Galway v Mayo Sunday May 19th 2013 - Pearse Stadium

[From the Bunker]

At last on to the real business of the year! 

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Hard to see past Galway after today.

[Captain Obvious]

Hard to see past Galway after today.

Would be the case if Galway were the same quality as Dublin.

[Syferus]

So who will win the right to lose to the Ros?

Walsh looks ready to start championship and Burke surely needs to feature at some point as well. Hard to judge Mayo properly after spending so much time without CO'C, Dillion and Andy. Should be an interesting game.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Sadly I don't think there is much to talk about in this game. I would rate Galway's chances of winning at somewhere around 15%. Galway might have a good team in a couple of years as we are back producing good underage sides again but they won't be a good team this year. Mayo were in the league semi-finals and Galway were firmly planted mid-table in division 2 which is probably an accurate reflection on where the sides are at.

The best argument I can make for even saying the game will be competitive is that Galway occasionally looked half-decent at home in the league (and terrible away from home) and that Salthill has very rarely been a happy hunting ground for Mayo. Best case scenario is we are competitive and still in the game with 10 minutes to go. Worst case scenario is we make a holy show of ourselves and get beaten out the gate. And then crash out in the first qualifier.

[muppet]

Sadly I don't think there is much to talk about in this game. I would rate Galway's chances of winning at somewhere around 15%. Galway might have a good team in a couple of years as we are back producing good underage sides again but they won't be a good team this year. Mayo were in the league semi-finals and Galway were firmly planted mid-table in division 2 which is probably an accurate reflection on where the sides are at.

The best argument I can make for even saying the game will be competitive is that Galway occasionally looked half-decent at home in the league (and terrible away from home) and that Salthill has very rarely been a happy hunting ground for Mayo. Best case scenario is we are competitive and still in the game with 10 minutes to go. Worst case scenario is we make a holy show of ourselves and get beaten out the gate. And then crash out in the first qualifier.

And when did that ever happen in Salthill against us?

Mayo, just.

But we need at least 3 of our injured players back, particularly Higgins.

[seafoid]

So who will win the right to lose to the Ros?

Walsh looks ready to start championship and Burke surely needs to feature at some point as well. Hard to judge Mayo properly after spending so much time without CO'C, Dillion and Andy. Should be an interesting game.

Mayo will steamroll Ros .

[From the Bunker]

Sadly I don't think there is much to talk about in this game. I would rate Galway's chances of winning at somewhere around 15%. Galway might have a good team in a couple of years as we are back producing good underage sides again but they won't be a good team this year. Mayo were in the league semi-finals and Galway were firmly planted mid-table in division 2 which is probably an accurate reflection on where the sides are at.

The best argument I can make for even saying the game will be competitive is that Galway occasionally looked half-decent at home in the league (and terrible away from home) and that Salthill has very rarely been a happy hunting ground for Mayo. Best case scenario is we are competitive and still in the game with 10 minutes to go. Worst case scenario is we make a holy show of ourselves and get beaten out the gate. And then crash out in the first qualifier.

And when did that ever happen in Salthill against us?

Mayo, just.

But we need at least 3 of our injured players back, particularly Higgins.

Don't be fooled GBB. Championship is a big leveler when it comes to Galway playing Mayo. When is the last big hiding one has given the other. I remember Mayo getting hammered in 1995. But these results are few and far between.

[Syferus]

So who will win the right to lose to the Ros?

Walsh looks ready to start championship and Burke surely needs to feature at some point as well. Hard to judge Mayo properly after spending so much time without CO'C, Dillion and Andy. Should be an interesting game.

Mayo will steamroll Ros .

Very doubtful 

Not buying the Galway poor mouth either, it's like the Queen inviting you to Buckingham and telling you she can barely afford the leccy bill.

[Blowitupref]

Last time these two met each other in the championship 6 points separated the sides. Since then Mayo have improved significantly while Galway are around the same level. Anything other than 4-6 point win for Mayo in this game will be shock.

[galwayman]

As someone who has played club football in Galway for a long time and been a huge follower of the Galway footballers for many years I take no pleasure in saying that I agree fully with GBB.
This is the worst Galway senior team that I can ever remember seeing. It is true that Galway-Mayo games have generally been close over the years (whether at minor, u21 or senior) and prior to this year I would always have given us a chance against Mayo regardless of our form in the run-in but this year is different.
Mayo are operating at a different level altogether than us. Although we hammered Roscommon last summer, I also believe that they would now beat us if we met them.
The fact we are playing at home to me means that the scoreline will probably be closer than it would have been had the game been played in McHale Park. But Mayo will still win simply because they are a better team than us at the moment.

I do think we will come again and be a force at senior level in years to come but it will take a few years.
We were absolutely dreadful away from home in the league this year - only scraping past Longford who lost all their games. We weren't even competitive in the other away games - hammered by Laois, Louth and Armagh - none of whom are exactly giants of the game at the moment!

Am not poor mouthing here - just giving an honest opinion on where we're at. I was at most of the league games this year - missed the Armagh game.
We don't have a settled team at the moment either.  Midfield has been chopped and changed constantly and we don't seem to be any closer to deciding on a partnership here. Likewise in the forwardline - Conroy has been moved all over the place & was even dropped for one of the games.
Cummins, Martin etc have been in and out of the team.
I dunno - my optimism is the lowest it's ever been as a Galway supporter.

The thing about it is that I don't believe Mayo are anything special themselves. It's just we are so poor at the moment.

[Syferus]

Any forward line that can call on the services of players like Galway have will cause some trouble to the opposition. Michael Meehan (whose first serious run of decent fitness in years should stand to him, even if he won't be as good as he was), Paul Conroy and probably Shane Walsh, a player who is every bit a star waiting to happen, is as talented a line as many of the top teams in the country.

It's about midfield rather than defence or attack, a young player like Fiotan O'C is going to have to pull a performance from the Seamie O'Neill category to deal with the sort of midfield Mayo have, even without Barry Moran.

I really don't know that there will be much in this game at all no matter what recent form says. I genuinely wouldn't be shocked by a Galway victory because Mayo have weaknesses you can exploit if you either by-pass the middle or come close to breaking even.

[GalwayBayBoy]

It's about midfield rather than defence or attack, a young player like Fiotan O'C is going to have to pull a performance from the Seamie O'Neill category to deal with the sort of midfield Mayo have, even without Barry Moran.

Without a doubt. Mayo have 3 or 4 assorted big lumps that they send on to patrol the centre of the field. Galway don't have any depth there at all. O'Curraoin will develop into a fine intercounty midfielder (I believe he won 13 kickouts in the U-21 final against Roscommon) but physically he has a way to go yet. When you see him in person he's tall but skinny as a rake. Tomas Flynn is just back from a long term injury and is also in the tall but skinny camp. These lads will be good maybe even very good in time but physically they have to get stronger if they are going to go up against Aidan O'Shea for the next decade. And they will but not in time for next month. After that Galway's best midfielder in the league was probably Niall Coleman who let's be honest has been tried plenty of times before and nobody feels he's the long term answer there. In fairness though he did play well during the league for the most part. Anthony Griffin played some games in midfield and did alright but only looked fit for one half of football.

[seafoid]

Mayo need a decent match. Ros won't tell them anything about themselves, syferus beal saibhir notwithstandind.  Mayo have to win the all ireland this year . What will it take?  Maybe they can find their Sam mojo in a ding dong battle versus Galway but Tuam would have  been even better. 

Of course Galway could surprise everyone but it is Mayo's match to lose.

[highorlow]

Hard to see past Galway after today.

Ross must be favorites for Connaught now? The winners of this game will give them a run though.