Well deserved Crossmolina. BMD need to get much more from midfield if they want to get promotion next year.

How old is Justin Healy??

Fair play to crossmolina.they were the better team over the 2 games.an unusual speech at the end I thought.thought Garryowen McMahon had a great game

Ballina Knockmore Crossmolina Kilcommin Bonniconlan all north Mayo clubs featuring in the final stages of the championships. Almost a clean sweep. Up North Mayo

Congrats to cross they worked really hard over the last few years to try get up to seniors and they did it.

Jordan flynn is a real leader may not have been his best first half but he came flying 2nd lost his cool to get into sin bin but I put that down to the occasion and how much it meant to him he doesn't often loose his cool to be fair.

Enjoy the night cross!

@ Clare he lost his cool in u21 final with his altercation with the Ref.
All refs gave him a hard time after that but he has redeemed himself since.
Some player.

Final Whistle pod from MacHale Park up now on Patreon, in which both of this evening's final replays are covered.

Delighted for Cross well done. Flynn black card was amusing how they spotted it meanwhile Clarke was throwing his weight around all game. Anyway correct result.

Great evenings football for the 2nd of November.
Someone commented on last thread about quality of football but remember the tension of a replay, game on tv, under lights so much at stake, it was a great showing by all sides but the county lads ans county potential stood out.
Justin Healy is a talent and shouldn't be discounted cause of playing junior.
Jordan Flynn soared in the sky fielding kick outs and worked so very hard. Conor Reid couldn't get to grips with flynn but that's no slight on him, Cian Mchale was sharp and efficient as ever and James Maheady showed his temperament and class on the big day despite being double marked , 4 points from play was mark of a fantastic talent and it's only a matter of correctly brining him into the county fold as he has alot of traits, we wish for in a top corner forward.
Its harder for a county player at club level as they are targeted and double marked, get dirty digs and are full time getting abuse from opposition players but Conor Loftus showed what he's made of and was top top class.
This lad was booming over points as a wing forward in last minute semi finals against the Dubs, man of the match roles in all ireland underage finals and whilst he hasn't had a consistent run of games with mayo this looks to be the best shape he's been in.
He was top class and score taking was inspirational aswell as breaking tackles and distribution was excellent.
Where to play him with Mayo, I'd say either at 7 or given a free third midfielder/halfback sweeper role.

Flynn never stops complaining to the ref.. Was lucky not to be sent off for cynical fouling bfore black card.. Was a woeful standard of kicking.. Reid very poor also, cross like armagh in the final just about got over the line with a fortunate goal late on.

Good man Norm , stay positive

@JR yeah to true I remember that.. Think he's redeemed himself is well and most of the players on cross are pretty young to so they've done well to get back to the seniors.

@Norm cross may not have been great first half but they were the much better team in 2nd. Moy Davitts are a great team also but cross deserves it. Don't know why you're comparing them to Armagh totally differnt intermidiate final like.

Besides doesn't matter if Armagh just about got over the line they still did and I'm sure they don't care that it was only by a point doubt we would care if we won any final by just a point...

Hard to be sometimes Deel when you watch some of that.. Id be more affiliated with Moy D so thats why I'm bit disappointed, I'm sure your happy judging by your name.. Not having a go. Cross were the btr team and deserved to win but even some of cross kicking was horrible in little or no wind.. As was BMDs.. Running into tackles, Loftus, who was easily the best player lost 3 balls running into tackles as did Reid which he was punished for. Should have pushed on even when Flynn was off.. Conceded 3 points and a goal the keeper shud have came for.. So sorry for not skipping down the street with positivity Deel rover.

Thought it was a cracking match norm , some great scores, high catching, blocking and excitement , no over and back for 4 or 5 minutes with lateral passing and going no where ,not sure what more you could want. You were at the match I assume .

Id agree there with Deel Rover there I thought it was a very enjoyable second half. Both teams just went for it which led to mistakes but also great moments too. It’s an intermediate level after all, it’s never going to be flawless

In fairness to Conor Loftus I thought he showed terrific leadership when his team need it most. It perhaps shows what Mayo management could see from Loftus way back in 2020 when he started getting positioned further back the pitch.

I’d appreciate he wasn’t on the u20 panel this season for whatever reason but James Maheady has raw materials that could take him far so hope to see him back at that inter county level next year

@Norm,weren't you the lad who was calling for players to be brought in for FBD in January?
You have you're finger on the pulse no doubt!

I was at the game as a neutral.
Very exciting and both teams went for it (like the first game) open and free flowing,no over and back on the 40,plenty on running football and also letting it in quick to various degrees of success.

