Mayo V Galway - Connacht Final Thread

[GBXII]

Agree with a lot of what is being said here but I wouldn't go over the top either, there is loads to work on from a Mayo point of view. Was very pissed off at O'Mahony's overly defensive tactics in the second have by putting a forward (Ronaldson) in defense and handing Galway the initiative. So lucky to get away with it (he thank Andy Moran and Peadar Gardiner for that).

On the subject of Andy Moran he had probably his best game in a Mayo shirt, he was everywhere, a real leader, fair play to him because I wasn't always his biggest fan. Dillon is a ridiculously talented player, we're lucky to have him. McGarrity was excellent and its crucial for the team if they want to progress. Heaney was good but tired big time in the 2nd half and how the management couldn't see this and didn't bring on T Parsons is beyond me. O'Malley should have been moved off N Joyce way earlier but I suppose Joyce was just on fire.

Barry Moran improved and hopefully he'll improve again for the next game because the two big men inside seems to cause a lot of panic in opposition defenses. A O'Shea was class and is also vital for the team to progress further so hopefully he keeps his good form. What was the story with taking Kilcoyne off so early? That was a bit harsh even though I know Mortimer did very well when he came on. Oh and Michael Meehan is unbelievable. Definitely the best FF in the game. Would love if he was from Mayo!! Fair play to Gardiner as well  
 

[Tubberman]

Andy Moran far and away Mayo's top man on Sunday. Worked himself into the ground, great kick passer and kept a calm head when it would have been very easy to have lost it and curse everything and everyone around you ( as I did ).
And Peadar Gardiner - it looks balls to go for that score with the last chance of the game. A wing back, taking the kick on the run from the wing into the wind. Fair play Peadar, Mayo now have leaders all over the pitch.
But of course it should never have come to that. To give up a 7 point lead with 7 mins to go is criminal. There is a way to play keep ball, and Mayo hadn't worked on it by the looks of things. You need to keep the ball moving at pace and have men constantly running for you. Standing still playing pass the parcel will not work.
As long as the lesson is learnt, it's no bad thing.

[AbbeySider]

What a game! It was a thriller to be at but TV3 analysis's didn't seem to think so!
They gave Trevor Mortimor man of the match so I wouldn't listen to much from them.
We were thinking he might get hauled ashore, he looked lost at stages in the match and it was passing him by.
Andy Moran, Heaney, Cafferkey or Howley deserved it way ahead of Trev.
I would have even given it to Nicky Joyce who was unreal.

Galway had some good performances.
Bergan was fantastic in the middle and may have won that battle for Galway, it's the best I have seen him for a long time.
I was most surprised at Nicky Joyce. Don't know how Liam O Malley lasted as long as he did as Joyce wiped him.
Also I thought that Hanley did very well at full back. He broke it countless times and denied our full forward line possession at vital stages for Galway. He is one of the best in the country in my book. And I also thought that Decie Meehan had the measure of Alan Dillon who was quieter than I expected but still chipped in with a couple of scores.

Galway are a couple of players short of being in contention. The half forward line is slightly weaker than the rest. Paraic Joyce was not at his best and looks to have slowed up a bit. Sean Armstrong was quieter than usual but he was playing to deep to have any major effect. Meehan was kept reasonably quiet but still stuck the goal.

Mayo deserved the win but I wouldn't have minded getting Galway in McHale park next week if it was a draw.
They have it tough against Donegal next week, as its hard to bounce back from the defeat. That possession game we played at the end nearly cost us. But in fairness it worked for Ballina when they won the club All-Ireland, we just couldn't execute it properly yesterday. If it did work we would be hailed for it but it nearly blew up in our faces.

As for Mort the younger!? I was in shock when I heard it as you couldn't see it at the match.
Everyones reaction was to laugh hysterically, ya have to laugh, the lad has no shame. 

It was a good all round performance by Mayo. All the Mayo forwards and 2 midfielders had got a score by half time.
That's some statistic when you think of it. The only negative stuff I would not have wholly agreed with was bringing on Ronaldson to drop back as an extra defender. I suppose the John O Mahoney thought that Paraic Joyce would lead the comeback so he double teamed him.
It kind of worked, and it kind of didn't. If he was going to do that I would have him playing deeper in front of the full back line as it was 2 v 2 inside and I had a feeling a goal was coming, especially with the wind.

I was delighted with Ger Cafferkey. Thought he did very well on Meehan. His pace was unreal, he actually caught Meehan a couple of times from being yards behind him. Also Donal Vaughan steadied things a lot and quietened Nicky Joyce a bit. Even GArdiner has improved defensively and Andy Moran seemed to have a hand in everything. All in all I dont think there was any particularly bad individual performance by Mayo. Kilcoyne was unlucky to be taken off at half time but "MJ Mort" justified (or "Mortified") himself when he came on.

Mayo's 1st goal was possibly a square ball. Meehan took 10 steps for Galways goal. Both teams were hopping the ball like it was a basketball in both games. Bannon was a joke and should hang up the whistle, crazy decisions on both sides, although Mayo were doing a lot of fouling and were cynical when Galway had possession. It lead to too many scoreable frees in the second half. But its nice to see a bit of badness and cuteness creep into the Mayo team for a change, you do what you have to do to win.

