Galway v Mayo 11/06/17

[Tubberman]

Yeah am very surprised Keegan isn't played number 5. Surely Keegan at 5, Boyle at 6 and Durcan at 7 is ye're best half back line?

With the manager we have you shouldn't be surprised at anything.

Full league went by and no backup midfield so we were stuck putting AOS into the middle the last day when target man was needed inside.

Full league gone by and Hennelly not played in any game?

Sticking Regan on at the end to get a point when he should be starting. Moran coming in for the last 30mins. All these things are obvious to everyone except the management.

Add to the fact that SOS was stuck to the ground after 15mins? What's the explanation for that? Boyle? Was he injured or not? It's been obvious that we need more shooters in the forwards yet he failed to get a player working on his game in the league. Playing McLoughlin was obviously another decision that backfired as he still looked injured after the Sligo game.

Maybe Rochford will get lucky again this year, who knows?

One of two things are the core to our problems either he doesn't have a football brain or the team are too involved in the selection decisions.

I am as perplexed about some of the decisions as anyone else, but to say Regan should have started and McLoughlin should not, is complete madness!

[rosnarun]

Colm Boyle was not injured. Sr " it was a tactical decision "  good lord no Stevie that's called a wrong decision .


Sr has done very little right since taking over , guiding this team to a final last year is a misconception , the team did nothing new bar keV mcgloughlin role in games we were going to win anyhow .

Loftus should be starting by now .

All in all rochford has been very poor so far, if we were dealing in old money two early exits to an average galway would have been enough for a p45.

Maroon Manc, ye didn't deserve to win IMO , I know mayo people are not allowed say such outlandish things but we had enough ball in last 15 mins to win by four points.  Ye will be applauded when ye win a big game in croke park until then ye have done nothing in my eyes.

that's a shocking attitude . rochford got mayo to an allireland final which they would have wont had the ref spotted basticks pick up and narrowly lost the replay and you say he has done little rigt.
A lot of mayo fans need to cop themselves on. there no disgrace losing to galway . mayo do not have a devine right to win Connacht titles in and have gone decades between croke park appearances. if galway (or most other counties) repeated mayos success of last year they would be thrilled .
Mayo have great fans but a lot of shite ones as well

[Syferus]

Boyle's abilities have been waning for a few years now. Not surprising he was dropped. But for Vaughan, a worse defender in every way bar size?

[larryin89]

I don't give a shite about galway though or what they think , a delusional bunch since 2001 as far as I'm concerned , when ye put that right you lot will be taken serious . until then her just the Connacht champions who got humiliated by a hurling county.

[weareros]

Twas a thrilling game, fair play to both teams. Mayo have a strange predicament: they clearly have the best goalkeeper in Ireland, he can save both goals and points by plucking balls from over the crossbar, but he has a very feeble and wonky kickout, that puts team under a lot of pressure. Galway have clearly bulked up and in the words of one of the Kerry O'Se brothers, they hammered the hammer, namely they used it to soften not light players but some of the stronger players like Seamus O'Shea, Parsons and Diarmuid O'Connor. Then with Higgins gone, Boyle strangely dropped and Lee Keegan kept occupied by Walsh, lot of Mayo's marquee players did not have the impact you'd expect - and then there's a good bit of mileage on the clock, too. Looking at the qualifier route, Mayo will easily navigate the next round, but round 3 could be tricky - though they have the beating of all those teams. If they get by that, you'd expect to see them in Qtr final.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Galway have just beaten a team 2 years in a row who've been one of the top 2 teams in the country for the last 5 years, don't think they've been given any credit in the media for it.

As I said earlier all the focus is on Mayo post match, I'm delighted that this is the case and I wouldn't be a bit bothered about credit, Galway should not give a fiddlers about credit or respect from outside the county. The Tipperary collapse last year is still prominent in people's minds and until Galway go and win a Q-final in CP then it's doubtful that the memory of that terrible result will be erased.
Galway football is undoubtedly moving in the right direction, it's a flawed outfit currently but give that team a couple of years and we'll see what they can do, as Kevin Walsh said after the match our season was not going to be defined by the winning or losing of the Mayo game. I didn't expect Galway to win on Sunday and we are through to the last 12 now regardless of the Connacht final result, if Galway win their next two games (which could be a very big ask) then this season will have been hugely successful.

