Sligeach v Maigh Eo. 5ú Meitheamh 2010

[Mano]

There is no way of saying this nicely so as not to hurt the Sligo lads feelings but i think we are a far superior team. Lets face facts they are a Division 3 team (Not Division 2 untill next year) and there is a vast difference in quality between the 1st and the 3rd. I think Mayo will win by +7 possibly more.

I'd admire your confidence Peter. The Sligo boys would call it arrogance. If arrogance is misplaced confidence, then I'd agree with them. This is going alll the way to the wire. What will, for me, decide this game is if Sligo believe they win the game. They didn't against Galway and Kerry last year and got all rabbit in the headlights in the last few minutes. If they've developed from that, we're in for an upset. I just don't see Mayo playing well enough to win this on their own merits.

well said peter , i remeber the same defeatest crap befor the roscommon game last year absolutly no reason to fear sligo. their best player is well past his best and next to him is a mayo reject .Kelly is a handy corner forward but not the big burly type that cause mayo problems. I hope the mayo players have a littlebit more confidence in their abilities than most posters here. On one had slagging them  off for losing national finals and on the other urging caution against 3rd division teams.

As the game gets closer after 24 pages the Mayo arrogance & superiority complex over Sligo is beginning to raise its head-what took ye so long lads?

As regards the game and the likely lineups. Mayo will know the likely Sligo starting team and will have their team setup for each possibility. I think that the Sligo management need to change the approach or the lineup to throw Mayo off for the first few minutes - maybe start Sweeney and O'Hara in the full forward line early on to test Mayo's weakest line. However if we are getting little ball at midfield one of those 2 will have to move out to middle.

The Mayo team is harder to select but the injuries to Kilcoyne, Howley and Harte have made it slightly easier and absence of these 3 weakens their options. If B Moran & O Se start it will make it difficult for the Sligo full backs but they are able to cope with Harrisson picking up Mortimer

[Lar Naparka]

It has been said that there is no difference between theory and practice—in theory; in practice it's often a different matter.
In theory, Mayo should blitz Sligo.
After all, Mayo scored more and conceded less than any other team in Division 1. Even in the final Cork managed to score only one goal and that came towards the end of the game when most of the Mayo side had already lost interest in the proceedings.
On the other hand, I thought Sligo made heavy weather of defeating Antrim in Divison 3 and looking at the highlights of the recent Antrim-Tyrone game, I thought Antrim are a poor enough side; they wouldn't bate Katty Barry - as the langers could have said about Mayo.
So, in theory, Mayo should win pulling up.
But in practice, theory could go to the wall. The game is in Sligo on a tight pitch and in front of the home crowd so I wouldn't take too much for granted. A lot depends on which Mayo team turns up. Their unpredictability is the most predictable aspect of their game.
Even in the impressive league campaign they managed to squeeze in a game against Dublin, in Castlebar of all places, and one could be forgiven for thinking they had practised drills in the art of kicking wides.
Mayo seems to be beset by injuries, whereas Kevin Walsh appears to have a fairly settled side and, all in all, the gap that appears to be there in theory is been whittled away in practice.
I'm going for Mayo to win by anything from 1 to 6 points. I think we know what Sligo is capable of but the same can't be said of Mayo.

[RedandGreenSniper]

There is no way of saying this nicely so as not to hurt the Sligo lads feelings but i think we are a far superior team. Lets face facts they are a Division 3 team (Not Division 2 untill next year) and there is a vast difference in quality between the 1st and the 3rd. I think Mayo will win by +7 possibly more.

I'd admire your confidence Peter. The Sligo boys would call it arrogance. If arrogance is misplaced confidence, then I'd agree with them. This is going alll the way to the wire. What will, for me, decide this game is if Sligo believe they win the game. They didn't against Galway and Kerry last year and got all rabbit in the headlights in the last few minutes. If they've developed from that, we're in for an upset. I just don't see Mayo playing well enough to win this on their own merits.

well said peter , i remeber the same defeatest crap befor the roscommon game last year absolutly no reason to fear sligo. their best player is well past his best and next to him is a mayo reject .Kelly is a handy corner forward but not the big burly type that cause mayo problems. I hope the mayo players have a littlebit more confidence in their abilities than most posters here. On one had slagging them  off for losing national finals and on the other urging caution against 3rd division teams.