[kevmy]

What a game! It was a thriller to be at but TV3 analysis's didn't seem to think so!
They gave Trevor Mortimor man of the match so I wouldn't listen to much from them.
We were thinking he might get hauled ashore, he looked lost at stages in the match and it was passing him by.
Andy Moran, Heaney, Cafferkey or Howley deserved it way ahead of Trev.
I would have even given it to Nicky Joyce who was unreal.

Galway had some good performances.
Bergan was fantastic in the middle and may have won that battle for Galway, it's the best I have seen him for a long time.
I was most surprised at Nicky Joyce. Don't know how Liam O Malley lasted as long as he did as Joyce wiped him.
Also I thought that Hanley did very well at full back. He broke it countless times and denied our full forward line possession at vital stages for Galway. He is one of the best in the country in my book. And I also thought that Decie Meehan had the measure of Alan Dillon who was quieter than I expected but still chipped in with a couple of scores.

Galway are a couple of players short of being in contention. The half forward line is slightly weaker than the rest. Paraic Joyce was not at his best and looks to have slowed up a bit. Sean Armstrong was quieter than usual but he was playing to deep to have any major effect. Meehan was kept reasonably quiet but still stuck the goal.

Mayo deserved the win but I wouldn't have minded getting Galway in McHale park next week if it was a draw.
They have it tough against Donegal next week, as its hard to bounce back from the defeat. That possession game we played at the end nearly cost us. But in fairness it worked for Ballina when they won the club All-Ireland, we just couldn't execute it properly yesterday. If it did work we would be hailed for it but it nearly blew up in our faces.

As for Mort the younger!? I was in shock when I heard it as you couldn't see it at the match.
Everyones reaction was to laugh hysterically, ya have to laugh, the lad has no shame. 

It was a good all round performance by Mayo. All the Mayo forwards and 2 midfielders had got a score by half time.
That's some statistic when you think of it. The only negative stuff I would not have wholly agreed with was bringing on Ronaldson to drop back as an extra defender. I suppose the John O Mahoney thought that Paraic Joyce would lead the comeback so he double teamed him.
It kind of worked, and it kind of didn't. If he was going to do that I would have him playing deeper in front of the full back line as it was 2 v 2 inside and I had a feeling a goal was coming, especially with the wind.

I was delighted with Ger Cafferkey. Thought he did very well on Meehan. His pace was unreal, he actually caught Meehan a couple of times from being yards behind him. Also Donal Vaughan steadied things a lot and quietened Nicky Joyce a bit. Even GArdiner has improved defensively and Andy Moran seemed to have a hand in everything. All in all I dont think there was any particularly bad individual performance by Mayo. Kilcoyne was unlucky to be taken off at half time but "MJ Mort" justified (or "Mortified") himself when he came on.

Mayo's 1st goal was possibly a square ball. Meehan took 10 steps for Galways goal. Both teams were hopping the ball like it was a basketball in both games. Bannon was a joke and should hang up the whistle, crazy decisions on both sides, although Mayo were doing a lot of fouling and were cynical when Galway had possession. It lead to too many scoreable frees in the second half. But its nice to see a bit of badness and cuteness creep into the Mayo team for a change, you do what you have to do to win.

Kilcoyne was injured, hopefully not badly so but you could see him holding the hamstring and limping a bit for about 2 mins before half-time.

[Greenabovethered]

I will not be getting too carried away with the result on Sunday. Galway were lethargic for 80% of the game and when they stepped up a gear in the last ten (7?) minutes, they scored at will and with ease. We were badly exposed and lost 5 high balls in a row.

Kilcoyne should have been given at least ten minutes in the second half. Connor came on and did well and then proceeded to spend most of his time fluting around the middle. There were no options up front for the last 15 minutes.  We badly needed a forward willing to show for a ball in the last ten minutes. 

Dillon and Heaney should have been replaced with fresh legs sooner. The game was crying out for a fresh mobile player like Tom Parsons to come on and take the game back to Galway. 1 or 2 scores would have crushed their resolve and we'd have ran out more comfortable winners.

Positives -

Our Goalkeeper saved us on two occasions and his kickouts were good all day.  He is our no.2 and had little championship experience before Sunday.

Our half backs had a good day, their marking, tackling and distribution were good. Most of Galways scores did not come through them rather over them.

McGarrity had a good game despite having the nagging worry of getting a box in the side of the face. It was good to see that he wasn't targeted in this area specifically. I'd say that Parsons will start in Croker Park. The wide open spaces will suit him.

Aidan O'Shea has potential to have big games if we get enough ball into him. He is not that mobile but like Tommy Walsh will win more 50/50 balls that he will lose.

Galway are still a top 8 team and we more than held our own against them over 74 minutes.

Can we go further this year?  I think we have a better squad than  2004 & 2006 and have the capacity to score goals which was one of our shortcomings.

