Mayo v Galway 26.6.11

[AbbeySider]

4 an outfield player must take the 45's or else just play them short if no one has the legs for it.

This kind of opinion baffles me - out of curiosity why do some people have the opinion that it has to be an outfield player who kicks 45s?
The reality is that there are not a huge number of footballers who have the distance to kick 45s from the ground. And anyway most free takers take kicks from the hands in modern day football. Goalkeepers on pretty much every team have the distance required to convert 45s and take more kicks from the ground than any other player.
Surely they are the most qualified then to attempt to convert 45s?
Look at Cluxtons success rate for the Dubs from long range frees for instance (and I know not many keepers have his accuracy from the placed ball by the way).

Am I imagining it or did ye're keeper not kick 2 long range points for ye on Sunday?

+1

[Mayo4Sam]

The worst game I have seen in 30 years

1993 Connacht final is still the worst game i have seen.

Wash your mouth out Ross4Life, how could it be when Knockmore men won it on their own? O'Neill, Dempsey and Stanton did all the scoring

[ildanach]

4 an outfield player must take the 45's or else just play them short if no one has the legs for it.

This kind of opinion baffles me - out of curiosity why do some people have the opinion that it has to be an outfield player who kicks 45s?
The reality is that there are not a huge number of footballers who have the distance to kick 45s from the ground. And anyway most free takers take kicks from the hands in modern day football. Goalkeepers on pretty much every team have the distance required to convert 45s and take more kicks from the ground than any other player.
Surely they are the most qualified then to attempt to convert 45s?
Look at Cluxtons success rate for the Dubs from long range frees for instance (and I know not many keepers have his accuracy from the placed ball by the way).

Am I imagining it or did ye're keeper not kick 2 long range points for ye on Sunday?

he did, but he had a return of 2 from 7 and fell on his arse twice hitting them. i have no problem a keeper hitting them but in our case it is not working.

[RedandGreenSniper]

A six point win over the old enemy and there's more questions than answers on this board. The more things change, the more they stay the same

I'd start pretty much the same team for the Connacht Final. Cunniffe might be under pressure but that should be it. McGarrity has a lot of work to do to be in contention, fitness wise. That wouldn't have been apparent from his ten minute cameo on Sunday.

Hennelly should take long range frees because he's our best long range free-taker, simple as. Closer to goal Dillon needs to improve but can do so. Maybe Cillian O'Connor is an option, on both sides.

[ross4life]

Andy Moran was Mayo's main man/leader on Sunday. game is up on RTE real player watch it again guys & u'll see almost every chance went through him. Dillon wasn't at his best but was still better than most of Galway's forwards.

Most teams that are going places need at least 4 good scoring forwards & in Dillon,Moran,Freeman,Doherty Mayo have that.

[kevmy]

Andy Moran was Mayo's main man/leader on Sunday. game is up on RTE real player watch it again guys & u'll see almost every chance went through him. Dillon wasn't at his best but was still better than most of Galway's forwards.

Most teams that are going places need at least 4 good scoring forwards & in Dillon,Moran,Freeman,Doherty Mayo have that.

Andy Moran is a leader but I think there's plenty of improvement in him. He did set up lots of scored but also wasted a good bit of ball - more so in the first half. Dropping him would be crazy - who do they think would replace him?

As for Dillon it was far from his best day on Sunday, missed frees and scoring chances and seems to be lacking a bit in confidence. But he kept working all day and showed for ball. We know he has class and he has the All-Star to prove it. We can not afford to drop a natural footballer like him even if he's not at his best right now.

[ross matt]

Might as well throw in my tuppence worth on Sunday's game.
It's always good to beat Galway and when you beat them by 6 points you would usually think Mayo are going places.
But that was the worst Galway championship performance against Mayo that I have ever witnessed.

