. The amount of times that Higgins disposessed him or got the block in was unreal but JOD stuck at it and answered a lot of critics who are just waiting for him to fall flat on his face. He still delivered against one of the best displays of corner back play that I have see. It was a privilege to watch it.

It was a great battle alright.
To look at JOD's scoring stats you would think he roasted Higgins but he really didn't.
The amount of times Higgins turned him over or got a hand/block in was unreal.

[rossiewanderer]

Fantastic theater today!!
Mayo have come a long way under Horan who is a great leader who always had his men in peak conditions for battles and despite contrary opinion his men never lacked bottle or fight just a top class forward or two.However Horans critical weakness is/was his tactical game management and he was outfoxed by the wily Fitzmaurice today.Barry Moran was a disaster as was Cafferky and changes were to late.
Moran was awesome with Maher not far behind,Crowley is very unheralded but he is a real dog of war,The battle between Higgins and JOD was epic stuff,Donaghy bullied all and sundry and Mayo had no answers.
  Referee was poor,I couldnt believe how many double hops and direct picks off the ground which were missed.He did the classic balancing act which did no merit the intrusion of a couple of hooligans at the end.

Kerry have every chance now and with a few tactical changes (I would get rid of Johnny Buckley  no stomach for a fight at all) they will be extremely hard beat.

[Chimley]

Just back home. That surely is the end of the road for some of that panel. Not that they're over the hill but they have too many mental scars at this stage. Young players need to be given their head now for the next run at it. The likes of Adam Gallagher, Evan Regan, Diarmuid O'Connor and others need to be given a chance. Look at what Fitzmaurice has done for Kerry and it's hard to say that he had better talent coming through.

[SouthDublinBro]

Refereeing was poor in general, but nowhere near as biased as Mayo fans would lead you to believe. Pathetic display from those Mayo fans at the end.

[Whishtup]

                    Delighted to see Kerry go through in what was one of the most memorable games I have ever witnessed.  You have to admire Kerry's sheer grit, and doggedness combined with sheer class, character and variety of gameplan-quite refreshing in this era of streamlined athleticism and systematic, non-emotive approach to the game.  The Kerry greats would have been smiling down on this bunch of lads as they taught Mayo a lesson in football.  It was said that Kerry wouldn't be able to live with Mayo's physicality within the confines of the Gaelic Grounds but by God they stood up today.

                    I thought that Mayo were getting away with a lot of pulling (short pulls) and dragging throughout the game-got away with a foot tap tackle similar to the Kerry black card incident also and then there was O'Shea flattening O'Donoghue.  Kerry were also denied a goal chance when the ref deemed that a Kerry player fouled a Mayo Defender when he lost the ball close to the Mayo goal at a critical time in the game.   

                   While I agree that Moran was a strong candidate for MOM, all his endeavors would have been fruitless without O'Donoghue consistently cutting through the Mayo defence like butter.  For a period, the Donaghey/O'Donoghue combination was electrifying. (2-6 is some return for an All Ireland semi)
                   
                   As a Tyrone man, I'm going to break the mold and say Kerry for Sam!  I feel that we witnessed a herculean effort from a legendary team that are the most breathtaking to watch compared to any of other three teams in the semis.

[ballinaman]

Just in.

Wiped in midfield...think I heard we lost 18 consecutive kick outs?! Did well to stay in the game at all.
Ref atrocious, lost control early on.
Fair play to James, massive commitment for 4 years.
More later, going for a pint

[Main Street]

Just back home. That surely is the end of the road for some of that panel. Not that they're over the hill but they have too many mental scars at this stage. Young players need to be given their head now for the next run at it. The likes of Adam Gallagher, Evan Regan, Diarmuid O'Connor and others need to be given a chance. Look at what Fitzmaurice has done for Kerry and it's hard to say that he had better talent coming through.

If Mayo have got ready replacements for the first team elders, then they truly have a wealth of talent available.
They were magnificent throughout both games, apart from a dodgy first half last time.
Yet another enthralling game, though I was watching it on a sky+ recording which fizzled out just as Kerry went a point ahead in the 2nd half of ET.
It's a task to work out who deserved it more, my bias would be that Kerry were more than worthy winners.

[Chimley]

Mayo were out on their feet at the end as we were last Sunday too. I wonder how much playing with 14 just six days ago affected their legs in the vital extra time.

[Itchy]

Being very harsh on ref. That was a seriously physical game and ref didn't do too bad. Missed a few decision for both teams. If I were to state one thing that cost Mayo I'd say it was the sideline being too slow to change. Donaghy caused total chaos, they got a warning in the 1st game and still learnt nothing and left a man on him today for 67min despite him not even competing in the air. Mayo were also surprisingly very poor at midfield. Hard to see them come back but wasnt refs fault they lost to better team on the day.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Being very harsh on ref...

He has form, alas.

Great contest, and well done Kerry after an epic tussle --- tough on Mayo, but both tanks well and truly emptied.

[johnpower]

What a game thought Mayo had it well done Lyne

[screenexile]

What was with Mayo getting cleaned at MF alright?? Maher and Moran completely dominated it and Mayo did nothing to try and turn the tide especially on their own kick out surely they had some kind of short kick strategy when it wasn't working for them out the field... Even bringing Parsons on earlier would have stemmed the tide a bit!!

[Chimley]

What was with Mayo getting cleaned at MF alright?? Maher and Moran completely dominated it and Mayo did nothing to try and turn the tide especially on their own kick out surely they had some kind of short kick strategy when it wasn't working for them out the field... Even bringing Parsons on earlier would have stemmed the tide a bit!!

We were wiped out around the middle alright. Normally that is our strength but we were never able to gain a foothold this evening. I'm surprised we got so close with the amount of ball we lost on kickouts.