Mayo v Cavan

[rosnarun]

missing players is never an excuse  its gonna happen at some stage of a year and some are going to dissapear every year through age and what ever. I think barney you being a little sub jective in you names eg how was Heaney not influential or k oneill? add to that the full return of D brady and T mortimer a better goalie in omalley and the maturing of andy moran and Liam omalley and I dont think were are in any worse ahape inn the player dept than we were last year
now as for manager thats another story

[highorlow]

K O'Malley; injured?
L O'Malley,
D Heaney,
P Gardiner;
E Devenney,
K Higgins, injured
BJ Padden;
J Nallen
P Harte;
G Brady,
T Mortimer,
A Dillon
C Mortimer
K O'Neill,
A Moran
D Brady  
A Higgins  
C McDonald
T Howley
A O'Malley , injured?
D.Kilcullen
J.Kilcullen
P.Hanley
MacGarrity
D.Clarke
Kilcoyne
Campbell
Conroy
Team Likely to be from this, i've left a few out alright:

I'd say Johnno will Gamble, Maybe something like this might wake up a few lads

D.Clarke:

Backs:
O'Malley
Heaney
Devenney
T.Mort
D.Kilcullen
Gardiner
Harte
D.Brady
A.Dillion
P.Hanley
K.O'Neill
A.Moran
A.O'Malley / C.MacDonald
C.Mortimer / Kilcoyne

[Farrandeelin]

Will J Kilcullen start again this year I wonder? He was alright during the league I thought. Anyways, it's always interesting before naming a team but this time it seems more interesting than any. That's because the filouting about by the management putting backs forward and forwards back in the last few friendlies. Still though Barney, I think the players will come out on Saturday evening and go for it. They have to, nothing else will suffice and they know it as much as we don.

[Fishead_Sam]

What kinda support ya reckon will be there on Saturday, absolutly no buzz around the place @ all, its like a non-event, very un-Mayolike, maybe thats a good thing, will there by 15K?

[Farrandeelin]

What kinda support ya reckon will be there on Saturday, absolutly no buzz around the place @ all, its like a non-event, very un-Mayolike, maybe thats a good thing, will there by 15K?

True Sam, but it is only the first round of the backdoor and we were hammered by Galway in the last competitive outing. I'd say they will do well to get 15K, then again there might be a change of heart with many supporters and end up going afterall. Depends on the weather really I'd say.

[The Bottom Brick]

I heard a rumour that Kilcullen left the panel after not being brought on in some challenge...

Any truth in this?

[OirthearMhaigheo]

I heard a rumour that Kilcullen left the panel after not being brought on in some challenge...

Any truth in this?

Can't say I heard anything about that, last I heard he was going really well in training as is the younger brother. The other Ballagh lad drafted in, Pearse Hanley, is going very well too by all accounts so we could see him at some stage but I doubt at centre forward, he's a long way off having the strength for a central position yet, maybe coming on as a sub will have to do him for now.  I'd say 15k attendance could be accurate enough alright, although after being left on the sidelines like we have for 7 weeks I know alot of people that are dying for this game, Salthill was so long ago it feels like the feckin season is only starting now. How about the Cavan heads, are many heading west for the game do you reckon?

[cavan4ever]

I don't know to many that are going other than a few lads that are going for the session and staying over.  Im heading to a stag so can't go.  I can see a very small Cavan crowd at it.

[Barney]

Reckon 7k/8k max. Alot of people disillusioned and need convincing that the team are serious about this.

[cavan4ever]

The Cavan team are staying down aswell so i can't see them winning cos if they win they won't be able to drink and that wouldn't do. 

[mannix]

Would a turkey go to the christmas dinner if he had a choice?
I seen j kilcullen playing up close, he is a big strong fella and is also fearless in tackling which should give some of our other backs something to copy.Cavan will travel in about a couple hundred because this should be a onesided contest if Mayo have any balls at all.Cavan done well in their league but they were playing carlow, waterford and the like so its hard to imagine them living with an alert division 1a side.I recall them drawing tyrone and getting sliced in the replay a while back ( i stand open to correction ).There is a gulf in class that no pep talking can cover.
Mayo    2 15
Cavan      10

[Barney]

how was Heaney not influential or k oneill? add to that the full return of D brady and T mortimer a better goalie in omalley and the maturing of andy moran and Liam omalley and I dont think were are in any worse ahape inn the player dept than we were last year

Ros I take your point about Heaney and O'Neill but some very influential players are missing.

This year Brady has not shown much because of injury. Trevor is a big addition if on form but has been disappointing.

Not sure if O'Malley is better than Clarke. Certainly the latters kick-outs are better and may have helped in Salthill. Think Clarke will get the nod on Sat. We need to tie this position once and for all. Messing over the last 3 years has meant that we have sapped the confidence of some top-class goalies and are in a position where they are underperforming.

Moran has come on an awful lot but can't say that I am impressed with Liam O'Malley who was ball-watching for two goals in Salthill and always looks like he could be roasted by a good corner-forward in my view.