[muppet]

That is the 3rd time this decade we have beaten Galway. The other 2 years were 2004 & 2006.

We in Mayo tend to be a bit over-critical at times. For example if it was a Galway man that scored liked Gardiner did there would have been a witch-hunt from the usual suspects here looking to hang (or drop from the panel) whoever was marking him. I don't see to many Galway posters seeking blood over it and they are right.

I hope McGarrity's early lethargy was down to the injury and Liam O'Malley was beaten twice very early on but can point to not having trained for weeks. We have seen better from Keith Higgins and I am confident that Sunday's game will have done him the world of good. Likewise Cafferkey and Howley will benefit from having played on marque forwards in a big Championship game and come through with shining colours. I felt 5 & 7 would be our defensive weaknesses while obviously offering attacking options but they were good defensively.

Earlier in the year we were bemoaning a tendency to start games very slowly. Well thankfully we seemed to have knocked that firmly on the head and while Galway scored heavily in the last few minutes that has always been a Galway trait even before Micheál Meehan came along. They often could play for only 10 minutes in each half and win games doing it while we always need to plod away for long periods to build up a winning score.

The more I think of it the more I think the Moran/Ronaldson switch was crazy. While Ronaldson actually did well, not having Moran occupying Hanley handed the initiative to them and Conor Mort unwisely started to drift way out the field a) looking for ball and b) chasing what he probably thought was his man but was the extra man. Ronaldson may have understood his role very well but I'm not sure some of the others did.

Anyway, roll on Kerry or Antrim as Hogan Stand seems to be suggesting.

[Maigheo Abu]

Deadly impressed with your spelling of M. Meehan'sa christian name!

[Farrandeelin]

Yes muppet, the decision to take off Moran and replace him with Ronaldson might have been ok if he was actig as a roaming half forward I thought. I didn't understand how Trevor Mortimer got man of the match either. Andy Moran would have been mine. Am I the only one who thought the entire full-back line was dodgy at times, although Caff was marking Meehan and Higgins is only back and yes O'Malley was injured, but I felt Galway's forwards were on top in that department every time. Cafferkey always seems to leave it like last gasp defending. Still though, I was fairly impressed with the workrate of the halfbacks and half-forwards all through the game and those lines are so important in modern intercounty football.

Nice bit done, more to do if we're to progress though.

[rosnarun]

Ronaldson performed that role very well 2 games in the league Dublin ballina was one . cant remember the other was it tuam? in both games Mayos performance imorived significantly after Ronaldson took up that role . which like sunday were on very windy days, and he did win a power of ball as did vaughan Both must be a real  Contenders to start the next day. I think ronalddon is now our most gifted if not as yet effective player and we should make moves to accommodate him ,
Harte will need to look over his shoulder as he was well out of it, he did well for his point but looked out of his depth besides.
While im full of admiration of Mcgarrity in  playing sunday it was obvious he was not doing himself justice, Ifear there is a stubborn streak in JOM that will be his undoing in the long run.
he must seriously look at the full back line Galway had 4 clear opportunities to score  goals . 3 really as you cant blame anyone for not defending against 10 steps . the only way would have been to foul and we don't do that as it would be cynical cheating,

[stephenite]

Liam McHale was pretty poor as well, but PJ Loftus was outstanding.

Question for you on the club thread Ros, just in case you missed it

[rosnarun]

6 whole mins you must be busy at work

[stephenite]

6 whole mins you must be busy at work

Flat out

[macdanger2]

I think ronalddon is now our most gifted if not as yet effective player and we should make moves to accommodate him ,

I presume you're taking the piss??

JO'M mustn't have much time for BJP, I would have thought he'd have been the obvious man for a sweeper role.

[kevmy]

While I think everyone agrees Ronaldson done well when he came on it was the fact that he came on in a strictly defensive role that most people question. I've seen Mark play a good bit of football and tbh he is more suited to a half forward or corner forward role but he's one of those lads that if you told him to play corner back in a Junior B game he'd do it.

I think he would be able to fill a 3rd midfielder type of role - in fact that's what I thought he was going to do when he came on the last day. But then so is BJP who has more experience. Iwouldn't go near the half forward line though as it's clearly been our best and most consistent line all year.

[venter]

It really is great to beat Galway.It makes coming to work a hell of a lot easier.

I watched the game last night and we deserved the win. We should have closed them out after Conor's brilliant goal, but we got sloppy. Delighted for Peader scoring the winner.. he's playing well as are most of the backs. Andy Moran was man of the match for me. He got stuck in big time and he delivered good ball into the big men. In fact most of the mayo lads really put in a lot of hard graft in the middle third. I thought Heaney was excellent.
I agree that Ronaldson played decent when he came on, but I'd have preferred to see someone like BJP or T Parsons coming into win primary possession and lift the seige a little bit.
We have a good squad with the likes of C Mort, T Parsons, BJP, D Vaughan, K Mcloughlin,T Cunniffe  & D Clarke waiting for a chance to get in. Hopefully we can push on and win the QF.