Connacht Final. Mayo v Sligo. July 19.

[didlyi]

Sligo were awful today. If Mayo read too much into this display then they will come crashing to earth again. Time to wise up!

[From the Bunker]

Aidan O'Shea is a tank and could make all the difference this year but as good as Parsons was today, he always seems like a bit of a flat track bully to me.
Looks great against the likes of Sligo & Roscommon, but never does it against the big boys.
Maybe he's matured.

He put in a great shift against Kerry down in Limerck last year

He put in a great shift in the Kerry game in Croker as well. And against Donegal and Tyrone in 2013. And Dublin in the semi 2012! You are right he has yet to do it against the big teams.

Parsons?

Sorry, I was wondering at that comment! Agreed on Parsons!

[Syferus]

Aidan O'Shea is a tank and could make all the difference this year but as good as Parsons was today, he always seems like a bit of a flat track bully to me.
Looks great against the likes of Sligo & Roscommon, but never does it against the big boys.
Maybe he's matured.

He put in a great shift against Kerry down in Limerck last year

He put in a great shift in the Kerry game in Croker as well. And against Donegal and Tyrone in 2013. And Dublin in the semi 2012! You are right he has yet to do it against the big teams.

Parsons?

Sorry, I was wondering at that comment! Agreed on Parsons!

Parsons hasn't played against Roscommon at all in recent years Jinxy.

[Tubberman]

Aidan O'Shea is a tank and could make all the difference this year but as good as Parsons was today, he always seems like a bit of a flat track bully to me.
Looks great against the likes of Sligo & Roscommon, but never does it against the big boys.
Maybe he's matured.

He put in a great shift against Kerry down in Limerck last year

He put in a great shift in the Kerry game in Croker as well. And against Donegal and Tyrone in 2013. And Dublin in the semi 2012! You are right he has yet to do it against the big teams.

Parsons?

Sorry, I was wondering at that comment! Agreed on Parsons!

Parsons hasn't played against Roscommon at all in recent years Jinxy.

Jesus, do you have to link every post back to Roscommon!?

[larryin89]

We're Mayo we do what we want in Connacht .

[rrhf]

Big mistake not taking oshea off at half time.

[Farrandeelin]

Sligo were awful today. If Mayo read too much into this display then they will come crashing to earth again. Time to wise up!

Wow, you don't say 

[Jinxy]

Big mistake not taking oshea off at half time.

I was saying the exact same.
Take him off and work on Plan B, because it's quite possible he could get injured or sent off in one of the big games to come, and then the game plan has to change.

[Lar Naparka]

Aidan O'Shea is a tank and could make all the difference this year but as good as Parsons was today, he always seems like a bit of a flat track bully to me.
Looks great against the likes of Sligo & Roscommon, but never does it against the big boys.
Maybe he's matured.

What about his display against Donegal, the reigning AI champions in the Q/F in 2013?

[Jinxy]

You absolutely destroyed them from 1-15 that day Lar.
I'm talking about the tight championship games, where you need your midfielders to stand up and be counted.
I'm not having a go at the lad, he was very impressive yesterday, and if he takes that form forward then you have a great shot this year.
He looks in great shape too so now that midfield has serious physicality AND mobility.
More mobility than you'd have if AIDOXI was playing there.

[macdanger2]

Aidan O'Shea is a tank and could make all the difference this year but as good as Parsons was today, he always seems like a bit of a flat track bully to me.
Looks great against the likes of Sligo & Roscommon, but never does it against the big boys.
Maybe he's matured.

What about his display against Donegal, the reigning AI champions in the Q/F in 2013?

Jinxy is referring to Parsons, not AOS

[Jinxy]

I've edited my original post as quite a few of the Mayo lads are confused.

[macdanger2]

Great win yesterday, facile and all as it turned out to be. Five Connacht titles in a row is a massive achievement. Well done to the team and to H&C – a Connacht title and retaining D1 status was about what I had hoped for at the start of the year.

