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

[MayoMan]

Heres how the back door looks lads.....

Round 1 Qualifiers (8 Games)

19 Jul 2008 Tipperary 3:00 Westmeath Ardfinnan  
19 Jul 2008 Monaghan 3:00 Derry Clones  
19 Jul 2008 Donegal 5:00 Roscommon Ballybofey  
19 Jul 2008 Limerick 7:00 Meath Gaelic Grounds  
19 Jul 2008 Longford 7:00 Laois Pearse Park  
19 Jul 2008 Kildare 7:00 Cavan Newbridge  
19 Jul 2008 Offaly 7:00 Down Tullamore  
19 Jul 2008 Louth 7:00 Tyrone Drogheda

Round 2 Qualifiers (4 Games)
26/07/08
Winners from above play eachother.

Round 3 Qualifiers  02,03,04/08/08 (4 Games)
Mayo v Winner from above
Kerry v Winner from above
Leinster runner-up v Winner from above
Ulster runner-up v Winner from above

Quarter Final 09+10/08/08
Cork v Winner from above
Galway v Winner from above
Leinster Winner v winner from above
Ulster Winner v winner from above

Semi's 24/08/08

Final 21/09/08

At least we cant get Kerry in the Quarters.....

[joemamas]

I thought moran had a great second half. I also believe that billie joe's( who had a great game) miss was crucial as it would have put Mayo two up at a time when they were well on top.

O' Malley did not win or seem capable of winning a 50/50 ball all day. This I feel is as important as the game itself as it now means that Mayo have no ariel threat, once again, in their full forward line, and therefore need to revert back to a running game.

McGarrity was dissapointing, jesus when I read the big write up in the indo, it reminded me of McHale or Brady (both Media hounds). Why not wait until the season is over or do it before the season starts. Parson did well enough for his first real big game, appeared to be shagged at end of the game. Pat Harte tried very hard, needs to toughen up a bit, as he seemed prone to lying down quiet a bit especially in the first half.

The more I watch David Heaney, (who has been a great servant to mayo, today was his 99th game), the more I believe that the only role he can now play would be as an extra man if the other team are reduced to 14. Marking ability is non existant. Nallen was steady. Cuniffe was ok, too young to be overly critical.

Galway won, and good luck to them, they seemed to be very disjointed in the second half, they are a decent team, who as usual probably had their best performance of the year against Mayo. difficult to see them progressing, people were raving about P JOYCE, If I was being marked like him , I would have had a good game myself. He does not have the pace at this stage of a great career. His pissing, moaning, lying down for an extended time every time he gets a knock bugs the piss out of me. If I was the ref I would tell him to get up to fu*k. Galway probably will really struggle against a team that has a proven/hardened midfield, McGarrity does rank in the phyiscal stakes, and did not take a whole lot out of his opponents. In addition their half forward line is poor, when you consider that Aiden Higgins and Peadar Gardiner, both the wrong side of 30, pretty much dominated thier wing forwards when they came on.

Do not envy JOM at this juncture. For Mayo to get better they need to up their physical play a la Billie joe, especially in thier backline.He is not afraid to commit himself.Over the course of 80 mins, this does take its toll on opposing players. Lokk at Dublin V westmeath for an example, Dessie Dolan was knocked about quiet a bit some fair some unfair, but by the last 15 mins he was bollocksed. It is totally unrealistic to expect this phyisical element to happen overnight, however JOM and co, need to identify players with a phyiscal presence, so that when they do end their tenure, they will at worst have left a foundation. As it stands four of Mayo's finishing backline were north of 30. Not sure if Howley is answer, hope I'm wrong on that one.

On to the qualifiers, not very hopeful.

[INDIANA]

think your comments about Joyce are out of order. If Mayo had a player with 50% of his talent you'd have an all-reland. A truly magnificent Gaelic Footballer who was exceptional today. What Galway are going to do when he's gone, God knows. Really enjoyed the second half, neither team will be at the business end of the all-ireland but the key difference was that Galway were more economical. But Galway's midfield problems will cost them any chance of getting near an all-ireland.

[Farrandeelin]

joemamas comments about Joyce are not out of order, he was not marked when he got on the ball today and that was the difference. Mayo had to work harder and had more passes to get their scores. Really disappointed with the way we lost it after going 1 up.

I have to say that management will have a lot of blame to take. Why the hell didn't they put on Aiden Higgins and Gardiner earlier (or else start one of them), for God's sake Clancy was giving Nallen the runaround early on.

