Good to see us back to our attacking best, even if was only for a 20 odd minute spell.

Half backs bombing forwards, the midfield giving options, ROD pulling the strings from centre forward, and the runners finishing off the moves inside.

I know we can't expect the lads to do it 70 minutes every week, but the 60 minutes of lateral hand passing we've seen in recent weeks has been dire.

Not happy with the result but much happier with the team. I actually felt somewhat positive for the first time in ages. The first half performance was at times awful. That second half was as good as we've played in a very long time. It was still littered with errors but it had that bit of spark and excitement that we regarded as synonymous with Mayo GAA.
Yes, it could be a lot better but that was finally a joyful piece of viewing!

Consistency will turn average to excellence.

Final Whistle pod is up on Patreon! Billy Joe is on it, Mike and I are on it and we've also got post-game reaction from Kevin McStay.

Well done management and team

Management now have to make a decision. Do we play with speed and intensity like the second half or revert to the mind numbing tedious dross of the first half and most recent performances. I know which the fans want and I suspect the players too.

Hi WJ , any chance you can email the podcast to me again when you have time. I feel like a 6 year old looking in the window at my friends birthday party. Didn’t realise how much I’d miss them.

As well as our running game being much better tonight,our kick passing to our inside line was much better.
At least we seem to be more willing to vary our approach play which is a major positive but of course there will be times when the slow approach makes sense.

Very funny Nephin...lol. It's tough when ya see pass the parcel is flying it and the chocolate biscuit cake is getting horsed into.

Sure, Nephin, will do. We're still waiting a fix from Patreon but I'll get a link over to you a bit later.

There is no doubt that playing with a high tempo suits our players and the second half wasn’t perfect but it was certainly encouraging to see the players going for it .i can’t imagine that slow lateral stuff is very enjoyable to be involved in.going forward I think it has be accepted that Matt ruane is not a midfielder.his strength is in the scoring zone but certainly not in the air but mchugh looked comfortable in the full back position and Hession seems to have bulked up .really frustrating for eoghan McLaughlin that basic skills are still letting him down and not sure it can be corrected at this stage.Davitt Neary looks to have huge potential and Conor Reid is worth persevering with he will improve with more game time but overall more to be positive about in second half than we have seen in some time .most posters comment on things as they see them if it’s rubbish then it has to called as that and if it’s more positive as second half was then credit where credit is due .will be interesting to see how we approach Kerry game

Very disappointed we didn’t close it out at the end for the win , reape should have passed the ball . I dislike modern world of keepers involved in the attack all the time , closing out tight games must be worked on more , did better on this front last week when Ryan passed the free to work it in closer . There were a few factors involved in our comeback , black card for Armagh was one , carney on and made a big difference in second half , it’s an old saying but you still have to least break even in the middle to win . Aido came into it too in his own way , Jesus Christ on a bike that man has to deal with differnt rules than everyone else wtf is that all about . It’s infuriating watching it unfold year after year still the same .

Kerry game will go up another couple of notches , love to know where Tommy and paddy are at in terms of getting a run . Are they training ?

On a side note a lot of people got stick for considering the jacks as contenders this year , my goodness did you see some of their movement tonight . They are now favs for Sam maguire btw .

I heard the players had asked for a cautious approach following last year’s review. Trouble is the rules changed more towards fortune favouring the brave.

The Kerry game next weekend is a huge one now for both sides. I'd say you might see a 'bigger' local support at it and a very vocal one at that. Tonight gave the morale a massive boost and could be a turning point.
We won't win Sam but we are rebuilding and some new faces are doing very well for themselves. Let's see where the road leads us. Maigh Eo Abú!!!

Thanks WJ.

Nephin - that link is just gone to you now.

Now THAT'S more like it. Welcome back Mayo, it's been a while. We've missed ye.

Good man WJ. You’re on the ball.

Have to say it, management got this spot on. From the subs in, to the starting 15, to the 1st half tactics. Well done Kevin.
It also must be said that Boland made a stupid and costly mistake. He probably cost us the win and certainly undid so much great work and effort by his teammates.
There's a lot to take from this game and I believe we are slowly seeing the lads getting to the pitch of Div 1 football again.
Another good performance from Ruane, Carney back, AOS and Coyne back, Eoin O'Donoghue very solid again, and Neary really looking confident and capable at this level. A terrific goal and a constant menace throughout the game. It's early days and it's still only the league but for a lad who never played county before, he's staking a strong claim for a Championship geansai.

