Mayo v Galway - Connacht Final 13/07/08 14:00 McHale Park, Castlebar

[INDIANA]

from an outside perspective.
mayo have a clear advantage at midfield.
galway have a clear advantage up front in the sense that the galway defence is better on paper than mayo's.

If Galway break 50/50 at midfield i think they will win but if mayo can come out on top there they may win out. the best way to protect a suspect defence is with a good midfield. if the galway forwards get enough ball they could run the mayo defence ragged.

[Uladh]

Good to see Diarmuid Blake back in championship football. he's always been a quality player. Obviously dec meehan must be injured?
is armstrong injured too?

[corran ard]

from an outside perspective.
mayo have a clear advantage at midfield.
galway have a clear advantage up front in the sense that the galway defence is better on paper than mayo's.

If Galway break 50/50 at midfield i think they will win but if mayo can come out on top there they may win out. the best way to protect a suspect defence is with a good midfield. if the galway forwards get enough ball they could run the mayo defence ragged.

I don't necessarily see Galway as having a better defence. Bradshaw is unproven, Burke has been poor this season and Blake is coming back from a long time out so might not be match fit. I really worry about our defence. Particularly when you consider the amount of scorable frees we conceded to Leitrim the last day, and the chances Roscommon were afforded.
At midfield, I see Breathnach coming back to help out but I still think this is a real problem area for Galway. Bergin's return can't come soon enough, although like Blake, he'll need time to prove match fit.
I'd have Nicky inside next to Meehan as when he plays in the half-forwards he has an annoying tendency to solo into blind alleys. At least further up the posts will come into view soon enough.

[myball22]

I would also say Trevor Mortimer could do well on Sice too but if Galway are to win people like Matthew Clancy and Cormac Bane will need to play well aswell as Cullinane in midfield.

[the Deel Rover]

this is an unusual connacht final mayo supporters not knowing what to expect not feeling too confident and from reading the galway posters here ye have yer own doubts about yer team or are ye just been cagey

[kevmy]

Given that Galway team heres how I'd expect our backs to line out.

Breathnach                PJ              NJoyce
Conroy                  Heaney           Cuniffe


Bane                    Meehan           Clancy
Nallen                   Higgins            Boyle


I don't see any reason to not have Higgins and Heaney do a job on Joyce and Meehan.  Breathnach is big and will roam out around midfield and if the Sligo game is anything to go by thats exactly the type of game Johnno wants Conroy to play. I don't think Nallen has the legs to run after Clancy all day and won't want to get turned out the field so he'll drop back to take Bane.
Now all this means either Boyle or Cunniffe will take Clancy I don't think it makes that much difference as either one plays better out the field and both can run. Either way whoever takes Clancy has to have a big game.


I'm relatively confident about Sunday we should have the better midfield. People go on about Galway getting physical there but really only Cullinane will and he's a bit awkward and with a picky ref he could end up on a yellow lively enough. If we win midfield we will win.

On our forwards they are good enough. Mort whether from frees or play should tap over 5 or 6 points as is his average against Galway. After that we'd be looking for another 1-7 or 1-8 from 5 players which I think we should manage. People are way to quick to get on Andy Morans back. He wins alot of ball and fair enough he mightn't use it the best but no one else would even win the ball to lose it so he stays. Also he's our best chance of a goal in the FF line.

Prediction
Mayo 1 - 14
Galway 2 - 9

[galwayman]

this is an unusual connacht final mayo supporters not knowing what to expect not feeling too confident and from reading the galway posters here ye have yer own doubts about yer team or are ye just been cagey

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Deel. Both sets of supporters would have doubts about their respective teams. I think we are a fairly lightweight team and our forwards can go missing against a tight marking defence. Our defence (fb line in particular) is there for the taking. I think Hanley will be okay but I'm having nightmares about our corner backs. I don't think either is up to it and Kieran Fitz should be in there. He had been playing quite well up to his injury a while back and has generally done well against Mayo. In fairness so has Burke but he is having an absolute nightmare of a season - even at club level his form has been poor. He also gives away so many frees he can be a liability and is never far away from a double-yellow card situation - not unlike Coleman. I think ye could make serious inroads in our full back line this time around.

The only thing that gives me hope is that I believe only one of ye're full back line is really a good man marker - that being Keith Higgins who is a super player.
Conroy & Boyle are both more comfortable further out the field and if we had 2 decent corner forwards in there we could do damage. The problem for us of course is that Galway play a 2 man full forward line with Matt Clancy going deep. This will play into Mayo's hands I think as it means one of Boyle/Conroy will be taken away from the goal area and their weakness won't be properly exploited. A fully fit Armstrong and Nicky Joyce in the 2 corners would test these 2 lads to the limit. I am assuming here that Higgins will be brought over on Meehan. I hope not from a Galway point of view, as I think Meehan could take Conroy to the cleaners.