I was very happy with most of the Mayo players, and the team as a unit. The defence were very good - the two Feeneys, Cunniffe and Vaughan especially. PJ was causing a fair bit of trouble for Keith Higgins in the first half. Joyce tired as the game went on though, and wasn't much of a threat from then on. T Mort did fairly well but also gave away some very sloppy ball in the first half. He scored a good point from play when we needed it and when our freetakers were making a balls of it.
The two O'Sheas did very well in the middle as did McGarrity when he came on. We now seem to have options there, and it will be hard to budge either of the O'Sheas from their starting places.
I thought McLoughlin got through a massive amount of work. I always thought he was a bit too light for senior football, but it was no hindrance to him on Sunday, he was excellent.

Alan and  had poor games by their standards, but thankfully the other forwards were able to do what was needed. Freeman had a poor first half, he couldn't pick the ball up at all (neither could a few others), but he had a very good second half when he moved out the field a bit. Doherty was quiet enough, but we have seen how dangerous he can be when he gets the opportunity so I would stick with him.
I thought Cillian O'Connor did well when he got on the ball, was unlucky with one great point attempt and could have got a goal. Showed plenty of potential.

All in all, we're definitely going in the right direction and I can't feckin wait for the Connacht final in a packed Hyde!

Watch it on TV Tubberman. Moran was the most infleuntial player in the whole match.

[Tubberman]

Might as well throw in my tuppence worth on Sunday's game.
It's always good to beat Galway and when you beat them by 6 points you would usually think Mayo are going places.
But that was the worst Galway championship performance against Mayo that I have ever witnessed.

I was very happy with most of the Mayo players, and the team as a unit. The defence were very good - the two Feeneys, Cunniffe and Vaughan especially. PJ was causing a fair bit of trouble for Keith Higgins in the first half. Joyce tired as the game went on though, and wasn't much of a threat from then on. T Mort did fairly well but also gave away some very sloppy ball in the first half. He scored a good point from play when we needed it and when our freetakers were making a balls of it.
The two O'Sheas did very well in the middle as did McGarrity when he came on. We now seem to have options there, and it will be hard to budge either of the O'Sheas from their starting places.
I thought McLoughlin got through a massive amount of work. I always thought he was a bit too light for senior football, but it was no hindrance to him on Sunday, he was excellent.

Alan and  had poor games by their standards, but thankfully the other forwards were able to do what was needed. Freeman had a poor first half, he couldn't pick the ball up at all (neither could a few others), but he had a very good second half when he moved out the field a bit. Doherty was quiet enough, but we have seen how dangerous he can be when he gets the opportunity so I would stick with him.
I thought Cillian O'Connor did well when he got on the ball, was unlucky with one great point attempt and could have got a goal. Showed plenty of potential.

All in all, we're definitely going in the right direction and I can't feckin wait for the Connacht final in a packed Hyde!

Watch it on TV Tubberman. Moran was the most infleuntial player in the whole match.

I watched the highlights earlier and he was definitely centrally involved in our best moves in the second half, so I was overly harsh on him there.
He was wasteful in the first half though, took on a few crazy efforts at points when he should have played the ball to someone in a better position.
That stuck in my mind because I had seen him do that a lot in the past. But happy to say he was very good in the second half, looked better than I had thought when I was at the match.

[Lar Naparka]

Abbey, then you also would be walking straight into a trap....
Does the answer to that question really matter? Why try to prolong the "discussion?"
I'm a wee bit surprised that a number of experienced and normally sensible posters felt the need to ask the question at all.

What kind of world would we live in if hair-brain and stupid ideas were left unchecked Lar?

I see you point about everyone falling for the Wind Up Merchant, but it wasnt a once off. The kid seems to have a serious bee in his bonnet to come out with such statements and I suppose everyone is waiting for him to back them up, if he can.

I'm being totally serious here:
The world would be in an even worse state if every hare-brained and provocative comment was to be challenged. I don't see any attempt to seek support for anything in the posts you and the others concerned are steamed up about.
It's WUM, WUM, WUM all the way.
I fully accept that you and the other lads are incensed by what you have read but by responding you're giving the culprit the attention he craves.
Put it another way:
When you read through the posts here from all sides; Mayo, Galway, Rossies and others, could anyone with a smidgin of wit really expect to get support for the crap this gent has come out with?
Nah.. I don't think so either.

