Galway v Mayo, CSFC May 20th

[Barney]

Happy for Forde

The cold war is over!

I think you are being a bit unfair on O'Mahony Seanie.

He did have a great Galway panel to work with but he still helped them deliver two AIs and an u21 AI. An u21 AI with Mayo, Connacht championships with Mayo, Leitrim and Galway, and helped successful St Brigids and Ballina teams. I think that speaks for itslef.

Where questions may be asked is in his record at intercounty level since 2001. 2002 - 2004 were very disappointing for Galway, and included big defeats in big games against Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo. And now an unconvincing display in his first outing with Mayo 07. But he has put his reputation on the line with Mayo and should be given all the time he needs to get it right. Would have preferred if he had taken more risks with the league but we have to be patient and hope that it may come together ultimately. The team for the next day will give us a renewed view of his thinking. If BJP and Gardiner start in the half-back line, Nallen at midfield and Ger Brady at all it would be worrying.

[rosnarun]

yes devenney was playing  and whipped off sharpish that what i call abandonment as was kilcullen in the league final. 89 and 92 are a hell of a long time ago now. and as i said in my previous email give me donnellan joye et all over omahony any day.

i dont think many personnel changes to the team are actually required . The only guy i think that need dropping are devenney and o'neill , the most impoortant thing from last sunday is an attitude adjustment. and with 6 election free weeks maybe will get a bit of concentration. with injuries ect 20-22 players are gonna be needed regardless and with hopefully the exception of mcgarrity i dont see there being toomany changes to the panel now. but
full back should be sorted once and for all 3 different fullback have beeused in the last few weeks whaeras this needs to be a steady position with a gut in there calling the shots. I think this is largely why mayo looked s dijointed at the back the last day. ditto for centre half back. My prefence for thes wouldstill be heaney and nallen . our lack of leaders in midfield is worrying maybe its time to give Barry moran his head along side brady.
the other change id like to see is Andy to be given a free run with the 2 mortimers in the full forward line . they played like that a few years back to great effect but with injuries ect it never got a fair run. T mort is one of the best ground ball winners in the country and knows how to play with connor. we were totally without a system or leadership

[nephinbeg]

mayo fans are oficially thick when it comes to football and I am a mayo man and i recognise that.. Look at club football in mayo and how bad it is supported. People in Mayo like most of the thickos on this board have nay a notion of football,

Now in context here is what matters


We had a decent league campaign where players did well in certin positions. like it or not bjp was very good in centre back in the league particularly against Kerry, the dubs... why was he just not kept there the last day. the same arguement could be promoted for Kilcullen and full back. Why did he not start there and if the going got tought swap at midfield with Henaey, I dont think Bergin would have fielded to easily above Kilcullen.  O Mahoney panicked and his team selection and positiong was poor. Gardiner has no defensive qualities whatsoever. Dillon and Mort are living of the glory of their all stars. Macd must be a very stupid man if he is still holdng up the ball after all these years.

Here isd my Mayo team for this years qualifiers and for the next year or two.

Clarke
O Malley
Kilcullen/Nevin
Higgins
Howley
Padden
Deveany
Heaney
Brady - For qualifiers anyway. McG when he is fit.
Harte
Dillon
T Mort
O Neill
Moran
Mort


No mac d, no gardiner,

[magpie seanie]

The cold war is over!

Harsh on me Barney, harsh! My gripe with Forde is largely to do with the team selected for the 2002 Connacht Final. If that's not how it came across previously then sorry or else maybe I'm mellowing but I'd be slow to admit the latter!

[ildanach]

The team for the next day will give us a renewed view of his thinking. If BJP and Gardiner start in the half-back line, Nallen at midfield and Ger Brady at all it would be worrying.

With mcgarrity missing, heaney would have been at midfield were it not for the fact that he is P Joyce's boggyman. He once again proved this, so in that respect JOM was justified in moving him to FB. It is very early to go picking a starting 15 for the next game. I haven't thought much about the defence and midfield yet but the 6 forwards i would like to see are Moran,T Mort,Dillion,C mort,C McD,ONeill, that leaves Kilcoyne,Omalley,Cambell on the bench to be introduced if required. For me these are the 3 sub forwards i would use.

Does anyone know will McGarrity be back  for Qualifers?

[MacDanger]

We had a decent league campaign where players did well in certin positions. like it or not bjp was very good in centre back in the league particularly against Kerry, the dubs...

