Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

elefant

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

In our last 3 league matches, Galway played one of Corofins best forwards at number 6. Don't think he ever played in the backs before which shows just how much we are struggling there.

He played all his underage career in the backs for some absolutely exceptional Corofin teams. Big difference to inter-county senior football I know, but he's not a complete novice to defending.

TCDStudent1

elefant wrote: »

He played all his underage career in the backs for some absolutely exceptional Corofin teams. Big difference to inter-county senior football I know, but he's not a complete novice to defending.

Thanks - wasn't aware of that. Must've been some forward line for him not be played there!

TCDStudent1

jr86 wrote: »

It was a general comment really, not limited to the forwards!

Galway have 9 or 10 very good forwards, I don't think the best 6 are necessarily starting though

Walsh, Comer and Cummins should be certainties imo but from there there's plenty of options. Army's club form probably merits inclusion and Sice is hard to leave out. I don't agree with playing Flynn at 10 though and Brannigan mixes the good and the bad. Daly is a bit raw yet. Lundy unfortunately never reached the same heights as 2014 again.

I think Heaney is a good option at 12 rather than wing back myself.

You have the likes of Ian Burke and even Meehan to come in as well.

Galway are certainly capable of putting up a good score but they're about 8th best in Ireland now whereas we should be 2nd/3rd. And there should be a gulf there as a result - with all due respect

I think the name "Galway" puts some Mayo people on edge - particularly older generations. If this was Kildare (kick of the ball really between them and Galway) it'd be seen as a handy win by many

Yeah you've got your finger on the pulse regarding galway - I agree with pretty much everything you say. I think we will come reasonably close to starting our 6 best forwards.

WesternZulu

I wouldn't read into the result an awful lot. They did what they needed to do. I was hoping to see a bit more of something new, it all seems a bit jaded at this stage in terms of forward play.
The defense is immense and midfield is solid but there is nothing inventive in their forward approach.

The more I think about it the more Aidan O'Shea should be left at no.11 for Mayo.
They need someone to break the halfback line and actually be incisive. There is no place for Conor O'Shea in a counties forward line that has aspirations to be in the championship come August.

Clarke's short kick-outs also need improvement. It's something that's so important in the modern game but he is nowhere near the standards set by Cluxton.

charlie14

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

One of those games that you just have to win, get changed and get home. Nothing to be gained from putting the foot to the throat. They were never in danger of losing.

Watching that game I never really felt Mayo were in any great danger of losing against a very limited Sligo team who had no great ambitions or belief of winning. Playing one forward first half when they had a strong breeze showed that early on.
That said do you really want to leave yourself in the position of being only 3 points up with 9 minutes to go!
In an end of season middle table league game no great sense in going all out putting the foot to the throat, but this was championship where being absolutely ruthless too the final ball should be the total mindset regardless imo

jay0109

Blackjack wrote: »

Learn to count there like a good lady.

Your right, on rewatching it last night it was at least 12 steps?
No?

yop

jay0109 wrote: »

Your right, on rewatching it last night it was at least 12 steps?
No?

It was indeed

He was fouled and advantage played. But if it was the other way around I wouldn't have been too happy.

WesternZulu

jr86 wrote: »

Galway have 9 or 10 very good forwards, I don't think the best 6 are necessarily starting though

Have they though, they have Comer and Walsh but I'm not sure than any of the others would make a Mayo team that's often criticised because of their poor forwards?

Stereotypes often stick! Lazy journalists are quick to point out that Galway have great attackers, because Galway had exceptional forwards back in the day, but I'm not convinced that they are any better than Mayo's.

PressRun

Are Galway going to play in a similar style to how they played in the league final? Is that a style of play that they're looking to persist with long term?

MayoAreMagic

WesternZulu wrote: »

Have they though, they have Comer and Walsh but I'm not sure than any of the others would make a Mayo team that's often criticised because of their poor forwards?

Stereotypes often stick! Lazy journalists are quick to point out that Galway have great attackers, because Galway had exceptional forwards back in the day, but I'm not convinced that they are any better than Mayo's.

Exactly right. The thing is Galways forwards are being judged on playing in D2 while Mayo's are judged on not beating Dublin in all Ireland finals.
I like Galway's forwards, but do people think Comer would do the same damage with 3 Dublin defenders mauling him? Would Walsh be as effective while being double marked with guys taking turns trying to get a rise out of him?