“We won’t win Sam “ we really have to stop saying that ,(myself included ) , it’s the completely wrong thing to say , we don’t have to say “we will win Sam “ but I really don’t think it’s good for the culture of Mayo football . Even if only for the mindset of the future generations, imagine been a wide eyed stone mad mayo child supporter and you hear these things been said all the time . Don’t have to give them false hope but don’t kill the fucking dream either . Leicester city won the English league , the Berlin Wall came down and Armagh won the all Ireland last year .

Yes, I wholeheartedly welcome that slightly more unhinged Mayo....it is way better to look at and it seems that maybe it's just our natural state?
I was listening/watching it at home and wondering about all the wides so it was really encouraging that we come back from an 8pt half time deficit to draw and nearly snatch it with the last kick.
We have snatched a few before!!
Roll on Kerry.

When we go chaotic/Horan ball we a match for anyone.

Ryan O Donoghue is centre forward I hope after tonight the Management have the ability to see that, changed the game when he came out the field

I never liked the the term of chaos which I think it was the dubs that called our style of play.moving the ball at pace is not necessarily chaotic .the mistake by boland I think is understandable the whole ridiculous notion of handing the ball back to to your opponent is totally against the grain for any player in any sport and throwing the ball back as boland did is something players have been doing for Years and is probably an automatic reaction.by handing the ball back you are taking yourself out of the game and I just can’t see that rule being kept in place

"Do we play with speed and intensity like the second half or revert to the mind numbing tedious dross of the first half and most recent performances."

@JoeG - Could those poor performances be put down to the fact that we were playing against the wind so we had to play it smart and hold on to possession for as long as possible? We played with the wind in the 2nd half today.

Well, that's twice I've been to the Athetlic grounds, twice I've thoroughly enjoyed myself in a great ground with a great atmosphere, and twice we drew when we really should have won.

The first half was as turgid as we've become used to, the talk was that we were really on the road to nowhere and the sooner the year was over, the better.

The second half was like old Mayo, some excellent play, some awful misses.
I'm a fan of Boland, but he was really braindead when he threw down the ball for which the ball was brought forward 50m and Armagh scored. If he kept his head, we would have won.
Reape panicked, you could see he didn't want to take on the shot, but he had so much room he could have run in and fisted it over.

Special mention to Neary though - he is brave, quick and unpredictable. That goal was special, can't wait to watch it back.

Someone mentioned that ROD has to play 11, and he was excellent out there in 2nd half tonight. But the problem is who to play inside if ROD is outside? I think Towey has plenty of chances, and I just don't think he's good enough.
If Tommy C comes back he's an option I suppose, but he's another that looks more comfortable running at goal rather than playing in the corner.

Mgmt can justifiably say they played conservatively against the wind, and then opened up when they had the elements behind them. Surely to god, there's a better balance to be found though.
There was a lot to be happy about tonight, let's build on it!

Was I imagining things or did an Armagh back throw the ball away in the first half, yet ref never brought our free forward ?.......Makes no odds now but fair is fair if we were sanctioned for the same offence later un the game......did anyone see what I saw ?

Yes Martyk I think your chatting about the goalkeeper ..he was pulled fir a foul but through the ball away .
What amazed me was Armagh player pushed mayo player over the line ..hooter goes but ref gives them a free shot ..and scores
Can someone explain..
Will have another look at it later

At halftime we all would have taken a hand off for a draw, I didn't see it coming tbh, second half was much better as are running game got going, thought reape hesitated and should have pulled the trigger first time.
There not that much between alot of Div 1 teams, this year or last, team that gets a handle and strategy for new rules will go along way.
It interested to see team pressing at times and zonal at other times.

And maybe if @ TsuDhoNim is in da house he might be able to enlighten us about when/if you are allowed pass the ball back to your goalkeeper in that area of the field,or is there a sanction for that...I didn't think it was allowed.