I thought McGarrity did as good as he could have done with big Barry Cullinane under most of the kick-outs that he contested. Harte did ok I thought. Nallen did well though when he was moved off Clancy. Parsons didn't have as good a game as he had against Sligo. I suppose it was hard to expect him to but he should have been ready for Galway is what I'm trying to say.

For most of the second half, we had Galway on the rack imo. Those 2 goals early on in the game were the big ones. I would agree with what posters say about Galway's midfield fade out, but there's not much football in their midfield in all fairness.

Andy Moran was the only one of the full-forward line who performed well I thought despite Conor scoring a few points. Conor I thought had a poor game by his standards and had 3 wides in the first few minutes of the game. It seems Barney is right all along about Austin O'Malley, he cannot cut it at championship football. Saying that though the Galway backs deserve credit for putting the shackles on the full-forward line. Kilcoyne got his goal after coming on again, Padden did well enough too when he came on. How Cullinane only got a yellow card with that haymaker on Harte is beyond me.

I'll give more of my opinions later but right now, I'm one very pissed off Mayoman.

[moysider]

Not long home. Delighted with the minor win especially when they played well below par and still dug it out. The senior match was beyond sickening and the manner of this defeat will not be easily to come to terms with. It s another opportunity wasted and two defeats in a row to Galway and today they sowed it to us at home. As some of us pointed out here earlier the team that was sent out today was deeply flawed. To have ended up with that team set up in a championship final beggars belief. Thank God Aiden Higgins has had the patience to hang around on the bench for so long. or Nallen did not heed those that were writing him off, or it have been a lot worse. As for a certain forward that was impersonating a footballer again today, I m not even going there. Would nt be fair. He does nt pick himself. It looks like we ll be stuck on 2 Connacht titles now for this decade which is damning.

[Tatler Jack]

I'll give more of my opinions later but right now, I'm one very pissed off Mayoman

Gather Farrendelin you did not hang around for a few pints after the game and for some "deep introspection". 

Moran did OK in the second half but thought he could have done more in the earlier stages when Mayo were under pressure. Likewise Harte started very slowly though played well after Galway's second goal. Despite the bad start I feel Mayo should have at least drawn the game - having done the hard work to get back in the game and go ahead they missed a few chances and allowed Galway some handy scores. 

[FL/MAYO]

Things are not great when you have to rely on the old heads to come on and steady the ship. Kilcoyne should have went for the point near the end instead of the goal but he did make a difference when he came on for O'Malley. O'Malley was by far the biggest let down today, he just could not win a 50/50 ball. I thought he could be the answer for us in there but on todays performance he is no where close. The subs all played well when introduced, most of them should start the next day as mayo were a much better team in the second half when they ran at Galway. If Trevor was on in the second half we might have won it, he is very important to that team and gives you 100%, wish Conor played with as much heart.
Ah I am just fecking frustrated.

[mannix]

All is not lost, we were 7 points down and came back to lead but ran out of steam it appears. Now would be a good time to ring Macdonald for a go as a winghalf forward if he would play as instructed for a few games. This talk of being a poor qualifier team is stupid, lose a provincial final by a point to the best attacking team in the country or so we are constantly told is no way a big defeat.
Qualifiers are tough but its only one more game than galway. how many did tyrone play on their way to sam maguire?

Time to drop the drama for some lads, say nothing to papers about your feelings or dreams, just do the training and hit hard when you take the field.Mayo look like a decent side, the hard edge is still not hard enough though.

[moysider]

Dont think our lads have the stomach for the qualifiers. Dont believe there is enough leadership in the team to pick it up and recover from this. Johnno was talking it up after and on about character and grabbing the opportunity with both arms[sic] but the year is effectively over. Conar Mort was saying today in the paper that the qualifiers were not an option and that mindset will not be altered by a bit of ould guff. I d say most lads will be just glad to get back to their clubs now. They wont have that crowd support the next day either and I cant see us realistically win another game after that today. MacDonald wont be coming back. No sense in that now. The 'rebuilding' will go on and next year Nallen, A. Higgins and Heaney may not be around anymore to limit damage either. Not optimistic.

[MayoMan]

Come on lads its not all doom and gloom, we have one more game to play against a team thats in the same boat as ourselves (lost already) and we are back to where we were except we have the advantage of not being drawn to play Kerry in the quarters. That sounds ok to me...... Plus our second half display was very good.... The fat lady hasn't sung yet.....

