Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7 Champions Dethroned

[GaillimhIarthair]

Paddy Power Betting
Time                        Home   Draw    Away 
15:30  Mayo v Sligo    1 - 6    10 - 1   11 - 2

Have to say I slightly favour Mayo for this one, but very hard to ignore that 11/2 for Sligo in a game that looks like being very close. 

[blast05]

What does this mean              at the end of a post. I think your a bit like joey, when everyone waits till he gets it, still waiting, still waiting still..........................


still waiting...

Your  sign was obviously in reference to "Must pass that on Jordan seeming as I ruined his advantage of naming a dummy team"  .... the rest of it you swallowed hook, line and sinker  ..... so stop trying to dig your way out of the hole !!

BTW - Mayo 0-17, Sligo 2-7 would be my prediction.

[stevo-08]

Sligo (SF v Mayo): P Greene; C Harrison, P Naughton, R Donovan; P McGovern, M McNamara, E McHugh; E O'Hara, K Quinn; B Curran, B Egan, J Davey; G Gaughan, M Breheny, D Kelly.

Lads, just going back to the team selection again. Everyone here is assuming that maguire will start. However, someone told me yesterday evening that despite playing a club ch'ship match recently, maguire isnt fit enough to start v Mayo. Not sure if there's much truth in that, but if so, it's very worrying.

Paddy Power Betting
Time                        Home   Draw    Away 
15:30  Mayo v Sligo    1 - 6    10 - 1   11 - 2

Have to say I slightly favour Mayo for this one, but very hard to ignore that 11/2 for Sligo in a game that looks like being very close. 

anybody got details of the spread for the game?

[kevmy]

We got mighty coverage tonight on TV3's preview programme  . You'd swear Mayo were playing themselves on Sunday. What about Liam Hayes though - he really is a loose cannon! I woder does he believe the stuff he comes out with.

Hayes is an idiot. He writes a piece in the Tribune every Sunday making some wild prediction and by tea time it's almost always proven wrong. He totally ignored Sligo and every Mayo man who is playing on Sunday and concentrated on having a go at McDonald (one of his favourite targets). Just cause he doesn't beat the shite out of the opposition like the Meath team of the 80's and decides to beat them with football. Then he made some comment about him not playing on big days - bollocks - McDonald stepped up against Galway in 04 when we were 6 points down, against Kerry in the final in 04 when only him and Alan Dillon decided to play and who can forget his performance against Dublin in 06. I'll give that he wasn't at his best in the final in 06 but then who was? (as far as I recall BJP and K ONeill played ok and that was about it). Also Mac was carrying his back injury into the game.

[thehulk!!]

never mind that clown hayes in all fairness what would a redser like him know about anything, mayo are a top team and have been for the past 12 years, never mind jealous little runts like hayes haveng a go at real footballers if your not a mullaker he dont like it- typical is all illl say, mayo always have the last laugh

[IolarCoisCuain]

anybody got details of the spread for the game?

Mayo are favoured by between five or six points.

http://www.oddschecker.com/other-sports/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/mayo-v-sligo/handicaps

[magpie seanie]

He totally ignored Sligo and every Mayo man who is playing on Sunday and concentrated on having a go at McDonald (one of his favourite targets).

That piece on McDonald was disgraceful and the whole programme confirmed my worst fears that TV3 will somehow manage to do a worse job than RTE. You would get more insight from the office Star reader than from that programme. A complete waste of time.

Bring back Breaking Ball.

[thehulk!!]

its just pure jealousy- mcdonald is probably the most talented man ever to kick a ball and people are sick with jealousy as a result

[Teeling Gael]

Steve - Think thats a fair point about Maguire. In my mind the fact he only played half a match against Roscommon when obviously lacking in match fitness raises a genuine query whether he will be involved at all and that would be a major blow to Sligo's chances.

Actually thought the Mayo team was well selected. Thankfully for Mayo the management selected their best man marker on Sligos most dangerous forward rather than James Nallen as the majority of the experts on here thought made sense. Nallen will pick up Sligo 3rd midfielder and wouldnt lose any sleep over Mc Namara. Between Nallen on Mc Namara , Parsons/Mc Garrity on O Hara/ Quinn , Heaney on Brehony , Cunnife on Gaughan/ Curran ,Gardiner on McHugh and Harte on Egan, Mayo have height advantages in all the midfield sectors and in most cases very significant height advantages. Make no mistakes , the main reason Sligo are now in Division 4 is that we were annihilated in most league games around the middle and it worries me greatly on Sunday too and irrespective of all the pace Sligo may have around the team , it will be no good without the ball. We lost against Cork for many reason but mainly  because they were way too physical for us around midfield and this worries me greatly on Sunday also.

Again whilst the majority of the Mayo people on here talk about Austie or Conor Mortimer , I would be more worried about Andy Moran. Probably the best Sigerson footballer in the country over last 2/3 years and I felt in the last year he was transferring this form to senior intercounty football. If Mayo are to threaten at the business end of the summer, I imagine Andy Moran will have played a crucial part.

Maybe this is treasonable but I will be travelling on Sunday more in hope than expectation for the reasons outlined above.

[magpie seanie]

TG - I agree with you. I was fairly confident until I saw the Mayo team but after thinking about theirselection I'm less sure. Not O'Mahoney's greatest fan but if he's at what I think he's at then respect to the fecker. I think he's using that Cork game as his template to beat us which shows me that Mayo are taking us very seriously and are focussed on one thing and one thing only - winning. Like you I would be more worried about Moran than the other two who have less strings to their respective bows.

