Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7 Champions Dethroned

[baoithe]

I have to say I share Mano's fears in respect of the full forward line and let's face it we have struggled in the sector (amongst others) for a while now. Seanie mentioned that he felt the Mayo backs weren't as good as Cork which may be the case but I think the Mayo backs are tight enough and even if they were to be 75% as successful as Cork were at smothering us that day we will be in trouble. I suppose a counter-argument would be that there was no ball going in to that area against Cork as midfield was swamped. Either way it was pretty disheartening stuff and it's not something I want to experience in McHale park of all places!

Notwithstanding all this, one wonders was the lineup and gameplan for the challenge game last week against Roscommon a dress rehearsal for Sunday or were the management still tweaking their strategy at that late stage. I would suggest the former although in saying that the lineup will be changed somewhat as I'm sure my Club's representative won't start on Sunday!!

Further, do I need to reiterate my opinion that there is absolutely no justification for starting Michael McNamara?

[SLIGONIAN]

Christ lads it's shocking when the Sligo boys are more confident than us!!

Maybe we have finally learned that arrogance before a game can only lead to one big fall kevmy! It's no harm we're being cautious, even if we are over doing it a little, it's better than being overly confident like we have in the past only for the smiles to be wiped off our faces! I have to say Sligonian you are a rare breed for a Sligo man, good luck to you being confident, at the end of the day we should all have some degree of confidence in our teams, but I can see why your fellow county men are sitting a little uneasily with some of your comments. Still, you might be able to tell us all  'I told you so' come Sunday evening.

What's the word on Conor from your neck of the woods Kevmy, you think he'll be ok to tog?

There'll be no I told you so from me, so can I see why some of the Sligo posters are seating a little uneasy with my confident outlook. Im not stupid despite what mano thinks. I just believe its time to be honest and not beat around the bush afraid of putting yourself or your opinions on the line. Im not being arrogant im just backing our lads to do the business which is fair IMO.

Of course I know the Mayo lads believe they will win by 6+pts despite what there saying here i know deep down what yee expect.

In Sligo for yrs supporters annoy me being overly cautious, negative and way too respectful to mayo and galway, it then filters into teams and then youve got a inferiority complex(something i dont have ), youd see far better sligo teams lose to mediocre mayo and galway teams because of this.

Now its different, everything has improved in Sligo espcially the belief side of things and that delights me to know our players know theyre good enough at every level. So im confident, get over it so are mayo (whether ye'll admit or not).

[OirthearMhaigheo]

Christ lads it's shocking when the Sligo boys are more confident than us!!

Maybe we have finally learned that arrogance before a game can only lead to one big fall kevmy! It's no harm we're being cautious, even if we are over doing it a little, it's better than being overly confident like we have in the past only for the smiles to be wiped off our faces! I have to say Sligonian you are a rare breed for a Sligo man, good luck to you being confident, at the end of the day we should all have some degree of confidence in our teams, but I can see why your fellow county men are sitting a little uneasily with some of your comments. Still, you might be able to tell us all  'I told you so' come Sunday evening.

What's the word on Conor from your neck of the woods Kevmy, you think he'll be ok to tog?

There'll be no I told you so from me, so can I see why some of the Sligo posters are seating a little uneasy with my confident outlook. Im not stupid despite what mano thinks. I just believe its time to be honest and not beat around the bush afraid of putting yourself or your opinions on the line. Im not being arrogant im just backing our lads to do the business which is fair IMO.

Of course I know the Mayo lads believe they will win by 6+pts despite what there saying here i know deep down what yee expect.

In Sligo for yrs supporters annoy me being overly cautious, negative and way too respectful to mayo and galway, it then filters into teams and then youve got a inferiority complex(something i dont have ), youd see far better sligo teams lose to mediocre mayo and galway teams because of this.

Now its different, everything has improved in Sligo espcially the belief side of things and that delights me to know our players know theyre good enough at every level. So im confident, get over it so are mayo (whether ye'll admit or not).

no fair play, as you say maybe that is something ye have been lacking in the past and I agree I do think ye have shown ourselves and Galway too much respect in the past, welll at least when we've had average teams, the rest of the time ye were righth to do so

[GalwayBayBoy]

In Sligo for yrs supporters annoy me being overly cautious, negative and way too respectful to mayo and galway, it then filters into teams and then youve got a inferiority complex(something i dont have ), youd see far better sligo teams lose to mediocre mayo and galway teams because of this.

