Great win, lovely to see P Joyce defeated no matter what he wanted that win today. Lane a disgrace

The biggest positive of today is the way we played, particularly our forward play, that's what fan have been waiting to see It was also good to get the points of course but the key indicator today was the performance.

Galway were missing a good few and didn't play well particularly in the 1st half and still almost stole it. On the other hand we eked out the win which builds self-belief.

All in all a good day at the office!

Final Whistle pod is up on Patreon now as well.

Good start to the league for Mayo. Great to get the 2 points. WJ, would I be right in saying, it was the other Mick Higgins that scored the long range point against Sligo. I think he was from Westport and had a mighty kick of a ball.

Some good performances. Good to win but somewhat tempered by the fact that Galway have a lot more to come back than we do. And they had 10 good goal chances in that game. But somehow only scored 2 of them.

Hennelly motm by a mile I thought. Kicked 2 pointers and made at least 3 or 4 good saves.

Always good to get 2 early league points.

Only the league but so good to see our attacking play back . Good mayo crowd back to . Helter skelter at the end but we closed it out . Stuff to work on and we are not getting carried away either . I hate giving out about the ref but was not impressed .

On to the Dubs next week !

I know we’re so used to seeing him play well that it doesn’t make as much of an impact, but can we appreciate Ryan O’Donoghue today. An incredible player at the top of his game.

Looking forward already to seeing what tweaks the management will make for Dublin next week.
Fair play to the management and players for freshening things up so far this year. Early days of course, but a very obvious noticeable change in our tactics so far compared to last year, alongside the body language on the language.

Rossies robbed by sound of it but great performance by them. Could be a tight league so our two points today precious...

Congrtulations to Mayo - great result and what a performance. I think they'd have won much easier had management not substituted a few physical players like Jordan Flynn around the middle in the second half. We're happy enough with the showing of our fringe players who will get a lot of confidence and belief from their 3rd quarter performance. It was by no means "Handy Andy" for Galway today. Enjoy the celebrations and keep it up for the rest of the year. Btw, I thought the ref. let the play flow and was fine today.

Galway players to come back who didn't feature today:
John Maher (Starter)
Cillian McDaid (Starter)
Matthew Tierney (Starter)
Cein D'Arcy (Starter)
Damien Comer (Starter but very injury prone)
Liam O' Cognaille ( Sub)
Sean Mulkerrin (sub)
John Daly (not sure if still on panel)
Matthew Thompson (Starter but on Erasmus, hard to know what shape he'll be in when he comes back)
Johnny Heaney, Cathal Sweeney, Tomo Culhane all gone for 2026.
Peter Cooke gone, confirmed by Joyce today.
Paul Conroy (Starter but future up in the air)

Mayo players to come back who didn't feature today:
Matthew Ruane (Starter)
Donnacha McHugh (Starter)
Jack Coyne (Starter)
Darren McHale (Starter)
Fenton Kelly (Possible Starter)
Conor Loftus (Probable Starter, Brilliant to see him back, wing back for me )
Diarmuid O'Connor (Probable Starter if fit)
Cillian O'Connor (if fit and going well probable Starter, could flourish in new rules)
Eoghan Mcgloughlin (injured atm but Possible Starter, great club championship)
Dylan Thornton (injured but should get games)
Rory Brickendon(Started most games last year, half back line for him, not full back)
Frank Irwin (Sub but should get games)
Paul Towey (Sub but should get opportunity)
Jack Livingstone (Should get game time in the league)

Tom Lydon, Hugh O'Loughlin, Seamus Howard, John McMonagle,Kobe McDonald, Niall Hurley, Adam Barrett, Nathan Moran, Cathal Keaveney Daragh Joyce, Finbar Mcgloughlin, Kuba Callaghan all to get game time during the league.

I think Mayo are in very good shape, squad is strong

Positives
A win over Galway and 3 goals and 2 pointers.

Hold my hands up about Bob Tuohy he gave an outstanding display today, hope we see more.

Hennelly was unreal back in goals and greats massive 2 pointer kicks,

Darragh Beirne is making the No 13 jersey his own he looked like he had been playing Senior inter County for a few years.His point in the 1st half was a beauty.

Negatives
We were caught a number of times bringing the ball into tackle today, the middle was wide open at times after Darragh Beirnes goal in the 2nd half.
Tommy Conroy needs to work on his build up before lining up his shot ,has a habit of trying to beat his man on the outside and ends up carrying it to close to the endline and cant get shot off.
Dont know is Enda Hession suited to the corner , got caught a number of times behind Finnerty today.
Coen looks to have lost pace , looked very slow at times today and finds it hard get touch tight to his forward.
Some silly needless fouls by Jordan Flynn in 1st half
Another breach again today.