[Barney]

From the Mayo News

MAYO manager John O'Mahony believes that attitude will be the key to deciding how his team perform in next Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier against Cavan in Castlebar.
"Saturday is about Mayo's performance," he told The Mayo News last night. "You can look at Cavan too much, there's no point in looking at them if you don't go out and perform yourself. If the attitude isn't right you will come up short. That's the clear challenge."
Another significant challenge will be the seven-week gap that has elapsed since the Connacht Championship defeat to Galway. O'Mahony believes his squad have done everything they can to be ready.
"The lads have worked hard and we have done the best we can," he said. "But we won't know until the ball is thrown in where we are at. We've given lads the chance to prove themselves and that was the purpose of an A v B game we had on Saturday last too, to give players their final chance to prove what they can do."
The Mayo manager enjoyed success in the qualifier system six years ago with Galway, when he led the team to the All-Ireland title. He believes that a change in mindset was the single biggest factor in turning that season around.
"What changed in 2001 was attitude," he revealed. "Everyone took responsibility for their own area. We made what were seen as radical changes and everyone put their shoulder to the wheel. The only way out is to work extremely hard."
On the injury front, Keith Higgins is definitely out with a broken bone in his hand while O'Mahony rates Ciarán McDonald as being 'probably out' with a hamstring injury.
"Ciarán is getting treatment and doing a bit of jogging but the problem is time. It was two weeks ago that he picked up that injury and recovering from a hamstring (pull) in that space of time is not really possible. The game is probably coming a bit too soon."
Enda Devenney is also a major doubt with a viral infection while David Kilcullen is hoping to recover from a knock picked up in training last week. However, Austin O'Malley and Aidan Campbell have recovered from injury and are in contention for starting places.
"I'm looking forward to it," O'Mahony said when asked about next Saturday's match. "The situation in the past was that when you lost championship you were out and you weren't able to put it right for a year.
"Defeat is always a traumatic event for any GAA player but whichever team comes out from that the best will be key. Now what we have is a chance to show that what happened in Pearse Stadium was not a true reflection of our ability."

[intoDwest]

any news on the line up? God help us is G. Brady lines up at center half back. Has anyone god odds on the handicap betting for this match??

[Barney]

Some clues from the Western:

Young blood an option for Mayo admits John
By: Anthony Hennigan

WHILE it'll make a change to watch Mayo play championship football in McHale Park against non-Connacht opposition when the green and red embark on their All-Ireland qualifier voyage on Saturday evening next, the experience is sure to prove just as novel for the players - some more than others - judging by the comments of manager John O'Mahony, when speaking to the Western People yesterday (Monday).

With seven weeks having passed since the team exited the race for Provincial honours against Galway, Mayo will attempt to get their All-Ireland bid back on track with victory over Donal Keogan's Cavan - and O'Mahony has offered his strongest hint yet that now could be the time to introduce some fresh, young blood into the side.


With Keith Higgins already ruled out due to a wrist injury and Enda Devenney "probably out of contention" having not trained for the past week because of a viral infection, at least two changes to the side that started the Salthill clash are guaranteed - with one or two other changes possible also. Ciaran McDonald, a second half sub against Galway, remains doubtful due to hamstring trouble.


"We haven't sat down to pick it (the team) yet but there will be changes," said the Ballaghaderreen clubman.


"We will do it without upsetting our chances. The wrong thing to do would be to blood nine or ten new players so that won't happen but there will be, by neccesity, some changes and some of those changes will probably involve some of the younger guys. Whether we see them from the start or not, I would imagine we will be seeing them as the game goes on," he continued.


U-21 All-Ireland winners in 2006, Aidan Kilcoyne, Trevor Howley and Aidan Campbell have been involved with the senior panel for most of the year and all three are thought to be pushing hard for places in Saturday's team, with Howley the expected replacement for corner-back Keith Higgins. However, in recent weeks, David Kilcullen and Tom Cunniffe, other members of that successful U-21 squad, along with the promising Pearse Hanley, have also begun to feature in O'Mahony's plans.


"I suppose the injuries happened soon enough for us to adjust in the sense that we have had to play a couple of challenge games without Keith (Higgins). It would be worse if something like that happened on the Wednesday night the week of the match so we're not complaining about it," admitted the double All-Ireland winner with Galway.


In Devenney's expected absence, it's thought that Trevor Mortimer will be switched from the half-forward line to right wing-back.


The news of Ronan McGarrity's return to full health and fitness comes as a massive boost to the squad and the manager will no doubt be hoping that the midfielder's presence among the players could inspire great things from his colleagues. Without defining just how much of a part the Ballina man could yet play in Saturday's encounter, O'Mahony made it clear that the 2004 All-Star nominee certainly features in his plans.


"Ronan has worked exceptionally hard to get back to where he is. We have had a lot of set backs with injuries but Ronan has been one of the real pluses in the sense that even while he was receiving his treatment, he was in the gym doing some work.


Immediately after he finished his treatment he was back doing individual training sessions and over the last couple of weeks he has done the full training session and actually played 20 minutes against Cork in a challenge. We'll be assessing what role Ronan plays but he definitely will have a role to play in the game at the weekend," confirmed Johno.


Cavan manager Donal Keogan has been forced to plan for this match without three key players, all of whom were involved in the drawn and replayed Ulster championship ties against Down but who have since opted to play club football in Chicago for the summer months. The departures of Seanie Johnston, Paul Brady and Martin Cahill attracted much publicity, not least for the less than complimentary remarks made towards the trio by Keogan himself, however, O'Mahony refuses to read too much into the controversy and says that he'll be expecting nothing less than a tough battle from the Breffni men. If anything, he agrees, the squad may have gelled even more.


"They played us in the challenge and beat us without those players," he points out, reflecting on Cavan's recent 2-11 to 1-11 success over his team.


"There's no doubt that Cavan have a proud tradition, a proud record and they're never easily put away and I think a lot of this talk about how we've got an easy draw or a decent draw is wide of the mark.


"I keep saying it but I know myself from over the years; the team that reacts better to their own situation of the defeat and tries to bounce back mentally is the team that will do better and that's the key to it. I don't think any of the managers around the country will know until 10 or 15 minutes into the games the next day how their players are reacting to it.


"Home venue is of course a help and I'm happy the way our lads have responded and with the commitment they've put in over the last few weeks but the real test is when the ball is thrown in," he concluded.