In fairness because of the depth of talent in both Galway and Mayo (by Connacht standards) many average if not even downright mediocre Galway and Mayo teams have won Connacht titles. Plus even though some of those teams may have been average they always believed themselves to be better than anyone else in Connacht even if they weren't.

It may not be so much that other Connacht counties have a inferiority complex but that Galway and Mayo footballers often have a superiority complex which enables them to win tight games against Sligo, Leitrim or Roscommon. However more often than not it's just because they have better footballers usually.

[SLIGONIAN]

I have to say I share Mano's fears in respect of the full forward line and let's face it we have struggled in the sector (amongst others) for a while now. Seanie mentioned that he felt the Mayo backs weren't as good as Cork which may be the case but I think the Mayo backs are tight enough and even if they were to be 75% as successful as Cork were at smothering us that day we will be in trouble. I suppose a counter-argument would be that there was no ball going in to that area against Cork as midfield was swamped. Either way it was pretty disheartening stuff and it's not something I want to experience in McHale park of all places!

Notwithstanding all this, one wonders was the lineup and gameplan for the challenge game last week against Roscommon a dress rehearsal for Sunday or were the management still tweaking their strategy at that late stage. I would suggest the former although in saying that the lineup will be changed somewhat as I'm sure my Club's representative won't start on Sunday!!

Further, do I need to reiterate my opinion that there is absolutely no justification for starting Michael McNamara?

Lads yer fears of our FF line are contradictory, ye keep referring to cork last yr. Last yr we had one outlet d kelly, mcpartland played a deeper role that day and we didnt use him as target man.

At least his yr we have more options with various targets albeit they arent going to do damge on poor ball going in.

Midfield is the big worry for me and if we break even there we will do it. Im not worried about our forwards, IMO it is far more dangerous than last yrs. In the recent challenge mcpartland was chf so still not used in ff line. S davey was a disaster at FFb4. Sligo will play with a 2 man ff line of kelly and j davey i reckon. And that to me is a big improvement on last yr. Especially with the emergence of gaughan and brehonys improvement.

Anyway sligo lads im not going to try to convince ye anymore on our forwards, ye'll just have to see it on sunday to believe it.

[kevmy]

What's the word on Conor from your neck of the woods Kevmy, you think he'll be ok to tog?

I haven't heard a hell of a lot more than ye but if I had to guess I'd say he'll tog but mightn't be 100%. If he does nothing but kick a few frees he'd be worth it. I heard that if it was a Championship game last weekend the club might have risked him but it was O'Mara Cup so they left him out.

[SLIGONIAN]

Christ lads it's shocking when the Sligo boys are more confident than us!!

Maybe we have finally learned that arrogance before a game can only lead to one big fall kevmy! It's no harm we're being cautious, even if we are over doing it a little, it's better than being overly confident like we have in the past only for the smiles to be wiped off our faces! I have to say Sligonian you are a rare breed for a Sligo man, good luck to you being confident, at the end of the day we should all have some degree of confidence in our teams, but I can see why your fellow county men are sitting a little uneasily with some of your comments. Still, you might be able to tell us all  'I told you so' come Sunday evening.

What's the word on Conor from your neck of the woods Kevmy, you think he'll be ok to tog?

There'll be no I told you so from me, so can I see why some of the Sligo posters are seating a little uneasy with my confident outlook. Im not stupid despite what mano thinks. I just believe its time to be honest and not beat around the bush afraid of putting yourself or your opinions on the line. Im not being arrogant im just backing our lads to do the business which is fair IMO.

Of course I know the Mayo lads believe they will win by 6+pts despite what there saying here i know deep down what yee expect.

In Sligo for yrs supporters annoy me being overly cautious, negative and way too respectful to mayo and galway, it then filters into teams and then youve got a inferiority complex(something i dont have ), youd see far better sligo teams lose to mediocre mayo and galway teams because of this.

Now its different, everything has improved in Sligo espcially the belief side of things and that delights me to know our players know theyre good enough at every level. So im confident, get over it so are mayo (whether ye'll admit or not).

no fair play, as you say maybe that is something ye have been lacking in the past and I agree I do think ye have shown ourselves and Galway too much respect in the past, welll at least when we've had average teams, the rest of the time ye were righth to do so

I'll tell yee 2 true stories that defined me as a sligofan.