When I saw the team we named I was sure Mayo would win comfortably.
We could have actually got something out of it if we converted any of the other plethora of goal Chances we created but overall it was a very disjointed Galway performance.we lacked cohesion and seemed to be playing more as individuals than anything else.
The fact that we played with no midfielders at all until midway through the second half beggared belief. You can’t win primary possession with backs - and not particularly tall ones - playing in the middle of the park. Also our discipline in terms of conceding two point opportunities was poor & we still don’t have a reliable two point option ourselves - Gleeson will be a one out of five merchant. Not good enough.
Mulhern and Fionn McDonagh are two positives to take out of it. Sean Kelly’s ongoing poor form another worry.
From a Mayo point of view - I think McGreal’s lack of physical readiness for this level of ball was shown today. Needs to bulk up.
Also if ye play Hession I really think the fullback line isn’t the place for him. He’s not a good enough man marker. I imagine Coyne and McHugh are nailed on in that line and need to find one other (assuming ye want to release Callinan further up).
Ye might have no choice but to play him at 4.

Galwayman. I would agree with you. Hession probably better at wing back. Im fully behind this management team. They have a massive job ahead after the last 3 years of the most negative football I've ever seen. At times today you could still see the dying embers of Rochford ball. Big question are. Is mcbrien better at full back as we did cry for one since Kevin cahill. I think better at 3. Is plunkett the answer for 6. Don't think so. Does aos start. High balls went into him today. He didn't get them. We have alot of forward talent waiting in the wings. Lyndon. Hurley. Especially. Then there's kobe. Do we try kobe at midfield at 18 years old. Probably not but we are in trouble at midfield. Yes touhy done OK today but not in the first half. Conroy needs more games. He will be fine. Excellent today was rod. Flynn. Henelly. Beirne. It's first day out for Andy and he had to get game time into a lot of lads. It's a tough balancing act. We definitely lost momentum when Flynn went off. Galway without Conroy and maher around the middle and a raft of first team players equipped themselves well in the second half Especially fionn mcdonagh. But I agree Kelly is not a midfield man. Overall happy enough with mayo and the welcome change of style of play. Dubs will be a total different challenge

Dead right @No White Feather.
Don’t think Tick Higgins could kick it 70 yards!!!
A. Long way to go but great to start with a win!

Thanks for that correction, lads! I was actually there that day but wasn't long out of short trousers and my memories of the day are a bit hazy. It was 50 years ago, mind.

Great to get the win, especially to sicken Joyce :)
A welcome change in approach, more attack minded, better under breaking ball, better press from forwards.
BUT, big but, the amount of goal chances given up was scary. Galway could have easily had another 4 or 5 goals today.
We have Coyne and McHugh to come back, and not sure midfield is the place for McBrien. Those 3 in the defence should make a big difference, and its needed!

I think that if you knew Mick Higgins and how proud he is of that score, you would edit that fairly lively, as Par Shortt would say!!…..😜

Edit done now Hop It Ref!

Thanks for that correction on the throw-in time for the Dublin game Paddyjoe. I see that Martin McNally is the ref for it, he's one of the better ones. This game isn't on TV by the way.

Any chance it could be streamed WJ.

I don't think so, Neiphin, there's no GAA+ coverage of the League matches.

McNally reffed the club final??

Delighted with result but not nitpicking, Kobe doesn't play all his football in midfield for cross , hes a forward by all means in the Mayo team.

Agree re Hession and coens shortcomings but we have Mchugh and one of the castlebar boys to play at 4 .
Hession isn't any better than the pick we have for halfbacks in Dawson, Mcbrien, Loftus, Durcan, Kelly, they are better allrounders .
Today saw some expermentation and good news is we won and there are returning and new options to replace the problem areas today

I think there two games this weekend on gaa+ WJ? But maybe they were just the ones that were also shown on BBC.

Think once Cillian is fit we have to put him in at 14 , think he could have a great partnership with Beirne and Tommy inside with the new rules.I see Aido role as an impact sub come Summer time whrn games open up.

I think that's it, Waiting for Sam, and subscribers from the North might be able to see games on TG4 but that's as much as they're doing as far as I know.

I saw the Meath,Derry game on GAA go.

Thanks for the reply WJ.

Best Result possible for Mayo. A win in Andys first game in charge and our goalkeeper gets MOM to keep it all down to earth and realistic not to get carried away.

We have alot of options upfront compared to last year. Midfield and defence needs some attention. I just think hessian up the field more can make more penetrating runs like the goal he scored against Tyrone. We have options in the full back line. Coyne nailed on. I'd say mcbrien and potentially mchugh. I don't see coen starting. Carney played well today. Passed well and scored. The lads are regaining confidence and are allowed to go for it as in 2 pointers which is a massive relief. We have a bit to go but I believe we will have a big say in this year s championship. The shackles are off

I liked the way we got involved in a row when they were coming back at us.