We were sitting almost right over where Reape had the chance to win the gane but he never looked confident from the moment he got the ball. Funny gane, we would have deserved the winner and yet at HT I was sure we were going to be tanked. Thought Aido was badly treated by the ref, nothing new there.

Have to agree, it's a great venue and the home supporters were good craic.

Regardless of the result, no sport excites me more than when i’m watching Mayo thrive in the chaos football we were served up in the second half.

We have the players and we need to back it up against Kerry now next weekend.

Davitt Neary some find, am I right in saying he never played underage for Mayo?

Great point on the pod WJ about posting during games, at half time I was questioning my life choices, waking up at 4am to watch a league game, considering cancelling my GAAGO and Mayo Football Podcast subscription(wouldn't make any difference as im signed up for the year), but that second half was a brilliant watch. More of that please. Hope you have a great night out in Armagh!

2Hops , yes it’s allowed in the square for a player to pass to the keeper. I mean, provided both players are in it. Or at least that’s my understanding. For a moment I was screaming for the free too. Hard to keep up.

Ok. Thanks for that Nephin.

Carney and Hession have put on extra muscle this year. Anyone else?

Willie Joe. I'm puzzled as to how you could describe this game as hugely entertaining. That first half performance was really shocking. Armagh . without ONeill , are a very average team and then . at the end we should have won the game .. Not entertaining in my book!

This evenings game was such a crazy game literally at half time the feeling was of a kind of feeling of yep things aren’t good well we’re going through the motions the players are being coached into a process to an inch of their lives and this management ticket has had its day then the second half happened and we went back to a high octane running game harassing fluid to a point game where at the end I was frustrated we didn’t nick it but , I always go by the logic the league is a lottery as teams are at different stages and it’s absolute that each game is not black and white and a team isn’t defined by each game and I’ll be roaring for mayo if we were in division 4 but I’m wondering deep down where all mayo supporters feel where exactly we are at in our present climate ie management, players, standard basically to see a team throw off the shackles in the second half is it a sign of a team that’s fed up off a system or was it a Paul o Connell half time rant by a manager trying to hold on to a dressing room ,hate to say it but this management team isn’t bringing us anywhere unfortunately an outside crew with all Ireland pedigree is what’s needed, we really do have the talent coming we just need a group at the helm that they would run through a wall for so to speak just an opinion and wondering what people really think

Was that an inspirational half time team talk by McStay or the players throwing caution to the wind and having a go?

@2 hops: Short Answer: If you're a defender in the square and you win the ball back from the opposition, you can play it to your keeper no problem as long as they're in the square too.

Longer answer: As with many things, starts getting a bit messy. This is one I really hope they tidy up, especially with Motion 7 failing at congress locking us into the rules for 4 more years without another congress vote.

The current official rule is:

"1.11 The Goalkeeper may only receive the ball from a teammate:
(a) Inside the large rectangle when both the goalkeeper and the teammate passing the ball are inside the large rectangle; or
(b) when the goalkeeper is in the opposition half of the field."

Though, it's one of the worst written of the new rules and doesn't come close to explaining the limitations on that pass. A massive oversight/mistake (though with this being one of the most likely rules to be reworked hopefully it'll get a lot more attention).

The FRC FAQs around that rule state:
"Q. Can I be in the large rectangle, receive a pass from a teammate who is outside the large rectangle, and then pass it to the goalkeeper?

A. No. If you are inside the large rectangle, you can only pass it to the goalkeeper if the ball has been played by an opposing player i.e. you must be inside the large rectangle, and either catch/ intercept an opposition attempted shot, kick or fist pass, before you pass it to your goalkeeper."

and...

"Q. What happens if our full-back blocked a shot outside the 13m line but the momentum of the ball carriers it inside the large rectangle – can the goalkeeper play that ball.