Back in 97 connaght final a game where we showed mayo way too much respect and we should of won. I remember seeing a sligo man in his 50s after the game with his chest out and full of pride. I was 15 and I thought to meself im never going to be like that man, delighted with a loss or morale victory. It really pissed me off because i knew that was the mentality of sligo people. We only lost by a 1pt great.

Another story is aftermath of mayo losing to kerry in all ireland final a 3 yrs ago. I went with a good friend from roscommon. After the game we went in to supermacs in o connell. The 2 of us were eating away and 2 mayomen and 2 sligomen joined us, one of the mayomen looked at me wearing my sligo jersey. And I quote "as bad as today is and losing ID HATE TO BE FROM SLIGO" everyone looked in agreement and my friend said "me too". Of course yee all know me at this stage and I was pissed off with disrespect on show so i gave them plenty of reasons to be proud of being from sligo. The worst part was my own countymen didnt back me up and kinda swayed towards the mayomen.
I thought to myself after, his way of coping with defeat was belittling us. What a arrogant p***k. But of course the sligomen pissed me off more. Thats what your dealing with in my county. Back then i didnt have the comeback which would of went something like this "any of ye wish ye were me or any sligoman last july "

At the end of day my point is I speak for myself and life experience has made me who i am today. I would never want to associate myself with people within the county with no belief, no confidence and a inferiority complex especially supporters and players. That cannot be said of our current players who i am willing to put my credibilty on the line for because i believe in them and i know the wont let the fans down on sunday especially those who believe.

[SLIGONIAN]

Throw in at 3.30, what kinda of attendance is expected? I reckon 25,000+with it not being on tv.

[rosnarun]

I haven't heard a hell of a lot more than ye but if I had to guess I'd say he'll tog but mightn't be 100%. If he does nothing but kick a few frees he'd be worth it. I heard that if it was a Championship game last weekend the club might have risked him but it was O'Mara Cup so they left him out.

if hes not right they should hold him back for bigger days. if we cant win on sunday without him its gonna be a very short year any way. he too important to be risked. i'd love to see ronaldson get a proper run as i think there is huge potential there

[blast05]

Back in 97 connaght final a game where we showed mayo way too much respect and we should of won.

Bullshit imho. Mayo were shite, Sligo were worse - 1 point worse, no other stat matters. If you want to go down the path of shoulda / coulda / woulda then Mayo shoulda been more mentally tuned in and if they had they would have beaten that Sligo team by 20 points.
As for wearing a Sligo jersey on All-Ireland final day or indeed any jersey of a team that was not competing, then you were leaving yourself open for a slagging.

For the record, i would be pretty sure that if any Sligo player were reading your posts on this thread, their reaction would be along the lines of "would you shut up. Confidence is fine but keep it to yourself. Our aim is to go down there and hit Mayo with a whirlwind of a start cos we don't expect them to be 100% mentally tuned in as per a Galway match. Having you on here on a public forum shouting from the tree tops about how good Sligo are with probably 100+ Mayo people (including you can be sure a few players) reading it will filter throughout the county and on to the players and will only serve to focus their minds a bit more and thus make our task more difficult."   

So keep at it there Sligonian    ... and for the record, i would be surprised if there were more than 15-18,000 at the match the next day.

[Lar Naparka]

Bullshit imho. Mayo were shite, Sligo were worse - 1 point worse, no other stat matters.

Bang on, Baoithe! That's what it is all about.
Mayo did go on to improve a lot as the season went on but that one was a bad game, no doubt about it.
Sligo teams since then have earned a lot of respect from other counties over the years since then. God knows they were in savage hard luck in 2002 when they really should have bet Armagh.
I'd say they bottled it but then it's hard to break the habit of years and I did think they'd only improve in the years that followed. They were one of the showcases of the new back door system, along with Fermanagh, and people really thought that the new system would lead to wholescale breakthroughs from other so-called weaker counties as well.
Players like Taylor and O'Hara could compare with top players in any county and the pity of it was that Sligo did have a few weak links on their side and didn't have the subs' bench other counties had.
Things have gone backwards a bit for Sligo but I wouldn't dismiss their chances at all and I don't think most Mayo fans will either. I do expect we will beat you but I know we won't have things all our own way.