Mc Brien played a big part in all 3 goals today, I'd be reluctant to move him.
I think Andy said Coyne was sick this morning so he should be fine for the Dubs.
Sam to no.6 as I think he has more pace than Plunkett and will keep his man busy tracking back.Dawson or Kelly for hb line.
, maybe swap Morahan and Hessian.
Let Mc B be our midfield enforcer.

No more pats on the head please

- Agreed Jr about Mayo getting stuck into Walsh when he walked away with the ball while Lane and the linesman were discussing the breach that turned out to be nothing.
- A win and the associated 2 points on the board are what's important. Rest of the stuff can be worked on.
- Ryan MOM in my opinion closely followed by Robbie. Good showing from Darragh and Bob.
- Hession turned inside out by Finnerty in the first half in particular, Galway missed 3 easy goal chances in this half as well.
- I presume Jordan was subbed because he was on a yellow and this was one of the reasons Galway clawed their way back as they got a hold in the middle and played fast ball into our weakest line which was our FB line. They had easily 6 good goal chances as a result.
- The support is back, the grit/toughness is coming back and the Dubs are coming to town.

It was Rory Brickenden Andy said was ill this morning. Jack Coyne replaced him on the bench but he wasn’t 100% to start. When he’s okay and when Donnacha McHugh is back too our backline should be more secure.

2 hops, it was Brickenden who was sick, think coyne only got added to bench today when brick pulled out. he warmed up a couple times, so hopefully not far away from comeback.

JR from what I could see, they started the row, with their fictional breach! What a fiasco it was near the end, the referee made an absolute hames of it, but all they did was waste their own time in the end and kill their own momentum.

Lane has been one of the most consistently dire referees in senior football over the last decade and a half, ever since the 2013 Connacht final when he let London behave like hatchet men. I'm sure he prides himself on "letting the game flow" when in reality he's literally ignoring the actual rules of the game. And that went for both sides today.

Thought we played alot of nice football today, game management needs work, but sign of progress for sure

That new hooter rule is a disaster. Rossies hard done by today. the old rule was clear, this one is almost certain to lead to controversy

The Rossies were properly saddled by Brendan Cawley today. Kerry’s first goal was a square ball, the penalty award was a total joke and the final free in for Kerry should have gone the other way.

There's a thing with the hooter rule. Roscommon were informed 2 seconds. Clearly the hooter guy waited till seen 70:00 and then went to press.
The ball was in play 4 seconds. This actually needs attention. If we're ending games on 70:00 then it's not 70:01 or 70:02
That was really protective reffing of Kerry. Ignoring the taking down of two Roscommon players in a row especially the first foul.
Then the sight of Jack O'Connor walking the ref off and dismissively waving away the Roscommon backroom team member without eye contact.
Be gone small man, big stuff walking through.
David Clifford allowed pull the defender out of the way but arm straight up advantage free all contact throughiut the game.
The penalty, a very soft one.
Roscommon made work for frees, Kerry arm up every marginal contact.

Game management is a bad subject around mayo. Remember all the game s we threw away trying to see it out including a connaught final. In the modern game unless you are 8 point s up in the last 3 or 4 minutes please don't let anyone mention game management. Forward momentum yes. Game management was the last management s achilles heal . And feeling sorry for ourselves and hard done by all because of rubbish negative tactics. No thanks

Yes, sadly we still have the refs as talking points in games despite the rule changes. I'm sure Roscommon fans and players are questioning why they bother with the farcical officiating witnessed yesterday.
A somewhat underwhelming Dublin next, not to say they'll be as poor as they were in the first half against Donegal, but I can't see them leaving with anything from that game either. Mayo's prep work will see another victory there, I'm confident.

We gave up plenty of chances and that's to be expected to a degree if we want attacking, front foot play. Still much more palatable than the dire static stuff of the last while. Mayo had the game completely under control but a bunch of substitutions seemed to make us lose shape and dominance. Did we run out of steam in the last 15mins? Handling our energy and stamina to last the full 70+minutes is something the newer and younger players will learn. I agree that the return of Coyne and McHugh will steady the backline and overall this was a good performance.

Willie Joe , I'm disappointed to read that you and some posters are casting blame on Conor Lane. I've seen many games reffed by him and I thought no he is very consistent in his approach and seems to be a very dedicated and decent person. If any blame should be be attributed to anyone then I would throw it at Mayo management who didn't treat Mr Lane like the Galway management did .They had his ear all the time or should I say the ear of the linesman who I felt interfered too much. Anyway, we won the game ! Rant over. Look forward to the Dubs game. Hope Coyne and McHugh are back as defence was poor yesterday.

