Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

mayo.mick wrote: »

Over 60,000 tickets sold up to today I'm hearing!

wow shud be a great occasion so !

Big Mayo fan hoping to head to the games today. If anyone happens to have 2 spare for the Lower Hogan or Cusack let me know, thanks

anyone know where i can watch the match today?

Super show by mayo. Held midfield from the start, never let go prevented Donegal getting anywhere near stopping ball into AOS.

The line was ruthless changing out Cunniffe after he spilled a couple of balls.

The second half changes locked up the game completely. AOS into the middle again.
Thought SOS, Parsons, B Moran etc were great defensively. I think SOS is seriously underrated.

They kicked over the blanket (Higgins) played over it into AOS and ran through it too.
A Moran did well when he came on.

Fast response from the line .
Subs played well.
Closed out the game comfortably
Defended as well as I've seen.

It was a complete performance imo.
I'm very concerned as a Dublin fan.

Very impressed with your management today. Both the pre game match ups and decisions during the game.

Players were great but teams now more than ever take their cue from management.

Your midfield was outstanding. Before the game I thought it was good, now I think you could compete with Kerry in the middle.

Colinf1212 wrote: »

Very impressed with your female support as usual today in Croke Park. Some real beauties in that county!

Also had Mayo -1 @11/10 which suited me grand.

backed a 7-9 pt win at 8\1
paid for the pints
Aido at 25\1 for POTY is still alive and kicking as well

Lads; one word - unreal. Absolutely unreal. Won every major battle and we were lucky to not lose by more. Thought at HT it would be a pure butchering. Best of luck in the quest for the Holy Grail; your not far away!

Well done today. For God sake will ye ever go away and win the All Ireland now.

km79 wrote: »

backed a 7-9 pt win at 8\1
paid for the pints
Aido at 25\1 for POTY is still alive and kicking as well

Fair play, you're a riskier gambler than me! How much had you on it? I had £50 on Tyrone to win @ 13/8 and £50 on Mayo -1 @11/10 so not a bad day for me.

But seriously... Has no one noticed how attractive girls from Mayo are? I remember being blown away last time Tyrone played Mayo at Croke Park (Mayo won) a few years back. They are attractive.

I thought AOS roasted both McGees. He got out a head of him well once in the first half but it very nearly went wrong for him. After that AOS won the majority of the balls played into him and I saw very little excellent play from NMcG. He's a great player but AOS won the battle hands down imho. Every time the ball was played in there was uncertainty from the Donegal backs. Even that great ball McGee won nearly went wrong and you gut the impression that he had to go for it as he'd conceded the contest for the ball in the air. We'd a great view of the Donegal backs in the first half.

They were by no means helped by the Donegal midfield and loads of ball went into the forwards.

Up to the goal McGee was slightly edging it or at least breaking even. That is what I would call excellent given the difficulty in containing AOS.
He won balls and had him shadowed to the sideline. Keegan and Doherty benefited from the extra space. I think any other three would have been shipping water badly from the off.

davegrohl48 wrote:

Up to the goal McGee was slightly edging it or at least breaking even. That is what I would call excellent given the difficulty in containing AOS. He won balls and had him shadowed to the sideline. Keegan and Doherty benefited from the extra space. I think any other three would have been shipping water badly from the off.

Did you notice AOS tapping his chest making sure he followed him out , leaving space in the box for the others. True McGee got to some primary ball but he only broke most of it then AOS got to it before he did and was able to break his tackle on many occasions.

Very happy with the win.

What impressed me most was the defensive solidity that Barry Moran brought.I thought he had a very decent game,caught a lot of vital ball.I had had grave concerns re his mobility for the position.It was nearly as important to not concede any goals today as any other objective outside winning the game.

I thought David Clarke was quite uncertain in goal during the first half,the quality of or lack of quality of his kick outs put undue pressure on us.He has always taken an eternity to restart the game.