On the topic of the Sligo game, I thought Sligo utilised the tactical foul very effectively to stop Mayo breaking. It was a big factor in keeping the game so close in the first half. Fair play to them for that, but our lads were naïve in staying on their feet and not getting these guys a black card, which would have killed off this tactic early doors.

Personally, I thought the challenge on mcloughlin was nasty. The Sligo chb lined him up as he was picking up the ball. It was dangerous play

PARlance

jay0109 wrote: »

Your right, on rewatching it last night it was at least 12 steps?
No?

I think he took about 3 steps.... right at the end when technically, he didn't have to ball under control. About 9 steps before that though.

PARlance

charlie14 wrote: »

Watching that game I never really felt Mayo were in any great danger of losing against a very limited Sligo team who had no great ambitions or belief of winning. Playing one forward first half when they had a strong breeze showed that early on.
That said do you really want to leave yourself in the position of being only 3 points up with 9 minutes to go!
In an end of season middle table league game no great sense in going all out putting the foot to the throat, but this was championship where being absolutely ruthless too the final ball should be the total mindset regardless imo

Copper made a great point about Boland's fisted point. I thought it was a fantastic score after a well worked move. Copper said that we should have been thinking about nothing but a goal when in that position, that's what Dublin or Kerry would be looking for. That ruthless streak needs to be there irrespective of the opposition.

Saying that, it could have been a lot different if Durcan had taken his chance. Iirc there was about 20 left and it would have put us 6 up. If it went in I think it would have turned into a procession.

Coillte_Bhoy

Green Peter wrote: »

According to Paul Kimmage in the info, mayo will never win an all Ireland in his lifetime! I hear he's as healthy as a rat!

It was the interviewee who said it. Try and get the simple facts right

yop

Green Peter wrote: »

According to Paul Kimmage in the info, mayo will never win an all Ireland in his lifetime! I hear he's as healthy as a rat!

Wasnt Paul Kimmage, that other no one lad Connolly.

Coillte_Bhoy

yop wrote: »

Wasnt Paul Kimmage, that other no one lad Connolly.

Eh?

yop

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Eh?

I never copped u had posted that! Same as you, Connolly said it, no Kimmage.

jr86

WesternZulu wrote: »

Have they though, they have Comer and Walsh but I'm not sure than any of the others would make a Mayo team that's often criticised because of their poor forwards?

Stereotypes often stick! Lazy journalists are quick to point out that Galway have great attackers, because Galway had exceptional forwards back in the day, but I'm not convinced that they are any better than Mayo's.

Id take Sean Armstrong on form but I suppose it's hard to measure the whole thing relatively.

Probably playing his best ever football for Salthill

Galway's forwards might not walk into the top sides but that doesn't mean they're not very good in their own right

If you think I'm basing this on what journalists say- forget it, I've been based im galway years now since college, play my club football here, and go to more club matches here than I can even count.

jr86

PARlance wrote: »

Copper made a great point about Boland's fisted point. I thought it was a fantastic score after a well worked move. Copper said that we should have been thinking about nothing but a goal when in that position, that's what Dublin or Kerry would be looking for. That ruthless streak needs to be there irrespective of the opposition.

Saying that, it could have been a lot different if Durcan had taken his chance. Iirc there was about 20 left and it would have put us 6 up. If it went in I think it would have turned into a procession.

I thought Boland should have buried that myself.

MayoAreMagic

jr86 wrote: »

I thought Boland should have buried that myself.

He probably should have but Id cut him some slack on that one. It was his first championship game and he had missed a bad one in the first half. Going for it and missing was probably in his thinking.

charlie14

jr86 wrote: »

Id take Sean Armstrong on form but I suppose it's hard to measure the whole thing relatively.

Probably playing his best ever football for Salthill

Galway's forwards might not walk into the top sides but that doesn't mean they're not very good in their own right

If you think I'm basing this on what journalists say- forget it, I've been based im galway years now since college, play my club football here, and go to more club matches here than I can even count.

Galway may have sprung a sprung a surprise last year on Mayo, but perhaps a few things should be taken into account on that.