I'd agree with a lot of what you say but the above statement I can't agree with. I reckon BJP is like Cullen, great against the lesser teams (Kerry are a "lesser" team in the league as they don't really give a damn about it) but poor when he comes up against a real good CHF. I know BJP has never really had much of a chance in that position but like I say, he's great going forward when we're not under pressure but the bottom line is that he's not a defender. To play CHB you have to be a good defender and a tough f*cker, look at the likes of John Maughan (in his day), Keith Barr, Kieran McG, Pony etc etc, BJP has nowhere near the steel or the defensive ability to play CHB. He has played all his football in the forwards and did pretty well last season and that's where he should be left. Don't know who should be CHB, maybe Heaney or someone new.

[the Deel Rover]

mayo fans are oficially thick when it comes to football and I am a mayo man and i recognise that.. Look at club football in mayo and how bad it is supported. People in Mayo like most of the thickos on this board have nay a notion of football,

Now in context here is what matters


We had a decent league campaign where players did well in certin positions. like it or not bjp was very good in centre back in the league particularly against Kerry, the dubs... why was he just not kept there the last day. the same arguement could be promoted for Kilcullen and full back. Why did he not start there and if the going got tought swap at midfield with Henaey, I dont think Bergin would have fielded to easily above Kilcullen.  O Mahoney panicked and his team selection and positiong was poor. Gardiner has no defensive qualities whatsoever. Dillon and Mort are living of the glory of their all stars. Macd must be a very stupid man if he is still holdng up the ball after all these years.

Here isd my Mayo team for this years qualifiers and for the next year or two.

Clarke
O Malley
Kilcullen/Nevin
Higgins
Howley
Padden
Deveany
Heaney
Brady - For qualifiers anyway. McG when he is fit.
Harte
Dillon
T Mort
O Neill
Moran
Mort


No mac d, no gardiner,

no nephinbeg

[Tatler Jack]

 

think Roscommon will be a big test but assuming that the team is sufficiently focused, motivated and play somewhere near their capabilities they should win.

I think Myball you are getting ahead of yourself. More likely you will be facing Sligo and they gave you a good game last year. Roscommon are at least two years away from having a team that can compete in Connacht. had a feeling at the start of this year that Sligo will win Connacht and I stick by it.

PS don't take Leitrim for granted either especialy if it in Carrick (that is if Leitrim surviive the London test)

[Greenabovethered]

Strangely enough, i wasn't overly disappointed with the performance or result on Sunday. I always had a foreboding feeling that Galway would win after beating them in the league semi final.  The had a level of aggression in their play that was  not equalled by Mayo all day. There was sniping off the ball all day and Harte was stupid to do what he did in front the ref. Simply a case of Galway wanting it more than Mayo. Mayo has been flirting with disaster all during the league and they were going to be found out.

2 other points,

Johno has to give youth a chance, no offence to some of the elder statesmen in the team, but if they didn't do in the last 3 years they never will. It's time to throw in some of the younger guys for the qualifiers. Our half back line continues to be our problem area, until it is sorted out, we are going nowhere.

Why Kevin O'Neill decided to play against the wind in the first half. Fc*kin crazy decision to make in Salthill.

[GalwayBayBoy]

think Roscommon will be a big test but assuming that the team is sufficiently focused, motivated and play somewhere near their capabilities they should win.

I think Myball you are getting ahead of yourself. More likely you will be facing Sligo and they gave you a good game last year. Roscommon are at least two years away from having a team that can compete in Connacht. had a feeling at the start of this year that Sligo will win Connacht and I stick by it.

PS don't take Leitrim for granted either especialy if it in Carrick (that is if Leitrim surviive the London test)

Not sure why you consider Sligo such warm favourites to beat Roscommon? Not that they can't or won't but I think you'd have to make Roscommon favourites.

Leitrim away is never easy but Galway have better players than Leitrim do so it's up to them to match their hunger levels and their class should see them through. Games in Carrick are invariably tough and scrappy though.

Even if Sligo beat Roscommon they have such an appalling record against Galway at all grades that they would really have to reverse a major trend to pull off a win. They put up a decent show last year in Salthill but never looked like winning the game really.

I know a Galway v Roscommon final would be in Pearse but where would a Galway v Sligo one be? It was Pearse last year so would it be in Castlebar?

Either way a long way to go yet.

[smelly fairy]

If it was Pearse last year, why would it be Castlebar this year? Attendance?.... hmmmm...

Nephinbeg, I agreed with some of your points, but then you slid down the mountain..

[joemamas]

As for your second hand info on Mcstay, at least unlike some of his collegues,at least he calls it like he sees it. How often have we seen Canning, Morrisey and Carney to a greater extent not have the balls to criticize poor referring.

With Respect to John O Mahoney, while he is not beyond blame, most mayo people deep down did not expect, this team to win an all-ireland. Judge him in three or four years, or longer.