I thought it was a tactical substitution but my mate believed Clarke was injured and had ice put on his leg??Anybody in a position to clarify this matter.Tom Cunniffe looked at times a tad jittery before his unfortunate injury.

Hats off to Ger Cafferkey who answered a lot of critics today with a solid performance.Murphy was still by far Donegal's best player but there was'nt largely a sniff of a goal.

Keith Higgins was back to his best,lovely score.Nice to see some forays up the pitch,he can break the line with his incredible pace in Croke Park.

Lee Keegan's performance was his best since his heady days of 2012 and 2013.2 wonderful scores,I can not say I believe he was going for the goal...Evidently he is the sole half back given the licence to add some penetration to the attack.

Colm Boyle and Donal Vaughan were quietly effective,I do wish Vaughan would temper his inclination to wander forward into no mans land and leave our defence exposed to the counter attack.

Seamus O Shea and Tom Parsons won the midfield battle hands down,they were very effective on the Donegal kick outs.Pushing up on those kick outs put huge pressure on Paul Durcan options..short or long.Some good turnovers.Tom Parsons has been a revelation this summer,superb tackling,great high fielding and always been available to link up the play.He has some motor on him,close run candidate for MOTM.

It was a day for the so called lesser lights to shine in attack although I thought Aidan O Shea came out well on top against Niall McGee.He won a number of frees,that so important goal.The ball delivery at times was not perfect but he still managed to keep the full back line occupied.

Very much an off day for Cillian O Connor,save a few handy frees and one awesome score from play.He was on occasion outmuscled by Paddy McGrath,his freetaking was undercooked and his shot selection less than ideal.

Jason Doherty shone today,3 great scores and a great work rate although initially he was inclined to bring the ball back into a Donegal swarm and learnt the lesson quickly.

Kevin McLoughlin will again have answered a few sideline critics with a solid performance and nice couple of scores,first a real beauty and quick thinking to intercept Lacey's handpass for the second.

Diamuid O Connor produced a solid work man like performance,nothing too spectacular but he has a great engine for the inevitably energy sapping game that lies ahead.

I would'nt be entirely surprised to see Robert Hennelly start the next day although he followed David Clarke's one out over the line too for good measure.

Delighted to see the oft maligned Alan Freeman get a score,I really at times never think he gets a fair crack of the whip.Chris Barrett was very solid when he came in.

Andy Moran does what he does best,brings experience.Although we were never in danger we dropped 3 or 4 unforgivable balls into Durcan's hands and Andy proceeds to send over an absolute beauty when just required to steady the ship.

What Kevin Keane did was silly,I can't understand him smiling leaving the pitch.Probably regretting a moment of madness.

So where does it leave us?I do think we need to put this performance in perspective,Donegal appeared to be a very tired team and a long summer campaign and many years on the road has taken their toll.The signs have been there for quite a while.We really should have won the game by a considerably bigger margin.The good news is we are still rank outsiders against Dublin according to the bookies and all the so called experts.Hype up that Dublin Kerry contest please.

It will be an entirely different set up for that game but I fancy we can get a lot of change out of them in the middle of the park and Aidan O Shea can potentially do some serious damage inside going on today's performance against as a good a full back as Niall McGee.Dublin looking in from the outside look a tad undercooked,something similar to 2012.Time will tell whither they can just switch on a big performance.Will they the hunger our lads have with the Celtic Cross medals already safely tucked away in their back pockets?

Question Time Can/will Keane appeal ala Keegan last year
Is Vaughan also suspended for 2 black cards ?
Was the Clarke substitution tactical or injury ?
Why did the hand trip on AOS, that led to Doherty goal chance in 1st half, not result in a black card?
Why does Vaughan not wear gloves ? He let at least 2 balls slip tru his fingers because of not wearing
Gloves ?
Why does a county like Donegal as genuine All Ireland contenders persist with a junior B goalkeeper
Who cannot jump ?
If isis were allowed compete in AI, would you prefer them or Tyrone to win it ? I'd go for isis myself.