A. Yes. That would not be deemed as ‘receiving the ball’ from a teammate."
https://learning.gaa.ie/FRCFAQ

That said, chatting about it after the game Fintan Kennedy (Inter County Performance Analyst) shared the guidance received on a webinar for coaches back on December 16th which included "after the previous play was made by an opponent" which is a very different threshold.

https://x.com/KennedyFintan/status/1893379258417811726

- Reading the rule alone, you'd be miles away from what actually happens
- Reading the rule & FAQ, if you consider Morgan's action a block (I would) it's perfectly within the rule
- Reading the rule & following the official guidance, the last play wasn't by a Mayo player so a breach of the rule (though all sorts of questions on what constitutes a 'play' as it's not a term used elsewhere in the rule-book)

I think the ref might have got it right in the end.... but clear as mud. Conflicting guidelines depending on where you turn and where the rule-book struggles to be the authoritative source as it's the most incorrect of them all on the intent of the rule & how refs will actually implement it.

For God sake lay off the management.
They can't win.
We missed a goal in the first half,did everything correctly,bad luck.
Neary gave us lots of energy in the second half, brought in from good club championship performances.
People complaining that management are not living in the county, give it a rest they spotted both Neary and Morahan .
Could still be relegated,so what

Well I would say the best/ funniest / saddest thing about today is to look at the comments on the blog during the course of the match by the “supporters”. Management should be sacked, certain players weren’t up to it etc etc etc. And even a comment when we were recovering it was the players going against the management instructions. I mentioned last Sunday night when Peter Canavan ( now there’s a man who knows a bit about football) stated that there was nothing wrong with morale or not playing for management when Mayo finished strongly against Tyrone. Once again that was evident in spades today. 8 down at the home of AI champions and we came back and should have sneaked it. Fair play to the team and management. What great spirit they showed and the disappointing thing is the point dropped might yet prove costly. And to those ultra critical fans remember a game is of 70 plus minutes duration and everyone of those guys who represent our county and give their best even when not having the greatest of games, well I think they deserve our support. They represent us Mayo people. They have been deemed good enough to wear the Co jersey, something most of us never achieved and they carry themselves with dignity. Maigh Eo Abu

@Sean Burke…I completely agree. I’m f@ckin’ sick to the teeth for years hearing Mayo supporters saying ‘we won’t win Sam’ or ‘we’ll never win it’. It’s a loser mentality. Like you rightly suggested, it’s counter productive. Psychology is important in sport. GAA is so entwined with local community that how the people think has a very large bearing on how the county team think. Some Mayo people need to feckin wise up and at least pretend to have winning mentality. And I’m not for one minute suggesting that the hyper Mayo for Sam crapology is the way to do it. Instead there should be a strong inner belief that we are good enough. I absolutely believe it. We’ve reached a huge number of finals since 89. You don’t do that unless you’re producing players of a certain calibre. Could we do more? Yes. Are we maximising our playing pool like Kerry? No. Why? Because we essentially ignore players from
Junior clubs and weaker intermediate clubs due there being no divisional teams in the senior championship.

Mayo absolutely produce the talent. It’s not for debate. But I think we could do a lot more. I think the county board for decades has let us down. And before someone bites on that…I’m not saying they’re the reason we lost all those finals. But anyone with any knowledge of Mayo football knows what I’m talking about.

If a fully fit Tommy C and Paddy D are available for Championship, who, if anyone, drops out of our starting 15 today ?

Oh, and add in a fully fit Duirmuid into the mix as well??

Willie Joe Stephen Coen wasn't just outside the arc when he scored the 2 pointer he was outside the 45 meter line

@to win just once, well bloody said.
Enjoyed that 2nd half. Most I have enjoyed watching Mayo since drawing with Dublin in championship last year. There is hope.

I used to use this name on here a while back but i see someone else uses it now, i haven't posted in a while. From what i could see in the first half the players didn't seem to have a clue what they were supposed to be doing, i have followed Mayo teams up and down the country for about 35 years but i haven't been to any games yet this year, i was away for the first 2 but decided not to go to last weeks or this weeks games, this slow build up is so difficult to watch. McStay has said that they want to slow teams down and stop them from building a lead, that would be all well and good but we're not doing that, see how easy Armagh ran through us today and Galway, Tyrone were woeful and we just about beat them, it seems the only way we can play is with pure chaos, when we're slow and ponderous we can't score plus the opisition run through us like a knife through butter but when we're going hell for leather we're creating way more scoring chances plus we're way better at defending winning crucial turnovers which really gets the crowd going which in turn seems to create more chaos, more scores and more turnovers, i know it's not possible to play at 100 miles per hour for the full 70 minutes but we have to be able to defend better than we did in the first half today

Marty k- in first half when rafferty left ball on ground ref did bring it up

Yes, Mayo a different team when they threw off the straight jacket, imposed by coaches I presume, and played instinctively instead. Seems we have the players, but they're being held back.

