Mayo v Roscommon - Connacht SFC Semi-Final, June 20, Venue TBC

[Tatler Jack]

I suppose we'll now draw  the winners of Monaghan/Armagh.

Probably and then Kerry in the round after that!

[Shrewdness]

I genuinely feel sorry for the genuine Roscommon supporters. We know what it is like to be beaten out of the gate - the difference is we have tasted good days to get that far. What ye had to endure is far worse. While there is a tension between Mayo and Ros which makes the games all the more interesting there is no fun in beating ye when ye are down, and a rejuvenated Ros would be good for Connacht football and for Mayo and Galway.

I'm sure ye don't want to hear from Mayo lads but patience (a virtue I have not been blessed with when it comes to Mayo football) is the key. FOD is a decent and proud Rossie. Yesterday I feel the team never got out of the blocks because the mental battle was lost. The talk all week was of "good performance" and that was obviously the focus within the camp - the Rossies of old could be deluded but they would rip into Mayo and make us fight to beat them. There was no belief yesterday that could happen. There are a lot of young players on the Mayo team, many of the same age, but they have better back-up and believe.

Well said Barney. In the past Ros would rip into Mayo, so if the young Mayo players had better belief, why is that??

It's because Ros are managed this year by someone whose Holy Grail for the year was staying in Division 3 and beating Leitrim!!!

Now we hear that we don't have the players so the manager is immune from criticism, just because he's Fergal O'Donnell. Yet last year, we also didn't have the players, but John Maughan got all the blame, just because he was from Mayo.

As for that man above, who mentioned players out on winters nights, it's time to stop wallowing that sort of bullshit out every year.
After yesterday, you'd wonder what exactly they're doing at any of the training sessions.  

As for ourselves I am quitely satisfied with the ruthless way we went about doing the job. It may come back to haunt us that we have not been challenged but we were clinical and sharp yesterday. Obviously we'll have plenty to discuss before the Connacht Final but maybe those of us who doubted the manager may be proved wrong, maybe the plan is coming that step closer to fruition. A win against Galway would be a massive boost for us. Beaing Sligo jsut wouldn't have the same impact.

[blast05]

Well, you would expect Ross fans to say it didn't happen - I'm only telling you what happened to me, maybe other Mayo fans got away and didn't experience it, but there's enough of us that did to make it more than some bulls**t story.

Same for me .... will never forget the antics of the Rossies immediately after that goal and the whole after match stuff. From being slapped on the head by half a dozen or so buffs immediately on the full time whistle (for the crime of shouting for my team durign the match) to the night ending in Athlone with one of our company get a slap in a nightclub for having the neck to wear a Mayo jersey in the midst of all the supporting Rossies.
So sorry, but can never beat them often enough and can never beat them by enough. My only regret from yesterday was that we did not win by more than 20 as the previous record winning margin in the previous 50 previous championship meetings was also 20 points when Mayo won in 1929 by 6-6 to 0-4  ....... at least 3-18 was the biggest score by either team in the previous meetings.

[highorlow]

approx 3 minutes dedicated to this match on the Sunday Game?

[GalwayBayBoy]

approx 3 minutes dedicated to this match on the Sunday Game?

About 2 minutes too long.

[ross4life]

Well, you would expect Ross fans to say it didn't happen - I'm only telling you what happened to me, maybe other Mayo fans got away and didn't experience it, but there's enough of us that did to make it more than some bulls**t story.

Same for me .... will never forget the antics of the Rossies immediately after that goal and the whole after match stuff. From being slapped on the head by half a dozen or so buffs immediately on the full time whistle (for the crime of shouting for my team durign the match) to the night ending in Athlone with one of our company get a slap in a nightclub for having the neck to wear a Mayo jersey in the midst of all the supporting Rossies.
So sorry, but can never beat them often enough and can never beat them by enough. My only regret from yesterday was that we did not win by more than 20 as the previous record winning margin in the previous 50 previous championship meetings was also 20 points when Mayo won in 1929 by 6-6 to 0-4  ....... at least 3-18 was the biggest score by either team in the previous meetings.

every county has knackers (mayo included) just because you where unlucky to run into a few bad eggs you think all rossies are like this? cop yer self on man!!! as for athlone nightlife well there's not a night someone gets slapped there!!

[whitey]

This match means absolutely nothing!!!!!!!!!!


Look what happened last year:

Dublin hammered Wexford, then got hammered by Tyrone.