I think that Mayo are certainly still one of the top teams in the country but serious questions will be now asked of them, they had a massive response (eventually) last year, who's to say that they can't do it again? Mayo's season will be defined by whether they win the All Ireland or not, that's the reality of it.

I don't give a shite about galway though or what they think , a delusional bunch since 2001 as far as I'm concerned , when ye put that right you lot will be taken serious . until then her just the Connacht champions who got humiliated by a hurling county.

Good man Larry 

[GalwayBayBoy]

I think it's great from a Galway perspective that the coverage is completely focused on Mayo in the aftermath of the game, Galway can quietly look ahead to the (probable) Roscommon match in the Connacht final and the chance to go back to back in the West.

Higgins sending off was obviously the biggest single incident in the match. Would Mayo have won with 15 players? Probably.

From a rewatch of the game this evening a few things stood out:
McLoughlin had a great 1st half, not as prominent in the 2nd but madness to take him off in my view.
Galway FB line looked like it was going to get taken to the cleaners early on, having the extra man saved them after that.
COC is some man trying to get cards for opposition players, the black was a joke, Bradshaw should have known better for his yellow but COC was the one doing all the provocation.
Keegan at CHB is not where I would have him, himself and Walsh cancelled each other out for most of it but his best position is clearly at 5.
The lack of anticipation by the Galway defenders for the shot that hit the post and led to the goal was glaring.
"Keith Higgins is not that kind of player", he hit Mark Hehir off the ball with one of the most cowardly blows I've seen in Galway Mayo games in 2011 with no sanction, Galway were waiting 6 years for that Higgins red card.
Armstrong looked shot in some of the league games I was at, one of Galway's better players yesterday, hats off to him.
If you are not enthused by Comer's wrecking ball attitude to the game then Gaelic football is not the sport for you, that hit on DOC, yikes.
Heaney's double save was heroic stuff. The events leading to those saves were madness though.
How the referee didn't blow a free at the end for the foul on Cummins was incredible, some bad decisions against both teams over the course of the match but he wasn't the cause of the Mayo loss.
This was proper championship stuff, the atmosphere on the terrace was superb yesterday and it came across on the broadcast as well, great to have these contests with Mayo again.

Mayo showed fantastic spirit but they also showed the same failings that have occurred many times before, they were up against a team that is a good few rungs below them in the overall scheme of things and they couldn't manufacture a score over the last ten minutes with a gale behind them.
Galway didn't even play that particularly well yesterday and let's be honest, the "caught on the hop" excuse is not going to cut it for Mayo this year. It's a long road back to the 3rd Sunday in September for them now, I wouldn't write them off, it'll be difficult but I'd wager they'll still be playing in August if I had to, whether they'll win the all Ireland looks more doubtful.

I think it's clear we need to employ a full time sweeper going forward. If we don't then it's likely the Tipperary hosing of our full back line could be repeated again this year. The weakness in that line is magnified in the wide open spaces of Croker.
It is very worrying in the long term to be honest and disappointing that we haven't been able to improve that line with any new personnel this year.

I think Sean Andy could well have been full-back last Sunday only for he had agreed to go to the US for the Summer. I would expect he'll start there for Galway in next year's league. He'll add some badly needed size, strength and athleticism to what is a fairly small full-back line. We could do with unearthing a corner-back or two alright although Sweeney had a decent game I thought the last day. Doesn't help that we seem to have a new keeper every year either. Somebody really needs to nail down that spot.

[highorlow]

but to say Regan should have started and McLoughlin should not, is complete madness!

I never said that. McLoughlin was taken off so he obviously isn't fit since the clobber he got against Sligo. They obviously took a chance on him and it backfired.

Ok on Regan, maybe Loftus and I would have either of those instead of A.Moran who as a 34 year old should be used as an impact sub to either close out games or get us out of jail (as he has done in the past).

[highorlow]

wont had the ref spotted basticks pick up

You have been going on about that too long. Get over it. There is enough footage around to show it was legal. Rochford rode his luck last year to get us to the Final and when we got their he ballsed that up. FFS Maughan was a better decision maker than him at this stage. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year but after this debacle I've lost faith in him.

Its an absolute disgrace losing to Galway. Their full backline and goalkeeper are cat and we failed to outscore them with a gale. Our midfielders are so manipulated this year to off load that they are afraid to shoot. Parsons and Seamie were always good for a long range point or so but I don't even recall a shot from them.

If one of the 5 or 6 bad decisions made on the line was corrected we would have won, i.e. playing Lee Keegan in his correct position.