The league has become a playground for managers in the last while. The only side I've seen showing their hand is Donegal this yr. No other side, apart perhaps, from Dubs seem too bothered with it and I'd say that's more about ensuring survival with so many newbies.
I can't make head nor tail of Tyrone or Armagh, nor can I figure Kerry out either. The business end will be fascinating though, with so many teams (apparently) not wanting to be in the final, when it comes to the scramble for points. Some right crackers of games ahead.

One fan’s summary of League so far – we have seen it all from Mayo! but direction is positive
– Dublin game: good overall performance, bad result
– Galway game: poor overall performance, bad result
– Tyrone game: mixed performance, good result
– Armagh game: great overall performance, mixed result

Ah now InExile, it wasn't a great overall performance.
It was a poor, sometimes very poor, first half performance followed by a good, sometimes very good, second half performance.
The second half certainly gave us something to grab onto, that for whatever reason (mgmt led, player led, whatever), when we play like that, we're able to put it up to the best that's out there.

Thanks @TsuDhoNim.
As you say clear as mud.
Anyway all's well that ends (reasonably)well.

@Tubberman let me clarify:
1st Quarter - a lot of possession which is good but still lateral play (not direct) and poor conversion
2nd Quarter - poor on all counts
3rd & 4th - great on many levels

OK a lot of misses but we kept trying and didn't get rattled by the misses which would have affected many Mayo teams in the past - we werent put off, we kept going. We could have been out the gate in that game - Armagh's goal was a bit lucky and we were unlucky with a goal chance that hit the post. Midfield needs some work but all in maybe 'great' is a bit much (I'll give yo that) but certainly 'very good' is deserved

I think the negativity is a bit over the top, I get the way we have been playing is brutal to watch at times but thinking (hoping) management are playing cards close to their chest and will prob try vary between both playing systems, the monotonous build up, mixed with more high octane stuff like the 2nd half yesterday.

If we are full strength we can beat anyone but it is the consistency and closing out games which has been the achilles hill hutbhave seen encouraging sogns from Tyrone and Armagh games thatbwe have worked on this scenario.

We were 30 seconds away from beating Dublin which meant a QF against Louth so at least a semi and ref rode Mayo also in Connacht final.

With everyone fit we have a great chance. At the moment this is the championship team I would start with and some of the bench I would bring on, bench is going to be v important this year especially around middle 8.

Reape
Coyne McHugh O'Donoghue
Hession McBrien Durcan
Carney Coen
D'O'Connor Flynn Neary
ROD Aidan Conroy

Subs: McLaughlin, Callinan, McHale, Irwin, Boland, Towey, Reid, Morahan

Like Davitt Neary I made my debut in Armagh yesterday. Thanks to posters who gave the heads up on Armagh City hotel, its parking facilities, and its proximity to the ground. A brilliant spot, with a fantastic buzz about the place especially for the ?. The atmosphere in the Athletic Grounds wasn’t bad either, though at halftime when we had been torn to shreds, it was an Armagh atmosphere. I and other supporters couldn’t detect much of a wind, so it looked bleak, bleak, bleak.

Even when we started to find some form, Armagh were chipping in with points to cushion themselves. We did have time, and lots of it though. Stephen Coen’s two pointer was huge, Ryan was beginning to run riot, and Davitt Neary was catching the eye all the time. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the scoreboard and saw we were level on fifty minutes or so. The atmosphere was electric; Armagh supporters were fretting about ‘big’ O’Shea - they needn’t have worried, the ref did his mightiest to lessen his impact. What exactly does Aidan have to do to get a free? I was disappointed with the miss at the end, but, on reflection, we went for it, and got ourselves into a scoring position in the final seconds rather than playing safe and letting Armagh come at us.

All in all a memorable night.

@Catcol a nice reflection on the evening

@Mayoaremagic88.
Any role for Matt Ruane in your team?
He was pretty effective yesterday even though he left a few behind.