[mayo51]

agree with you baoithe about the 97 game.we should have been about 10 points up going into the last 10 min and i think due to complacency sligo nearly caught us .the one thing that struck me about that match was  mickey morans interview after .he told the interviewer that he was so proud of his sligo team for the great display,and that they were really going to party that night,even tho they had lost.never understood the moral victory bullshit and i remember thinking that sligo would never win anything under m.moran with that kind of attitude.on sundays game i think mayo will win by4 or 5 points .sligo wont fear mayo so its imperative that mayo get a good start and erode sligos confidence,and push on from there.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Team due to be picked Wednesday night apparently.

How are we fixed for certainties?

Clarke in goal, Heaney and Keith Higgins in the half-back line, McGarrity and Parsons in midfield; Dillon on the forty (if fit) and Conor (if fit), Austy and Andy Moran inside.
That's nine lads to begin with. Throw in that there's bound to be a place for Trevor Mortimer in the half-back line or half-forward line and possibly the same could be said for Peadar Gardiner given JOM's liking for him and we've four spots left.
Three in the full-back line and one in the half-back line or half-forward line.

The questions so -
----------Billy Padden or Kieran Conroy for full-back. Word seems to be he's sticking with Conroy.

----------Corner-backs - any two from Aidan Higgins, Tom Cunniffe, James Nallen, Colm Boyle and Liam O'Malley. Think O'Malley may have worked himself back into contention after a good performance on Pat Harte in the Ballina Burrishoole championship match. I'd personally pick Aidan Higgins but think it'll be Nallen with Boyle to come on if things ain't going well.

---------- Half-back line - Heaney and K Higgins to start with one of Trevor Mortimer, Gardiner, Cunniffe and, at a push, Pat Kelly.
It'd be interesting to see if he starts Cunniffe at centre-back with an eye to developing him there. I think though that he'll be bound by realism and start Heaney here with an eye to picking up Joyce in the Connacht final if we get there. Cunniffe may get the nod on the wing if he wants to play Gardiner and Mort in the half-forward line. Think he'll opt for Trevor at wing-back imo.

That means Gardiner is one wing-forward and Pat Harte the other with Dillon in the middle. If Dillon isn't fit though Trevor might be moved forward, Harte to centre-half forward and Cunniffe in.

That's my guesswork for what its worth (I've a lot of free time at work for speculating!!). Getting a small bit more confident for the weekend in light of the fact that Conor Mort appears to be fit to start. Still nervous though!

Clarke
O'Malley Conroy Nallen
T Mort Heaney K Higgins
Parsons McGarrity
Harte Dillon Gardiner
C Mort A O'Malley A Moran

[Barney]

RnG I don't know how you could be getting more confident with that full-back line? Liam O'Malley has been cleaned once too often for my liking and if he features he will be shown up again. God knows he made Cormac Bane look world-class on two occasions last year! Sadly Nallen is past it, the legs went three or four years ago. He is a legend, but if he is the best option there we know that there are tricky years ahead.

For what its worth I see the following team lining out (not my choice!) -

Clarke

Nallen        Conroy         Boyle (not much better than above)

Heaney     Cunnife         Higgins (Heaney and Cunnife will switch at the start)

McGarrity         Parsons

Harte       Dillon           Trevor (heard last night Dillon is a doubt)

Conor     O'Malley         Andy Moran   

[RedandGreenSniper]

Getting more confident simply because of the availability of Conor Mort.
I agree, that's not a class full-back line and it's not the one I would pick (A Higgins, BJP and Nallen would be mine).
I personally wouldn't start O'Malley - I'm just saying JOM is a fan of his and the performance on Pat Harte in club championship will have boosted his chances further
But from what I remember of Sligo from last year and from FBD games and from listening to lads here, Sligo won't be winning this game by kicking something like 15 points. The full-back line may not be overly stretched. Get over this game and have Galway in a Connacht final and I'd be very worried about that line.
If we lose on Sunday, and its quite the possibility, I think it'll come down to losing midfield, a relatively unfamiliar half-forward line failing to function and the full-forward line being snuffed out by a very good Sligo full-back line.