Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7 Champions Dethroned

[OirthearMhaigheo]

without doing a 'sligonian' on it I would expect a couple fo subtle changes to that team on the day, but as Forrest Gump once said 'that's all I'm gonna say about that'. Unfortunately I do think that half forward line will start and that line is jumping out at me. There isn't one iota of guile there, yes three good ball winning athletes, but when you take Dillon out of it there isn't a natural link man. This could prove a major problem on Sunday in terms of supplying a pretty decent full forward line. We should still have enough about us but Dillon, while not having a great league, is a big loss as I feel he was growing into that role.

[highorlow]

Clarke
Cuniffe
Heaney
Boyle
Gardiner
T.Mort
K.Higgins
Harte
McGarrity
Dillion
Parsons
A.O'Malley
A.Moran
B.Moran / O'Shea
Kilcoyne / C.Mort (if fit)

Mayo team...no Dillon...

1. David Clarke
2. Colm Boyle
3. Kieran Conroy
4. Keith Higgins
5. Tom Cunniffe
6. David Heaney
7. James Nallen
8. Ronan McGarrity
9. Tom Parsons
10. Peadar Gardiner
11. Pat Harte
12. Trevor Mortimer
13. Conor Mortimer
14. Austin O'Malley
15. Andy Moran

Well I got all bar 2 personnel right and Dillion is injured.  Nallen is may have been better served as a sub to inspire the 'younger' players. I for one don't believe this is the team (in those positions) that will start.

I agree with Barney's comments that we are up against it on Sunday with this line out ... home advantage may just make the difference. Bit depressing when a chance could have been given to Seamus O'Shea, B.Moran, Ronaldson, Kilcoyne, etc.. but its a 20 man game these days and i'm sure the bench will be fully used.

However in saying this maybe JOM will add some tactic that we havn't implemented before? Tactics could be the only step forward we need and this could be a team chosen specifically for this game? After all its a given that we are a county with 8/10 natural players one exceptional one and the rest are workhorses. Its getting the best out of the workhorses and using the natural players correctly thats key.

Is JOM going to try and crowd the midfield? He will probably play Gardiner as an extra defensive man behind the midfield and Harte as a 3rd midfielder giving space to the 3 up front, there it is I've convinced myself, a 10 point win and a good run out with the full bench getting utilized.

My only concern is the lack of pace in our HB line.

[highorlow]

Barney would you not think this is the strongest we have been up the middle is a long time?


1- Clarke, 3 - Conroy, 6 - Heaney, 8 - MacG, 9 - Parsons, 11 - Harte - 14 O'Malley

Only change IMO would be

              3 - Heaney, 6- T.Mort                                   

[rosnarun]

Barney would you not think this is the strongest we have been up the middle is a long time?


1- Clarke, 3 - Conroy, 6 - Heaney, 8 - MacG, 9 - Parsons, 11 - Harte - 14 O'Malley

Only change IMO would be

              3 - Heaney, 6- T.Mort                                   

no i wouldn't for one. clarke is in foor omalleys injury ,Are conroy or parsons are ready for championship football yet? AOM is no good and harte is an honest trier at best.. heaney has the class but father time is banging on his door and will want access very soon. we should get away with it sunday but tougher battles lie ahead

[highorlow]

"no i wouldn't for one. clarke is in foor omalleys injury ,Are conroy or parsons are ready for championship football yet? AOM is no good and harte is an honest trier at best.. heaney has the class but father time is banging on his door and will want access very soon. we should get away with it sunday but tougher battles lie ahead"



Erra you have completely contradicted yourself there ros.... Heaney is too old and Parsons and Conroy are young ?? ,,, what do you want 15 players at the peak age of 25?

AOM is no good? I'll let you get back to me on that on Monday, hope he gets the RTE crystal despite you.

Post your alternative 'up the middle' selection up rather than critism for the sake of it, which is what you are at!

[thehulk!!]

to all those slating AOM- jesus what has the man to do for ye, by far our best player in the league, always bags his fair share of points, kicks off both feet, and is the only player in the panel who always has a blinder v kerry no other player in the panel can say that- to be honest the first name on the team sheet for JOM would be mc garitty at midfield and Austin at full forward- i honestly think there is an all star in austin- he has answered all questions asked and is polaying some great ball. and no im not a louisburgh man i jus appreciate quality- his display v kerry 05 all ireland quarter final and v kerry in the league this year were possibly two of the best performances i have ever seen someone put in in a mayo shirt and when you consider the opposition it makes it even better, the man almost has copyright on the man of the match in mayo v kerry games

[small white mayoman]

Mayo team...no Dillon...