@2hops yes 100% completely forgot about him starts MF or half forward, knew I left someone out, my bad! Even more options from the bench.

Raz and CP, thank you for your answers there....

Whatever about the game, an evening out in Armagh has really shown me what we are missing out on by not having won Sam. The supporters are still absolutely buzzing off it. It's solid gold. Lucky them.

Really think new rules are set up for T Conroy, you need someone who can really pull defenders out with pace and he is perfect yes it

Team wouldn’t be far off but we’ve seen time and again Coen isn’t a midfielder because of height and claiming kickouts. Carney, Flynn and O’ Connor are all better fielders. He is a very good reader of the game so sweeper centre back is one role, otherwise wing back as per default with competition from others.
The other position in question is Durcan. Cruciate returnees usually take 2 years to get back to their best. In year 1 Paddy should and probably will get game time especially in the red zone near the end of games but I think we have plenty of half backs on the panel and build the battle hardened squad.

Just read Joe Brolly article in Indo with his sarcastic anti Mayo comments. Unbelievable and his comment about a certain new Mayo players weight has to be be very borderline slander. What a . ....

Joeyo . Ignore the bollix, not easy i know

And that pr*ck will be on sidelines for Mayo club games. I hope he gets dogs abuse everywhere he goes, he deserves every bit of it.
Sorry for the personal insult WJ, but in his case I think it's warranted given the abuse he has given Mayo players for the last decade.

I hear you, Tubberman. Best ignore him, I reckon - the reaction is what he's looking for so the best option is not to give him this.

Once met a Dungiven man who sniggered when Mr Brolly's name came up outside a pub in drumcondra...he informed the crowd, "Mickey Mouse wears a Joe Brolly watch".

Lads, Brolly is a nobody. A clickbait merchant who thrives on insulting and degrading whoever is popular at the time. He's a nothing. He's an annoying little midge that keeps buzzing around your ear and just won't go away, but a harmless little thing at the end of the day. If he was a serious football man whose views and opinions are respected, he'd be in with an intercounty team. But he's not respected, no one would have him anywhere near a dressing room, and everyone knows he's just a mouthy little bollox.
He will neither make nor break our season. He has zero influence over anything we do this season, success or failure will not be down to him. Remember, todays papers wrap tomorrows chips.

Pebblesmeller. It makes it all the more galling that Knockmore had to stoop so low and bring him on board

I’m not disappointed at the amount of wides we had as I’d rather us taking a shot than not shooting at all and lads will learn from it as well and this includes Colm Reapes attempt. Colm gets into great positions and just needs the confidence to have a go. He did after all play in the forwards for his club in juvenile. I’ve a feeling he’s coached to pass it on to the “right person” rather than have a go himself.

Ridiculous that Knockmore agreed to let that eejit get involved with their club.

What injury has Conroy now.

Delighted with heart and and the chaos Mayo attacks we had last night . Kerry will let us play so let's hope we stay in a higher tempo game and go for it.

This won't be popular but let's call a spade a spade , it's been years since Diarmuid has had a clean run at a season and his form for county and club hasn't warranted him being a guaranteed starter.
As much as people would wish him to be as fit and sharp as he can be , it's a long time since he was and maybe better to understand that rather than expectations that he's Diarmuid of 4 or 5 years ago.

The Coen debate will always linger but he's better midfield he did his best work last night in that central role and won and broke alot of ball. Outwide he can be expoited, but his reading of the ball and breaking ball would see him best placed midfield I think. The more dynamic wingbacks suits out faster game better.
I think reape deserves alot of credit for his kick outs last night again he gets dogs abuse but did really well last night.
I'd love to see Cian Mchale get a crack at Kerry , Boland and Towey have had their chances , cian deserves a run of a match

Pebblesmeller I like your comments in general but your one on that lad who gets paid for writing articles but was removed from commentary on Rte is even better than your usual ones

I’ve a feeling he’s coached to pass it on to the “right person” rather than have a go himself.

It’s a pity he didn’t use that coaching with the last play then

I don't agree with the comments on Brolly. He has more between his ears than most of us. Let him be. He can be entertaining. Keep commenting Joe.