[galwayman]

Have to say I am delighted with the win today. I didn't expect a Galway win to be honest. I thought home advantage would swing it for Mayo. Being honest we were lucky enough in the end to get the win as we fell apart for long stages of the second half.
We were wiped out around the middle of the field in the second half - Mayo made a lot of clean catches and also won an amount of breaking ball. In those circumstances we did well to get the win.
There's a serious amount of improvement needed for the quarter final now though and the fact that we'll be meeting a team with a few wins under their belts and recent match practice wouold be a big concern for me.
On the plus side Joe Bergin could well be back in contention for a place by then.
From a Galway point of view...the full back line were good today. Damien Burke as usual lived on the edge of a double yellow card  but overall I thought he did well on Mortimer.Mortimer was really quiet for most of the game though I think he did kick 2 good points from play. Hanley was outstanding at no.3 all through and didn't give O'Malley a sniff.He outplayed him in the league game in Castlebar earlier in the year as well. Bradshaw did really well when he moved out to the half back line after Fitzy came on. I think he got the TV3 man of the match? Blake and Sice were both troubled by their markers but did a lot of good things also. Cullinane had a good first half I thought but was fighting a lone furrow in the second half.Often he was the only Galway man competing for the ball up against 3 or 4 Mayo lads which should never happen. Up front PJ was the difference between the 2 sides. He took his goal brilliantly and kicked 3 great points from play.He is sheer class.Bane was also really good today.Meehan contributed sporadically as well though he is capable of much more than he has shown so far in the championship this year.Maybe Croke Park will be the stage he delivers on?
Matt Clancy was having a good game in teh first half and it was a massive blow to lose him at half time as he tends to win breaking ball and run hard at the opposition defence. Nicky won a lot of ball off Conroy early on but faded out of the game thereafter and picked up another groin injury I think.Breathnach again did very little.True he did score a goal but overall he had very little impact on the game and I really can't fathom how he keeps his place game after game.
Anyway there's lots of room for improvement in the team for Croke Park. If we lose our shape in the forward line like we did for long spells in the 2nd half then we won't be winning any games in Croker.

From a Mayo point of view - you have to give credit to them for the way they played in the second half against the wind and also in the last few mins of the first half after Galway's second goal. They really upped their performance and intensity and took the game to galway. It seemed that they went back to running at Galway from deep in the 2nd half which is the way they have always played against us and with much success it has to be said. They weren't doing this earlier in the game and when they started to do this there were alarming gaps appearing in our defence.
They were unlucky not to get something out of the game. As I had posted earlier in the week, I felt that Boyle and Conroy were both there for the taking and so it proved.They were not a bit comfortable in the fb line with quick ball coming in from out the field.
Gardiner and Higgins tightened the defence up a lot. Trevor Mortimer's injury was a big blow as he was seeing plenty of the ball at that stage.O'Malley and Moran did very little while Conor didn't do an awful lot either though he did kick 2 fine points from play. I was impressed with Harte today.He actually won a lot of kick-outs today which surprised me. Dillon was always a threat and kicked some good points.
Mayo can still do well in the backdoor if their attitude is right. They are well capable of beating most teams in the country.

[larry buaile]

Watched the game on the box.  Not bad coverage, although in the first half they missed a goal chance by mayo coz they were replaying an earlier incident. Brutal (why they have to show something in a replay 3 times i don't know. very soccer like).

David Brady said at half time that Mayo have to "cop on".  He was right, and they did to an extent.

Some thoughts on the game.

Mayo are still at this fannying about at the 30 yard line, running around in circles, passing it out field etc etc.  They need to do some drills big time that teaches them to run past a man. What's the worst that can happen if you try and take on a man? Lose the ball (tends to happen anyway) or Free in, over the bar or better.

Cullinane was lucky to stay on the pitch.  Ref chickened out on giving him a deserved second yellow.  I don't think Cullinane means to do these things, but he's quite "dirty" at times.  I think it's just his size and intensiity.  He'd want to watch it though.

Parsons was a revelation.  Some unwarranted criticism on here, but he got a hand to 70% of all kickouts and won it or palmed it accurately to a Mayo player.  That's what we need people, what we've been looking for in a midfielder for years.  He doesn't have to catch and run the length of the field with every ball (we have enough of them!).  Great newcomer.

Harte was very good too.  Some great catching and running.  Nallen was brilliant.  Actually marked his man and made some vital  interceptions.  McGarrity was good, but I reckon there is more in him.  Dillon good.  O'Malley not.  C Mort - does the man ever look up?  T Mort - shame he pulled up.  Peader G - should have been there from the start, always has a good game against Galway.

Fair play to Galway.  Very efficient and as always made the scoring look so easy compared to Mayos aforementioned fannying about.  

All in all, from a Mayo point of view, not the worst in world.  If they can continue to win the ball around the middle of the park as they did today then the scores will come. (C Mort would normally clean up when midfield are dominating - but of course it's galway we were playing.  Pyschological thing)

IMO these two teams today would be very much up there with the top teams remaining.  

