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Hard luck Galway, All Ireland finals are hard won!!
Well done Armagh, what I admire the most is how you get the maximum out of your team in the big games this year.

Some amount of spite from Mayo and Tyrone posters! (not all)

A defining moment of the championship this year was immediately after the Dublin-Mayo Armagh-Galway group games. Mayo and Galway both missed out on topping their groups in almost identical circumstances with last second points be the oppposition. Galway wipe themselves down and get on with it. Mayo management, player and fans all despondent say it's impossible to progress playing 3 games in 3 weeks!  Then after a super performance v Dublin they play horrendously v Derry, and still nearly won. I've no doubt they would have beaten Derry and Kerry with a proper attitude and who knows what happens after that.

And some Tyrone posters have embarrassed themselves. Long may those lads dwell in Armagh's glory!

The best two teams this year in the final and it was an enthralling affair. Loved the game. Hard luck Galway, my learning would be you're not actually reliant on Walsh and Comer as I thought you were. If they are not 100% fit, then the next lad in is good enough to be the better option. You do have strength in depth.

But almighty congrats to Armagh. Some absolute wonder scores kicked today. Jarlaith deserved this. Geezer deserved this. Enjoy!!

This post reads like a Joe Brolly article, in the bag ready to post at full time! It is a little sad to be honest

[Mayo people be incredibly bitter or will it be the encouragement they need to get over the line themselves]

If Galway win in two weeks time; after all the hurt Mayo have been through since 2004 and beforehand; will Mayo people be incredibly bitter or will it be the encouragement they need to get over the line themselves.

Nothing won yet and Armagh have as good a chance but some Mayo people I know have Armagh jersyes ordered for the final and others would be happy enough to see Galway win it.

Okay I will bite!!

I would say some Mayo people will be incredibly bitter and on the other side some will find huge motivation in it but for the majority (while the jibes from Galway people will be annoying as hell) it will just hammer home how many chances we didn't take when it was right there for us to win. I think the final losses in 16, 17 & 21 finally made the majority of Mayo people realise the woe is me/we are so unlucky/the refs are against us is bollix when you have had so many chances to win Sam. It doesn't make all those losses any easier to take but it does give you a different slant on what it will take for Mayo to get over the line and hence makes it futile to be bitter to Galway,Armagh,Donegal,Cork,Roscommon or whatever team makes the break through in the next few years.

N.B. One caveat, when Meath eventually stop being a shambles years and years from now and win Sam before we manage to break our duck I will be incredibly bitter and all I said above goes out the window!!

I think if Derry show up at all they will have enough to take us in McHale Park. We have no penetration against a mass defence apart from O"Shea and O"Donoghue so if Derry crowd them out and stop Ruane's runs forward we won't score much more than 9 or 10 points and we never create many goal chances against a mass defence. We will need to get Cillian a lot on the ball to try and score from out around the 45 as Flynn and Carney seemed too hesitant to take on long range points and we will miss the running power of McLaughlin and Durcan, but if I know this you can be sure Harte does to and will have a plan to stop it. Throw in the massive effort that counted for nothing against the Dubs and I just don't see us having enough in the tank for this one unless we are lucky enough that the reported rifts in the Derry camp might put them off their game enough for us to scrape through.

from Irish Examiner podcast.


Former Mayo football manager James Horan believes the Kevin Walsh factor will make Sunday's trip to the Gaelic Grounds to face Cork even tougher.

Walsh had a great record against Mayo as Galway manager, from 2014 to 2019, as his side's defeated their provincial rivals six times in seven matches.

The Killannin man is now a coach in Cork boss John Cleary's backroom team, and Horan knows first-hand how Walsh improves teams.


"He changed Galway football significantly. Before, in the media, it was always how stylish, how skilful they were, from Michael Donnellan to Shane Walsh, that idea was there,"
"We were beating them and beating them heavy from 2010 onwards, we got a jump on them physically. And when Kevin came in he definitely went about making them tougher, harder, more difficult to play against. And they did a job on Mayo for a couple of years.

"He knows how to make a team as effective as possible and it's probably what Cork need to solidify them, make them harder. I'm sure they will fancy a crack at Mayo."

Didn't he lose twice to Mayo in the championship in 2015 and 2019?

Always the hand out and always a sour whingy face moaning about the GAA.

That's a very harsh take on the Roscommon county board in fairness!

Mayo (All-Ireland SFC v Louth 4/6/2023):

Colm Reape (Knockmore);
Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis),
David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen),
Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites);
Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels, captain),
Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers),
Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore);
Matthew Ruane (Breaffy),
Diarmuid O'Connor (Ballintubber);
Fionn McDonagh (Westport),
Jack Carney (Kilmeena),
Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers);
Aidan O'Shea (Breaffy),
James Carr (Ardagh),
Ryan O'Donoghue (Belmullet).

Subs: Rory Byrne (Castlebar Mitchels), Tommy Conroy (The Neale), Jason Doherty (Burrishoole), Enda Hession (Garrymore), Frank Irwin (Ballina Stephenites), James McCormack (Claremorris), Donnacha McHugh (Castlebar Mitchels), Conor McStay (Ballina Stephenites), Padraig O'Hora (Ballina Stephenites), Paul Towey (Charlestown Sarsfields), Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels).

Mayo (All-Ireland SFC Group Stage Round 1 v Kerry, 20/5/2023):

Colm Reape (Knockmore); Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis), David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen), Sam Callinan (Ballina Stpehenites); Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers), Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels, captain); Matthew Ruane (Breaffy), Diarmuid O'Connor (Ballintubber); Fionn McDonagh (Westport), Jack Carney (Kilmeena), Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina Deel Rovers); Aidan O'Shea (Breaffy), James Carr (Ardagh), Ryan O'Donoghue (Belmullet).

Substitutes: Rory Byrne (Castlebar Mitchels), Tommy Conroy (The Neale), Jason Doherty (Burrishoole), Enda Hession (Garrymore), Darren McHale (Knockmore), Donnacha McHugh (Castlebar Mitchels), Eoghan McLaughlin (Westport), Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore), Padraig O'Hora (Ballina Stephenites), Paul Towey (Charlestown Sarsfields), Bob Tuohy (Castlebar Mitchels).

Felt like the game was over when Galway went three up and it definitely feels over now. Derry seriously struggling since the first quarter.

McLoughlin in for James Carr only change for Mayo.

Galway managed that first half of extra time well, really took the sting out of the game.

We were a shambles for most of the match but had a bit of quality under pressure to steal the game. We looked like the players threw the tactics out the window and went for the game we looked a different team. Hard luck Kildare really probably should have won the game on balance.

Kildare leaving the door open just don't think we have the energy or ideas to take advantage!

We are hanging in there just about but Kildare look like they have goals in them so it looks bleak enough! Good fightback starting maybe?

We were quite poor by all accounts and feckin Mayowestros up next

I wouldn't lose hope yet Ros, while we have a lot of talent especially in the full forward and full back lines, it was all individual stuff with a lot of silly mistakes. We didn't seem to have a coherent game plan and there was a lot of typical Mayo soloing into trouble leading to turnovers. Had about 6 or 7 bad wides as well.