Maigh Eo -v- Doire, Ballina, 01.02.2009

[rosnarun]

id be very worried about that full back line. wjhile ive great time for  omalley putting 2 complete greenhorns against what will be at leasta 'rugged ' derry team is a huge gamble . hpe fully sense will prevail and Vaughan will swap with kelly. at least till we see how the game is going. id be wile afraid that one or other of them would get a roasting.
As for ballina having so many players on the team it's not at all surprising ad it only a few years ago there were calls for 7 or 8 of the team to be brought on mass to the county team. most were tried and faile where as the ones who would have made it anyway stayed on the team and its ironic that the bext player to make it was not a member of that all irland winning team.
moral of the story if a player is good enough what club he plays for is irrelevant. remember gabriel irwin probably mayos best ever goalie toiled for years with glamorous glenamoy 

[moysider]

lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

[ludermor]

Reasonably strong team.

Would have liked to see B Kelly in MF rather than McG. Also though we could have played someone else at wing back rather than Pat Kelly, not a bad player but I just think we have better options on the wing.

Who would have been the last Ballinrobe and Kiltane players to start for Mayo in a meaningful game? Prob one of the Careys from Kiltane?

Last Ballinrobe player to start anyway would be Kenneth O'Malley, 2007 v Galway. Kiltane? Hmmn I dunno. Lindsay and Ed Barrett might have played FBD but that would be the height of it I'd say so probably Sean Carey

Since Joe Lindsey id think John Conmy was the last kiltane man to start a championship match ( 94ish??). Ciaran Caery was knocking around the squad a few years, Ed Barrett and James O Donnell were the prob the next closest,were in the squad for a wee while without pushing on

[whiskeysteve]

lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

Theres no lack of Derry interest just no one has a clue and the leagues not as important this year!! Anyway heres the team, plenty of fresh faces...

Shane McGuckian;

Brian Og McAlary, Sean M Lockhart, Ryan Dillon;
Paul Cartin, Joe O'Kane, Chrissy McKaigue;

Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley;

Enda Lynn, Barry McGoldrick, Sean Leo McGoldrick;
James Kielt, Eoin Bradley, Seamus Bradley.

Subs: Barry Gillis, Kevin McGuckin, Barry McGuigan, Joe Diver, Brian Mullan, Eoghan Brown, Paul Young, Paddy Bradley, Paul Bradley

Dont have a clue how the game will go but hope the newer players have good games

[muppet]

Not a bad team out.

Might rather see Liam O'Malley in the half line but at least some one else gets the FB poisoned chalice. Cafferkey couldl take a few years to develop into an inter-county FB so people need to be patient. He has done all that has been asked of him at minor and u-21 so hopefully he will continue to improve.

Barry Moran must be running out of chances. Time to deliver.
I'm not sure Andy Moran is a certain starter but if hits his best form he should be in.

Correct me if I m wrong Muppet as I could be missing something but is this not a bit severe on Barry Moran?  Now I admit that I m biased here as I ve always had time for Barry Moran and always felt if he came through at senior he would be a major boost. In Summer 07 he was one of our few bright lights playing at ff and I thought most people thought he did well and it was a welcome development. He did nt feature last year and I assumed it was because he was hurt. So what chances has he passed up on?
If anything Andy has disappointed more and has been around probably longer. Now I also would have an on-form Andy on my team but his best form has been early in the year and he needs to produce in Summer this year or forget about it. Austin and Killer are another 2 who ve had more chances than Barry Moran.

Something I would like to see Johnno do this year is introduce a hard cull of players who have been coasting in the panel last few years. Not necessarily older players but there seems to be a few - not many - players who just appear to be there for the spin and are not progressing. You d wonder sometimes about the hunger of a few players or their ability to step up.

I agree with all in the first bold part.

The answer to the second bold part is difficult to know but I wouldn't lay all the blame at the managment.

[Farrandeelin]

lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

Theres no lack of Derry interest just no one has a clue and the leagues not as important this year!! Anyway heres the team, plenty of fresh faces...

Shane McGuckian;

Brian Og McAlary, Sean M Lockhart, Ryan Dillon;
Paul Cartin, Joe O'Kane, Chrissy McKaigue;

Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley;

Enda Lynn, Barry McGoldrick, Sean Leo McGoldrick;
James Kielt, Eoin Bradley, Seamus Bradley.

Subs: Barry Gillis, Kevin McGuckin, Barry McGuigan, Joe Diver, Brian Mullan, Eoghan Brown, Paul Young, Paddy Bradley, Paul Bradley

Dont have a clue how the game will go but hope the newer players have good games

Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

I hadn't really thought about the Derry team but looking at the match ups now I'd be a tad worried. A heavy sod in a tight pitch like Ballina isn't set up for McGarrity and Parsons. Physically they could struggle against Doherty (a class player) and Patsy Bradley. As well as that Mayo have a physically light half-back line too and while Billy Joe will work hard, the only real abrasive presence around the middle is Trevor Mortimer, who could easily pick up an early yellow.