[GalwayBayBoy]

From a Galway point of view...the full back line were good today.

Yeah I thought all three of them were very good. Damien Burke as he usually does completely tied up Mortimer who I think got one point from play. However again by late in the game he was sailing close to the wind after picking up a yellow card and a ticking. Hanley was excellent. Didn't give Austin O'Malley a kick. Bradshaw was a revelation as well although I tend to think he's more suited to a role further out the field that allows him to rampage forward.

First half it looked like we were going to run riot which we did I guess to a certain extent. Got two goals but we missed another few good chances for goals too. Clarke had to pull off a couple of sharp saves. Midfield went quite well in the first half and we were winning our fair share of possession and looked dangerous going forward with the peerless PJ running the show. Got 7 points up but Mayo kicked the last 3 scores of the half to pull back the lead a little before the break.

First 20 minutes of the second half we really lost our way a little around the middle of the field and Mayo got a run at us. We conceded a bad goal after Pat Harte punched back a ball from Alan Dillon's free that was sailing wide. One time in the game when there seemed to be a loss of concentration at the back and we were punished. Think the goal put Mayo ahead so it wasn't looking good at that point. In fairness though in the last 15 minutes the Galway players seemed to mentally regroup and managed to get some control back in midfield and the forwards kicked some great scores to win us the game including the subs as Mattie Clancy and Nicky Joyce had both gone off injured by then.

Thought it was a cracking second half once the scores became close. Some very good football played and some excellent points taken. First half was poor enough alright. Too many stoppages.

Anyway on to the quarter finals. More improvement needed but good at least to regain our Connacht title. Might be an outside chance that Joe Bergin will be back but He won't have much football behind him so unfair to expect too much from him if he does return in time. Nicky and Mattie both picking up injuries so we don't know whether they will be available yet? Think Mayo can look forward to the qualifiers with some optimism even though they haven't done too well going down that route in recent years. Mayo probably finished with a better team than the one that started the game. Would be good if we could get at least two Connacht teams into the last eight and hopefully further.

Good to see decent Galway support in Castlebar too. They seem to go to Castlebar quicker than they go to Pearse.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Watched the game on the box.  Not bad coverage, although in the first half they missed a goal chance by mayo coz they were replaying an earlier incident. Brutal (why they have to show something in a replay 3 times i don't know. very soccer like).
David Brady said at half time that Mayo have to "cop on".  He was right, and they did to an extent.

Some thoughts on the game.

Mayo are still at this fannying about at the 30 yard line, running around in circles, passing it out field etc etc.  They need to do some drills big time that teaches them to run past a man. What's the worst that can happen if you try and take on a man? Lose the ball (tends to happen anyway) or Free in, over the bar or better.

Cullinane was lucky to stay on the pitch.  Ref chickened out on giving him a deserved second yellow.  I don't think Cullinane means to do these things, but he's quite "dirty" at times.  I think it's just his size and intensiity.  He'd want to watch it though.

Parsons was a revelation.  Some unwarranted criticism on here, but he got a hand to 70% of all kickouts and won it or palmed it accurately to a Mayo player.  That's what we need people, what we've been looking for in a midfielder for years.  He doesn't have to catch and run the length of the field with every ball (we have enough of them!).  Great newcomer.

Harte was very good too.  Some great catching and running.  Nallen was brilliant.  Actually marked his man and made some vital  interceptions.  McGarrity was good, but I reckon there is more in him.  Dillon good.  O'Malley not.  C Mort - does the man ever look up?  T Mort - shame he pulled up.  Peader G - should have been there from the start, always has a good game against Galway.

Fair play to Galway.  Very efficient and as always made the scoring look so easy compared to Mayos aforementioned fannying about.  

All in all, from a Mayo point of view, not the worst in world.  If they can continue to win the ball around the middle of the park as they did today then the scores will come. (C Mort would normally clean up when midfield are dominating - but of course it's galway we were playing.  Pyschological thing)

IMO these two teams today would be very much up there with the top teams remaining.  

Agree strongly with your point about replays. The over use of replays seems to be creeping more and more into gaa coverage. It simply doesnt work during live matches. Unlike soccer were the game isnt end to end normally you can miss something crucial while watching a replay.

[Jinxy]

Tommy Lyons is a dangerously incompetent moron. Just accused Pat Harte of diving after Cullinane shouldered him when it was as clear as day that there was an accidental clash of heads during the tackle, which is why Harte was holding his face on the ground. What a f*cking tossbag!