Mayo V Galway - Connacht Final Thread

[Mayo4Sam]

Interesting stats. 35 free kicks to 19, that says it all, would never have been a 1 point game but for Bannon.

Well there were a lot of free-kicks because there was a lot of fouling.

Would you have said the fouling was almost 2 to 1?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Interesting stats. 35 free kicks to 19, that says it all, would never have been a 1 point game but for Bannon.

Well there were a lot of free-kicks because there was a lot of fouling.

Would you have said the fouling was almost 2 to 1?

Well Mayo had built up a nice lead after the first goal and I think were content to foul out the field rather than let Galway in for goals. Hence the lopsided final foul count. I actually don't have a problem with this as you do what you have to in order to win. The game did become littered with stoppages though which kind of ruined the flow of it especially in the 2nd half.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Congrats to Mayo, a deserved win.  We were haunted to be level in injury time.  O'Mahoney nearly blew it for Mayo with the Ronaldson tactic and as for Salmon's few changes for Coynes injury  

Roll on next week,still plenty of football to be played.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Mayo were well worth their win today although I was far more prepared with 5 minutes left for the 5 or 6 point beating we should have got rather than being sickened with Gardiners winner right after Mike Meehan had stuck the equalizer, there's definitely more about Mayo than Galway this year and although I don't see an All Ireland in that Mayo squad the very best of luck to ye in the rest of the championship.

I'm far too tired now from the drive back to Dublin (Pearse was some hoor to get out of after the match) to go into any proper analysis but a few points:
Several of the Mayo scores were from poor Galway mistakes and being honest there was a lot of Galway players that didn't turn up today, some of them weren't let play well by the Mayo players in fairness either but there was a lot more cut from the Mayo players and they seemed sharper and better focused.  Joe Bergin and Nicky Joyce can hold their heads up high though, I thought both had very good games.
Bannon was hopeless for both teams, how the man can't spot a double hop or the numerous unpunished pick ups that went on I don't know.
On the lopsided free kick count, Mayo fouled anything that moved from the halfway line up in the 2nd half and it worked well for them.
I didn't get the Breathnach substitution at all - why make several changes to the team to accommodate what looked a straight swap. The look on Keiran Fitzgerald's face when he was told to put the training top back on would indicate he thought likewise.
Donegal must be doing something right if they beat Derry in extra time last night and I don't see Galway improving enough in the next 6 days to reverse the 2003 result in Castlebar, we're not going well this year and haven't been showing any form since H/T in the Mayo league game all truth told.

[Mayo4Sam]

have to say also the winner showed character i haven't usually seen from mayo teams, i thought galway were sure to win the kick out & score another point.

[mckieran]

I thought Bannon was brutal, initialing i thought just brutal against mayo, the heaney one, alan dillon being pulled for over carrying when i think NJ had his 2 hands over his head pulling him down, the facts do justify this, 19 frees to 35

It always bugs me when people say that a ref favored one team over another and they quote the number of frees. The reason that Galway got more frees is because Mayo fouled more. Galway should probably have fouled more out the field (For example, Sean Armstrong had a prefect chance to foul further up the pitch before Bergin committed the last foul). The stats tell you which team fouled more, they do not tell you which team the ref favoured!

The attitude of Mayo disappointed me in the last 20 minutes because why would a team stop doing what was working so well for them? Why not keep attacking? I think the real reason that it was a 1 point game is because of Mayo and thats it. It wasnt because of Galway or it wasnt beaiuse of Bannon. It was because Mayo dramatically changed their tactics and let Gawlay back into it.

JOM did well, kilcoyne was harsh, hes prob used to it by now, LOM should have gone earlier. But over all got it right, ronaldson steadied the ship when we needed it.

It said on TV that he was injured, hamstring strain?

[mckieran]

have to say also the winner showed character i haven't usually seen from mayo teams, i thought galway were sure to win the kick out & score another point.

Very quick thinking of Gardiner too. He was standing right beside where the ball was placed and made an excellent run to the right

[ross4life]

Connacht Final Big Match stats provided by Vodafone

would you have stats for the Mayo v Roscommon Minor game?

[Bod Mor]

There must be a mutual agreement between Mayo and Galway that means nobody can win by more than 1 point. It was heart in the mouth stuff (again) there at the end. I thought it was Roscommon '01 all over again when Meehan scored the goal. CMort gave the ball away in almost the exact same spot as Nestor did that day. It's clear that we don't have enough practice at killing teams off, it's as if we are always going to be the underdog team.