[Syferus]

but to say Regan should have started and McLoughlin should not, is complete madness!

I never said that. McLoughlin was taken off so he obviously isn't fit since the clobber he got against Sligo. They obviously took a chance on him and it backfired.

Ok on Regan, maybe Loftus and I would have either of those instead of A.Moran who as a 34 year old should be used as an impact sub to either close out games or get us out of jail (as he has done in the past).

Ye'd have been better served leaving Andy on for the full 70.

[From the Bunker]

 A lot of disrespect being shown here to Galways victory! lad questioning the ability of players and them doing it in Croke Park. Mayo lads should know better than anyone that showing such disrespect is the lowest level of sour grapes. Many Mayo people got so used to winning the Nestor Cup over the last couple of years that they now see it as a sort of entitlement. Well it's not! Take your beating and move on! Well done again to Galway!

[rosnarun]

wont had the ref spotted basticks pick up

You have been going on about that too long. Get over it. There is enough footage around to show it was legal. Rochford rode his luck last year to get us to the Final and when we got their he ballsed that up. FFS Maughan was a better decision maker than him at this stage. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year but after this debacle I've lost faith in him.

Its an absolute disgrace losing to Galway. Their full backline and goalkeeper are cat and we failed to outscore them with a gale. Our midfielders are so manipulated this year to off load that they are afraid to shoot. Parsons and Seamie were always good for a long range point or so but I don't even recall a shot from them.

If one of the 5 or 6 bad decisions made on the line was corrected we would have won, i.e. playing Lee Keegan in his correct position.

i dont agree with you about the bastick pickup but either way my overall point still stand.
mayo Spectator are throwning their toys out of the cot and lambasting players and manager who have been very successful for losing a match against our closet neighbour , who are a young improving team, by one point.
Were galway to win the allireland this year i would not be suprised as its during campaigns  that teams improve, 
i would not be suprized for long anyway as i would be committing suicide shortly after the final whistle

[GalwayBayBoy]

wont had the ref spotted basticks pick up

You have been going on about that too long. Get over it. There is enough footage around to show it was legal. Rochford rode his luck last year to get us to the Final and when we got their he ballsed that up. FFS Maughan was a better decision maker than him at this stage. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year but after this debacle I've lost faith in him.

Its an absolute disgrace losing to Galway. Their full backline and goalkeeper are cat and we failed to outscore them with a gale. Our midfielders are so manipulated this year to off load that they are afraid to shoot. Parsons and Seamie were always good for a long range point or so but I don't even recall a shot from them.

If one of the 5 or 6 bad decisions made on the line was corrected we would have won, i.e. playing Lee Keegan in his correct position.

Were galway to win the allireland this year i would not be suprised as its during campaigns  that teams improve, 

Well I'd be surprised. I'd be flabbergasted in fact. Don't think our back 4 can hold up against a Dublin or Kerry if we even get to play one of them. We do have players coming through though so in a couple of years then maybe. If Dublin slip back a bit once some older heads depart. Problem is then Kerry will have the Cliffords et al making the breakthrough.

[ballinaman]

wont had the ref spotted basticks pick up

You have been going on about that too long. Get over it. There is enough footage around to show it was legal. Rochford rode his luck last year to get us to the Final and when we got their he ballsed that up. FFS Maughan was a better decision maker than him at this stage. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year but after this debacle I've lost faith in him.

Its an absolute disgrace losing to Galway. Their full backline and goalkeeper are cat and we failed to outscore them with a gale. Our midfielders are so manipulated this year to off load that they are afraid to shoot. Parsons and Seamie were always good for a long range point or so but I don't even recall a shot from them.

If one of the 5 or 6 bad decisions made on the line was corrected we would have won, i.e. playing Lee Keegan in his correct position.

Were galway to win the allireland this year i would not be suprised as its during campaigns  that teams improve, 

Well I'd be surprised. I'd be flabbergasted in fact. Don't think our back 4 can hold up against a Dublin or Kerry if we even get to play one of them. We do have players coming through though so in a couple of years then maybe. If Dublin slip back a bit once some older heads depart. Problem is then Kerry will have the Cliffords et al making the breakthrough.

Mulkerrin has the potential to be an outstanding full back.

[galwayman]

I don't give a shite about galway though or what they think , a delusional bunch since 2001 as far as I'm concerned , when ye put that right you lot will be taken serious . until then her just the Connacht champions who got humiliated by a hurling county.

Lord God