Flynn was fired up for Cross,BMD initiated melee at ht but it benefitted Cross more.Loftus was the best player on the pitch by a long way,he definitely starts for Mayo in this form,maybe as a sweeper or 3rd midfielder .MacHeady was being double marked and came in for a lot of rough treatment,missed a few in the first half but great temperament to have a brilliant 2nd.

Overall,Cross deserved it.A great,determined display after the whole county (myself included) thinking they left it behind the last day.

Brian Benson deserves massive credit with the organisation and coaches he managed to get in as referenced in emotional speech by Mickey Loftus at the presentation.

Best team won, Loftus was superb yesterday, but with caveat he still ran into traffic to much which is an issue. You can get away with it more in 17th/18th place play off in club level like yesterday but at senior intercounty level it's a danger.
But boy did he show leadership yesterday, and hopefully it will drive him on for county next year.

Bohola MD left few goal chances behind them in first half, Crossmolina kicked some bad wides. With Deane and co senior eligible next year's they will be a handful for any team as will be mobile and fit, but light. No one will want them as 4th seeds.

Enjoyed the game last night . As a neutral .
Thought cross were much more adapt to the game where moy davitt stuck to the same game plan for the whole game.
When cross put the press on the moydavitts kickouts after 25 mins from there on it was only going to be one winner . With Flynn in the Bin moydavitts took no advantage and only managed even on the score line .
moydavitts stuck with a sweeper for far too long in the game . Reape was not mobile enough and when he came out towards the latter of the game it made no sense as they needed goals .
Going forward Crossmolina will be a regular senior side in the next 3-5 years .

Great to see Paul Conroy getting due recognition for his performances throughout the year with POTY award. Although, you'd still have to feel for the Armagh squad, as winners normally take all. More importantly, he's committed to another year - Liam Sammon brought him into the squad in 2008.

Leeroy in 2016 and Andy in 2017 both won from losing finalists.
I think Conroy probably deserved it of the shortlisted players.

The year ends in a very positive note for Loftus, and Jordan Flynn will capable of holding a midfield spot.
When is the draw for Connacht Club championship?

@Ontheditch yeah agree.

Loftus has really stepped up his game felt sorry for him being put in the wrong position for mayo.

When he's in the right position he's some player. Like with Tommy C he was starting to come to form when in right position half forward..

Right, I think there are six, yes six, plausible full forward lines that could do the job at county level:

INCUMBENTS
O'Shea, Conroy, O'Donoghue

PANEL ALTERNATIVES
O'Connor, Carr, Towey

NEXT IN LINE?
Mchale, Callaghan, Maheady

AND HOW ABOUT THESE?
Beirne, Healy, Hurley

AND THESE...?
(Colm) Moran, Feeney, Neary

NOT FORGETTING
Regan, Duffy, Quinn

OK Regan is iffy because he has supposedly retired, but still...
Quinn was/may still, be a panellist

An embarrassment of riches @catcol....
All we need now is a master blender on the sideline to arrive at the magic formula.

I see the draw for Connacht, sorry. Ballina Away to London away to Sligo champions Coolera-Strandhill to get to final. Tougher draw for Crossmolina away to Galway champions St Michaels or Caltra in semifinals

I don't know FW what game you were at but the quality and standard of kicking was very poor from both.. Kicks miles fuckin wide and up in the air from 30 yrds out.. Especially cross in the first half.. Its the same with the inter County team, has always been their undoing.. Not converting easy scores.

@Catcol
You could add to the list also:

Oisin Cronin
Tom Lydon
Darragh Reilly
Ronan Clarke
Dara Hurley
Brian Reape

There was a bit of debate on here a few months ago about the amount of forwards we have coming through. Some serious talent about not that we should be getting ahead of ourselves. Good luck to all of them.

Perhaps we need to forget about Minding the House for a change and play the lot of them.

@Clare.
I agree regarding Loftus. I hope we dont see him in the half back line again.
However i do hope we see him in the half forward line again. He might not be a starter but definitely is a scoring option off the bench.

@mind the house… the area of concern for a Mayo over the next 5 years will be midfield. We have decent forwards and of all those listed you’d expect a few to make it. Defenders? I think we should be reasonably ok, but when’s the last time we had a big string ball winning midfielder on an underage team or have we seen any really stand out in the club championship. The answer to the latter half of that question is ‘no’.

FW Leroy a true great. I could never understand Andy "cupping the ears" to the hill after scoring a goal that merely brought them back into the game - juvenile stuff, that on the flip side garnered Dublin's resolve. It may sound a harsh judgement. but on that basis alone, I could never consider him true management team material. Imo, Parsons is the real deal.

@Mind the house your exactly right there he is just not a defender but even if he's not a starter in forwards line he's definetly worth as an impact sub from the bench..!

He has great talent and really has come on I think and bulked up fitness wise. I'd say he knows we'll that the position he was in for mayo was not his best spot and feels like he needs to prove himself but he has great talent when it is used the right way.