Wexford got hammered by Dublin-then almost beat Tyrone.

My dislike of Rossies stems from the 1989 Connaught Final Replay. One of their players (if you want to call him that) almost took Jimmy Browns head off with an elbow. Brown was knocked out cold and while he was getting treatment on the pitch (before being stretchered off) the Rossies all around us were shouting things such as "good enough for the cvnt" "you didn't hit the cvnt half hard enough". It wasn't just kids either-men, women and children were joining in.

Never before or since, have I watched a match surrounded by such Barbarians!

[heineken_on_tap]

Well done Mayo and hopefully ye go on now and do well this year. It was a power house performance but with Ros been so bad you cant read too much into it.

From our point of view, its back to the drawing board. The thing that worried me the most was the severe lack of pace of our players. The heads dropped very quickly but credit to Gary Cox and a few others who kept plugging away. I dint think we are as bad as we showed on Saturday but the reality is we are somewhere in the bottom 10 counties and only alot of work at underage level is going to change that in the long run. Fergie is the man for that job.

On a side note, I sat behind one of the soundest Mayo men on Saturday. A genuine football man who took no pleasure in what he saw in front of him. In fairness as Rosfan has already said most of the Mayo lads on here have been very balanced and fair as well. Of course there are a few exceptions. Grow up lads, friendly rivalry is fine but common ignorance is never good.

Up the rossies.

[Tubberman]

Very hard to know where Mayo are after Saturday, but we definitely have plenty of positives to take from the game.
Kenneth O'Malley proved that after all he's been through, he's still a very good goalkeeper with two good saves. His kickouts were almost always won by Mayo but you can't read too much into that due to Roscommon's no-show in the middle.
I had wondered what the point of playing Andy Moran in the half backs was, but it was fairly apparent on Saturday. He is a very accurate long foot passer. This was a major part of the gameplan on Saturday, but when we come against stronger oppposition, his defensive abilities, and tackling in particular may become more of a liability.

Midfield completely dominated and McGarrity was excellent. Heaney didn't win clean ball but got through a lot of work and the partnership of Heaney and McGarrity may be a better mix of talents that McGarrity and Parsons, but again, this is hard to know as they had complete control of midfield.
All three in the half forwards were excellent - I had expected big games from Harte and Dillon, but was delighted to see Trevor Mort play so well. The rustiness (and it was very rusty!) of the league games seems to be gone now. There weren't the misplaced passes, fumbles and god-awful wides. He won his ball as he always will, but his passing was excellent, indcluding some long cross field foot passes. He took a lovely point over his shoulder in off the post as well.
Dillon is a class act and is in top form. As long as he can avoid the niggly injuries that have plagued him, I think he'll have a big year for Mayo.

I was reading the Independent this morning and Kilkoyne was quoted as saying there was pressure on him, as a lot of people were saying he's only good coming off the bench. He's right, and I thought that myself. So fair play to him, he played with great confidence on Saturday. Once he got the first score, you got the feeling he was going to have a good game. The goal coming so soon after had his confidence soaring and he kicked a lovely point from play later in the half. He will probably keep his place for the Connacht Final, and the next test for him might be to see how he reacts after an early miss - there won't be many championship matches as easy as Saturday.
The twin towers approach worked a treat and O'Shea in particular caught the eye. The way he took his goal just shows the class this lad has. And almost as satisfying is his work ethic. The way he kept hassling the Ros defenders in the lead up to the penalty was fantastic. He lost the ball twice and still managed to win it back to set up Kilkoyne who played a lovely ball across to Vaughan. Pat Harte drilled home the penalty.

There were a couple of concerns though. I didn't think Keith Higgins had a great game. I thought he was pretty loose and was caught out a couple of times in the first half. But we know what Keith is capable of and I've no doubt he'll improve with more games. Even by the second half he started to look more like the player of the last couple of years.
Barry Moran also looked rusty. As has been mentioned by several posters, it's very frustrating to see a big man like that who can't seem to hold on to the ball - even ball played into his chest. However, I think he still caused enough panic in the Ros defence to merit another start in the Connacht final. It should also be remembered that he hasn't played a lot of football this year due to injuries. T Mort was equally clumsy with the ball during the league but came good on Sat, so hopefully Moran can do the same with more games - remember the trouble he caused at FF against Derry in 07.

