Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

naughto wrote: »

Could we say that the sending off cost us the game?

It did as allowed Johnny Heaney sweep up. Cillian O'Connor won most balls in first half that were kicked into him when Galway had no sweeper.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Rochford made some terrible decisions on the line today. Taking off Moran and McLoughlin when you need scores. Hmmmm

There obviously not a full game in him. Would it not be better to bring him on for last 20/25 minutes?

finisklin wrote: »

Can't fault Regan at the end. He is not shy, saw the chance and went for it. Plus previous errors paled in comparison - 2 potential points
.

Yes you can. Poor shot selection and even worse execution. Useless. Useless. Useless.

What was Regan thinking.

The lack of on the shoulder running was a problem for mayo. We seemed to be passing to guy who were standing still.

I thought Rochford should have put Kirby in midfield and let aido in full forward.

I think the sending off did affect us. Lads were dropping with cramp and Galway got scores on the counter that they might not have got with a full 15.

Mayo seem to have an issue getting tackles in and turning it over. They don't seem to do enough.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Hard to do that when he is not even on the bench.,

I was referring to Andy Moran

Royal Legend wrote: »

Posted this in the Galway thread by mistake earlier.
until today I thought the vitriol pointed at Cillian O'Connor that he got away with a lot was just sour grapes, but had to change my mind today, he got a player sent off very cleverly, even though at first viewing I thought it was a bang on black card, he also in the first half made contact twice with a Galway players face, the Galway Player got booked! and also when he got his yellow in the second it imo should have been red as he clearly struck the Galway player twice after the initial foul.
He defo plays right on the edge, great footballer but could easily have seen red today for some stupid stuff

The black card was very similar to the James McCarthy black card in the AI drawn match. Could it be that O'Connor is using this 'tactic' to deliberately get players black carded? I hope not but they seemed like 2 very similar incidents to me.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

The black card was very similar to the James McCarthy black card in the AI drawn match. Could it be that O'Connor is using this 'tactic' to deliberately get players black carded? I hope not but they seemed like 2 very similar incidents to me.

Sorry but James McCarthy deliberately blocked a man tryin to get to the man in possession. This crap about mccarthy being stitched up is completely untrue. It was a cynical 3rd man tackle and he knew what he was doing 100%. People took the hump that oconnor went to ground, but it is like in a game of soccer, where if a guy is fouled in the box and doesnt go to ground, it ends up not being given.

On the one today. Tom Flynn knew he was going to be in O'Connors way, any guy who has played football will tell you that. While he didnt have to move into the way, he made sure oconnor wasnt going to get by either. Was it a black card Id say no because the play came to him - but it was a foul. However, if the ref dishes out a black instead of just calling a foul, that is hardly o'connor's fault in fairness.

Personally, I think galway got a few breaks on the day that swung the game their way. The red card was a big factor obviously and Bradshaw was lucky that he wasnt the man to even things up at 14 each. There were a few small things at big moments. For example the clearance off the line where the guy then goes to ground, probably should be a free in rather than out. There was another where a kickout rebounds off a few hands and drops right into paul conroys path on the run. He then went to ground very easily and got a free in, which was kicked over. Down the other end a few minutes later keegan went to ground similarly easily and didnt get the free. Sometimes you just need a few things to go your way and they went for galway this time. Best of luck to them

naughto wrote: »

Chin up my friend we are not done yet we are close but not yet.
We will get through the qualifying like we did last yr.
We will get better with ever game as long as we have no major injuries and we can sort out the kick outs we can go on a run to Crocker.

My heart is broken for those players
I'm ALWAYS positive about our chances and stubborn in the face of any criticism
But for the first time in 6 years I just don't see it
Limerick will haunt me for many mire years

First time since then that I'm genuinely upset after a game

km79 wrote: »

I'm at my lowest ebb since the longford game

Chin up my friend,think how the lads are feeling themselves.:)

Time for the post mortem.

First of all congratulations to Galway.I have long believed this Galway team are on the way up and they proved last year's win was no once off.There was some real quality performances on the pitch today.Damian Comer,Michael Daly and Sean Armstrong in particular stood out in the forwards.Comer is a class act,a few beautiful scores taken with and without the assistance of the wind.Armstrong was very good off the ground with his frees most especially the 45s against the wind although he missed a couple.