The ref was brutal no doubt about it hate giving out about refs but that did fuel up the fight is well .

@JoeG

Agree is well that when we made changes it did loose shape but was bound to . Jack Coyne & Donnacha Mchugh will make a big difference when they come back .

Hello Michael Lane in Cork, welcome to the site

Giving out about refs is a mug's game! I did it for years.

At the end of the day, they are human..the rulebook is constantly changing, they're being asked to ref a match plus all the new rules, breeches etc. At one stage Lane must have brought one of our frees about 70M forward :D he sent Robbie back a few yards & as only Robbie does, he brought it back another few yards for good measure. Didn't matter - he hit it anyways.

Great to see some good performances from new faces. Great to see Jack Carney & Jordan Flynn chipping in with scores (because this was a gripe I had with former management..they both started consistently but neither offered much from kickouts or scoring....but they did score yesterday & we'll need that if we persist with that style of half forward line).

Full back line was poor imo but there was some excellent ball going in to be fair & it's not easy to deal with that. Would fully expect McHugh & Coyne to come back to strengthen that line.

Bob Touhy stood up well when we were under the cosh! ROD was fantastic I thought. A genius of a player, could be a brilliant option at 11 if we can afford the luxury of keeping him out there.

Brown Thomas was stuck in the mud a bit yesterday but he should come on for the run..I was hoping he'd burn his man a couple of times. Carr came on & just ploughed straight through his man...his shooting was off but he's a great option to have.

All in all a positive game..while we almost capitulated, it was refreshing to see us try & strangle them when we had the momentum. We didn't just try & limp over the line

A nice win, nothing to get too big headed about and thankfully not the hammering for Galway it looked like it could have been at one stage in the second half. They'll be a different animal in the championship and there is no need for us to give more fuel to their fire for when we meet (hopefully!) later in the year. A win in Salthill, with many things to work on, is as good as you could hope for.
I thought it was Tuohys best performance in a Mayo shirt to date and he lasted the pace of the game throughout. Callinan broke forward many times, O'Donoghue was unmarkable (even his shadow McGrath came out the field to take him, but couldn't), Beirne looks like he has played 13 for years, he was so composed on the ball and never shirked taking his man on. Conroy, bit by bit, is coming back to himself and all he is missing is the scores but they'll come. However, on the debit side of the ledger, it was Hessions worst game for Mayo that I can remember. He got taken to the cleaners by Finnerty and again by McDonagh when he was moved off Finnerty when McBrien came back to take him.
By my count, of Galways 9 first half points, 4 of them came from Mayo mistakes, e.g. slips, poor passes etc. and it was a totally dominant half by Mayo. Worringly, we never looked to alter our kickouts midway in the second half despite Galway getting a run on us in that area.
But, tis only January yet, we've beaten the enemy in their own back yard and taken the 2 points home. That will do for now.

"Worringly, we never looked to alter our kickouts midway in the second half despite Galway getting a run on us in that area."

Well said Pebblesmeller - I was wondering if anyone else was going to mention that. This is my biggest concern from yesterday (which is saying something, given the amount of goal chances we coughed up).

Did we go short with the kickout even once over the 70 minutes to keep possession? Is that option being worked on? If we're just going to mindlessly keep going long, we are in for a long day when we meet Galway again and the likes of Maher, McDaid, Conroy and others are back in the mix.

We all saw what happened to Armagh when Kerry got the run on them and they didn't have the cop-on to alter the kickout strategy and staunch the bleeding.

there wouldnt be a word about the hooter to day if the clown with the whistle did his job right , he was a disgrace, ros. done out of it big time. and im a mayo supporter. come on mayo lets take down the dubs next sunday

I take it all back. I suggested we weren't strong enough on paper, on paper it doesnt count. A great result and one that might make all the difference at the end of this league. Great performances all over the field but I was extremely heartened by the young lads and how the slotted in so well. Wishing Eoin mc Greal a speed recovery. Its one of these weeks where I don't fear the Dubs coming to town. Bring it on. We are good enough. Who's knows the flicker on light at the end of this road might just be brightening.....

Haven't heard anyone commenting on plunkett at 6. If your number 6 is not performing invariably it's going to lead to big pressure on the full back line which by all accounts was weak enough anyway. Nothing against plunkett. Don't think he had a good day in the most important position.

I think McBrien played most of the game as the chb.
Plunkett was playing wing forward.

Possibly but even more worrying

WELL DONE, Mayo!! Good entertaining match - great opening to the League!