Messages

The feeling was that he was just making up the numbers on the panel but then they threw him in during the All-Ireland quarter-final against Laois (drawn game, I think), catching everyone by surprise. Ballagh' got to the county final then that year and he was one of their main men (and still is).

I found it strange then that JOM culled him pretty much instantly when he took over Mayo but presumed he knew something we didn't (he would have coached him with Ballagh and with Nathy's).
Pace, as Moysider says, is the biggest issue. But he's not carrying weight - if you stand beside him on the pitch you will see he is very well built and incredibly strong. He's definitely been a bit hard done in my opinion

While it's not fair to judge a player on one performance, he looked completely out of his depth that day against Laois. He never got to the pace of the game and it passed him by. That could have been nerves or just a once-off, but I'm sure if he was really inter-county standard JOM would have him in there.

Posted on: Today at 07:03:57 AMPosted by: RedandGreenSniper 
Insert Quote
Quote from: highking on July 21, 2008, 06:06:05 PM
Quote from: Bod Mor on July 21, 2008, 02:08:05 AM
Mayo V Carlow

Is this going to be played in Castlebar?


Yes. 3pm in McHale Park next Saturday. Hope to see a good crowd there...


According to Hogan Stand there's a Christy Ring semi-final in McHale Park alright, but Mayo aren't playing. Pity

Christy Ring Semi-Finals

Mayo v Carlow, Mullingar, 3.00

Westmeath v Derry, Castlebar, 5.00.

Hope the Mayo lads can do the biz here, would be a serious shot in the arm for them. Hopefully they'll get a good travelling support but I wouldn't bank on it I'm afraid

Looks like it could be a mistake from Hoganstand (shock, horror). I presume they got the venue's the wrong way around.
Would be strange to have Westmeath's game in Castlebar and Mayo's game in Mullingar!!

Ballintubber 2-12 Garrymore 2-8

Not at home this weekend so wasn't at it, but great result to get through to the quarter finals

Ronan McGarrity 'flittered' the hamstring I am informed

Shite, that's bad news for the county team - presumably O'Shea or Harte will partner Parsons if McGarrity is out. Harte is playing very well from CHF so I'd like to leave him there and let O'Shea come in.
Looks like it will be a very different Ballina next time we see them.
Ballintubber play Garrymore in Clogher today - would be great to get through to quarter finals in the first year in seniors. Based on the performance against Moy Davitts (first half in particular) they should be able to get the result.

Yeah, that's a great result for Mayo hurlers. After extra time in Aughrim - think all pundits had tipped Wicklow.

Donie Shine calling for Bannon to retire!  
Seems ridiculous though - a 2nd yellow for McGee and a straight red for Dunning. Shine said he saw the full incident and McGee pulled down Dunning who kept his hands in the air at all times and never laid a hand on McGee

Willie Hegarty going apeshit on Shannonside. Himself and Donie Shine could swing for Bannon I'd say. They can't see why Cregg was sent off and how he hasn't giving frees to Ros.
Kilbride point. 2-2 to 1-4. Fair play to the Rossies, recovered well from a brutal start.

Karol Mannion penalty for Ros!

2-1 to 1-1

Confessions - don't know how anyone can believe that going into a dark box with a priest and telling him the bold things you've done can save your soul.......

Think the years are mixed up there. I'm nearly sure it was '89 that Gay McManus equalised with the fisted goal. Mayo won the replay in Castlebar easily and went onto the All-Ireland final.
I think the last draw was '92 in Tuam on a wet day. Liam McHale scored a bullet of a goal into the top corner for Mayo. Fergal O'Neill got a goal for Galway and Ja Fallon equalised in injury time. Mayo went on and won that replay as well. Got to All-Ireland semi which they lost in a terrible game to Donegal

Hope moyles gets sacked now though, but I dont know what county board will do. Sick of getting rejects from mayo now who cant get jobs there

Seriously Sligonian, I thought you had learnt your lesson last week. You're some eejit. Talk the team up before the match, then when they get beaten you automatically call for the manager to be sacked. As if the fact that the manager is from Mayo is the reason ye lose games 

Fair play to the Rossies, they have had a couple of very good minor teams now, so hopefully that will translate into a competitive senior team in a few years. Mayo need to win the minors this year though, it's been far too long, so hopefully we can do the double in 2 weeks.

Not a whole lot learnt for Mayo today. Sligo were abysmal, but Mayo were poor as well. Some of the shooting was terrible - Gardiner, Trevor Mort and Austie all had very poor wides.
On the bright side, we scored 3 goals - we have to go back to that awful day in Sept 06 for the last time we scored 3 goals as far as I can remember.
Mayo completely dominated midfield, where Tom Parsons delivered on all the potential shown in the league - he outshone McGarritty who had a pretty good game too.
Due to Sligo's inept display, we're none the wiser as to how our defence is coming along. Sligo played a 2-man full forward line so Conroy never actually played at full back. But he did fairly well around the half-backs. Boyle also did well, he stuck to his man better than in his league displays. The team as a whole were comfortable so we'll need to wait another 3 weeks to see where we are - I'd expect the Galway forwards to really test us.

Sligonian, this is probably worse than a slagging, but I actually feel sorry for you this evening. You seem to be "all or nothing" - Sligo are either brilliant or terrible. Yesterday, they were going to be brilliant.Today the reality is they were truly terrible. The Tommy Murphy cup will have no appeal to them, so 2008 is over for Sligo. A disaster of a year ever since ye won the Connacht title.

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

I think the team is along expected lines but shows how we have fallen in the past 2 years. Now changes were needed, and a team needed to be rebuilt but have we really embraced the future? I personally feel that in 2 years teh management have not made one change to the starting line-up that you can say - yes, that is a positive move, a good solution. In fact in every line we look an average team.

James Nallen is a legend - but has taken many runnings-around over the past few years. Howley is a huge loss.

The half-forward line offers plenty of hard work but where are the scores coming from? Dillon is a massive blow. A lot of responsibility now in the hands of Austin O'M and that worries me.

We're up against it on Sunady I think.

I'd agree about the half forwards Barney - Dillon is a big loss there. Gardiner is a converted wing-back and let's be honest, his kicking is poor. Harte has played as much at midfield as he has in the half-forwards for Mayo, but should still come up with a couple of scores. Trevor seems be in great form and I'd expect a big game from him. However, I think it will be more as a link man to the FF line and winning breaks around the middle. He's never been a heavy scorer.

But I also think you're being a bit overly pessimistic Barney.

I personally feel that in 2 years teh management have not made one change to the starting line-up that you can say - yes, that is a positive move, a good solution.

Would you not consider the emergence of Tom Parsons and Seamus O'Shea as long term midfield prospects as a major plus considering Brady is now gone and we couldn't see where the next midfielder was coming from.
We also have Trevor Howley/Tom Cuniffe for CHB to replace Nallen.
The full back line is still a problem, but at least things are being tried, and he's not just resorting to sticking David Heaney in there.

No major surprises, but a couple of minor ones!

I didn't think I'd see Nallen start a game in the half-backs again, but there he is and fair play to him - most had him written off and he's back starting his 13th championship is it?
Shame to see Keith Higgins going back in the corner. I thought Aidan Higgins might get that spot, which would allow Keith to stay in half backs.

Apart from that, rest of the team is pretty much as expected, with Harte at CHF in Dillon's absence. I think he'll do well there. I'd be reasonably confident with that team.
Mayo by 4