Mayo GAA Discussion

I was gonna say, I'd love to see the stats because it didn't look to me like we were winning much in the middle at all. Back in the day, we had the likes of McLoughlin and Doherty who were really smart around the breaking ball in particular, but no one like that there the last day. No point playing a high press game if the middle is winning nothing - leaves the defence totally vulnerable.

I think Roscommon's last couple of points put a gloss on that. They were cracking points, but their shooting was poor for most of the second half. It was a very poor match in general.

It's a cliché, but the goals definitely won the game on Sunday. If Coen's had went in, I think the Rossies would have probably have had opened up a fair bit more.

Agree with that. Cillian's point from play out wide into the wind was the most difficult from either side. Roscommon didn't score a point from play until the 61st minute.

Goals were obviously the difference.

Not at all.

I was referring to the post above that said Roscommon kicked points from harder angles and distances.

Obviously Roscommon deserved to win the last day.

This is correct. The goals were absolutely huge. Sure, Roscommon didn't score a point from play until the 60th minute!! Everything went Roscommon's way yesterday but credit to them because they are definitely not man-for-man as good as Mayo but they bridged that gap with organization and intensity in their play. Then when they had some chances to shoot and with the wind at their back they took their chances.

Bar Coen's effort which was a little unlucky, Mayo absolutely butchered their numerous chances. Ryan's pass to Tommy was awful and then Tommy not only missed the point but the pass back across goal to Aiden who likely would have buried it. Jordan Flynn not having a shot from about 40 metres into an empty goal - yes it was against the wind but just kick it hard towards the goal and it likely bounces in before the defender gets back. McStay definitely should have pulled the trigger in the 2nd half too.

Aidan O'Shea IMO twice fouled his man on those throw up balls and player of his experience didn't or shouldn't be making those type of fouls.

On Enda Smith advantage the rules states

Foul Subsequent to Advantage Award

If, during the advantage period, a foul is committed by a player of the team which was originally fouled then the advantage is cancelled and a free kick/puck awarded for the “second” foul.

If, during the advantage period, another foul is committed against the team which received the original advantage, then a free kick/puck will be awarded for the “second” foul if it is considered more advantageous than the original.

My reading of the Roscommon advantage was that he was fouled again, that's why the free was given where it was given.

Each delay on kick out was probably just on the verge of a hop ball but not quite, cumatively very frustrating but each on their own merits probably nothing in it. Excellent by the Rossies it has to be said.

You say that like there was a second foul later in the move, but there was no second foul in the play.

There was other instances also. When ruane unceremoniously kicks the ball back down the field along the ground to the roscommon corner forward from which they get a very soft free, loftus is blatantly held back the arm when he has won possession.

When mayo hold onto the ball for an age before conroy turns it over, d oconnor is fouled in beside the posts, then later in the same move, coyne is called for touching the ball on the ground, when it isnt being touched on the ground at all. Murtagh breaks down the field and scores.

Again, Im not trying to say mayo should have won, im saying that objectively speaking, the rules were not applied correctly.

Agree re the ref allowing Roscommon to time waste the entire game, fake injuries and basically not play football. Also Mayo were given an advantage by the referee late in the game, similar to Roscommon were. He didn’t grant Mayo a free subsequently when they ran ahead with the ball and lost it. Seemed unfair as in the exact same situation, Roscommon were awarded a free when it was deemed the advantage was lost.

The ref was poor but I hope the focus remains on our own poor display over the next few weeks. I hope the management have a serious think about some things, none moreso than the CB position. Midfield isn't too far off needing a shake up either.

Loftus or Jason Doc at CB is absolutely bananas imo. I'm hoping they see that fairly soon.

Loads of discussion in the county about the ref, but some of it is clutching at straws - like the comments from MayoAreMagic above. All refs will make some mistakes in matches. When I saw the match live in Castlebar, I thought he was awful. But when watching it back on tv (with the benefit of replay and rewind), he did very little wrong. A O'Shea drew out his left elbow in the second throw up. I'm sure he meant it as a means to give himself leverage to catch the ball. But it connected with the Rossies guy head/neck area. And the ref is there looking at it. I don't see anything wrong with the ref blowing it up. It doesn't matter if it was accidental. Still cant elbow the guy in the head area. I saw Coyne, O'Connor, Conroy O'Shea taking the ball into a swarm of Roscommon guys, but I didn't see any fouls by the roscommon defenders. Just headless play by Mayo. I think AIdan O'SHea was lucky not to receive a red card, never mind a black card towards the end of the game. He wasn't just standing his ground. He stepped to the right to make sure the Rossies guy wasn't going to pass, and he led with his shoulder/elbow. When I saw it as the match, I thought he was gone. And watching it back on TV didn't alter my opinion.

Roscommon may have been time wasting in the first half, but I would hope that our lads would be cute enough to do the same if the roles were reversed. But to be honest, I don't think they would. And that can be their downfall. Not mischievous enough on the pitch.

The 2nd foul was Durcan pulling Smith's jersey (God knows why, very poor discipline from Paddy) just after he already given away a free much further out. The ref had a fine game overall other than not adding enough time for all the time-wasting but that still probably wouldn't have saved Mayo.

Gaelic football when it's wet is so hard to ref anyway. It just becomes a war of attrition. My crazy opinion on this is that as much football as possible should be played in the summer when it's most likely to be dry and we should look at building municipal indoor stadiums in every province.

I just couldn't believe there was one minute added on in the first half, madness.

You could know the rules and still not have a clue how they're being applied, that's the issue.

Did O'Shea deliberately collide (I thought he held his ground more than anything) or did the Roscommon player deliberately accept the contact... Players are highly skilled in accepting tackles and making the most of them these days.

There's a real issue with players trying to win frees / get the tackler carded by falling/diving into tackles. It would be great to see bans handed out for players faking head injuries (only applicable to intercounty/televised games obviously) as a start. It's too risky for a ref to ignore a head injury during play... players / management know that only too well and are making a mockery of the game.

Before anyone thinks this is sour grapes, we're just as likely to do it ourselves. There wasn't much to laugh about the last day but I did laugh at Cillian's miraculous recovery when he had won himself a free late on... the instinct was to hold the head but he bounced off the ground once he realised there was no time for that.