I genuinely hope you're right but I fear you won't be. First of all Alan Costello is a long way off Sligo's second best player. That just highlights your ignorance of them so your assessment carries no real weight. I will apologise if we win at a canter but I won't be getting that speech ready any time soon.

[SLIGONIAN]

There is no way of saying this nicely so as not to hurt the Sligo lads feelings but i think we are a far superior team. Lets face facts they are a Division 3 team (Not Division 2 untill next year) and there is a vast difference in quality between the 1st and the 3rd. I think Mayo will win by +7 possibly more.

I'd admire your confidence Peter. The Sligo boys would call it arrogance. If arrogance is misplaced confidence, then I'd agree with them. This is going alll the way to the wire. What will, for me, decide this game is if Sligo believe they win the game. They didn't against Galway and Kerry last year and got all rabbit in the headlights in the last few minutes. If they've developed from that, we're in for an upset. I just don't see Mayo playing well enough to win this on their own merits.

well said peter , i remeber the same defeatest crap befor the roscommon game last year absolutly no reason to fear sligo. their best player is well past his best and next to him is a mayo reject .Kelly is a handy corner forward but not the big burly type that cause mayo problems. I hope the mayo players have a littlebit more confidence in their abilities than most posters here. On one had slagging them  off for losing national finals and on the other urging caution against 3rd division teams.

I genuinely hope you're right but I fear you won't be. First of all Alan Costello is a long way off Sligo's second best player. That just highlights your ignorance of them so your assessment carries no real weight. I will apologise if we win at a canter but I won't be getting that speech ready any time soon.

You see Arrogance is the right word, because Peter obviously hasnt a clue about Sligo, only uses the league logic to back his reasoning for a comfortable win. I mean how could anyone predict the outcome of a game when you have no clue of the opposition and therefore rely on the league argument which has blown out of the water by ourselves last few yrs. Make no mistake we arent really a league team imo, we struggled early on in the heavy pitches, but summer suit us way more. I seen us last yr in the div4 final and it was shite football, the improvement against galway was huge and upward from there on. I expect the same this time.

Ros says Eamonn O Hara our best player is well past his sell by date.. are you serious? He certainly is good and still worth his place ahead of our fringe players but are not reliant on him at all. And Costello may not be our second best player but he has in his arsenal something no other player has in the squad, we are delighted to have him. He is a valuable player. This best player is rubbish talk TBH, all players are different and important in there own way and bring something different to the table. Id be embarrased for mayo if they think we are one man team and O Hara is that man .

[SLIGONIAN]

I dont know if ye look on HS, but not one mayolad has predicted anything less than a 6 pt win....

From Independent.ie

SLIGO football boss Kevin Walsh has braced his players for a heavy backlash from Mayo at Markievicz Park on Saturday evening.

He fears that the heavy criticism their opponents received after their disappointing performance in the Division 1 league final was just the ammunition manager John O'Mahony needed to get his team psyched up for their Connacht SFC quarter-final.

"The criticism Mayo took about their performance against Cork -- that serious questioning of their character, especially by the media -- has given them every motivation to prove everyone wrong," Walsh said.

"Right up to the league final, outside of Cork, Mayo were being tipped as one of the serious contenders this summer, so there is no way they suddenly became a bad team because of one game," he added.

Sligo's victory in the Division 3 final a month ago was the ideal pre-championship preparation, but that has only increased the pressure on them now.

"After gaining promotion for the second year in a row, you could say that the pressure was off us going into Croke Park and the lads seemed to respond well to that, but this is a very different situation," Walsh said.

He was reported to be taking Sligo on a week's training camp in the immediate aftermath but says this was incorrect. "What I said was misinterpreted," he said. "What we did was give the players a week's break to go back to play with their clubs, but since then we've trained hard and had a few challenge matches."

Sligo are not believed to have any major injury worries but Mayo will definitely be without Aidan Kilcoyne (knee) and have doubts over centre-back Trevor Howley and forward Barry Moran, who both sat out a challenge game against Kildare last week, which they lost by a point.

