Mayo v Derry - NFL 2.02.08 Official Thread

[western exile]

come on IolarCoisCuain if you in the country at all derry isnt that far away about 3 hours from castlebar or belmullet make the effort then youll have a right to whinge next sept about tickets being hard to get and all that

Sadly I'm no longer in the country Ros. I'm in Dublin. Six hours up, six hours back. If I thought the Board would remember me in September paradise I would of course go, but we all know that attending league games doesn't count for diddly when September comes and your begging for tickets. Not a jot.

I'm strangely optimistic about this visit, funnily enough. From what I can figure, 11 and 14 are our two biggest problem positions. I'd give Austie a run at full-forward myself. I think the conditions might suit his game. God, isn't it great to have football back though, even if the online connection with Finno on Mid-West is as a close as we come?

Only if you go via Mayo! 
You can go motorway / dual carriageway  most of the way now if you wish.  No excuses!   

[Champ15]

ITs kinda complicated farendeelin but if a team gets relegated it effects their status for next years championship.Will have to check up the exact details as i cant remember off the top of my head.As far i know its only serious for weaker teams as they can end up only playing for the tommy murphy cup. 

[Champ15]

David Clarke is the only ballina player allowed play at the weekend.its the only game that hes allowed play in till after the all-ireland series is over.

[Barney]

Weather looking gloomy for Saturday night. Snow and ice would not be too inviting for a trek through Sligo and Donegal but we'll wait and see.

I guess we're looking at a line-up like this:

Clarke

Cunniffe
BJP
O'Malley

Barrett
Howley
Higgins

O Se
Gill

Mullins
Dillon
Kilcoyne

Mortimer
Moran
Moran

Although Gardiner may come in for Kilcoyne and play midfileld with Gill going to the wing.

Not exactly awe-inspiring.

[IolarCoisCuain]

It's only the league Barney. It's not meant to be awe-inspiring.

As regards the ballaragging I'm getting about the length of the trip, fair enough. I was wrong there. But it's still too far to go. Maybe I'll go to that Mayo meeting next week at the Garda club and Johnno himself can tell me all about it. Shure won't that be just as good?

[rosnarun]

ice and snow in the  north west this morning that why i left 2 days early to be sure to be sure. still a good day by letterkenny standards

[IolarCoisCuain]

ice and snow in the  north west this morning that why i left 2 days early to be sure to be sure. still a good day by letterkenny standards

[Bogball XV]

come on IolarCoisCuain if you in the country at all derry isnt that far away about 3 hours from castlebar or belmullet make the effort then youll have a right to whinge next sept about tickets being hard to get and all that

Sadly I'm no longer in the country Ros. I'm in Dublin. Six hours up, six hours back. If I thought the Board would remember me in September paradise I would of course go, but we all know that attending league games doesn't count for diddly when September comes and your begging for tickets. Not a jot.

I'm strangely optimistic about this visit, funnily enough. From what I can figure, 11 and 14 are our two biggest problem positions. I'd give Austie a run at full-forward myself. I think the conditions might suit his game. God, isn't it great to have football back though, even if the online connection with Finno on Mid-West is as a close as we come?

3 hrs each way max - that said I'll hardly make the trip myself, so....

[OirthearMhaigheo]

so its 'big andy' for full forward then. my original comment was an explanation of why mayo play the type of game they do. if you want to work that into an insult of some of our players then good luck.

I think ye're both right to be honest, A Moran and Dillon are both fairly small in height, well average height at best but both have bulked up alot the last couple of years, especially Andy, really strong lad at this stage. You still wouldn't rain high balls in on top of them though, that's what the other Moran is there for. I thought the big Castlebar man showed good promise up in the monsoon in Derry last summer, he was one of our few bright spots on one of the most miserable days for Mayo football in a long time, he gave the All-Star McCloy an awful tough time. I know he hasn't started this year too well but it's still only January.
Haven't seen too many exciting projects so far, and it looks like we will have a seriously weakened team on Saturday so I'd be surprised if we win. Avoiding relegation in the league will do me this year and try to peak when the real business starts.

[Captain Black]

i see pat spillane had derry as favourites for the league in his sunday world column - wouldnt say that though we are shaping up nicley

[Champ15]

I dont think we will be involved in a relegation battle. i think winning our homes games is essential even though there against three of the strongest teams in the division.we should be lookingif to get 6 points from them but its the away games that could prove crucial.we should be aiming to beat kildare and i think even a draw away to laois would be seen as a decent result at this early stage.If we lose at the weekend it wouldnt be a big blow as there is plenty of games left and i hope that going to omagh on the last day we have done enough because its a tough place to get a result even though we have had the upper hand in recent years in the league.

[western exile]

i see pat spillane had derry as favourites for the league in his sunday world column - wouldnt say that though we are shaping up nicley

That article would have gone to print before the 7.30pm throw in Saturday night of the McKenna Cup final, where Derry's weaknesses were exposed by Down.  He might have changed his mind by Sunday morning !

[Rav67]

i see pat spillane had derry as favourites for the league in his sunday world column - wouldnt say that though we are shaping up nicley

That article would have gone to print before the 7.30pm throw in Saturday night of the McKenna Cup final, where Derry's weaknesses were exposed by Down.  He might have changed his mind by Sunday morning !

Yeah I doubt he'd have made the same predction after Saturday night.  I'd say Derry willl be mid-table which I'll be happy enough with, with the divisions having changed its important to keep in the top tier and get hard games every year if you're going to make a real stab at the Championship.

[screenexile]

Agree with that Rav. We took a bit of a knock last weekend and I think this Mayo game is perfect at this stage as psychologically it can always be a boost to beat this Mayo team even if they are missing a lot of players. It suits us a lot better. To be fair we have a good chance of doing well in the league as I'd fancy us against Mayo, Laois, Tyrone, Kildare and Galway. Kerry and Donegal away will be tough games but we could possibly hold our own with it being just in the league. All I'd be looking for is us to have a few decent home performances and to maintain our division 1 status. That should stand us in good stead for the champioonship and sure we'll see how we go from there. Did any Derry supporters buy those 'Season Tickets'. I tried to buy one with a maestro card but was told that they can't accept them so I'm stuck paying full price for all games... Baxtards!

[western exile]

In today's Belfast Telegraph.

"We were very poor against Down and we can have no excuses. That form will never do against Mayo," said Crozier.

full article  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/article3390144.ece