It was great to see Mayo clinically put a team away so ruthlessly and efficiently. Far too often in the past, Mayo dominance wasn't reflected on the scoreboard, and we were caught at the end. Having said that, it must have been very hard for the Roscommon supporters to watch. They have had a few very bad years, and were hoping this was the start of an upward curve. Unfortunately, it looks like too much was asked of the 06 minors too soon. As we in Mayo know all too well, getting hit by early goals can really knock a team back and make it extremely difficult to fight your way back into a game.  The young Ros players were shell shocked and never recovered.
Reading FODs comments in the Independent today was a bit worrying as well. He was saying that maybe they'd be better off with a year to regroup rather than have to face the qualifiers. While he might think that, it's hardly what the players need to hear right now. A time for calm heads I think. I genuinely hope that Saturday hasn't left a permanent scar on some of the younger Rossie players. But it shouldn't have - Mayo have drubbings on the most high profile day of the football year, and they recovered. As long as Ros continue the good underage work, they will become competitive in Connacht again, although it looks like it's going to take a few years longer than many had expected.  

[Rossie11]

Embarrassing stuff.
Ross have had some bad days in Castlebar but this was the worst.
Its was coming though. I thought beforehand we would do well to keep the score respectable but after 5 mins it was obvious that it was going to be a rout. The back door will offer us nothing as we can only hope of avoiding another lashing.

The one fear I have is that its a seriously damaging defeat for the younger panel members and their confidence will be shot to bits.

I know Mayo fans reckon they cant read anything into the game but you shouldn't underestimate how good you were.

There was a confident, almost arrogant swagger to the team and they were on a mission to finish this game as quick as possible.
They were ruthless in their purpose and kicked some great scores. The build up leading to Gardiners point in the 2nd half was excellent.  Added to that you will have Parsons and Mortimer back to full fitness later in the year.

I honestly believe Mayo have a hell of a chance to go real close this year. They have the talent in the squad and with the back door getting very crowded things could fall into place nicely for them come August.

I for one hope they can do it and the majority of genuine Gaa fans in Ross wouldn't begrudge you your day in the sun.

[INDIANA]

Mayo played especially well but it reminded me of dublin v wexford last season. That game will be of no benefit to them. And I hope they don't suffer a similar fate in the connacht final like we suffered against tyrone last year.
I don't know where Roscommon football goes after that. Too many kids playing- but I'm not sure O Donnell had much choice when he took the job. It was a mericless hiding.

[orangeman]

Mayo played especially well but it reminded me of dublin v wexford last season. That game will be of no benefit to them. And I hope they don't suffer a similar fate in the connacht final like we suffered against tyrone last year.
I don't know where Roscommon football goes after that. Too many kids playing- but I'm not sure O Donnell had much choice when he took the job. It was a mericless hiding.

No mercy shown - but as you say they might just pay for it later on.

[INDIANA]

It was to mayo's credit that they showed no mercy and kept going but its hard to know whether games against beaten dockets help you. You can only beat what is in front of you but having watched dublin dish out the same to leinster teams. You'd wonder whether that preparation might hinder them against Galway. I don't expect Sligo to be as bad as Roscommon.

[SLIGONIAN]

Mayo played especially well but it reminded me of dublin v wexford last season. That game will be of no benefit to them. And I hope they don't suffer a similar fate in the connacht final like we suffered against tyrone last year.
I don't know where Roscommon football goes after that. Too many kids playing- but I'm not sure O Donnell had much choice when he took the job. It was a mericless hiding.

No mercy shown - but as you say they might just pay for it later on.

Thought some goal attempts were little arrogant escially Kilcoynes 1st half miss when point was obvious at 15pts up. Ruthlessness is a good thing, showing no mercy when game is over is another.

It was to mayo's credit that they showed no mercy and kept going but its hard to know whether games against beaten dockets help you. You can only beat what is in front of you but having watched dublin dish out the same to leinster teams. You'd wonder whether that preparation might hinder them against Galway. I don't expect Sligo to be as bad as Roscommon.

Neither do we, in fact ye can quote me on this, I cant see anything but a tight game with us and Galway .

[mannix]

ross fans  
your team were not winning sam this year anyway, fod should be priming them to have a go in the qualifiers or else why bother training all year.that sort of thinking is bad, you get one hiding and want to run away till next year. he should relish the chance, that is the beauty of the qualifier.
mayo players said the same last year, that they did not like the qualifier route, how can you give up your life for training and then dismiss it all so easily as that?
would kerry or tyrone throw stones at the qualifier route? then why should anyone else?