[AbbeySider]

Abbey, then you also would be walking straight into a trap....
Does the answer to that question really matter? Why try to prolong the "discussion?"
I'm a wee bit surprised that a number of experienced and normally sensible posters felt the need to ask the question at all.

What kind of world would we live in if hair-brain and stupid ideas were left unchecked Lar?

I see you point about everyone falling for the Wind Up Merchant, but it wasnt a once off. The kid seems to have a serious bee in his bonnet to come out with such statements and I suppose everyone is waiting for him to back them up, if he can.

I'm being totally serious here:
The world would be in an even worse state if every hare-brained and provocative comment was to be challenged. I don't see any attempt to seek support for anything in the posts you and the others concerned are steamed up about.
It's WUM, WUM, WUM all the way.
I fully accept that you and the other lads are incensed by what you have read but by responding you're giving the culprit the attention he craves.
Put it another way:
When you read through the posts here from all sides; Mayo, Galway, Rossies and others, could anyone with a smidgin of wit really expect to get support for the crap this gent has come out with?
Nah.. I don't think so either.

Infinite wisdom Lar!b
I will know better next time   

[galwayman]

Also re ye're long range free taking I remember seeing highlights of the Mayo v Offaly minor AI quarter final last year and Cillian O'Connor kicked a few monster frees from the ground that day. Does take any frees at all for Ballintubber?

[ludermor]

4 an outfield player must take the 45's or else just play them short if no one has the legs for it.

This kind of opinion baffles me - out of curiosity why do some people have the opinion that it has to be an outfield player who kicks 45s?
The reality is that there are not a huge number of footballers who have the distance to kick 45s from the ground. And anyway most free takers take kicks from the hands in modern day football. Goalkeepers on pretty much every team have the distance required to convert 45s and take more kicks from the ground than any other player.
Surely they are the most qualified then to attempt to convert 45s?
Look at Cluxtons success rate for the Dubs from long range frees for instance (and I know not many keepers have his accuracy from the placed ball by the way).

Am I imagining it or did ye're keeper not kick 2 long range points for ye on Sunday?

he did, but he had a return of 2 from 7 and fell on his arse twice hitting them. i have no problem a keeper hitting them but in our case it is not working.

While he obviously has no problem with distance it seems to me like he doesnt have a proper run up technique ( seems like just take a few steps back without too much thought) but im sure this could be worked on . Id have no issue with a goalie taking long range frees at all if he is relatively sucessful.

[ross4life]

Also re ye're long range free taking I remember seeing highlights of the Mayo v Offaly minor AI quarter final last year and Cillian O'Connor kicked a few monster frees from the ground that day. Does take any frees at all for Ballintubber?

He took them v Killererin back in November & kicked alot of them into the keepers hands. I'd say that game is one of the reasons why Horan doesn't have O'Connor on frees but i have seen Cillian knock frees over in Croke park as 17 year old without minimal fuss.

[AbbeySider]

Also re ye're long range free taking I remember seeing highlights of the Mayo v Offaly minor AI quarter final last year and Cillian O'Connor kicked a few monster frees from the ground that day. Does take any frees at all for Ballintubber?

He took them v Killererin back in November

Did he I am not so sure. Dillon and Cillians brother Padraic O Connor were on frees if I am not mistaken.
I definitely remember Cillian taking one at the very end of the game...

[ross4life]

Also re ye're long range free taking I remember seeing highlights of the Mayo v Offaly minor AI quarter final last year and Cillian O'Connor kicked a few monster frees from the ground that day. Does take any frees at all for Ballintubber?

He took them v Killererin back in November

Did he I am not so sure. Dillon and Cillians brother Padraic O Connor were on frees if I am not mistaken.
I definitely remember Cillian taking one at the very end of the game...

Maybe i am mixing him up with his brother but i'm nearly sure the pressure kicks at the end were kicked by Cillian.