I still think we can win if we win a few battles you would find hard to see us win at this point. I am absolutely convinced there will be only 2-3 points in it at the end. Hopefully we can win a few of the big battles and get the vital scores. McPartland and Sweeney coming in for the last 20 is a factor that could swing things our way.

Maybe this is treasonable but I will be travelling on Sunday more in hope than expectation for the reasons outlined above

Not treasonable at all. Its pragmatic and you're not one of these guys who suffers from the dreaded Sligo inferiority complex.

[Sligoper]

Bellaghy is an odd one alright! And ye are right about Towey, he played for Curry underage but i think it was Charlestown who complained! Belaghy is odd in that people who live there consider to be from mayo yet the Nestor Cup was carried over the border! It's somethin that needs to be looked at though!

[Tubberman]

RTE.ie are predicting a Sligo win - still, the waffle they talk in those previews is unreal so I wouldn't put much faith in them.

Watch Mayo v Sligo live on RTÉ.ie (IoI) this Sunday from 3.28pm. Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ.ie and RTÉ Aertel.

by Seámus Leonard

Even more so than Dublin, Mayo have been the nearly men of football this decade.

Dublin may be the dominant force in Leinster, but it is now 13 years since they reached an All-Ireland. Mayo have qualified for the big day twice since 2004, although with Kerry proving an immovable object on both occasions, there's probably a little part of them that wishes they hadn't.

They are the last team in the country to get their campaign under way, and that has allowed John O'Mahony's decision to omit Ciarán McDonald from his panel more time to fester than it probably good for them.

McDonald was and still is devoted to the Mayo cause, but clearly O'Mahony saw his presence as more of a hindrance than a help.

And it's probably the Crossmolina man's sheer brilliance that has worked against him. Too often in recent years Mayo have looked to him to produce moments of magic. His absence will force the rest of the team to start looking within themselves for inspiration and not the blonde bombshell.

It is a huge risk by O'Mahony, though, and one that will most likely be thrown back in his face should Mayo come a-cropper on Sunday. But the man didn't lead Galway to two All-Irelands by accident and Mayo supporters would do well to trust his judgement.

Sligo come into the game as provincial champions, but also with the knowledge that relegation from Division 3 has left them with the prospect of falling into the Tommy Murphy Cup if they lose in Castlebar.

They had a comfortable win over London at Ruislip last month. It may have been an easy enough obstacle, but it still gives them a slight edge over their as yet untested opponents.

With captain Noel McGuire still not fully fit following a dislocated elbow, manager Tommy Jordan has opted to keep the status quo.

There is little doubt that Mayo are the better side. However, circumstances being as they are, the fear of where defeat would leave Sligo football could prove an inspirational force for the Yeatsmen.

Verdict: Sligo

[Teeling Gael]

Maybe this is treasonable but I will be travelling on Sunday more in hope than expectation for the reasons outlined above

Not treasonable at all. Its pragmatic and you're not one of these guys who suffers from the dreaded Sligo inferiority complex.

For Sligo to win , our full back line needs to regain its 2007 form and without Maguire this would be difficult. Even if they did regain their form , if we lose the midfield battle fairly dramactically, good and all our fullback line may play , we wont win. In essence , alot rests on the shoulders of Quinn and O Hara. If Quinn is marking Mc Garrity , he will be marking a damn fine player and he would have to have one of the games of his life to dominate there. Alot rest then on O Hara with presumably the Mayos half forward line paying him particuliar attention also. Great and all as Eamomn is , its a  big ask for him months away from been 33 and not been a particuliarily tall midfieder to replicate the form of 5 years ago when he was at his physical peak. Its not beyound the man but its a big ask. My point early is that i dont see any other sources of possession around midfield other than the midfielders. Sligonian makes some very valid points about our inferiority complex but winning Connaught last year has liberated this bunch of players and unlike previous visits down the years , this Sligo team truly believes it can win and that in itself gives this Sligo team an advantage I've rarely seen in a Sligo team going to Castlebar. If this Sligo team is even money to win with a 6 point spread then it certainly is an excellent bet.

[Greenabovethered]

Bellaghy is an odd one alright! And ye are right about Towey, he played for Curry underage but i think it was Charlestown who complained! Belaghy is odd in that people who live there consider to be from mayo yet the Nestor Cup was carried over the border! It's somethin that needs to be looked at though!

I think you could be strung up for saying that "Bellaghy people consider themselves from Mayo" , they are hard core Sligo people once you cross the county boundary. The closer to the boundary the more hardcore they are. The boundary being the river that runs under the road  at the level crossing. Most Bellaghy footballers play for Charlestown because they go to school in Charlestown and play for Charlestown underage teams. I repeat there's no tradition of Bellaghy people playing for Curry and Sligo.

[SLIGONIAN]

I heard the same as steve08 about mcguire not starting, but what can I say i see him look as sharp as ever last week and in one of the sligo papers he reinforces that by saying hes fully fit. All i can say i'll be annoyed if he doesnt start.

Mayo have twice as many clubs as us, they have ballaghdereen in ros now they have bellaghy in Sligo. What will see next the castleconnor lads defecting to ballina.

Our county board will want to have a serious look at this if they have sligos best intersts at heart...

Ya seanie was some preview on tv3 last night alright. Did any of think mortimer comments were strange regarding last yr? "We didnt buy into the new ideas last yr because we were so used to other methods, but this yr we have" not a great enditement of JOMs training method and tactics.