@Mayonaze agree the issue we have is midfield that's concerning.. People where saying it was Reapes kick outs before but he can only do so much if we don't have the midfielders then.. Ruanne is great on his day but he can be on /off to..

Think we will have to play a midfield 3.
Even if we don't have a out and out midfielder, we have very mobile options who can all score and pass , so move ball fast and kick out to wings get game going fast .
Halfbackline of eoghan mac, maybe Diarmuid at 6, Sam at 7 Loftus in freerole which should allow matty go forward and flynn given a defined role in midfield.
He nearly killed himself last year trying to be everywhere at no 12 . Keep him the central channels

Mclaughlin....Diarmuid.....Callinan
............................Loftus
....................Flynn........Ruane

Well done to Westport Women who bet the Sligo champions today in front of a very large home crowd.

@mayonaze.
There are a few decent midfield prospects about at in the minors one in particular looks to have a bit of everything. I wouldn't give up on Jack Carney yet. He was in the team very young. Hopefully he can kick on.

Talking of midfielders I see Cillian Burke of Kerry is off to Geelong in the AFL. A loss for them no doubt. He looked to have a bit about him.

Has there ever been a more talented player than ciaran Mcdonald in mayo.. Certainly no one going to see just one player like they did with him... Skill levei was different gravy. One of the finest exponents of kicking a ball.. Saw him plsy club levei in the mid 90s for cross bfore his move out to the 40..was unbelievable inside too. A maverick but man, you'd watch him all day.

It's safe to say that the two finals didnt lack in drama anyway. Great end to the club season in Mayo (but not Provincials!)

There has been a lot of debate after yesterday's replays about mayogaatv and the quality of the production. I dont want to sound negative but it is hard to disagree. Camerawork was so-and-so, commentary was poor, with one commentator in particular who regularly called players by the wrong names and didnt even know how to pronounce the word 'Bonniconlon'. I'm not from Bonniconlon, but when your club makes it to a county final for the first time in decades, and you're paying money to watch the stream, the least you should expect is that the commentator knows how to pronounce the names of the teams he is watching.

I actually muted the livestream and turned on Midwest Radio's coverage. The quality of commentary was worlds apart. Midwest do an excellent job of painting a picture of what is happening with audio only, while on the livestream commentary, you are actually getting confused even though you're watching the video too!

Am I alone in this? This was a lesser issue in earlier rounds but really came to a head last night I feel. It took away from the event.

Mayogaatv coverage overall has been very good in 2024, its a shame that the quality seemed to derail as the championship came to a close.

I agree Norm as regards McDonald. I remember travelling from Maynooth to Castlebar with my son a good few years ago to see Crossmolina in a county semifinal with Ballaghadreen I think. We were thinking it might be the last time to see him play. On the day it turned out he was injured and we only saw him for a short time and not up to his usual standard. As you said. We only went to see one man. What a player.

Ardmoy McHale's stunned balla in balla in the u21 b championship today winning by a point. 9 points from oisin Cronin not enough in a losing effort. Clips doing the rounds on social media of a sideline the recently turned 19 year old kicked.....don't forget that when the U20s were under pressure in the final games it was Cronin who was their go to man ahead of even Darragh beirne and Niall Hurley.

Fairly baffled by your assessment of the game above Norm, even if you were on the losing side. It was end to end stuff in the second half with some great kicking and fielding, and very little of the painful defensive stuff we are subjected to at much higher levels of the game. Give me several wides any day of the week over fellas recycling the ball because they are afraid to take on a shot. No-one in Crossmolina would thank me for this but I was disappointed when the goal went in and ruled out extra time. I thought Mickie Loftus' speech was one of the finest I have heard in McHale Park in my time, and very moving.

Being from North Mayo I am delighted to see Crossmolina back in the top flight. I really wanted them to win last night. The success of the less densely populated and more peripheral half of the county seems to reflect the state of the economy or vice versa, so let's hope there is no crash on the horizon!

I feel if BMD had focused more on their football instead of trying to start fights (again) at half time, they might have been a bit happier with the outcome. The culprit wasn't spotted by the referee, but it's not his first time at that craic either. Or maybe it was the uncharacteristically strong start that unsettled them - they seem to be better coming from behind than leading out. Their goose was cooked ten minutes from the end when Brian Reape had to come out looking for ball, a move that didn't do them any favours. The goal was a significant moment but the real standout part of the game was the way Crossmolina stepped up when Jordan Flynn got the black card. They mobilised to a man and Conor Loftus was outstanding in his leadership. I really hope we see Cian McHale in a Mayo shirt before long, if he is so inclined - I think he is a special player. James Maheady likewise.

Catcol, you can rule Regan out of that list I think, but some great prospects there.