[magpie seanie]

As for your second hand info on Mcstay, at least unlike some of his collegues,at least he calls it like he sees it. How often have we seen Canning, Morrisey and Carney to a greater extent not have the balls to criticize poor referring

Are you defending him? Everyone I spoke to including Mayo people were agreed.

[Duine Eile]

Still on a high after that win lads!It was good to see a Galway team finally fired up for a big game for a change.With Padraic Joyce and Mike Meehan fairly quiet it was reassuring to see Nicky Joyce and Cormac Bane taking a bit of responsibility, too many times in the past couple of seasons there's been too much dependency on Padraic and Mike. Backs were immense, Damien Burke especially, had Mortimer in his pocket for most of the game and his mother of a shoulder (legal shoulder at that!) on Kieran Mc raised the roof in Salthill. One of the best corner backs in the country at the minute. Kieran Fitz seems to be coming back to his best also after a tough winter. Hanley is getting better with every game. Doherty did fairly well too, dealt confidently with whatever came his way. Mike Comer was alright but still think he'll make way for Coyne when he recovers from his injury. (Burst vessel in his eye apparently, hope he makes a full recovery) Blake did well after coming in as did Dec Meehan. Joe Bergin finally stepped up to the mark and delivered a great performance. Covered acres of ground. Niall Coleman, well what can you say about him, can be oh so good but sours the lot with rash and careless tackling. Has calmed the aimless balls a bit, had a great point and set Bane up brilliantly for his goal but lets himself down with the agression a lot. Needs to settle a bit! Himself and Bergin could be a great partnership if they can continue to play well but  have worries about Coleman's temperament. That said maybe he wanted to get off the field fairly lively to escape David Brady in case he kissed him again! In the forwards Nicky Joyce and Cormac Bane really stepped up to the mark. It's good to know if Padraic and Mike have bad days at the office we have these two to rely on though Bane can be a bit erratic at times.Ja, had his moments I suppose, scored a point but really isn't up to 70mins at this level. Savage was in and out of the game but can still leave defenders on their arse when he feels like it. Padraic and Mike, as I've said weren't up to the standards we usually expect from them but they'll come good, Meehan brought Higgins out of his comfort zone of the corner and was more involved in general play from centre forward, hope he's left there for a couple of games to see how he fares out.Heaney did a job on Padraic but he was still involved in a lot of what Galway did up front.

Great to get the win but not getting too carried away with it. Think Mayo were a bit shell shocked by the early goal and didn't expect the intensity shown by Galway. This thing about Galway being dirty and cynical is only a lazy excuse being used by some Mayo supporters to explain their teams performance. (note I said some, the majority, including those on here, are gracious in defeat) Yeah Galway hit hard but that's part and parcel of today's game. Think it was James Horan in the Western People today that said Mayo need to stop giving out about the physicality of teams and start hitting back. (Legally now, not elbows or forearms to the face. ) Galway were also very lucky on a few occasions, Mortimer hitting the bar, James Nallen getting pulled for over-carrying when a goal looked likely, and Cormac Bane not getting pulled for over-carrying for his first goal. All in all, a good Galway performance, roll on Leitrim on the 24th June. We'll need to be careful though, Leitrim aren't the pushovers they used to be and the last hing we need is this win going to players heads and thinking all they have to do to win is show up in Carrick.

As an aside, I've said it before but whoever had the big idea of redeveloping Pearse Stadium seriously needs to be hung, drawn and quartered. Left Barnaderg (note spellig An Fhairice ) at about ten to 2, didn't get parked until about ten to 4, f*****g traffic! I know all the city and west lads now are going to say how they had to come to Tuam for years and what not but at least every Mayo man, woman, chicken and child weren't going the same way!Absolutelt crazy!Youre nearly better off booking in somewhere on Saturday night and not even thinking about leaving until Monday morning. Anyway rant over, for now anyway!

[mouview]

jaaz, Duine, why didn't you leave in time? Leaving at 1.50 is asking for trouble the day of a big match in Pearse!!!

Anyway, in reply to a point raised above, my understanding is that Provincial finals can only be played on a home-and-away basis if both counties have grounds capable of hosting such a match. Thus should a Galway-Sligo final come to pass, it would be played in Castlebar (remember the wet day in '02?) or more possibly Hyde Park, the designated Provincial HQ ground, as Markiewicz park in Sligo isn't large enough to host a Connacht final. So, for selfish reasons, I'm sure most Galwegians are hoping for a Galway / Ros' final which would be played in Pearse stadium (no chance of Tuam being ready unfortunately.)