Michael Daly is another class act,gliding around the pitch at pace with no lack of pomp and grace and taking his scores.Gary Sice chipped in with a vital free,it says something for the quality of the Galway forward line that an injured Danny Cummins,Michael Lundy,Barry McHugh,Michael Farragher and Micha?l Meehan are on the bench.So much quality throughout the team in Conroy,Flynn,O Curraoin,O Donnell,Bradshaw.Kieran Molloy and Peter Cooke other promising under 21s.Yet defensively Galway will most definitely have to improve.

After a great start by the Tribesmen I thought we settled in very well with the help of the Kevin McLoughlin and in fact were a tad wasteful in front of the posts,in particular Cillian.I thought we were controlling the game very well playing into a very strong wind until Keith Higgins sending off which was a huge blow.Not only did it mean we'd to play 45 minutes with a man down but the man lost was central to our defensive shield.No excuses for Keith whose action was totally out of character.I'm sure there's nobody beating themselves up more than Keith himself.

In spite of all that we only went in a point shy at the interval and I remained confident we could pull it out of the bag with the wind at our backs.I did legislate for the great start that Galway made to the second half,we were in real trouble when they ran at us.

Yet we spurned a multitude of chances,some easy and others not so easy when the game was in the melting pot.I was surprised Seamie O Shea was not called ashore earlier,he has had better days.Our much vaunted half back only partially functioned.Andy Moran was called ashore having had the beating of his man for long periods.I thought Stephen Coen was ineffectual.Diarmuid O Connor's loss of form is very worrying,a much below par performance by the standards we measure him.

I thought the game was crying out for the introduction of Aidan O Shea and Danny Kirby much earlier,Aidan's injury is obviously significant.I understood the logic of putting Aidan in the middle as I thought we struggled to get a strong foothold in this sector and Tom Parsons rose his performance post Aidan's intro.Yet we were crying out for Aidan to be stationed in the square too.The Galway goalkeeper Rory Lavelle alongside his full back line was vulnerable all day on kickouts and general play.Although we were a man down I thought in the second half we could have pressed up higher on the Galway kickouts splitting the full back line.A few long kickouts were forced down on Aidan O Shea.Evan Regan's shot selection at the death was unforgivable,a couple of hail marys seeking the glory.

The positives,I'm not as down in the dumps as many seem to be.There is inevitably the issue with David Clarke's kickouts but the receivers must take their share of the culpability for any scores conceded.Chris Barrett put in a very good shift.Ger Caff had a solid outing and Cillian O Connor was yet again our go to man,shame about the pressure cooker last free kick.I know many outsiders dislike his antics,I agree Tom Flynn was very unlucky with the black card and Cillian really does play right on the edge and I never like to see any lad step over it,Mayo man or not.Well done to Fergal Boland.

I thought Donie Vaughan had a decent first half but I was perplexed as to why the heartbeat of our team Colm Boyle did not start,ditto Jason Doherty.
Anyway it's on to the qualifiers and I'm not ready to write off this squad,they've proven me wrong on too many occasions.Let's all try to put it in a bit of context,we lost a top quality contest to an ever improving quality Galway team whilst a man down for a long period.We may meet again later in the summer for a rematch.

Is the draw tomorrow morning or the following Monday once the other semis have been completed?

PressRun wrote: »

What do people think about Keegan playing number 6? I think there are better ways of using him.

What would you do with him?

Mayo certainly look like a team that needs freshening up. They don't seem to have many good enough to come in so maybe that freshening up could be changing Keegans position. Not ideal to be making radical changes mid championship. However I remember in 2001, Galway moved Tomas Mannion to number 6 after losing to Roscommon and it proved to be a catalyst for their success.

PressRun wrote: »

He's better bombing up the wing, imo. He used to play 5. Shackling him back in the centre is a waste. He seemed to be doing essentially another man marking job today. He should be released a bit more.

Aah ok thought you were going to suggest something more dramatic!

PressRun wrote: »

No. He is the best half back in the country and that is where he should play. But he should be given more freedom. He can kick off both feet and is a great man for getting up the pitch. He needs to be allowed to get forward a bit more and be a bit more creative. Same for Paddy Durcan.

Yeah, I agree. I would play him at 5 as well.