Tough day for Sligo yesterday, not nice getting a pasting like that as us Mayo fans know all too well. Hopefully they can regroup and beat Tyrone the next day. Apart from the lack of a plan to deal with AOS, the 5 years worth of top class S&C training by the Mayo players made the difference yesterday.

From a Mayo perspective, the good points were:

- AOS and COC were both excellent, they won't get that kind of space against the likes of Donegal but having the two of them up in the forwards along with Andy is definitely an improvement on the options we've had up to now
- DOC was very good in the first half, great movement, hard work and 4 points
- Parsons was v good as was B Moran when he came on. Was SOS injured or what?
- It was good to see Mayo working on the short kickouts even though we were dominating at MF, that's presumably with an eye on later in the year. Clarke was v good overall especially his save in the 1st half
- The forward line played much more as a unit, plenty of running off the shoulder and players making themselves available for a pass
- No new injuries

Things to work on:
- The FB line – conceded two goals and could easily have been 2-3 more. We'll win no All Ireland leaking goals. Caff & Cunniffe were both poor I thought, made a few individual mistakes that will lose matches. Even when we had an extra man back, he didn't seem to know what he was doing
- The quality of ball into AOS was patchy enough, some very good balls (esp the pass from COC out on the sideline for his 3rd goal) but some awful balls too even if AOS managed to salvage possession. Against the best defences, those balls will be swallowed up by the backs in demoralising fashion

So we're looking at the winners of Galway v Donegal in a QF – if both Galway & Tyrone win, are we still down to play Galway or would there be a draw to see who plays Mayo / Monaghan?

[Geoff Tipps]

Great win yesterday, facile and all as it turned out to be. Five Connacht titles in a row is a massive achievement. Well done to the team and to H&C – a Connacht title and retaining D1 status was about what I had hoped for at the start of the year.

Tough day for Sligo yesterday, not nice getting a pasting like that as us Mayo fans know all too well. Hopefully they can regroup and beat Tyrone the next day. Apart from the lack of a plan to deal with AOS, the 5 years worth of top class S&C training by the Mayo players made the difference yesterday.

From a Mayo perspective, the good points were:

- AOS and COC were both excellent, they won't get that kind of space against the likes of Donegal but having the two of them up in the forwards along with Andy is definitely an improvement on the options we've had up to now
- DOC was very good in the first half, great movement, hard work and 4 points
- Parsons was v good as was B Moran when he came on. Was SOS injured or what?
- It was good to see Mayo working on the short kickouts even though we were dominating at MF, that's presumably with an eye on later in the year. Clarke was v good overall especially his save in the 1st half
- The forward line played much more as a unit, plenty of running off the shoulder and players making themselves available for a pass
- No new injuries

Things to work on:
- The FB line – conceded two goals and could easily have been 2-3 more. We'll win no All Ireland leaking goals. Caff & Cunniffe were both poor I thought, made a few individual mistakes that will lose matches. Even when we had an extra man back, he didn't seem to know what he was doing
- The quality of ball into AOS was patchy enough, some very good balls (esp the pass from COC out on the sideline for his 3rd goal) but some awful balls too even if AOS managed to salvage possession. Against the best defences, those balls will be swallowed up by the backs in demoralising fashion

So we're looking at the winners of Galway v Donegal in a QF – if both Galway & Tyrone win, are we still down to play Galway or would there be a draw to see who plays Mayo / Monaghan?

Yes- Groin strain.

[Ballaghman]

Big mistake not taking oshea off at half time.

I was saying the exact same.
Take him off and work on Plan B, because it's quite possible he could get injured or sent off in one of the big games to come, and then the game plan has to change.

During the game I was thinking the same thing, take him off and spare him more than anything. As for the plan B. In Noel and Pats defence, we know what plan B is and its a running game which they have off to a tee (and was used yesterday too). Long ball in combined with a running game, I don't think we'll see too many more plans in attack. As for the other end.......