Charlie, totally agree re Conroy, I thought he was outstanding this year. I still can't get over the fact that Stefan Campbell was overlooked for even a nomination!

On the Fence I am in agreement re MayoGAA TV. I lost the sound for the second half and had to listen to Midwest which is fantastic but unfortunately the streaming is a minute or 2 behind which is unsatisfactory!
Their website has not been updated in years and it is nearly impossible to find the match you are looking for?
I paid €100.0 for the matches which is good value but they need to clean up their act and provide a product which is fit for purpose otherwise they will not be supported by MayoGAA fans like mise!

Sometimes the standard of commentating on RTE is pretty woeful too, onthefence. I'm not in the business of gaslighting, but one particular individual is guaranteed to err with names several times in any given match.

OK Anne-Marie, and Mind the House, I agree, Regan isn’t really an option.

Out goes Regan, and in comes Orme, whom I had forgotten about.

And MTH, Clarke, Other Hurley and Reape, that’s another line!

Can you tell us more about Oisín Cronin, and Daragh Reilly? Was Lyndon called up last year?

Some amount of grants been given out I read today , Kerry for stadium, ros for centre of excellence, Sligo rovers got 16 million ffs . Mayo GAA needs investment

I'd be a fan of calling up plenty young players down to age 18 but they come in on a specific and patient development path.
Hypothetical. Young player brought in six foot and 75kg. He's not strong enough. Where will he be at performance wise with three years development and 85kg?
The problem is we bring in a lad and get rid of him in Spring.

See James Mccarthy has announced his retirement.
I'd say they may see another few retirements coming.

100% Clare. Funny how they wait until after the All Stars to announce their retirements. Wife predicted 6 senior dubs to retire after Galway loss. Having been at the match watching Fitzsimons playing, his retirement would be too early IMO, but these lads have kids and careers to get on with, I suppose. Like Lee Keegan, best to go out on top, I suppose...Dessie is under contract, but none of those players are. Inter county is pure slaughter for even the youngest and fittest.

@Sean Burke,Roscommon got 5.5m for a Centre Of Excellence.
What's going on here? It seems like a free for all and i would wonder how you get on the list for these giveaways and why aren't Mayo GAA on it.

https://www.thejournal.ie/sports-facilities-grants-list-by-county-6532002-Nov2024/. No funding for the Chairnan's Mulvey Park project. That 30 thousand a month repayment to Croke Park is a nightmare.

It would sicken ya honestly.

Alan Dillon announcing €7.5 Large Scale Sports Infrastructure grant for campus at Lough Lannagh. GAA, Soccer, Rugby to share/benefit.

The large scale infrastructure announcement is interesting. Of course there’s no Mayo GAA grant because no application was made. The scale of grants awarded is very significant. It’s better for Mayo to have a proper C of Ex plan (on new ground in Bohola?) and apply for a proper lump of funding then, rather than on a less comprehensive project (albeit still a worthy one) in Castlebar. A grant for a lesser project now would reduce the chances of a grant on a better project later.

@Mark Dempsey I can forgive a commentator for making a mistake here and there with names and numbers, we're all human after all. But with one commentator in particular its not here and there on MayoGAATV as of late, it is near constant. At the end of the day we're paying for a service and commentary is part of that service, so if its not up to scratch then its an issue to be addressed.

Substandard quality commentators have been criticised for poor showings often in the past on RTE. Dessie Dolan springs to mind. The difference in enjoyment of watching a game when Dolan was co-comm vs when Eamon Fitzmaurice was co-comm is night and day.

@Oilean acla good to know its not just me thinking this way!

I agree with other posters on Mayo Tv. Mike finnerty is an excellent commentator and one of the best in the country but there is one commentator making continuous mistakes.ideally would be good to have an ex player or someone like John Maugham last year as co-comm.(I know he’s with crossmolina)

Mike Finnerty is a top class commentator on the national airwaves. The logical thing is to let him do the full commentry on the game and have a former player like the Boyler come in with the analysis at different stages

Fair enough onthefence, but my critique wasn't of you, or the substance of your argument, it was that the national broadcaster was as guilty as any independent out there. And, said broadcaster, doesn't even have to renew its license every five yrs. I've cringed on many occasions listening to the glaringly obvious mistakes. That said, their coverage alongside tg4s is greatly appreciated.

@Mark Dempsey thats fair. Sadly we end up paying for substandard commentary on RTE in a roundabout way with taxpayer's money, so its a problem we may never escape from!

A few years ago one RTE commentator was baffled that a player who had been kicking frees flawlessly from the hand had decided to kick a 45 off the ground!
Tbh Mike Finnerty is probably the best out of all of them.

I had a chuckle at that one Joe g , is it true ?

Absolutely Sean. We had a laugh watching it in the pub.