Messages

Congrats to Mayo. Enjoy the celebrations!

Breen can be sloppy but hes a rolls royce too. Mayo turnovers will be something Kerry want to avoid as much as possible but I feel a lot of older narratives are irrelevant under new rules.

I think Conor Loftus starting is a "goal positive" approach.

There is huge danger with the speed and space available, if Mayo can click properly there are goals.

Cloud dry day forecast with high temp of 19C. Mayo are seriously conditioned and I reckon kerry subs could come on a touch earlier than usual.

Midfield and centre forwards are problem areas for Mayo all year. Don't think Loftus is answer at 11. Be interesting to see if Matthew Ruane starts.

Would expect Kerry to win this well. Mayo teams always wilt against Kerry in a final. Mayo team 1-9 no where near level of team last decade. Like Limerick last week Kerry will go after Mayo on the kickout and when in possession in own half. Mayo have avoid same mistakes as Galway did when in possession.

Paul Geaney could have speech written by time enters the field. Will he give speech in Irish or English?

He always has been and the fact that he's not particularly interested in hanging around to cling to the chance of maybe matching the lads with 9 AIs says a lot about him too.

Can't think of so much as a whiff of controversy about him. Nothing. Just seemed to keep quiet and get on with it. Given he came from a club that wasn't founded until five years after he was born, his has been a truly remarkable career.

The only shame is that we didn't get to see the hurler he could have been!

His age group were the first juvenile team to come through the ranks. They won Minor A championship in 2011.
Don't think he got a red card. Got black card after Keegan threw GPS in 2017 final.

Byrne, Scully and Costello were all members of the 2012 AI Minor winning Team. So they are all 32 (or so). Basquel Murchan and Con are 30. Howard is 28. I think Comerford is 27.

Essentially there is a group of players who will hopefully stick around for another year to guide the transition. But they are all getting on in years.
Most of them have at least a decade behind them.

Don't know why I thought Howard was 32 or 33. Plenty more in all of the above if they want to stick at it.

Howard was Dublin minor in 2015

Ciarán Kilkenny.

That's sad. The last connection to the 2011-2013 Dublin Team, which I have always seen as distinct from the Five in a Row team.

Fair play to him playing for the Boys In Blue in fair and foul weather. We were lucky to get him back from Australia.

However, a well earned retirement.

Ah thats a pity, thought there was another go in him yet. What a player! Had a brilliant year for Dublin when everyone wrote him off as finished.

Was Davy Byrne not on the 2013 team?

Byrne and Costello were on extended panel in 2013

Kerry only won 1 of the last 7 against them.

Majority of that Dublin team are either retired or past their prime. Scully, Con and Kilkenny still driving the team but are beyond their best now.

Kerry players from 2014-18 minor winning teams coming into their prime and will be dominate for coming years.

Will be Kerry v Mayo.

Talk about neighbourly appointments for the 2 Leinster teams.

Cawley always generous to Kerry. Will give nothing to Dublin.

Himself and Cian O'Neill two Newbridge men.

Louth v Mayo, Croke Park the Referee will be David Coldrick

Dublin v Kerry it will be Brendan Cawley

Does that mean Hurson,Gough or Lane for the final?

Hurson or McNally will get final

As a neutral - I didn't want either Dublin or Galway to win. But at a push - I wanted Galway to lose.

With that in mind - how in the F*ck did David Gough get a Dublin game?
The lad lives and works in Dublin. He gave all the tight calls to Dublin.
There is no doubt about that.

Loving the rage baiting you have for Dublin. Gough lives in Slane and works in school in Inchicore, an area which would have no GAA tradition.

Thought Joyce would have brought Cian Breathnach McGinn on today?

Predictable result in Kingspan Breffni, a predictable Cavan performance and predictable exit. Both defences had gaps in the first half and although Dubs were getting scores that bit easier, Cavan were standing firm enough and only one down at the break. Until the 20th minute of the second half, the result was still a live issue but trailing by four or five, Cavan,  by then living off scraps in attack, butchered a number of very scoreable opportunities they'd found very hard to come by. One of them a fortuitous goal chance that Gerry Smith just leathered like a donkey and hoped for the best. Real ploughman's stuff although to his credit, he had a very busy game otherwise and managed a point with this effort. You're just a pretence of an intercounty team when you're so brittle and lacking composure when the heat comes on and opportunites present, but very sadly, that's now very firmly Cavan's ingrained footballing culture, as evidenced by our minors' shitting the bed against Tyrone. You knew these misses would eventually drain our bravehearts (punishing conditions notwithstanding) and they'd soon check out mentally, so we duly caved in and Dublin won pulling up, despite not having played overly well themselves. There are no more soft touch opponents like Cavan left for the Dubs in the draw now, whose goalies will be handing them chance after chance, with lads missing points from 14 yards out and setting up their counter attacks.

That's McCabe's first year done. No real uptick or change of culture evident. Retirements incoming. Another season where we went through the motions gamely enough and gave a passable impression of a footballing county, but it's now going to get worse before it gets better.

We won't be winning any more matches after today. Basquel and McGarry made a big difference  off the bench.  Cavan kicked too many wides in both halves.

Probabilities for Draw:
Mon-Don 50% Mon-WMe 50%
Wme-Ker 25% Wme-Mea 25%
Don-Dub 25% Don-Mea 25%
May-Dub 37.5% May-Mea 25% May-Ker 37.5%
Arm-Mea 25% Arm-Dub 37.5% Arm-Ker 37.5%

Edit:

Kerry v Westmeath 100% 50% Tralee or Mullingar 😉

Kerry will win this All Ireland with ease. Will get Louth or Westmeath in next round.

Another Limerick miss. Cork have this now.