1. David Clarke
2. Colm Boyle
3. Kieran Conroy
4. Keith Higgins
5. Tom Cunniffe
6. David Heaney
7. James Nallen
8. Ronan McGarrity
9. Tom Parsons
10. Peadar Gardiner
11. Pat Harte
12. Trevor Mortimer
13. Conor Mortimer
14. Austin O'Malley
15. Andy Moran

Surprised to See James start its now over 12 months see his last competetive game for mayo he is playing well for Crossmolina at the moment but i just hope he has the legs for intercounty championship football i would have preferred to see him brought on as a sub. The full forward line is our most settled line since the start of the year however the problem now with Dillon out is getting quality ball in to them  don't see where the scores will come from outside the full forward line none of the half forwards listed are natural scorers actually one is a back .

[ludermor]

Seeing that Sligoian is so confident how about placing a wee wager on the outcome. Because of your confidence (and the fact that ye are reigning champs and ye will have the hard ground and faster players and banished the past and the players have great self belief) i would expect you to give me decent odds of 6/4 or maybe even 2/1 for mayo. How would you feel about 100 yoyos?

[mannix]

Austin is indeed a good man in that line, strenght and accuracy, he is like a bull but has a fine eye for the scores too, not many like him in Mayo.
Give him some room and let him do his best and we will all be happy.

[Maradona]

Agree with Barney somewhat - team reflects where we are now. But I would have to disagree that the management have missed opportunities - I honestly believe we have not had the quality players coming through, so their hands are tied somewhat. Yes we have had the like of Parsons, Cunniffe, Howley, B Moran, Kilcoyne coming through, but are they not good players coming through with good potential? Like O'shea is a prospect alright but he is miles away yet from Senior inter-county championship being realistic. We have a lot of players at the same level, but we rarely bring through exceptional talent (and when we do it is often flawed!!). Honestly who would ye have come up with better than Conroy at FB? I think he is the best of whet we have tried other than Heaney. Who would ye have up front support Mort with scores other than O'Malley? Kilcoyne? Ronaldson? I have even heard some call for Marty McNicholas.

I think that is the best team Mayo could possibly possibly put out (Dillon, Howley excepted). On first glance, a lott of miss-fits in positions, however on reflection, maybe we are turning into a more honest grafting team which may not be a bad thing. A central 8 of Cunniffe, Heaney, Nallen, McGarrity, Parsons, Gardiner, Harte, T Mortimer - have we put out such a physical / hard working set since the days of TJ / WJ?

[rosnarun]

pointing out some one may be too old and other maybe too young is not at all contradicorial. i see huge  potential in Parsons but im not convinced he is quiet ready yet thats all. and god bless david heaney i would not hear a bad word against him but his time will pass he has so many miles on the clock.
And while austin may get away with sunday ill be taking bets hell be found out yet again before the end of summer.
I was responding to a suggestion we were exceptionally strong down the middle and i disagreed. we have a lot to prove there our strenghts lie in higgins gardiner the mortimers andy moran.
what changes would i make . its a bit pointless at this stage as a lot of my doubts are hypotheical but Barry moran should replace austin. CHF should be Mcdonald.  midfield could be a problem if parsons doesnt work but you can be sure BJP would let no one down either there or CHB .
The team as picked is well worth a look but it hasnt increased my confidence in reality id be more worried about Boyle and Cunniffe they have done very little to impress during the league

[Bomber2312]

Barney would you not think this is the strongest we have been up the middle is a long time?


1- Clarke, 3 - Conroy, 6 - Heaney, 8 - MacG, 9 - Parsons, 11 - Harte - 14 O'Malley

Only change IMO would be

              3 - Heaney, 6- T.Mort                                   

no i wouldn't for one. clarke is in foor omalleys injury ,Are conroy or parsons are ready for championship football yet? AOM is no good and harte is an honest trier at best.. heaney has the class but father time is banging on his door and will want access very soon. we should get away with it sunday but tougher battles lie ahead

David Clarke is the best goal keeper in mayo and is one of the top keepers in the country, its his first season in a number of years that he is injury free...its more a situation where O'Malley was in for Clarke while clarke was out injured.

I've said for years that mayo play with too many forward, that we have to make ourselves more difficult to beat....a more balanced stlye of play. This team selection seems to reflect this, with a grafter like half forward line.  Barry Moran has done nothing to suggest he is worthy of a place at full forward and while Austin may be caught out later in the year but at the minute, he is possesion of the jersey and has done well this year!

While the back six is somewhat suprising there is alot of flexibility to it, I think that the players will be assigned marking jobs rather than just marking the traditional numbers!

Should be able to defeat this sligo team, i'm confident we can win enough ball around the middle!

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligonian - you're posts remind me somewhat of a lot of Armagh posters in the aftermath of when they first won Sam ... in this case perceiving Sligo to be thee number 1 team in Connacht becuase the Connacht championship only commenced last year. More power to you in thinking that ! but there is lot of stuff in your posts that has me smirking to myself for a variety of different reasons. Like the one below i just read before posting this:

I know gaughan, kelly and j davey can win 50/50 ball going in IMO so arent as dependant on quality supply going in as people think, we all know huffing it in high wont work

Like which is it ? Winning 50:50 ball suggests they should win half of any high ball going into them

Or this:

With this current crop of players as ive pointed out theyve broken all kinds of hoodoos so therefore is it unreasonable of me to suggest that the mental side of things MAYO WILL HAVE NO ADVANTAGE sunday over us on that.