People are going on about how it was stupid to hold onto the ball near the end but it was the right idea, just poorly executed. We should have done it nearer to the Galway goalposts and drawn the foul like any good team would do.

Kilcoyne must have been injured to be taken off, does anyone know what the story here was. he was being cleaned by Burke anyway but should have taken his goal chance. Who won the ball from the kick-out after the Galway goal? These things ya can't see on tele.

Did TV3 have their cameras located above in Dublin? It was desperate how poor the camera positioning was. You couldn't see what was happening at the far end of the pitch at all and they didn't allow for the glare of the sun at al and the camera man mustn't know where the zoom button wasl. I don't know if they can't afford the technology or what but RTE coverage is far better. Maybe I'm talkin pure sh!t and RTE and TV3 use the same cameras but thats neither here nor there. Anyway...

Andy Moran had a good game, he made a block and a big hit in the first half that set the Mayo defences stall out. It's what we've been missing all these years, somebody to give a good hard (fair) shoulder and level the oncoming forward, it's beautiful to watch.

We needed this win more than Galway did. Can't wait to see who we play next!

Some of JOMs subs were questionable and midfield should have been changed earlier. We won't be able to get away with this in the next game.

[Bod Mor]

Does that say" RIP Micheal Jackson" ... I feel embarrassed.

Haha "Micheál" Jackson. Fear na gaeltachta a beadh?

[stephenite]

Great to win a Connacht title again, nice to do it in Galway as well.

We won it despite our best efforts to lose it, bringing on Ronaldson to play as an extra sweeper when we had the game in the bag with 10 minutes to go might seem like a sensible thing to do but it nearly cost us the match. It invited them to come at us and they did - hopefully that lesson has been learned.

Fair play to Peadar Gardiner, showed great composure to kick that score with all the pressure on him, some man.

[Son_of_Sam]

In the end of the days lads, Mayo are Connacht Champions, maybe not be 18pts but Jazus 1 point is all that it takes. I you win then how the feck can the Managers tatics be wrong, if we won an FBD match or the All-Ireland Final, 1 point is all we need to win by. I for one am very happy after yesterdays performance. Even if I too would have liked us to attack a little more in the second half, but it was against a strong breeze.

[stephenite]

In the end of the days lads, Mayo are Connacht Champions, maybe not be 18pts but Jazus 1 point is all that it takes. I you win then how the feck can the Managers tatics be wrong, if we won an FBD match or the All-Ireland Final, 1 point is all we need to win by. I for one am very happy after yesterdays performance. Even if I too would have liked us to attack a little more in the second half, but it was against a strong breeze.

We won - you're right, I'm not trying to be overly negative. But Galway outscored us by something like 1-4 to 0-1 in the last 10 minutes, you wouldn't get away with that craic against the likes of Tyrone.

Nothing wrong with highlighting where improvements can be made ahead of the next match

[EastMayoHerald]

There was a very strong breeze so all you boys complaining about being outscored in the last 10 minutes need to think about it.  Galway were given a fair blizting in the latter stages of the second half.  Ronaldson played well and it was much more difficult to play the long ball in the second half.


Great win.  All the better that Galway thought they had the draw

[Barney]

What a mighty day! No need for negatives today, enjoy this one, because these are the big ones, the famous ones, right up there with 2006 v Dublin, 1999 v Galway, 1996 v Kerry etc. that you have to savour. For the first time since 1967 Mayo have lifted the Nestor Cup in Salthill!

I'm absolutely knackered but the pain is pleasant - will contribute more later.

We were down and out with the Galway goal but the guts of Andy Moran to not stand up and wait for the replay and to seize the day shows a new maturity in this Mayo team. Gardiner was alert to receive the ball from a quick free - most of the time we are the victim of this kind of quick thinking. The two wing-men were far and above anyone on the pitch for me. I have been very critical of Gardiner here before but yesterday (and before any glorious point) was his finest day in a Mayo jersey - his defensive play and leadership was exemplary.

John O'Mahony has also been blasted by myself and others but this year he has stepped up to the mark. The Nestor Cup gives him a mandate for the job he is doing. We're probably a bit of being good enough to win Sam this year but with many of the young lads now on board, and more lining up a bright new era looks to have begun.