[myball22]

Usually Joyce and meehan are held by Mayo but players like matthew clancy and cormac bane last year do well so for Galway to win some of the "lesser lights" will have to put in a big performance but the midfield is crucial.

If we compete there, then we have a great chance!!

[GaillimhIarthair]

this is an unusual connacht final mayo supporters not knowing what to expect not feeling too confident and from reading the galway posters here ye have yer own doubts about yer team or are ye just been cagey

A lot of doubts on both sides it seems to be sure Deel.  Galways seem to be the following with the majority of posters -

Bradshaw - not a naturnal corner back and Andy Moran could clean him if on form and getting a decent supply of ball
Burke - in a poor vein of form at the moment
Blake - great to have him back from injury but seriously lacking match practice
Midfield - our achilles heel all year, huge games required from Barry and Niall
Breathnach - dont think even Mulder and Scully could figure this one out

Looking forward to it, but not hugely confident.  Alot resting on our performance in the middle third.  May need a few settlers in Mick Byrnes before hand  

[AbbeySider]

Mayo 3-18
Galway 1-11

Thats confidence for you highorlow !!     

I dont think Mayo have scored a goal against Galway in the last 5 championship games. If we are lucky I feel we might sneak one this time. I can see major problems with our own full back line so I fear that Galway are good for at least two.
If we can hold Joyce and Meehan and control mid-field some what I think that we may have enough with home advantage. But if Galway crowd the middle and win the 50-50 breaks we could be in trouble. We are cancelling each other out in a lot of respects. Galway backs may be giving away more frees which is where I think Mayo pick up scores.
It will be close. I think it will be a draw!

Mayo 1-12
Galway 2-9 

7-1 with PaddyPower for the draw! (good bet) 

[MacDanger]

very disapponited to see Gardiner dropped .

Me too. Half the year playing midfield and half forward. breaks his jaw. another couple of months in the forwards, and finally dropped, just before the big game that the previous 9 months of training was all about.  Hopefully he'll get another shot before the year is out, preferrably at half back.

I don't see it as much of a surprise that Gardiner is gone really, Dillon had to come back in and it was always going to be Gardiner rather than T Mort or Harte. The problem with Gardiner is that while he's a good footballer, he's not a good enough defensively (regardless of what he offers going forward) for intercounty level and yet he's not good enough to play half forward either as we have better ball-winners there (i.e. Harte/Mort)

Will be very tight. Hopefully talk of Burke having a bad year will mean Mort will finally be able to have a really good game on him.

Mayo by one or two, possilbly after a replay

[MacDanger]

rte.ie are tipping Galway, that surely guarantees victory for us!!!!!

[AbbeySider]

Did anyone else see the article on the HoganStand Mayo page about McDonald earlier today?
It was taken down again.

Basically it took quotes from McDonalds interview in MAY and mashed them together and posted it on the main Mayo page.
The whole thing was completely out of context. But they tried to make it look like McDonald had said all of this yesterday.

I wasnt long registering and contacting the HoganStand telling them to stop shit stirring a few days before the Conaught final.
It wasnt fair on the players or management. Aad it wasnt fair on McD because the article mad it look like he was stirring it.

How did it appear in the first place? Looks like someone had it in for JOM and co.
Idiots.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Did anyone else see the article on the HoganStand Mayo page about McDonald earlier today?
It was taken down again.

Basically it took quotes from McDonalds interview in MAY and mashed them together and posted it on the main Mayo page.
The whole thing was completely out of context. But they tried to make it look like McDonald had said all of this yesterday.

I wasnt long registering and contacting the HoganStand telling them to stop shit stirring a few days before the Conaught final.
It wasnt fair on the players or management. Aad it wasnt fair on McD because the article mad it look like he was stirring it.

How did it appear in the first place? Looks like someone had it in for JOM and co.
Idiots.

Poor form on the part of the Hoganstand if thats the type of shite they are now resorting to in order to up the ante prior to a provincial final. Fair play for contacting them but you shouldnt be straying over there anyway Abbeysider 

[the Deel Rover]

Did anyone else see the article on the HoganStand Mayo page about McDonald earlier today?
It was taken down again.

Basically it took quotes from McDonalds interview in MAY and mashed them together and posted it on the main Mayo page.
The whole thing was completely out of context. But they tried to make it look like McDonald had said all of this yesterday.

I wasnt long registering and contacting the HoganStand telling them to stop shit stirring a few days before the Conaught final.
It wasnt fair on the players or management. Aad it wasnt fair on McD because the article mad it look like he was stirring it.

How did it appear in the first place? Looks like someone had it in for JOM and co.
Idiots.

fair play Abbeysider afull stuff altogether funny thing is some people actually thought Mc made those comments today As you said it wasn't fair on either party