Saturday's game has a 5.0 throw-in to accommodate live television -- RTE are also televising the Kildare/Louth game at 7.0 -- but Connacht Council secretary John Prenty defended that early throw-in yesterday and predicted a sell-out 18,000 crowd.

"We had a 5.0 throw-in for Mayo v Roscommon last year and don't forsee any problems with it," said Prenty.

- Cliona Foley

Irish Independent

[MadMayo]

There is no way of saying this nicely so as not to hurt the Sligo lads feelings but i think we are a far superior team. Lets face facts they are a Division 3 team (Not Division 2 untill next year) and there is a vast difference in quality between the 1st and the 3rd. I think Mayo will win by +7 possibly more.

I'd admire your confidence Peter. The Sligo boys would call it arrogance. If arrogance is misplaced confidence, then I'd agree with them. This is going alll the way to the wire. What will, for me, decide this game is if Sligo believe they win the game. They didn't against Galway and Kerry last year and got all rabbit in the headlights in the last few minutes. If they've developed from that, we're in for an upset. I just don't see Mayo playing well enough to win this on their own merits.

well said peter , i remeber the same defeatest crap befor the roscommon game last year absolutly no reason to fear sligo. their best player is well past his best and next to him is a mayo reject .Kelly is a handy corner forward but not the big burly type that cause mayo problems. I hope the mayo players have a littlebit more confidence in their abilities than most posters here. On one had slagging them  off for losing national finals and on the other urging caution against 3rd division teams.

I genuinely hope you're right but I fear you won't be. First of all Alan Costello is a long way off Sligo's second best player. That just highlights your ignorance of them so your assessment carries no real weight. I will apologise if we win at a canter but I won't be getting that speech ready any time soon.

You see Arrogance is the right word, because Peter obviously hasnt a clue about Sligo, only uses the league logic to back his reasoning for a comfortable win. I mean how could anyone predict the outcome of a game when you have no clue of the opposition and therefore rely on the league argument which has blown out of the water by ourselves last few yrs. Make no mistake we arent really a league team imo, we struggled early on in the heavy pitches, but summer suit us way more. I seen us last yr in the div4 final and it was shite football, the improvement against galway was huge and upward from there on. I expect the same this time.

Ros says Eamonn O Hara our best player is well past his sell by date.. are you serious? He certainly is good and still worth his place ahead of our fringe players but are not reliant on him at all. And Costello may not be our second best player but he has in his arsenal something no other player has in the squad, we are delighted to have him. He is a valuable player. This best player is rubbish talk TBH, all players are different and important in there own way and bring something different to the table. Id be embarrased for mayo if they think we are one man team and O Hara is that man .

Shtop ye're nonsense!! This is a Micky Mouse game. I think we all know Mayo will win this one. The only two teams worth mentioning in Connacht this year are Galway and Mayo, like Leinster are Dublin and Meath, like Munster are Kerry and Cork and Ulster are Tyrone and Armagh. End of story. Good luck to all.

[RogerMilla]

Shtop ye're nonsense!! This is a Micky Mouse game. I think we all know Mayo will win this one. The only two teams worth mentioning in Connacht this year are Galway and Mayo, like Leinster are Dublin and Meath, like Munster are Kerry and Cork and Ulster are Tyrone and Armagh. End of story. Good luck to all.

jaysis 

[Peter Solan the Great]

There is no way of saying this nicely so as not to hurt the Sligo lads feelings but i think we are a far superior team. Lets face facts they are a Division 3 team (Not Division 2 untill next year) and there is a vast difference in quality between the 1st and the 3rd. I think Mayo will win by +7 possibly more.

I'd admire your confidence Peter. The Sligo boys would call it arrogance. If arrogance is misplaced confidence, then I'd agree with them. This is going alll the way to the wire. What will, for me, decide this game is if Sligo believe they win the game. They didn't against Galway and Kerry last year and got all rabbit in the headlights in the last few minutes. If they've developed from that, we're in for an upset. I just don't see Mayo playing well enough to win this on their own merits.

well said peter , i remeber the same defeatest crap befor the roscommon game last year absolutly no reason to fear sligo. their best player is well past his best and next to him is a mayo reject .Kelly is a handy corner forward but not the big burly type that cause mayo problems. I hope the mayo players have a littlebit more confidence in their abilities than most posters here. On one had slagging them  off for losing national finals and on the other urging caution against 3rd division teams.