You'd have to think Derry will dominate possession and there will be a fair bit of ball coming inside. I don't know a thing about Seamus Bradley but Eoin Bradley will give Ger Cafferkey plenty of it. He reminds me of someone like Dublin's Conal Keaney - great talent, if only he could use his head more. James Kielt will give Donal Vaughan a serious work-out too in his first game for Mayo.

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact the new rules have on the game. They might come to Mayo's rescue with the advantage that they give to speed over strength. Not saying either that Derry don't have speed, but under the old rules they'd definitely be able to out muscle Mayo. I'd still be pesimistic enough. Time will tell.

[the green man]

Derry will be pacey enough if thats the line out. McAlary's a flyer and Dillon in corner back is a sticky marker. McKaigue could run for Ireland. Up front we actually have pace all over, with Kielt being the slowest in my opinion. But he wont play a natural corner forward role

[moysider]

Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

I hadn't really thought about the Derry team but looking at the match ups now I'd be a tad worried. A heavy sod in a tight pitch like Ballina isn't set up for McGarrity and Parsons. Physically they could struggle against Doherty (a class player) and Patsy Bradley. As well as that Mayo have a physically light half-back line too and while Billy Joe will work hard, the only real abrasive presence around the middle is Trevor Mortimer, who could easily pick up an early yellow.

You'd have to think Derry will dominate possession and there will be a fair bit of ball coming inside. I don't know a thing about Seamus Bradley but Eoin Bradley will give Ger Cafferkey plenty of it. He reminds me of someone like Dublin's Conal Keaney - great talent, if only he could use his head more. James Kielt will give Donal Vaughan a serious work-out too in his first game for Mayo.

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact the new rules have on the game. They might come to Mayo's rescue with the advantage that they give to speed over strength. Not saying either that Derry don't have speed, but under the old rules they'd definitely be able to out muscle Mayo. I'd still be pesimistic enough. Time will tell.

Would nt take Derry for granted. However I think we should be confident of winning this. If any venue in mayo is a fortress its this one with the crowd up tight it wont be something the Derry lads will relish. There s not many venues like this left on the league circuit. Fergal Doherty is a big midfielder in the Derry traditional way but we ve our first choice midfield out so if we struggle here it wont be a great sign of things to come. We should be able to win our own kickouts and break up theirs. Cassidy has also set out his stall to use the league as a trawl for new talent and I remember in the past Derry being disinterested in the league when they did well in it previous year. In fact I remember one year they showed up in Charlestown under Coleman with only 16 or 17 players.

Looking at the Mayo team who s missing that will start in Summer? Keith Higgins, Conor Mortimor and Trevor Howley. Heaney if he still wants to badly enough and possibly Patrick Harte. Could be forgetting someone? So we re close enough to a Summer team. So we should be expecting to win this one.

[RedandGreenSniper]

I don't know too many better midfielders in the country than Doherty though. He's up there with Darragh O Se. Ahead of Whelan. Wouldn't class Sean Cavanagh as a midfielder but Mayo will find it tough in the middle with him around. I hear a bit of surprise that Cassidy is going with Patsy Bradley over Joe Diver so maybe there's something to take advantage of there. Our midfield is very good, don't get me wrong. But there's a few players in the country I'd be worried about them coming against - Darragh O Se and Fergal Doherty would be uppermost in my thoughts. Our pair are much better against more mobile midfielders, who are less physical. As well McGarrity is just back from honeymoon and Parsons is in the difficult second season where it is easy to be complacent after so much going right in your debut season.

I know Ballina has a reputation for being a bit of a fortress. I hope this works to our advantage. It will in terms of atmosphere because I'd be expecting a good crowd. But our starting fifteen would be more suited to a more open field to use their pace.

The more I think about it the more I think we'll do well to win. Cassidy has spoken about championship being the only show in town. That would be what I'd hang the most hope on.

[moysider]

Yeah. I think if there s a type of player we lack its a Steven O Neill ( his performance tonight would cure depression) and somebody like Doherty. I agree, he s like a McGilligan/Twohill hybrid.

The pitch will be heavy but I think we have a better chance than say if the game was in McHale Park which feels like a neutral venue. If we re going to be a serious team we have to win these home matches even if we have to claw them out. Derry are a good side but if we cant win these games what chance would we have in say an away qualifier later in the year.

  A loss would nt be the end of the world either if the attitude is good and we ve good shape and fellas look interested.We ll be wiser by tomorrow evening.             

[Stalin]

where can you listen to this at?

[highorlow]

You'll get it on mid-west radio

http://www.midwestirishradio.com/mwr/radiomwr.htm

[Tatler Jack]

Good win for Derry 1-9 to 0-10.Disappointing start to campaign for Mayo

[muppet]

What are you insinuating there Muppet?

I'm not going to post negatively about a player, particularly a Mayo one. You'll have to figure it out.