I can almost hear the noise of you beating you chest in shouting that. Anyway, I can name 2 hoodoos - winning a Connacht title obviously, but i guess getting relegated to Division 4 could be considered as another type of hoodoo / 'achievement' and thus only having 1 crack in the championship

Well with all due respect, if the build up is quite anywhere its Sligo....waiting in the long grasss for its prey . Look at this board we arent giving away too much either  .

The one above from a week ago  ..... by jaysus a lot seems to have changed in the last week !!

So when I say sligo will be better in CSFC than league is that not a fair asumption based on the fact that most of our players especially along the wings and forwards mainly would excell more in better conditions.

And this one .....  ahhhhh, how do i put this? Lets just say, i too prefer playing on hard fast pitches but wouldn't fancy my changes if i came up against Keith Higgins  cos hes like grease lightning regardless of the conditions, i.e.: you are only considering 1 variable in your conlcusion that Sligo are a better team in summer than winter. There are a least a dozen other variables that would need to be considered before that conclusion could be reached.


Anyway, enough. I'm gone too cynical

Yes you are gone too cynical.

With our small forwards high ball wont suit but they are fighters and i meant low 50/50 ball where the mayo backs play from the front or side giving our lads no real advantage in getting out in front. The ball going might only split the 2 running for it, it might not always be to the sligo forwards advantage ie to his side....

Sligo have beaten leitrim in carrick for first time in 20+ yrs, ros in hyde and galway in last 2yrs, all by this squad so that tells me the past has no power over our lads mental atitude in games. I think thats a fair assuption. Only mayo in mchale is the last hoodoo but this squad hasnt played there so im sure they see sunday as an opportunity.

One week ago i thought build up was quiet till I seen demand for tickets in my area, with lots of people who wouldnt normally go are. Another fair assumption i feel.

Ive no doubt keith higgins is as good in league as championship, however i focus on sligo because in all honesty i wouldnt be hugely famaliar with mayo. Yes there are variables like sunday the weather could be terrible but if its good it will suit both teams i reckon but sligo were so poor in league, i expect alot more in championship. Another fair assumption i feel and ive made my points on this already.

[kevmy]

The side I think will be picked:

Clarke

Boyle       Conroy           Nallen 

Gardiner    Heaney         Higgins

McGarrity         Parsons

Harte       Dillon           Trevor

Conor     O'Malley         Andy Moran 

Cunniffe and Adian Higgins will be unlucky not to start. In fact I'd like to see Aidan Higgins start in the corner.

What's wrong with Dillon?

Hope Dillon plays as we have tried no one (bar Mac) there for years and I wouldn't like throwing someone in now.

Having said that Alan didn't have the best league campaign and if an experienced player (Trevor?) is put in there we might find something a bit different.

I wouldn't like to mess with the FF line as it is and the half back line were the only consistently good performers all through the league. If Dillon is out I'd put Trevor CF with Harte and Gardiner on the wings

Pretty much as I expected/predicted the only thing really being Jimmy Nallen playing at wing back. We might see him swapping with Keith (although I'm not sure as Keith might be deployed there especially to provide pace in the corner)

As for there being no guile in the half forward line and the half back line being shuffled both are true but also both are due to injuries. I think everyone would agree that Howley and Dillon would play if fit. As for midfield and FF lines, both performed well through the league and deserve a shot as well as providing some continuity (some people here giving out theres no continuity and some people trying to change the lines which have been working well and are injury free)

I still think it's a fairly strong team. We may not be AI challengers (on paper) at this stage but I'd say we are at least as good (on paper) as the team Sligo will field on Sunday.
I would expect a victory but it won't be easy and it mightn't be pretty. If we get over Sligo we should improve with Dillon and maybe Howley back in time for Connacht final and lads will have a game under their belt.

[Mano]

From looking at both teams i think its fair to say that both teams weakest sectors will be facing off against each other (Sligo's attack and the Mayo defense) I don't know much about the 2 new lads in the Mayo full back line but by full back line standards would i be right in saying they are not that tall. Therefore it is disappointing that we have no big man in the full forward line to test them out with a few high balls. Also the inclusion of Nallen is a surprise to me. He looked to be at the end of the road after been hauled off after 15 minutes in AIF 06. He was also taken to the cleaners against Dublin by Jayo. However have we got the forwards to exploit this.

Also both teams strongest lines with be facing off Sligo full back line and Mayo full forward line. Distribution into C Mortimer & co will be vital as Harrsison, Naughton and Donovan are tenacious in the tackle. The game will be decided on Midfield and this sector imo.