As the game gets closer after 24 pages the Mayo arrogance & superiority complex over Sligo is beginning to raise its head-what took ye so long lads?

As regards the game and the likely lineups. Mayo will know the likely Sligo starting team and will have their team setup for each possibility. I think that the Sligo management need to change the approach or the lineup to throw Mayo off for the first few minutes - maybe start Sweeney and O'Hara in the full forward line early on to test Mayo's weakest line. However if we are getting little ball at midfield one of those 2 will have to move out to middle.

The Mayo team is harder to select but the injuries to Kilcoyne, Howley and Harte have made it slightly easier and absence of these 3 weakens their options. If B Moran & O Se start it will make it difficult for the Sligo full backs but they are able to cope with Harrisson picking up Mortimer

Mayo have often been accused of losing the run of themselves but you Sligo lads are taking it to a new Level i dont get where this over confidence is coming from. Mayo have beaten the likes Derry, Tyrone, Cork and Kerry away from home i think we should by all accounts beat Sligo and beat them well in theory. Its true i dont know alot about this Sligo team bar Costelloe, Kelly and O Hara but it would be a complete bottling act by Mayo if we lose, worrying for Sligo is we dont bottle it until we get to Croke Park. Mayo will be up for it we have a lot to prove.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Mayo news podcast is up and they expect this to be the team named.

                   Clarke

  Barrett     Cafferkey    Higgins

Vaughan    Cunniffe  McLoughlin

          Parsons   McGarrity

  Dillon     T Mortimer  A Moran

C Mortimer  B Moran   A O'Shea

...meaning no place for Gardiner, Varley, Freeman, Ronaldson or (surprisingly for me) Seamus O'Shea.

[Barney]

Well if Trevor Mortimer has done more to warrant a place then Seamus O'Shea.......

That would be the decision of a manager who has his hands tied by his poor previous decision to name Trevor captain, and Gardiner vice-captain. One of them has to start.

If Seamus was there I would be much much happier.

[Rossfan]

May I express my total bias on this one by wishing Shhhhliiiigo all the best and hope they can do the job.
I suspect they won't of  course.

[western exile]

You know it makes me laugh when I hear the likes of longfords, westmeaths, donegals go on about if they were in Connacht they have a better chance, when you see the shite of longford/louth donegal/down games, and we might face Galway or Mayo first round every yr, its way harder, any chance of letting Sligo into Ulster? You we might get an easier first rd match... Sligo are going to have to be alot better than any team in championship so far to beat mayo. No chance of easing ourselves in like 07..

Sligo get the better of Antrim (traditionally the 9th best football team in Ulster) in Div 3 and 4 league football, and you think that that makes them ready to survive  the fire and brimstone that is the Ulster Championship!   
Oh... the naiveté of the innocent 

[GBXII]

You know it makes me laugh when I hear the likes of longfords, westmeaths, donegals go on about if they were in Connacht they have a better chance, when you see the shite of longford/louth donegal/down games, and we might face Galway or Mayo first round every yr, its way harder, any chance of letting Sligo into Ulster? You we might get an easier first rd match... Sligo are going to have to be alot better than any team in championship so far to beat mayo. No chance of easing ourselves in like 07..

Sligo get the better of Antrim (traditionally the 9th best football team in Ulster) in Div 3 and 4 league football, and you think that that makes them ready to survive  the fire and brimstone that is the Ulster Championship!   
Oh... the naiveté of the innocent 

Idiotic comment all right.

[Farrandeelin]

At least Sligonian realises Mayo/Galway are the big 2 in Connacht.

[REDCOL]

There seems to be general consensus on the Mayo Team now.

Clarke

Barrett       Cafferkey    Higgins
Vaughan     Cunniffe     Mc Loughlin
            Parsons McGarrity
Moran     S O Shea      Mortimer
Mortimer      Freeman    Varley

Dillon will be a huge loss