That was in Mc Hale not Salthill and Galway have gained promotion to Division One since.
I would look on them as a better settled side this year than last, and they have home advantage, even if for Galway that seems to be a bit hit and miss where Salthill is concerned.

Bonniedog

The subhead on Kimmage story is completely misleading!

As someone who gets occasional stuff published sub eds are a fkn torment. Obviously one of them picked that quote and stuck it on front to sell the piece. Wouldn't imagine Kimmage - who has minimal interest in GAA anyway - was too happy!

Paper never refuses ink as they say!

boosabum

i found the his story about the stats guy letting his clipboard fall at half time in a league game far more insulting, seemed a petty response to a stupid comment

Say Your Number

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

On the topic of the Sligo game, I thought Sligo utilised the tactical foul very effectively to stop Mayo breaking. It was a big factor in keeping the game so close in the first half. Fair play to them for that, but our lads were naïve in staying on their feet and not getting these guys a black card, which would have killed off this tactic early doors.

Mayo fan behind me nearly gave himself an aneurysm roaring at the Ref about that, I thought it was gas.

There was a double hop in the lead up to the first goal, I didn't feel the urge to charge onto the field and go after the Ref about it. (I'm no bull)

I thought it would play out similarly to the Sligo/NY game, with Sligo pushing Mayo for a good while with Mayo pulling away at the end, although if Sligo levelled it up with that goal chance with 10 minutes left you wouldn't know what would happen next.

I'm still a bit traumatised after the 2015 game, so I wasn't overly disappointed about the result, Mayo will be there or thereabouts come September.

PressRun

boosabum wrote: »

i found the his story about the stats guy letting his clipboard fall at half time in a league game far more insulting, seemed a petty response to a stupid comment

Kind of incredible that the guy is still dwelling on an encounter in a lift from like 3 years ago.

Panrich

jr86 wrote: »

I thought Boland should have buried that myself.

The best play there was a little dink across to Jason D who was unmarked at the far post.

Blackjack

PressRun wrote: »

Kind of incredible that the guy is still dwelling on an encounter in a lift from like 3 years ago.

Sounded very bitter about a nothing incident alright.

jr86

Panrich wrote: »

The best play there was a little dink across to Jason D who was unmarked at the far post.

On a side note I thought Doherty had a very stellar cameo, worked like a trojan off the ball and showed brilliantly

Mayo's most underrated player of this era imo

Fr Tod Umptious

Panrich wrote: »

The best play there was a little dink across to Jason D who was unmarked at the far post.

I'm a big fan of the fisted point.

It's the sign of a smart player.

Remember Meath v Westmeath a few years back, Meath could have fisted a point late in injury time to level the game and probably bring it to a replay but instead went for a goal that ended up in a turnover and a goal down the other end for Westmeath, game over.

If I recall Boland's point came at a time when Mayo were making heavy going of it and Sligo were picking off a few scores.

It was a good score to settle Mayo down.

Blackjack

jr86 wrote: »

On a side note I thought Doherty had a very stellar cameo, worked like a trojan off the ball and showed brilliantly

Mayo's most underrated player of this era imo

Himself and to a lesser extent Kevin Mc the 2 that do so much of the heavy lifting that goes unappreciated.

aidan24326

PressRun wrote: »

Are Galway going to play in a similar style to how they played in the league final? Is that a style of play that they're looking to persist with long term?

Quite probably yes. As a Galwayman I wouldn't be thrilled about seeing 13 players in our own half, it's never really been the Galway way of playing football but I can understand why Kevin Walsh is implementing that sort of tactic. Our defence is very weak and if we were to go man to man against any of the top teams, Mayo included, we'd be in trouble.

jr86 wrote: »

On a side note I thought Doherty had a very stellar cameo, worked like a trojan off the ball and showed brilliantly

Mayo's most underrated player of this era imo

Since a couple of Mayo posters including yourself have spoken highly of Doherty I will keep a closer eye on him the next day. I've always liked those players that do the unseen dirty work that doesn't grab the headlines, they can be crucial.

However in the big games Mayo have played over the last few years I just didn't see it, to me Doherty always looked to be playing on the periphery, never really contributing enough for a forward starting in a top 3 team, and certainly not contributing a lot on the scoreboard.